Asked by: John Slinger (Labour - Rugby)
Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether her department has considered legislating or amending the Online Safety Act (Section 162) so that Ofcom could require music streaming services and music video services to provide to independent researchers with information about how their algorithms select music for users and to assess whether it provides a level playing field.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport)
DCMS has no current plans to amend Section 162 of the Online Safety Act (OSA). DCMS has committed to consult to establish the framework for researchers to access data held by digital platforms under section 154A. The Act sets out that the data be for the purposes of ‘independent research into online safety matters’, which is defined as anything relating to Ofcom’s online safety functions. This does not include algorithms to select music for users.
Asked by: John Slinger (Labour - Rugby)
Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether her department is considering measures to require music streaming services such as Spotify and music video services such as YouTube to provide transparency information on how recommendation algorithms work, in the context of US media indexing in other English speaking markets.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government is committed to ensuring the UK music sector remains globally competitive and resilient against international market pressures. My department regularly engages with major streaming and video platforms, including Spotify and YouTube, to monitor market trends. While there are currently no plans to introduce algorithmic transparency requirements, we keep digital music markets under continuous review to support a fair and thriving environment for UK creators.
Asked by: John Slinger (Labour - Rugby)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade, whether his department considered asking the Competition and Markets Authority to investigate the consolidation of independent music distributors by major record companies based overseas.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Minister of State (Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade)
As the UK’s independent competition authority, the Competition and Markets Authority (“CMA”) investigates mergers that meet certain jurisdictional tests based on UK turnover or market share, as set out in the Enterprise Act 2002. The government has ensured that the CMA has significant powers and expertise to investigate the benefits and risks of mergers in relation to competition.
Asked by: John Slinger (Labour - Rugby)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his department has considered a tax on online music and video streaming services that directs revenues towards grassroots artists and music makers.
Answered by James Murray - Financial Secretary to the Treasury and Paymaster General
The Chancellor makes decisions on tax policy at fiscal events, and does not routinely comment on proposals.
Asked by: John Slinger (Labour - Rugby)
Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if, in the context of the review of National Lottery funding and its distribution, the Government will consider increasing the proportion of National Lottery proceeds allocated to culture to 25 per cent.
Answered by Vicky Foxcroft - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government recognises the vital importance of National Lottery funding for the arts and culture, and remains fully committed to supporting these sectors.
Through our Call for Evidence on National Lottery good cause funding we are gathering evidence on how funding can best reflect modern priorities, empower communities to give them a greater voice, and how we simplify the system to reduce bureaucracy and improve efficiency.
Following closure of the review on 23 September 2026, the Government will analyse all responses received, and respond in due course.
Asked by: John Slinger (Labour - Rugby)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, a) what research her department has conducted on for what reason the most serious criminality is committed by men and b) what if any measures are being considered to reduce this.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office has not conducted research on the reasons why much of the most serious criminality is committed by men. The Government is committed to keeping people safe and tackling all forms of crime
Asked by: John Slinger (Labour - Rugby)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she expects University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust to remain within the same Integrated Care Board as Rugby following local government reorganisation; and what steps she is taking to help ensure continued effective commissioning of urgent and emergency care services for Rugby residents.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
I refer the Hon Member to the policy statement made collectively by the Cabinet Office on 31 July, which is available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/rewiring-the-state-cabinet-statement
This made clear the commitment to aligning key public service boundaries to facilitate effective delivery that better meets population needs. We will make further statements in due course on the implications of this approach for local delivery of health services.
Regarding urgent and emergency care services in Rugby, the NHS Coventry and Warwickshire Integrated Care Board is developing and delivering an Integrated Urgent and Emergency Care Programme. The programme aims to improve access, support more care closer to home, reduce avoidable pressure on hospital services, and provide patients with more joined-up care. More information regarding this programme can be found at the following link:
Asked by: John Slinger (Labour - Rugby)
Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether her department has a) investigated implementing a basic income for the arts, which provides artists with a weekly income, b) plans to economically support creative artists.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government is not considering basic income for artists at this time. We believe that British creators are second-to-none and are committed to giving them security and a regulatory and fiscal environment where creativity can flourish. This is exemplified with our recent Employment Rights Act, our appointment of freelance champions Leila D’Aronville and Lizzie Crump and our 5% uplift to National Portfolio Organisations, giving certainty for staff and freelancers.
Asked by: John Slinger (Labour - Rugby)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of recommending the creation of a Minister for the younger and future generations.
Answered by Paul Waugh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, alongside the rest of the ministerial team, have responsibility for children’s services and education, including early years, schools, higher and further education policy in England.
Asked by: John Slinger (Labour - Rugby)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade, what steps the Government is taking to hold Royal Mail senior management accountable for statutory delivery performance targets.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Minister of State (Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade)
The government has been clear that Royal Mail’s quality of service has not been good enough.
The Government has discussed Royal Mail’s performance with the company and Ofcom, as the independent regulator, and they know there is more to do to improve stability and reliability for customers, but it is welcome that the most recently released quality of service figures, for Q1 26/27, show an improvement.
Ofcom has opened an investigation into Royal Mail’s quality of service performance for 2025-26 and Royal Mail has published a quality of service improvement plan alongside a £500 million investment into frontline resourcing.
The government will continue to press royal Mail for improvements in service quality.