Asked by: Laura Smith (Labour - Crewe and Nantwich)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will (a) undertake a review of the compensation afforded to people affected by Equitable Life and (b) issue guidance on recourse available to people affected in Crewe and Nantwich constituency that have (i) not been paid and (ii) received insufficient compensation.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
There are no plans to reopen the Payment Scheme or review the £1.5 billion funding allocation previously made to it. The Equitable Life Payment Scheme closed to claims in 2015 and further guidance on the status of the Payment Scheme after closure is available at https://www.gov.uk/guidance/equitable-life-payment-scheme#closure-of-the-scheme.
Asked by: Laura Smith (Labour - Crewe and Nantwich)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when the Government plans to publish its Green Paper on family justice matters.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
The Government is developing significant reforms in both private and public family law individually, and consulting on them as appropriate, as an alternative to a Green Paper.
The Government has recently consulted on proposals to reform divorce law to reduce family conflict. The Government will publish its response shortly and plans to introduce legislation as soon as Parliamentary time allows. To help separating couples make arrangements for the future, we are increasing awareness of alternative dispute resolution options outside court, including mediation, through better and improved online information and signposting.
As announced in the Autumn Budget, the Government has asked the Law Commission to propose options for a simple and fair system of weddings to give couples meaningful choice.
The Ministry of Justice and the Department for Education have also developed proposals, in close collaboration with the sector, to address rising volumes of children entering the family justice system and local variation in that system. These proposals focus on better preparation of cases before court and diversion of cases from court where appropriate, making better use of the wider family network and promoting consistent and appropriate decisions in court.
Asked by: Laura Smith (Labour - Crewe and Nantwich)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will allocate additional funding for resources to protect young victims of crime.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The government is committed to ensuring that young victims of crime get the protection and support they need. As the Prime Minister said in the House on 6 March, we have seen too many young lives lost to terrible crimes. The response must be cross agency, and focused on supporting and protecting victims and their families.
The Government’s Serious Violence Strategy published last year sets out a wide range of actions intended to address serious violence including knife and gun crime, and homicides. We are working with the Home Office following the Home Secretary’s announcement in October 2018 for the £200 million Youth Endowment Fund (YEF). The fund will be delivered over the next 10 years, targeting those children most at risk of becoming involved in serious violence.
In 2017/18 we spent £97m to fund support services for victims of crime, and we forecast to spend broadly the same in 2018-19.
Included in this funding the Ministry of Justice provides approximately £68m to Police and Crime Commissioners to commission victim support services locally, based on the needs identified in their area.
The Ministry of Justice provides approximately £3.4m a year for support to families bereaved by murder and manslaughter. A key priority and focus of resource within the Homicide Service we fund will be ensuring that support for families bereaved by serious violence such as gang crime, includes the right specialist support to support and help protect young family members.
As announced in the government’s Victims Strategy, which was published on 10 September 2018, my officials are considering longer-term and more sustainable funding arrangements as part of our work to develop a new delivery model for supporting victims and witnesses of crime.
Asked by: Laura Smith (Labour - Crewe and Nantwich)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what plans his Department has to tackle issues arising from a potential convergence between gaming and gambling.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Gambling Commission, as the regulator for gambling in Great Britain, has strong powers and can take action where it needs to address emerging risks. We meet regularly with the Gambling Commission and the games industry to discuss a range of issues including concerns around the potential for convergence between gambling and video games.
Loot boxes do not fall under gambling law where the in-game items acquired are confined for use within the game and cannot be cashed out. However, the Government is aware of concerns that loot boxes and other entertainment products, such as some video games, could encourage gambling-like behaviour or participation in gambling and in the longer term lead to gambling related harm. Our assessment to date is that, while participation rates in gambling are stable, we will continue to look closely at any new evidence around these issues, and in particular where there is evidence of harm.
In addition, the Gambling Commission, along with 15 other regulators from Europe and the USA, have agreed to work together to monitor the characteristics of video games and social gaming and where there is potential cross-over into gambling. They will also work to raise parental and consumer awareness.
Asked by: Laura Smith (Labour - Crewe and Nantwich)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether he plans to include policies to protect children from video game features that encourage gambling behaviour in his White Paper on online harms.
Answered by Margot James
The Online Harms White Paper will be published shortly and will set out a range of legislative and non-legislative measures to tackle a range of online harms. DCMS continues to work closely with the games industry and organisations including the Gambling Commission, to improve safety in games and promote healthy and responsible video gaming.
Asked by: Laura Smith (Labour - Crewe and Nantwich)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what plans he has to increase awareness among parents of the potential for some video games to encourage gambling behaviour in children.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Gambling Commission, as the regulator for gambling in Great Britain, has strong powers and can take action where it needs to address emerging risks. We meet regularly with the Gambling Commission and the games industry to discuss a range of issues including concerns around the potential for convergence between gambling and video games.
Loot boxes do not fall under gambling law where the in-game items acquired are confined for use within the game and cannot be cashed out. However, the Government is aware of concerns that loot boxes and other entertainment products, such as some video games, could encourage gambling-like behaviour or participation in gambling and in the longer term lead to gambling related harm. Our assessment to date is that, while participation rates in gambling are stable, we will continue to look closely at any new evidence around these issues, and in particular where there is evidence of harm.
In addition, the Gambling Commission, along with 15 other regulators from Europe and the USA, have agreed to work together to monitor the characteristics of video games and social gaming and where there is potential cross-over into gambling. They will also work to raise parental and consumer awareness.
Asked by: Laura Smith (Labour - Crewe and Nantwich)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment he has made of the effect of (a) of the increased use loot boxes in and (b) other aspects of video games on levels of gambling.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Gambling Commission, as the regulator for gambling in Great Britain, has strong powers and can take action where it needs to address emerging risks. We meet regularly with the Gambling Commission and the games industry to discuss a range of issues including concerns around the potential for convergence between gambling and video games.
Loot boxes do not fall under gambling law where the in-game items acquired are confined for use within the game and cannot be cashed out. However, the Government is aware of concerns that loot boxes and other entertainment products, such as some video games, could encourage gambling-like behaviour or participation in gambling and in the longer term lead to gambling related harm. Our assessment to date is that, while participation rates in gambling are stable, we will continue to look closely at any new evidence around these issues, and in particular where there is evidence of harm.
In addition, the Gambling Commission, along with 15 other regulators from Europe and the USA, have agreed to work together to monitor the characteristics of video games and social gaming and where there is potential cross-over into gambling. They will also work to raise parental and consumer awareness.
Asked by: Laura Smith (Labour - Crewe and Nantwich)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, when he plans to publish his White Paper on online harms.
Answered by Margot James
The Online Harms White Paper will be published shortly and will set out a range of legislative and non-legislative measures to tackle a range of online harms. DCMS continues to work closely with the games industry and organisations including the Gambling Commission, to improve safety in games and promote healthy and responsible video gaming.
Asked by: Laura Smith (Labour - Crewe and Nantwich)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has made to his Egyptian counterpart on the detention of Egyptian human rights activist Azza Soliman; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Alistair Burt
We have followed Azza Soliman's case closely, as well as the related Foreign Funding case. We understand that Ms Soliman was released on bail, pending further investigation, in December 2016. On 6 December 2017, Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon highlighted Ms Soliman's case in his speech at an Amnesty International Human Rights Day event. UK officials raised the Foreign Funding case with the Egyptian Assistant Foreign Minister for Human Rights on 18 April 2018. On 18 September 2018, we made a statement at the UN Human Rights Council in which we expressed concern about the "arrests of activists, bloggers and journalists". Our Embassy in Cairo continues to be in regular contact with Ms Soliman.
Asked by: Laura Smith (Labour - Crewe and Nantwich)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to encourage businesses to offer meaningful employment to people with dyslexia.
Answered by Sarah Newton
Improving employment opportunities for people with learning difficulties, including those with dyslexia, is a Government priority.
When employers sign up to our Disability Confident scheme they are asked to make specific meaningful offers of opportunities for disabled people, such as jobs, apprenticeships, internships, and work experience opportunities. Disability Confident employers who use the Find a Job service to advertise jobs can now add a searchable Disability Confident tag to their vacancies. This allows disabled people to find Disability Confident employers who are offering jobs that match their skills. Over 10,500 employers have signed up to Disability Confident, and their number continues to grow.
Where people with dyslexia require additional support at work above the level of reasonable adjustments, the Access to Work scheme can help. In 2018, 3,440 people whose primary medical condition was recorded as dyslexia had an Access to Work award approved.