Asked by: Laurence Robertson (Conservative - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what recent discussions he has had with the BBC on requiring people in care homes to purchase TV licences; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Jeremy Wright
The Government remains clear that residents of care homes may be eligible for an Accommodation for Residential Care (ARC) licence fee concession. Licences issued under this concession currently cost £7.50 per room, flat or bungalow, and the Government has no intention to change this.
Guidance on the concession can be found on the TV Licensing website: https://www.tvlicensing.co.uk/faqs/FAQ78 .
Asked by: Laurence Robertson (Conservative - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what recent discussions he has had with representatives from mobile phone operating companies on establishing a roaming system in the UK; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Margot James
Improving mobile coverage in rural areas is a priority for government and we are considering all of the options available, including rural roaming, to facilitate this.
Asked by: Laurence Robertson (Conservative - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if he will hold further discussions with the BBC to ensure that free TV licences are provided to all people over the age of 75; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Jeremy Wright
I made a statement to the House on 11 June 2019, and spoke on the matter at Oral Questions on 04 July 2019.
The Government has expressed its disappointment with the BBC’s decision for taking the most narrowly focused review option. Since the BBC took its decision, I have met with the Chairman of the BBC Board and the Director-General of the BBC and I have asked them to do more to help the most vulnerable groups affected by the decision.
Asked by: Laurence Robertson (Conservative - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, how many appeals are waiting for a decision under the House to House Collections Act 1939; what the waiting time for a decision has been for each of those appeals; and if he will carry out an impact assessment of the effects of those waiting times.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department has two outstanding appeals under the House to House Collections Act 1939. The appeals were received in November 2017 and February 2018. In relation to both appeals, further information has been requested from, and provided by, the appellant in order to inform the decision. Decisions on both appeals are expected shortly.
The Department does not plan to carry out an impact assessment on waiting times for decisions.
Asked by: Laurence Robertson (Conservative - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to the House to House Collections Act 1939, how many applications for a national exemption order have been made in each of the last five years; and how many of those applications are waiting for a decision.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department took responsibility for the National Exemption Order scheme for House to House charitable collections in 2016. Since then the department has received one application in 2016, six applications in 2017, one application in 2018, and one application in 2019. Two applications are outstanding.
Asked by: Laurence Robertson (Conservative - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if he will take steps to ensure that the Information Commissioner's office has sufficient resources to enable it to enforce the General Data Protection Regulations when those Regulations come into force.
Answered by Margot James
Government is committed to ensuring that the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) is able to continue to function as a world class regulator, working effectively across the UK to safeguard the rights of individuals in relation to their data. To this end, we have granted the ICO pay flexibility up to 2020/21 so it can review and update its pay and grading structure, to ensure that the organisation is in the best position to develop and retain effectively its existing resources and expertise.
We have also recently introduced new data protection charges, which will provide an increase of over £10 million per annum to the ICO’s income. These increased funds will also enable the ICO to continue to develop the level of expertise available to it and, pivotally, to recruit an additional 30% of their current headcount to support its ongoing data protection work, including its regulatory obligations under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
The Commissioner has said of our actions that she is “confident that this will allow me to prepare the ICO for its critical role under the new dat"a protection regime ensuring that the UK has a strong and expert regulator in an area recognised for its importance to the digital economy and society as a whole."
Asked by: Laurence Robertson (Conservative - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what the criteria are for accessing his Department’s Nationwide Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme.
Answered by Margot James
The scheme is mainly aimed at small and medium enterprises (SMEs) as defined by EU competition rules. Residents may also benefit from the scheme but only as part of a pre-registered project. This is a shared solution in which the majority of the value of vouchers is expected to go to SMEs.
The scheme is supplier-led which means that beneficiaries should approach a registered supplier in order to utilise the scheme. Supplier registration is open, so if a business or resident wishes to take advantage of the scheme and their chosen supplier is not currently taking part then they should be encouraged to do so.
The full details of the scheme criteria are listed on our website at https://gigabitvoucher.culture.gov.uk.
Asked by: Laurence Robertson (Conservative - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what recent assessment he has made of trends in the level of problem gambling (a) in betting shops, (b) in casinos, (c) in pubs, (d) in clubs, (e) in bingo halls, (f) on the National Lottery (g) at racecourses and dog tracks (h) on line and (i) at other venues.
Answered by Tracey Crouch
In August 2017 NatCen, commissioned by the Gambling Commission, published a report using 2015 Health Survey data into gambling behaviour in Great Britain, including problem gambling prevalence rates. The report identified 0.8% of the adult population as problem gamblers, which is a similar rate to that found in the British Gambling Prevalence Survey published in 2012. The NatCen report does not provide a breakdown by venue, but problem gambling rates by activity are available in table 4.5. The report can be found here:http://www.gamblingcommission.gov.uk/PDF/survey-data/Gambling-behaviour-in-Great-Britain-2015.pdf
Asked by: Laurence Robertson (Conservative - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions she has had with large companies on ensuring that people who do not have computers are not disadvantaged when accessing services or products; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Matt Hancock
The private sector plays an important role in helping people who do not have computers to access products and services. DCMS is working with industry to ensure consumers have this access, as set out in the UK Digital Strategy.
Many large corporates pledged practical support in the Strategy, which was launched by the Secretary of State in March this year. This includes more than 4 million digital skills training opportunities, which will be delivered through the newly established Digital Skills Partnership.
Asked by: Laurence Robertson (Conservative - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to extend mobile phone coverage.
Answered by Matt Hancock
Each mobile network operator has a legal obligation to provide voice coverage to 90% of the UK landmass by the end of 2017. O2 has an additional legal obligation to provide indoor 4G coverage to 98% of UK premises by the same date. Ofcom will enforce these obligations and, through the Digital Economy Bill, will have the power to fine any network operator who is in breach.
Ofcom's 2016 Connected Nations Report shows that 99% of UK premises now have indoor voice coverage and 96% have indoor 4G data coverage.