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 tackle recent trends in physical activity rates.
Answered by Tracey Crouch
In December 2015 Government published Sporting Future, which set out a new vision for a successful and active sporting nation, where people of all ages and backgrounds can enjoy the benefits that sport and physical activity can provide, at every stage in their lives.
The strategy places a clear emphasis on targeting those who are hardest to reach including those from lower socio-economic groups, women and girls, those with a disability, certain BAME groups and older people.
60.7% of adults do the amount of physical activity recommended by the Chief Medical Officer of 150 Minutes a week. While this is encouraging, Sport England will triple its current investment in tackling inactivity to around £250 million, to help drive a more active and healthier nation.
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, if she will estimate the number of betting shops likely to close as a result of a potential future reduction in the maximum stakes on fixed-odds betting terminals.
Answered by Tracey Crouch
A review of gaming machines and social responsibility measures began with a 6 week call for evidence on 24 October 2016, closing on 4 December. We are now looking in depth at the evidence and aim to publish our findings and any proposals in spring 2017, including an economic assessment of these proposals.
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 recent assessment he has made of the extent of the coverage of high-speed broadband in Gloucestershire; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Lord Vaizey of Didcot
The roll-out of superfast broadband in Gloucestershire is being delivered by Fastershire which is a partnership between Gloucestershire County Council and Herefordshire Council with funding from central government’s BDUK programme matched by the local authorities. Over 68,000 homes and businesses in Gloucestershire and Herefordshire have access to superfast broadband which will increase to over 119,000 by September 2017.
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, if he will introduce a television licence scheme based on days rather than months.
Answered by Lord Vaizey of Didcot
The way in which the BBC is funded, and how the licence fee works -including potential simpler systems of payment -is an important aspect of the current debate around Charter Review. There has been a range of opinions expressed, not least as part of the substantial consultation response,and I will be considering these through the Charter Review process.
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 recent discussions he has had with television companies about the digital exclusion of people with sensory loss; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Lord Vaizey of Didcot
The Secretary of State has not as yet had any meetings with companies specifically about sensory access, but the Government remains committed to seeing an improvement in the provision of access services for video-on-demand (VoD) services and will continue to monitor progress.
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 recent assessment he has made of the fairness of the operation of the secondary ticketing market; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Tracey Crouch
The Consumer Rights Act 2015, contains provisions for an independent statutory review of the consumer protection measures in the secondary ticketing market. It will be independently led and it will be presented to Parliament within a year of commencement.
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, if he will commission a review of the management and financial structures of British horse racing.
Answered by Helen Grant
My priority at present is to extend, reform or replace the Horserace Betting Levy. Good progress has been made, and that progress needs to continue. We have no plans to commission a review of the management and financial structures of British horseracing.
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 recent estimate he has made of the net annual financial benefit to British racing of extending the Horserace Betting Levy to overseas operators; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Helen Grant
Offshore remote betting operations have not hitherto been licensed by the Gambling Commission. This means there is currently no centrally collected and publicly available comprehensive dataset of offshore remote operator profits on which to base an estimate. This will change once the Gambling (Licensing and Advertising) Act comes into force on 1 November. We expect the Gambling Commission will be including data from remote offshore operators in their Industry Statistics from 2015.
In the Government’s recent consultation Extending the Horserace Betting Levy, we noted that any estimates of potential additional yield extrapolated from published information such as some company accounts would necessarily be “best guesses” and could only be indicative, not least because the remote gambling market is growing very quickly. We said that the range of “best guesses” ran from £10m to £30m p.a. and sought estimates of potential additional levy yield from respondents assuming the rate of collection remained at 10.75%. Such estimates as were received in consultation responses generally fell within that bracket. The government will be publishing its response to the consultation in due course.