Lord McNally

The Government is firmly committed to making the UK the safest place to be online, and we are working at pace on our proposals. We will publish a full government response later this year.

The Government is committed to making the UK the safest place to be online and we will introduce legislation when parliamentary time allows. We recognise the benefits of pre-legislative scrutiny, and a final decision about whether to publish the Bill in draft for such pre-legislative scrutiny will be taken nearer the time.

The Government published the initial response to the Online Harms White Paper consultation on 12 February 2020. This confirmed that the Government is developing legislation on online harms to establish a new duty of care on online companies towards their users, overseen by an independent regulator. The duty of care will require companies to put appropriate systems and processes in place to deal with harmful content on their services to keep their users safe.

The White Paper provided an indicative list of online harms that in-scope companies would be expected to address. That list was not exhaustive or fixed. Online harms legislation will need to be sufficiently flexible, so that it is responsive to emerging technologies and forms of harmful content and behaviour, while at the same time providing sufficient certainty to companies. The White Paper also excluded some types of harm from scope, including harm to companies and harm arising from a breach of data protection legislation or cyber-security.

Further information on the duty of care will be provided in the Full Government Response to the White Paper consultation, which will be published later this year.

As of 3 September 2020, there are nine British Citizens who have been remanded in custody by the courts in relation to extradition requests from the United States. This includes an individual who holds dual British / US nationality.

All figures are from local management information and have not been quality assured to the level of published National Statistics. As such they should be treated as provisional and therefore subject to change. The figures do not include Scotland, which deals with its own extradition cases.

This government believes that the Great British coast has enormous potential and this government is determined to see it thrive all year round. We are?committed to supporting coastal communities to unlock barriers to their development and growth, and to strengthen their appeal as places to live, work and visit.

Examples of ongoing support provided to seaside towns includes:

• Supporting 178 projects Coastal Communities Fund (CCF) throughout England through £182.9m of Coastal Communities funding, delivering sustainable growth and jobs in coastal areas
• Publishing COVID-19: Guidance to help owners and operators mange visitors to beaches, the countryside and coastal areas in a safe and responsible way
• Inviting 23 coastal towns to develop proposals for Town Deals worth up to £25 million each
• Shortlisting 17 coastal places for the Future High Streets Fund

I thank you for highlighting the British Amusement and Catering Trade Association’s Save Our Seaside Campaign and I note the issues it brings to light.