Speeches made during Parliamentary debates are recorded in Hansard. For ease of browsing we have grouped debates into individual, departmental and legislative categories.
These initiatives were driven by Lord Smith of Hindhead, and are more likely to reflect personal policy preferences.
Lord Smith of Hindhead has not introduced any legislation before Parliament
Lord Smith of Hindhead has not co-sponsored any Bills in the current parliamentary sitting
The requirement to hold, and pay for, a television licence is set out in the Communications Act 2003 and the Communications (Television Licensing) Regulations 2004.
People are liable to a financial penalty if they are convicted of TV licence evasion. The Ministry of Justice publishes figures on the number of people fined for non-payment of a TV licence; the information requested can be found below.
Number of people who received a fine for licence fee evasion (2010–22), including the number of women who received a fine for licence fee evasion (2010–22)
Year | All | Women (18+) |
2010 | 141,682 | 96,321 |
2011 | 148,539 | 101,007 |
2012 | 164,167 | 111,685 |
2013 | 152,680 | 106,450 |
2014 | 162,341 | 113,986 |
2015 | 166,119 | 117,241 |
2016 | 152,375 | 108,843 |
2017 | 128,617 | 92,568 |
2018 | 120,533 | 87,634 |
2019 | 113,002 | 83,515 |
2020 | 49,948 | 37,542 |
2021 | 44,364 | 33,161 |
Year ending June 2022 | 43,381 | 32,541 |
All gambling advertisements, wherever they appear, must be socially responsible and are subject to strict controls on content and placement to protect children and vulnerable people from harm. As a licence condition, gambling operators must comply with the restrictions set out in the Advertising Codes, which are set by the Committee of Advertising Practice and Broadcast Committee of Advertising Practice, and administered by the Advertising Standards Authority. Operators are liable to enforcement action from the Gambling Commission if affiliates which they pay to carry out marketing activities do not comply with the rules.
The Government’s review of the Gambling Act 2005 is considering a wide range of issues relating to gambling advertising and marketing as part of its broad scope; the forthcoming White Paper will set out our conclusions and next steps.
The Government is working closely with Local Authorities to reconcile undistributed monies for all Covid 19 business grant schemes, including the Omicron Hospitality and Leisure Grant (OHLG) and Additional Restrictions Grant (ARG). The value of the schemes and receivables due to the Department will be included in the BEIS Annual Report and Accounts which will be published later in the year.
The Energy Bill Relief Scheme provides a discount on the wholesale element of gas and electricity bills to ensure that all eligible businesses, including the hospitality and leisure sector, are protected from high energy costs this winter period. Following an HMT-led review, the new Energy Bill Discount Scheme will run from April until March 2024, and continue to provide a discount to eligible non-domestic customers, including social clubs and pubs. The new scheme strikes a balance between supporting businesses and other non-domestic customers over the next 12 months and limiting taxpayer’s exposure to volatile energy markets.
The Christmas Support Payment was put in place specifically to help pubs without a significant food offering, whose businesses were severely impacted by the local restrictions over the festive period. The scheme eligibility period ended on 28 December 2020 and the closing date for applications is 12 January 2021.
In February 2020, HM Government launched a public consultation on decriminalising TV licence evasion. The responses highlighted the considerable stress and anxiety the criminal sanction can cause for people, including the most vulnerable in society. HM Government remains concerned that a criminal sanction for TV licence evasion is increasingly disproportionate and unfair in a modern public service broadcasting system.
We will be looking at ways to ensure the BBC’s funding model is sustainable in the long-term, which will include asking whether a mandatory licence fee with criminal penalties for individual households is still appropriate.
HM Government has also taken steps to support licence fee payers, introducing the Simple Payment Plan in April 2020, a flexible payment instalment scheme which allows customers to pay in fortnightly or monthly instalments throughout the year. This is available to certain customers who currently struggle to pay the TV licence fee. More information on the Simple Payment Plan and its eligibility criteria can be found on tvlicensing.co.uk.
The BBC has recently published the findings of its Gender Disparity Review into TV Licence Fee evasion and set out a ten-point plan of action. It is important that the BBC make progress on that plan.
In 2019/20 the Gambling Commission took enforcement action in 59 cases involving unlicensed online operators. It has taken enforcement action in 74 cases so far in 2020/21. The Commission’s action includes coordinating with regulators in other jurisdictions, working with payment providers to prevent payments to unlicensed operators and working with web hosting companies and search engines to remove sites or prevent them appearing on searches.
The Commission have not received any reports of the dark web being used by GB customers for illegal gambling, but the Review of the Gambling Act 2005 will consider the risks posed by emerging technologies and a number of issues around unlicensed gambling operators, including the current scale of the issue and whether the Gambling Commission has the powers it needs to tackle it effectively. The government is also consulting on an uplift to industry licence fees, which will provide the Commission with greater capacity in the short to medium term to investigate and tackle the threat caused by unlicensed operators.
In 2019/20 the Gambling Commission took enforcement action in 59 cases involving unlicensed online operators. It has taken enforcement action in 74 cases so far in 2020/21. The Commission’s action includes coordinating with regulators in other jurisdictions, working with payment providers to prevent payments to unlicensed operators and working with web hosting companies and search engines to remove sites or prevent them appearing on searches.
The Commission have not received any reports of the dark web being used by GB customers for illegal gambling, but the Review of the Gambling Act 2005 will consider the risks posed by emerging technologies and a number of issues around unlicensed gambling operators, including the current scale of the issue and whether the Gambling Commission has the powers it needs to tackle it effectively. The government is also consulting on an uplift to industry licence fees, which will provide the Commission with greater capacity in the short to medium term to investigate and tackle the threat caused by unlicensed operators.
My department has been considering how online advertising is regulated through its Online Advertising Programme, and will be consulting on this issue later this year. Our aim is to foster fair, accountable and ethical online advertising that works for citizens, businesses and society as a whole. In particular, we want to ensure standards about the placement and content of advertising can be effectively applied and enforced online so that consumers have limited exposure to harmful or misleading advertising.
The government launched its Review of the Gambling Act 2005 on 8th December with the publication of a Call for Evidence. As part of the broad scope of that Review, we have called for evidence on the benefits or harms of allowing gambling operators to advertise. The Call for Evidence will remain open until 31 March, and no policy decisions have yet been made. The government intends to set out conclusions, including any proposals for change, in a white paper later this year.
The National Problem Gambling Clinic in London was already open prior to 2019. Since then, an additional seven new services have opened including an additional Children and Young People Provision in London, the Northern Gambling Service in Leeds, with satellite clinics in Manchester and Sunderland, the West Midlands Gambling Harm Clinics in Stoke-on-Trent and Telford and the Southern Gambling Service in Southampton. NHS England remain on track to open all 15 clinics by the end of 2023/24, ensuring representation across every region of England.
The NHS Long Term Plan announced the creation of 15 new specialist gambling treatment clinics. There are currently five specialist clinics in operation: the National Problem Gambling Clinic in London; a children and young persons’ provision at the National Problem Gambling Clinic; the Northern Gambling Service in Leeds; and satellite clinics in Manchester and Sunderland.
National Health Service expenditure on the specialist clinics was £1 million in 2019/20, £1 million in 2020/21 and £3 million in 2021/22. Data on the number of patients treated by the NHS for gambling addiction is not held centrally. The NHS does not receive money directly from the gambling industry. Until 1 April 2022, the London and Leeds clinics were partially funded by GambleAware, an independent charity supported by voluntary donations from the gambling industry. GambleAware contributed £1.2 million per year to the NHS clinics in 2019, 2020 and 2021.
The NHS Long Term Plan announced the creation of 15 new specialist gambling treatment clinics. There are currently five specialist clinics in operation: the National Problem Gambling Clinic in London; a children and young persons’ provision at the National Problem Gambling Clinic; the Northern Gambling Service in Leeds; and satellite clinics in Manchester and Sunderland.
National Health Service expenditure on the specialist clinics was £1 million in 2019/20, £1 million in 2020/21 and £3 million in 2021/22. Data on the number of patients treated by the NHS for gambling addiction is not held centrally. The NHS does not receive money directly from the gambling industry. Until 1 April 2022, the London and Leeds clinics were partially funded by GambleAware, an independent charity supported by voluntary donations from the gambling industry. GambleAware contributed £1.2 million per year to the NHS clinics in 2019, 2020 and 2021.
The NHS Long Term Plan announced the creation of 15 new specialist gambling treatment clinics. There are currently five specialist clinics in operation: the National Problem Gambling Clinic in London; a children and young persons’ provision at the National Problem Gambling Clinic; the Northern Gambling Service in Leeds; and satellite clinics in Manchester and Sunderland.
National Health Service expenditure on the specialist clinics was £1 million in 2019/20, £1 million in 2020/21 and £3 million in 2021/22. Data on the number of patients treated by the NHS for gambling addiction is not held centrally. The NHS does not receive money directly from the gambling industry. Until 1 April 2022, the London and Leeds clinics were partially funded by GambleAware, an independent charity supported by voluntary donations from the gambling industry. GambleAware contributed £1.2 million per year to the NHS clinics in 2019, 2020 and 2021.
The NHS Long Term Plan announced the creation of 15 new specialist gambling treatment clinics. There are currently five specialist clinics in operation: the National Problem Gambling Clinic in London; a children and young persons’ provision at the National Problem Gambling Clinic; the Northern Gambling Service in Leeds; and satellite clinics in Manchester and Sunderland.
National Health Service expenditure on the specialist clinics was £1 million in 2019/20, £1 million in 2020/21 and £3 million in 2021/22. Data on the number of patients treated by the NHS for gambling addiction is not held centrally. The NHS does not receive money directly from the gambling industry. Until 1 April 2022, the London and Leeds clinics were partially funded by GambleAware, an independent charity supported by voluntary donations from the gambling industry. GambleAware contributed £1.2 million per year to the NHS clinics in 2019, 2020 and 2021.
Until 3 December, tier requirements will not apply because of the new national restrictions. As part of the national restrictions, however, we continue to recognise providing informal social care to relatives and vulnerable people is of the highest importance.
The local Covid alert level Very High restrictions are designed to reduce the transmission of the virus. In so doing all bars and public houses are closed, similarly restaurants and cafes can remain open only if they serve a substantial meal, alcohol may only be served with a substantial meal. The same applies to private members clubs; they are prohibited from staying open if they simply serve alcohol. They may remain open if they serve substantial meals and may serve alcohol with the same.
Businesses in the retail, hospitality, and leisure sector will receive a tax cut worth almost £1.7 billion in 2022-23. This builds on over £16 billion of business rates support already provided to the retail, hospitality, and leisure sectors throughout the pandemic, including a £10 billion business rates holiday for 2020-21 and a scheme worth £6 billion in 2021-22.
Businesses in the retail, hospitality, and leisure sector will receive a tax cut worth almost £1.7 billion in 2022-23. This builds on over £16 billion of business rates support already provided to the retail, hospitality, and leisure sectors throughout the pandemic, including a £10 billion business rates holiday for 2020-21 and a scheme worth £6 billion in 2021-22.
The Omicron Hospitality and Leisure Grant and the Additional Restrictions Grant schemes closed on 31 March 2022. Following the closure of the scheme, BEIS will begin the process of reconciling payment data and identifying unspent funds. As set out in the guidance for both schemes, local authorities must repay unspent funds within 30 days of notification by BEIS. All funds recovered will be returned to the Exchequer via the Supplementary Estimates process.
The migrant vessels, which this campaign is endeavouring to persuade the Home Office to send to Ukraine, are totally unsuitable for the purposes suggested. They have been assessed by Home Office experts as valueless from a military perspective and lethally dangerous otherwise, with at least 20 deaths linked to them since August 2023 alone.
The Home Office’s opposition to sending these vessels to Ukraine is well-founded and is informed by the assessment of border security and military experts.
The UK remains firmly committed to supporting Ukraine in their fight against Russian aggression. To date, we have provided almost £12bn in total military, humanitarian, and economic support. This includes £2.5bn in military aid for 2024/25, an increase of £200m on the previous two years.
We continue to work closely with the Ukrainian Government, together with our international partners, to ensure that their Armed Forces receive the support they need.