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Written Question
Leader of the House of Commons: Defamation
Tuesday 12th March 2024

Asked by: Lucy Powell (Labour (Co-op) - Manchester Central)

Question to the Leader of the House:

To ask the Leader of the House, with reference to paragraphs 7.16 and 7.17 of the Ministerial Code, on how many occasions she has informed the Law Officers that she is the defendant in a libel action in (a) her personal capacity, (b) her official position and (c) both since 19 December 2019.

Answered by Penny Mordaunt - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons

I refer the hon. member to paragraph 2.13 of the Ministerial Code which states: “The fact that the Law Officers have advised or have not advised and the content of their advice must not be disclosed outside Government without their authority.”


Written Question
Building Safety Fund
Tuesday 16th January 2024

Asked by: Lucy Powell (Labour (Co-op) - Manchester Central)

Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how many applications to the building safety fund have been (a) submitted and (b) successful by constituency.

Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)

The department publishes a range of statistics regarding building safety which can be accessed here. We note the honourable Member’s interest in further disaggregation of this data and will consider it for future data updates and releases.


Written Question
Public Service Broadcasting: Advertising
Wednesday 19th July 2023

Asked by: Lucy Powell (Labour (Co-op) - Manchester Central)

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether she has had discussions with Ofcom on changes to COSTA advertising rules for public service broadcasters; and whether her Department was given a copy of Ofcom's impact assessment on these changes.

Answered by John Whittingdale

The department routinely engages with Ofcom on matters relating to broadcast advertising. In accordance with their duties under section 24A of the Communications Act 2003 (as inserted by the Digital Economy Act 2017), Ofcom shared their consultation on the proposed revisions to the rules governing the quantity and scheduling of television advertising on public service broadcasting channels with the Department for Culture, Media and Sport the day before publication.

The consultation sets out how Ofcom considers its proposals fit with its duties under the Communications Act 2003 and includes research exploring the potential audience impact of changes to their rules.

This issue is ultimately at the discretion of Ofcom as the independent regulator administering the Code. Ofcom plans to publish a statement in response to their consultation in due course.


Written Question
Vacancies
Monday 17th July 2023

Asked by: Lucy Powell (Labour (Co-op) - Manchester Central)

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will make an estimate of the number of vacancies in (a) broadcasting, (b) theatres, (c) graphic design, (d) tourism and (e) sport and leisure sectors; if she will make an assessment on adequacy of availability of skilled workers in each of those sectors; and is she will make a statement.

Answered by John Whittingdale

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport does not have official estimates on the number of vacancies for these sectors.


Written Question
Gambling
Wednesday 12th July 2023

Asked by: Lucy Powell (Labour (Co-op) - Manchester Central)

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what progress she has made on implementing the policies set out in her Department's policy paper entitled High stakes: gambling reform for the digital age, published April 2023.

Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

Our white paper set out a range of proportionate measures to tackle practices and products which can drive harm and ensure that people who are at risk of gambling harm and addiction are protected. These include new player protection checks, a stake limit for online slots games, improvements to consumer redress and a statutory levy on operators to fund research, education and treatment.

We are working with the Gambling Commission and other stakeholders to bring these measures into force as soon as possible, subject to further consultation where appropriate. The Government will publish a number of targeted consultations this summer, with the Commission also consulting on a number of priority areas.


Written Question
Help to Grow Schemes: Voucher Schemes
Friday 7th July 2023

Asked by: Lucy Powell (Labour (Co-op) - Manchester Central)

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how many and what proportion of businesses that were granted vouchers through the Help to Grow: Digital scheme did not redeem those vouchers; and what the total value of those unredeemed vouchers was.

Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)

The number of unredeemed vouchers for Help to Grow: Digital as of 31/03/23 (Date of closure) is 575 which is c41.25% of vouchers approved. As the cost of the voucher would be dependent on the software purchased, it is not possible to provide a definitive total value of unredeemed vouchers. Unredeemed vouchers do not incur a cost to government.


Written Question
Help to Grow Schemes
Thursday 6th July 2023

Asked by: Lucy Powell (Labour (Co-op) - Manchester Central)

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether her Department conducted any impact assessments on the design of the Help to Grow: Digital scheme.

Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)

The Department conducted a Public Sector Equality Duty impact assessment during the development of the programme. A business impact assessment was not required as the scheme was not enacted through legislation or regulation however options were assessed as part of the development of the business case. An evaluation is being undertaken to understand lessons to be learned from the design of the Help to Grow: Digital scheme following its closure. These findings will be applied to future policies, including within digital adoption.


Written Question
Help to Grow Schemes: Voucher Schemes
Thursday 6th July 2023

Asked by: Lucy Powell (Labour (Co-op) - Manchester Central)

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how many vouchers issued under the help to grow digital scheme were successfully claimed for (a) accounting, (b) e-commerce and (c) customer relationship software.

Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)

The number of claimed vouchers issued for each software type were as follows:

a) Accountancy – 191 Vouchers.

b) E-commerce – 203 Vouchers.

c) Customer Relationship Management – 436 Vouchers.


Written Question
Help to Grow Schemes
Thursday 6th July 2023

Asked by: Lucy Powell (Labour (Co-op) - Manchester Central)

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether she made an assessment of alternatives to the Help to Grow: Digital Scheme before announcing the closure of that scheme on 15 December 2022.

Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)

The Department considered alternative options to deliver the Help to Grow: Digital scheme before announcing its closure however we could not justify its continued cost to the taxpayer due to the lower than expected take up. The decision to close the scheme enabled the Government to refocus efforts towards other support mechanisms for small businesses, ensuring businesses get the backing they need in the most efficient and productive way possible. The Help to Grow: Management scheme remains in place and includes a module to assist in understanding digital adoption.


Written Question
Swimming Pools: Local Government
Thursday 6th July 2023

Asked by: Lucy Powell (Labour (Co-op) - Manchester Central)

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 3 July 2023 to Question 191585 on Swimming Pools: Local Government, which councils operate lidos.

Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

The Government does not directly hold data on individual lidos and Sport England data cannot be used to estimate the number of temporarily closed facilities at a point in the past.

The numbers of lidos in operation in England on local authority owned sites from 2010-2019 are as follows:

  • 2010 – 89

  • 2011 – 89

  • 2012 – 84

  • 2013 – 84

  • 2014 – 85

  • 2015 – 85

  • 2016 – 84

  • 2017 – 84

  • 2018 – 82

  • 2019 – 82

As of July 2023, there are 81 lido pools across 63 local authority owned sites in England. The total number of facilities by local authority area is as follows:

  • Barnet - 1

  • Bedford - 1

  • Bradford - 1

  • Brighton and Hove - 1

  • Buckinghamshire - 3

  • Cambridge - 3

  • Camden - 5

  • Central Bedfordshire - 1

  • Cheltenham - 2

  • Cherwell - 1

  • Cheshire East - 1

  • Colchester - 1

  • Cornwall - 3

  • Dacorum - 1

  • Derbyshire Dales - 1

  • Dorset - 1

  • East Hertfordshire - 2

  • East Lindsey - 1

  • Eden - 1

  • Guildford - 1

  • Hackney - 1

  • Haringey - 2

  • Hillingdon - 2

  • Horsham - 1

  • Lambeth - 1

  • Medway - 1

  • Mendip - 2

  • Mid Sussex - 1

  • New Forest - 1

  • North Hertfordshire - 4

  • North Kesteven - 1

  • North West Leicestershire - 2

  • Nuneaton and Bedworth - 1

  • Oxford - 1

  • Peterborough - 4

  • Plymouth - 3

  • Richmond upon Thames - 1

  • Rushmoor - 1

  • South Oxfordshire - 1

  • South Somerset - 1

  • St Albans - 1

  • Stroud - 2

  • Teignbridge - 1

  • Tonbridge and Malling - 1

  • Torbay - 1

  • Vale of White Horse - 1

  • Wandsworth - 2

  • West Berkshire - 2

  • West Oxfordshire - 2

  • Wiltshire - 1

  • Wokingham - 1

  • Worthing - 1

  • Wychavon - 1

Of these, 10 lidos are temporarily closed (Bedford (1), Cornwall (2), Hillingdon (1), New Forest (1), North Hertfordshire (1), Peterborough (3), Worthing (1)).