Asked by: Martyn Day (Scottish National Party - Linlithgow and East Falkirk)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 21 October 2021 to Question 57186 on Broadband: Standards, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of embedding an official broadband speed standard of measurement in Ofcom’s Broadband Speeds Codes of Practice, to ensure internet service providers deliver a standardised supply to consumers.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Standards for measuring broadband speeds as a part of the Broadband Speeds Codes of Practice are a matter for Ofcom as the independent regulator for the sector.
In November 2020, significant changes to Ofcom’s Broadband Speeds Codes of Practice came into effect which require providers who have signed up to provide customers with ‘live sync speeds’. This means people and businesses should receive more accurate information about the capabilities of their individual lines before they enter their contract.
In addition, Ofcom is conducting a review of the codes and aims to publish its findings by the end of the year. This will include an assessment of how well Ofcom believes the current code of practice is working.
Asked by: Martyn Day (Scottish National Party - Linlithgow and East Falkirk)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether she has plans to promote knowledge on the environmental impact of storing unnecessary data.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
As outlined in the National Data Strategy, better data use and data-driven innovation will be vital to solving some of today’s biggest challenges, including the UK’s transition to Net Zero through driving emissions reductions across sectors. At the same time as seizing this opportunity we know that we must remain vigilant to the environmental consequences of increased data use.
Through the National Data Strategy Forum workstream on Net Zero, we will continue to highlight the environmental impact of data use as well as champion how the better use of data can support our Net Zero ambitions.
Asked by: Martyn Day (Scottish National Party - Linlithgow and East Falkirk)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department has made an assessment of the carbon cost of storing data online.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
As outlined in the National Data Strategy, better data use and data-driven innovation will be vital to solving some of today’s biggest challenges, including the UK’s transition to Net Zero through driving emissions reductions across sectors. At the same time as seizing this opportunity we know that we must remain vigilant to the environmental consequences of increased data use.
Data centres are acknowledged as one of many contributing factors to ICT emissions, along with TV, Networks, and User Devices, although experts disagree over the sector’s precise contribution. To this end, as part of the National Data Strategy Forum, I recently hosted a roundtable with data centre providers to understand the steps they are taking to reduce their carbon emissions including through the commitments outlined in the Climate Neutral Data Centre Pledge.
Asked by: Martyn Day (Scottish National Party - Linlithgow and East Falkirk)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that broadband providers deliver their advertised (a) service and (b) download speeds to consumers’ homes.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Ofcom’s Broadband Speeds Codes of Practice requires that internet service providers (ISPs) provide consumers with information about the service they can expect, including download speeds, prior to purchase. ISPs who have signed up to the Code - and this includes, for example, BT, TalkTalk and Virgin Media - also commit to providing consumers with a minimum guaranteed download and upload speed, allowing them to cancel or leave their contract, without penalty, should the service fall below the agreed standard.
Asked by: Martyn Day (Scottish National Party - Linlithgow and East Falkirk)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of ending gambling sponsorship in sport.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The government launched its Review of the Gambling Act 2005 on 8 December with the publication of a Call for Evidence. This closed on 31 March and received approximately 16,000 submissions from a broad range of interested organisations and individuals. As part of the wide scope of that Review, we called for evidence on the benefits or harms of allowing operators to advertise and engage in sponsorship arrangements. We are currently considering all evidence carefully and no decisions have been made. A white paper will be published in due course.
Asked by: Martyn Day (Scottish National Party - Linlithgow and East Falkirk)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment he has made of the implications of research by Oxford and Warwick Universities, entitled The association between gambling and financial, social and health outcomes in big financial data, published in March 2021, for the Government's Review of the Gambling Act 2005.
Answered by John Whittingdale
As set out in response to the Oral Question in the House of Lords on 20th April, the government views the paper by Dr Naomi Muggleton and others which looks at the correlation between gambling spend and financial indicators of wellbeing as a useful contribution to the evidence base. We are considering its findings carefully as part of our ongoing Review of the Gambling Act 2005, alongside the responses to our call for evidence which closed at the end of March. We aim to publish a white paper outlining our conclusions and policy proposals by the end of the year.
Asked by: Martyn Day (Scottish National Party - Linlithgow and East Falkirk)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if he will use the Review of the Gambling Act to ensure that the Gambling Commission can access all essential new and emerging evidence in its ongoing review into Remote Customer Interaction.
Answered by John Whittingdale
The Gambling Commission’s consultation and call for evidence on Remote Customer Interaction closed on 9 February and received over 13,000 responses. The Commission is reviewing the evidence carefully and intends to publish a full report in the summer. An interim update can be found at the following link:
https://www.gamblingcommission.gov.uk/news/article/update-on-remote-customer-interaction-consultation
The government’s Review of the Gambling Act is ongoing and we received 16,000 responses to our call for evidence. We have shared key submissions with the Gambling Commission, including on remote customer interaction.
Asked by: Martyn Day (Scottish National Party - Linlithgow and East Falkirk)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps he is taking to tackle online homophobia, biphobia and transphobia.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
The government is committed to tackling homophobia, biphobia and transphobia, including the spread of such content online. On 12 May 2021, we published the draft Online Safety Bill, which sets out new expectations on companies to keep their users safe online. Under a new legal duty of care, in-scope companies, including social media, will need to tackle misogynistic, homophobic, biphobic and transphobic content and activity that is illegal, if it is on their services.
In addition, companies with the largest audiences and with high-risk features will need to assess the risk to adults of legal but harmful content on their services. They must also set clear terms and conditions stating what legal but harmful material they accept (and do not accept) on their service. Companies will have to do this for both priority harms which the government will set out in secondary legislation and for any emerging harms they identify in their risk assessments.
These duties will apply to homophobic, biphobic and transphobic hate speech, which do not meet the threshold of a criminal offence. Companies will need to enforce their terms and conditions consistently and transparently, and could face enforcement action if they do not. All companies in scope will be required to have effective and accessible user reporting and redress mechanisms.
Asked by: Martyn Day (Scottish National Party - Linlithgow and East Falkirk)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions he has had with the Home Secretary on the potential merits of expanding the scope of the proposed online safety Bill to tackle online scams and fraud.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
The Online Safety Bill was developed jointly by DCMS and the Home Office, involving close cooperation at Ministerial and official level.
The government is deeply concerned about the growth and scale of online fraud. The Online Safety Bill, published on the 12th May, will therefore require companies in scope of regulation to take action to tackle fraud, where it is facilitated through user-generated content (for example by social media posts) or via search results. We expect the regulatory framework to have a particular impact on specific types of fraud, such as romance scams, which are estimated to cost over £60 million a year and cause significant psychological harm to victims.
Asked by: Martyn Day (Scottish National Party - Linlithgow and East Falkirk)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 20 April 2021 to Question 179071 on Gambling: Advertising, for what reason adverts that promote bingo or lotteries are allowed to be broadcast on television before 9.00pm.
Answered by John Whittingdale
As set out in answer to Question 179071, all gambling advertising, wherever it appears, is subject to strict controls on content and placement. Adverts must never be targeted at children or vulnerable people, and the Committees of Advertising Practice recently concluded a consultation on proposals to amend the advertising codes to further limit the potential for adverts to appeal to these groups.
The broadcast advertising codes make clear that adverts for commercial gambling and lotteries must not be shown during or adjacent to television programmes directed at or likely to appeal particularly to children. Gambling adverts on television are also subject to a pre-broadcast clearance regime to ensure they comply with advertising codes. Adverts for most gambling products are not broadcast before 9pm under the voluntary Industry Group for Responsible Gambling code; however this restriction does not apply to products such as bingo and lotteries that were permitted to advertise prior to the Gambling Act 2005.
The government launched its Review of the Gambling Act 2005 on 8 December with the publication of a Call for Evidence. As part of the wide scope of that Review, we have called for evidence on the benefits or harms of allowing gambling operators to advertise. The review will not look at advertising relating to the National Lottery, which is regulated under a separate framework, the National Lottery Act 1993. Evidence from the latest (2018) Health Survey for England shows that problem gambling rates for National Lottery draw-based games were 0.9% and Scratchcards were 1.4%.