Mike Weatherley

In November 2014 the Government announced a further £3m of funding for the Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit (PIPCU), securing its future until 2017. This investment will ensure the City of London Police continue to focus on the important area of online crime.

PIPCU’s steering board regularly review its progress against key performance measures. Their role is to review its operational effectiveness and to consider areas of expansion if required.

The Intellectual Property Office (IPO) produces a wide variety of resources to educate SMEs about the use of intellectual property (IP). The suite of online tools ‘IP for business’ includes an information booklet, a short free online learning tool, a series of IP health checks that allow businesses to assess IP related opportunities and risks for their own company, and a paid for master class providing more in depth IP knowledge. These tools will help businesses in all sectors, including digital businesses. The IPO also attends events for small businesses, providing information and signposting to advice on IP issues. In addition, the IPO provides support to business advisors, including training and networking events, to improve their understanding of IP and how it can apply to the businesses they advise.

The Intellectual Property Office also works with partner organisations to promote IP understanding and encourage the sharing of information, including any educational resources, amongst businesses.

The department has not formalised an agreement with the BBC regarding its editorial content on intellectual property. However, the BBC has done a great deal of work in this area. In particular, the BBC has just launched a new website, Copyright Aware, highlighting and explaining the subject of copyright. The site includes a variety of resources and aims to encourage consumers and creators to deal more consciously and responsibly with creative works, recognising the effort and skill that has gone into producing them.

The Intellectual Property Office (IPO) has a programme of intellectual property (IP) education, covering all forms of IP including copyright. This IPO provides teaching resources covering all ages of education, from early years through to university. All elements of this work are developed in partnership with industry as well as IP professionals.

This year the IPO will update its crackingideas.com website to develop it into a portal for all education resources. The portal will target teachers and university tutors, providing them with a variety of resources that link into curriculum subjects to bring IP to life and make it easy to introduce IP issues including copyright into the classroom. It will bring together the various products of the IPO as well as linking to other material developed by partners. A cross section of representatives from the creative industries are providing input to the development of resources and the IPO has already commissioned focus group research with teachers to ensure that all resources are effective. The portal will complement other IPO initiatives to raise understanding of copyright, including Music Inc, a downloadable game about the music industry and the impact of piracy.

There is not a single Intellectual Property Education Coordinator role. The Intellectual Property Office acts as a co-ordinator for Intellectual Property (IP) Education work and has a team dedicated to IP education and awareness raising. This team is working closely with industry and across government to raise understanding of and respect for all forms of intellectual property.

The Government has a range of measures in place to secure investment in new electricity generation capacity. As part of our reforms to the electricity market we have introduced a Capacity Market which will ensure we have sufficient reliable capacity on the system to meet demand, and Contracts for Difference to ensure we get the investment we need in low carbon capacity to meet our carbon reduction objectives.

The Government is supporting industry’s construction of new nuclear power plants via facilitative actions. Industry is currently planning a capacity of 16GW or more by 2030, exceeding the 9.4GW capacity of the existing nuclear fleet.

The Department has not made an assessment of the effect of digitisation and online platforms on the contribution to the UK economy of the book industry. However, the ‘UK Book Publishing Industry in Statistics’ produced by the Publishers Association (PA), shows that in the invoiced value of UK publisher sales of books fell 2 per cent in 2013 to £3.4bn, with a 5 per cent decrease in physical book sales and despite a 19 per cent growth in digital sales. Digital sales now represent 15 per cent of UK publishers’ total digital and physical book sales.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is aware of concerns about some online retailers and book publishing. In its Draft Annual Plan for the next year it states that it anticipates ‘the CMA’s markets work will be particularly focussed on issues relating to the digital economy’. I have encouraged those with evidence of anti-competitive behaviour to submit that to the CMA which can take a decision on what action, if any, is necessary.

The Government is aware of concerns about some aspects of the ebook market. We have had contact with a range of market participants and have encouraged them to submit any evidence of anti-competitive behaviour to the Competition and Markets Authority.

The Government’s Creative Industries Economic Estimates show that in 2012 the publishing industry contributed £9.7bn to the UK economy and 223,000 jobs. In 2011 these estimates showed that exports of publishing services were £1.2bn.

The Government is currently considering the responses received to its recent consultation on transitional provisions for the repeal of section 52 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, which deals with the issue of when to implement section 74 of the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act 2013. The consultation closed on 27 October 2014.

No decision has as yet been taken on transitional provisions or the type of statutory instrument that will be used, or on whether and when a draft instrument will be published.

The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) is playing a key role in the Government’s five-year, £860m National Cyber Security Programme and has delivered a range of measures to help protect all UK businesses from cyber crime attacks. The Government has regular discussions with the videogames industry, for example through the work of the Creative Industries Council. Companies can draw upon various forms of Government help and support, such as the range of good practice guidance and the £5,000 cyber security innovation vouchers aimed at small businesses and start-ups. BIS continues to work with Government and industry partners to raise awareness of cyber threats and encourage businesses to take action to protect themselves.

The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) is playing a key role in the delivery of the National Cyber Security Strategy, a five-year programme to transform the UK’s approach to cyber security, backed up with £860m of investment.

BIS leads on the “making it safer to do business in cyber space” objective and has delivered a range of measures to help protect UK business from cyber crime, including:

· publishing a range of good practice cyber security guidance aimed at large and small businesses;

· delivering the ‘Cyber Streetwise’ campaign with the Home Office to help businesses and consumers protect themselves against online crime;

· launching the industry approved “Cyber Essentials” scheme which enables businesses to implement a good basic level of cyber hygiene against cyber threats;

· making over £1m of cyber security innovation vouchers available to UK SMEs to help them improve their cyber security, and

· Support for industry initiatives such as Nominet’s ‘Cyber Assist’ pilot service for small and medium-sized enterprises experiencing cyber attacks.

BIS also works with other Government departments and the security and intelligence agencies to deliver further measures to help protect UK business from cyber crime, including:

· Creating a national Computer Emergency Response Team, CERT UK, which works closely with industry, Government and academia to enhance UK cyber resilience. It provides support to Critical National Infrastructure companies to handle cyber security incidents.

· Setting up the Cyber Security Information Sharing Partnership (CISP), part of CERT UK, which enables companies to share information and intelligence on cyber security threats;

· The creation of a Government approved list of Cyber Incident ‘Clean Up’ companies which can help companies respond effectively to incidents and get them up and running as soon as possible.

The Government plans to publish its Impact Assessment and consultation document on the timing of the repeal of section 52 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 (i.e. the implementation of section 74 of the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act 2013 (“ERRA”)) later this year.

Once the consultation process has concluded, the Government intends to introduce the secondary legislation to implement section 74 of the ERRA before the end of this Parliament.

The UK Government does not comment on ongoing legal proceedings. Any company, regardless of where it is registered, should act in accordance with the laws of the relevant EU member state.

The application by EDF Energy regarding safety limits in its safety case at Dungeness B is a regulatory matter and therefore taken forward by the independent nuclear regulator, the Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR), which reviews such arrangements set out in safety cases.

I understand that EDF Energy Nuclear Generation Ltd submitted a revised safety case to ONR to demonstrate that safety would be maintained at Dungeness B as a result of their proposals to revise the safety limits for allowable graphite weight loss in the reactor cores, and that ONR was satisfied that the justifications in the revised safety case demonstrated that the licensee's obligations to ensure safety would be met.

The UK's nuclear licensing regime, which is underpinned by Statute, requires nuclear facility operators to put in place arrangements to protect the health and safety of workers and the wider public from the hazards of the industry. Such arrangements are set out in safety cases which are subject to review by the independent nuclear regulator, the Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR).

The law requires that the Licensee demonstrates, via the safety case of which safety limits are part, that risks have been reduced to as low as reasonably practicable (ALARP). Therefore ONR does not set safety limits but reviews key parts of the safety case to ensure the ALARP principle has been met.

The ONR assessed the relevant aspects of the safety case for Dungeness B and was satisfied that the licensee had demonstrated that the proposed changes were acceptable. Similarly, ONR carries out assessment of safety cases submitted by all licensees to satisfy itself that the justification made, in support of the safety limits, is adequate. The ONR would not allow continued operation of any civil nuclear site unless it was safe to do so.

The UK's nuclear licensing regime, which is underpinned by Statute, requires nuclear facility operators to put in place arrangements to protect the health and safety of workers and the wider public from the hazards of the industry. Such arrangements are set out in safety cases which are subject to review by the independent nuclear regulator, the Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR).

The law requires that the Licensee demonstrates, via the safety case of which safety limits are part, that risks have been reduced to as low as reasonably practicable (ALARP). Therefore ONR does not set safety limits but reviews key parts of the safety case to ensure the ALARP principle has been met.

The ONR assessed the relevant aspects of the safety case for Dungeness B and was satisfied that the licensee had demonstrated that the proposed changes were acceptable. Similarly, ONR carries out assessment of safety cases submitted by all licensees to satisfy itself that the justification made, in support of the safety limits, is adequate. The ONR would not allow continued operation of any civil nuclear site unless it was safe to do so.

The European Consumer Centre Network is primarily involved in cross-border consumer disputes with traders. The Government does not intervene in such complaints. Nor has it received any information from the Network in relation to complaints against UK-registered companies involved in the copying of artistic design articles. Accordingly, the Government has made no assessment of such complaints.

The Government intends to implement section 74 of the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act 2013, with appropriate transitional provisions, before the end of the current Parliamentary session, following public consultation on those transitional provisions.

The Government is committed to consulting on how and when to introduce the repeal of section 52 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to ensure a fair and proportionate transitional period.

The first stage of this consultation process was a Call for Evidence which was launched in October 2013. The Government has reviewed the responses and is preparing an Impact Assessment and consultation document that will allow the Government to make proposals on transitional provisions and consult on these.

The Government is drawing on responses to its Call for Evidence on transitional provisions for the repeal of section 52 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to inform its forthcoming consultation on the issue. The Government is currently carrying out further work to develop assessments of various options for transitional provisions, and intends to publish its consultation document and accompanying Impact Assessment later this year.

Ofcom published a consultation on the future use of the 700 MHz band on 28 May 2014. This consultation assesses the impact any loss of access to the 700 MHz band would have on the PMSE community. Ofcom will ensure the views and spectrum requirements of the PMSE community are taken into account when making any final decisions on the use of the band. The consultation document and responses can be found on Ofcom’s website:

http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/consultations/700MHz/

Ofcom is working with the PMSE community of users and manufacturers to mitigate the impact of any change of use of the 700 MHz band; and discussing with the regulatory authorities in other countries their approach to this issue. A key focus of their work in this area is seeking to identify and make available alternative spectrum for the PMSE community.

Ofcom published a consultation on the future use of the 700 MHz band on 28 May 2014. This consultation assesses the impact any loss of access to the 700 MHz band would have on the PMSE community. Ofcom will ensure the views and spectrum requirements of the PMSE community are taken into account when making any final decisions on the use of the band. The consultation document and responses can be found on Ofcom’s website:

http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/consultations/700MHz/

Ofcom is working with the PMSE community of users and manufacturers to mitigate the impact of any change of use of the 700 MHz band; and discussing with the regulatory authorities in other countries their approach to this issue. A key focus of their work in this area is seeking to identify and make available alternative spectrum for the PMSE community.

Ofcom published a consultation on the future use of the 700 MHz band on 28 May 2014. This consultation assesses the impact any loss of access to the 700 MHz band would have on the PMSE community. Ofcom will ensure the views and spectrum requirements of the PMSE community are taken into account when making any final decisions on the use of the band. The consultation document and responses can be found on Ofcom’s website:

http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/consultations/700MHz/

Ofcom is working with the PMSE community of users and manufacturers to mitigate the impact of any change of use of the 700 MHz band; and discussing with the regulatory authorities in other countries their approach to this issue. A key focus of their work in this area is seeking to identify and make available alternative spectrum for the PMSE community.

Independent sector bodies have carried out assessments of the economic contribution of the arts to the UK economy. A report by the Society of London Theatre in 2013 showed that London Theatres grossed £0.53bn in sales generating VAT receipts of £88m.

DCMS’s Creative Industries Economic Estimates, based on data from the Office of National Statistics available on a consistent basis since 2008, show the following contribution to the UK economy from Music & Visual and Performing Arts (including theatre) in Gross Value Added (GVA) terms:

Ofcom published a consultation on the future use of the 700 MHz band on 28 May 2014. This consultation assesses the impact any loss of access to the 700 MHz band would have on the PMSE community. Ofcom will ensure the views and spectrum requirements of the PMSE community are taken into account when making any final decisions on the use of the band. The consultation document and responses can be found on Ofcom’s website:

http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/consultations/700MHz/

Ofcom is working with the PMSE community of users and manufacturers to mitigate the impact of any change of use of the 700 MHz band; and discussing with the regulatory authorities in other countries their approach to this issue. A key focus of their work in this area is seeking to identify and make available alternative spectrum for the PMSE community.

Ofcom published a consultation on the future use of the 700 MHz band on 28 May 2014. This consultation assesses the impact any loss of access to the 700 MHz band would have on the PMSE community. Ofcom will ensure the views and spectrum requirements of the PMSE community are taken into account when making any final decisions on the use of the band. The consultation document and responses can be found on Ofcom’s website:

http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/consultations/700MHz/

Ofcom is working with the PMSE community of users and manufacturers to mitigate the impact of any change of use of the 700 MHz band; and discussing with the regulatory authorities in other countries their approach to this issue. A key focus of their work in this area is seeking to identify and make available alternative spectrum for the PMSE community.

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport has an arm's length relationship with its sponsored bodies such as museums and galleries and does not intervene in day-to-day operational matters. It would be for these museums and galleries to act in compliance with the law, including intellectual property law.

The Government is keen to support the revenue-generating activities of publicly-funded museums and galleries wherever possible. For most artistic works, copyright owners already need to provide permission before publicly-funded museums and galleries are able to make copies. The change in law will mean that permission from copyright holders will need to be sought for all artistic works.