Asked by: Nicholas Brown (Independent - Newcastle upon Tyne East)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what financial support her Department has given to motorcycle speedway since the start of the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The government has provided up to £600 million support through the Sport Survival Package to spectator sport organisations throughout the pandemic. To date, we have publicly announced more than £230 million support which has helped hundreds of organisations survive whilst restrictions on crowd capacities have been in place. Speedway clubs have received over £300,000 in loan support from the package to date.
Asked by: Nicholas Brown (Independent - Newcastle upon Tyne East)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment he has made of the effect of gambling on vulnerable people; and what provisions are in place to assist people who have gambling problems.
Answered by David Evennett
One of the three key licensing objectives set out in the Gambling Act 2005 is that vulnerable people should be protected from harm. All betting shop operators are required by the Gambling Commission’s Licence Conditions and Code of Practice (LCCP) to have policies and processes in place to meet this objective. In addition, the industry trade body, the Association of British Bookmakers (ABB), has a mandatory code of conduct which places additional social responsibility requirements on all of its members.
The rate of problem gambling is at 0.6% of the adult population, which is lower than comparable jurisdictions (USA, South Africa or Australia). However we recognise that rates are significantly higher among some sections of the population, such as young men, and that gambling-related harm is a real and significant problem. The majority of current provision for treatment of problem gamblers is through the Responsible Gambling Trust’s funding of organisations such as GamCare, who provide a helpline and counselling services, and the Gordon Moody Association, which provides specialist residential treatment. Local treatment can be found through GPs and NHS addiction clinics, there is also a specialist NHS service treating gambling disorder, based in London.
The Government is committed to ensuring that people are protected from being harmed or exploited by gambling. The Minister for Sport and Tourism has explained to the gambling industry that they are expected to demonstrate that they are improving existing player protection initiatives and evaluating the effects of previous initiatives. As the Minister said at the recent RGT harm minimisation conference, government and industry should never feel that there is an end point to social responsibility.
Asked by: Nicholas Brown (Independent - Newcastle upon Tyne East)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what duties apply to betting companies to ensure that vulnerable customers using their services gamble responsibly.
Answered by David Evennett
One of the three key licensing objectives set out in the Gambling Act 2005 is that vulnerable people should be protected from harm. All betting shop operators are required by the Gambling Commission’s Licence Conditions and Code of Practice (LCCP) to have policies and processes in place to meet this objective. In addition, the industry trade body, the Association of British Bookmakers (ABB), has a mandatory code of conduct which places additional social responsibility requirements on all of its members.
The rate of problem gambling is at 0.6% of the adult population, which is lower than comparable jurisdictions (USA, South Africa or Australia). However we recognise that rates are significantly higher among some sections of the population, such as young men, and that gambling-related harm is a real and significant problem. The majority of current provision for treatment of problem gamblers is through the Responsible Gambling Trust’s funding of organisations such as GamCare, who provide a helpline and counselling services, and the Gordon Moody Association, which provides specialist residential treatment. Local treatment can be found through GPs and NHS addiction clinics, there is also a specialist NHS service treating gambling disorder, based in London.
The Government is committed to ensuring that people are protected from being harmed or exploited by gambling. The Minister for Sport and Tourism has explained to the gambling industry that they are expected to demonstrate that they are improving existing player protection initiatives and evaluating the effects of previous initiatives. As the Minister said at the recent RGT harm minimisation conference, government and industry should never feel that there is an end point to social responsibility.
Asked by: Nicholas Brown (Independent - Newcastle upon Tyne East)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what his policy is on UK ratification of the 1954 Hague Convention on the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict.
Answered by Lord Vaizey of Didcot
My Rt. Hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport places great importance on the Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict and will make the case to ministerial colleagues for introducing the necessary legislation to allow UK ratification at the earliest opportunity.
Asked by: Nicholas Brown (Independent - Newcastle upon Tyne East)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, which organisations collect subscriptions through the employers' payroll service in his Department and its agencies.
Answered by Helen Grant
The organisations that collect subscriptions through Department for Culture, Media & Sport are:
PCS Union
First Division Association
Forester/Westfield Contributions
Benevolent Fund
Civil Service Sports Council
H.S.A Crown Plan
GAYE
Sun Life Assurance
We do not hold information on subscriptions collected through payrolls of agencies.