Asked by: Owen Thompson (Scottish National Party - Midlothian)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if she make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing free TV licences for those suffering from dementia.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
TV Licence concessions are available to people who are registered blind or severely sight impaired, people living in qualifying residential care who are disabled or over 60 years old, and people aged 75 and over in receipt of Pension Credit. There are no further concessions available for people with disabilities or other health conditions. The licence fee settlement covers the period until 31 March 2028.
Asked by: Owen Thompson (Scottish National Party - Midlothian)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what recent discussions she has had with representatives of the games industry on tackling harms from loot boxes.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government undertook a call for evidence from September to November 2020 to examine concerns around loot boxes in video games. We are continuing to consider the evidence from more than 30,000 responses that we received, along with an independent Rapid Evidence Assessment commissioned from the InGAME research and innovation centre.
We have continued a dialogue with the games industry to address issues identified from the loot box call for evidence. We will publish the government’s response to the call for evidence in the coming months.
Asked by: Owen Thompson (Scottish National Party - Midlothian)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, when her Department plans to publish its response to the Loot Boxes in Video Games consultation.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government undertook a call for evidence from September to November 2020 to examine concerns around loot boxes in video games. We are continuing to consider the evidence from more than 30,000 responses that we received, along with an independent Rapid Evidence Assessment commissioned from the InGAME research and innovation centre.
We have continued a dialogue with the games industry to address issues identified from the loot box call for evidence. We will publish the government’s response to the call for evidence in the coming months.
Asked by: Owen Thompson (Scottish National Party - Midlothian)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if her Department will undertake an impact assessment of postponing the Gambling Review White Paper.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Gambling Act Review is wide-ranging and aims to ensure that the regulation of gambling is fit for the digital age. The objective of the Review is to get the appropriate balance between respecting consumer freedom and preventing harm, with effective and proportionate protections. We will publish a white paper setting out our vision for the sector and next steps in the coming months.
Asked by: Owen Thompson (Scottish National Party - Midlothian)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department plans to publish the Gambling Review White Paper before summer recess 2022.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Gambling Act Review is wide-ranging and aims to ensure that the regulation of gambling is fit for the digital age. The objective of the Review is to get the appropriate balance between respecting consumer freedom and preventing harm, with effective and proportionate protections. We will publish a white paper setting out our vision for the sector and next steps in the coming months.
Asked by: Owen Thompson (Scottish National Party - Midlothian)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to her announcement on 17 January 2022 that BBC funding will be frozen for the next two years, whether she will take steps to protect funding for programming in the UK's minority languages.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The UK Government has a strong record of demonstrating its commitment to minority language broadcasting to ensure that our broadcasting sector services all audiences of the UK nations and regions.
The BBC’s Royal Charter is an important way of delivering on this. One of the BBC's Public Purposes is to "reflect, represent and serve the diverse communities of all of the United Kingdom’s nations and regions and, in doing so, support the creative economy across the United Kingdom". The BBC also has a general duty under Diversity to "support the regional and minority languages of the United Kingdom through its output and services and through partnerships with other organisations".
I recognise the incredibly valuable contribution that our minority language broadcasters make, and the licence fee settlement will continue to support these contributions by providing the BBC with billions in annual public funding, allowing it to deliver its mission and public purposes and to continue doing what it does best.
Asked by: Owen Thompson (Scottish National Party - Midlothian)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what estimate the Government has made of the loss of income within the live events industry as a result of covid-19 related cancellations.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The pandemic has been a unique challenge to the live events industry. The government is committed to supporting the live events industry and continues to work with the sector to understand losses and recovery.
To assist with recovery, from 22 September 2021, the UK Live Events Reinsurance Scheme has given events the confidence they need to plan through to Summer 2022. The Scheme will support live events across the country - such as concerts and festivals, conferences and business events - that are at risk of being cancelled or delayed due to an inability to obtain Covid-19 cancellation insurance; it will enable the sector to plan future events with greater confidence.
The scheme is in addition to the extensive support already given to the cultural sector throughout the pandemic, including the nearly £2 billion Culture Recovery Fund and the £500 million Film and TV Production Restart scheme.
Asked by: Owen Thompson (Scottish National Party - Midlothian)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of the Live Events Reinsurance Scheme at covering live events from the risk of cancellation due to covid-19.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government recognises the important contribution the live events sector makes to the UK’s culture and economy, and the significant challenges the sector has faced as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Live Events Reinsurance Scheme provides live events across the country with the confidence to plan ahead, and as such will support the UK’s post-Covid economic recovery.
Since the Scheme’s launch in September 2021, a wide variety of events, including business events, concerts and theatre performances, have purchased cover. The Scheme will be reviewed in the Spring to assess its effectiveness, including the extent to which it has benefitted the live events sector while also delivering value for money for UK taxpayers.
Asked by: Owen Thompson (Scottish National Party - Midlothian)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department takes to ensure that at least one official from her Department is present during all (a) meetings and (b) phone calls relating to Government business between Ministers and third parties.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
All Ministers holding meetings or phone calls on government business are routinely accompanied by a private secretary, in line with the expectations of paragraph 8.14 of the Ministerial Code. If a private secretary is not available, another official will accompany this Minister. All meetings to discuss official government business are arranged through the department to ensure an official can be present. If any discussion of government business takes place unexpectedly without an official present e.g. at a social event, the content of the discussion is fed back to the department promptly and recorded.
Asked by: Owen Thompson (Scottish National Party - Midlothian)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what her Department’s process is for (a) recording and (b) keeping minutes of all meetings relating to Government business.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Formal, structured meetings are usually minuted, however, not all meetings need to be minuted. For example all DCMS internal decision making Board and Committee meetings, within its formal governance framework, are minuted. In regards to other meetings, the general guidance that DCMS provides officials within the department supports them to make judgements as to what meetings need to be minuted, noting their Civil Service Code obligation to ‘keep accurate official records’.
Specific procedures are in place for external meetings involving ministers. These are publicly available and can be found in the Guidance on the management of Private Office Papers.
Minutes are stored electronically within the department’s storage solution, with access granted to appropriate officials as this is required.