Asked by: Paul Masterton (Conservative - East Renfrewshire)
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 equity of the distribution of National Lottery funding throughout the UK.
Answered by Helen Whately - Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
Over the past 25 years, the National Lottery has awarded over 535,000 grants bringing widespread benefits to communities across the United Kingdom.
National Lottery good cause money is allocated by distributing bodies at arm’s length from Government in the proportions set out in the National Lottery etc Act 1993. Four distributors operate across the UK (National Lottery Community Fund, National Lottery Heritage Fund, UK Sport and British Film Institute) and the remainder (Sport England, Arts Council England, Creative Scotland, Sport Scotland, Arts Council Wales, Sport Wales, Arts Council Northern Ireland and Sport Council Northern Ireland) distribute funding in their respective countries.
When making funding decisions geographical balance is considered by all distributors, alongside where funding will have the most impact in terms of outcomes and benefits. 70% of National Lottery funding has been awarded to projects outside of London and the South East.
Funding levels for areas are often determined by how many applications are submitted. Distributors are aware of some areas being more active in applying than others and actively run specific programmes to encourage applications from less funded areas.
Asked by: Paul Masterton (Conservative - East Renfrewshire)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
What steps she is taking to help ensure the viability of the post office branch network in East Renfrewshire.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
The Government absolutely recognises the importance of post offices in East Renfrewshire, Blaydon and other communities across the UK and is committed to the Post Office network’s future.
Government has provided a further £370 million from 2018 to 2021 to safeguard the network and invest in its future. Following this, and the new Banking Framework, postmaster pay is increasing. This has led to the most stable network in generations, with over 11,600 branches across the UK, the largest retail network in the country.
Asked by: Paul Masterton (Conservative - East Renfrewshire)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has had made to the Palestinian Authority on (a) its decision to prevent Palestinian LGBTQ group Al Qaws from holding events in the West Bank and (b) the effect of that decision on the LGBTQ community in the West Bank.
Answered by Andrew Murrison
The Government shares your concern about the Palestinian Police statement banning LGBT activities, which has now been removed. Officials from our British Consulate-General in Jerusalem raised our concerns with the Palestinian Authorities and directly engaged with Al Qaws and international partners on this matter. We will continue to encourage all governments to respect the rights of LGBT people, especially those that criminalise homosexuality and those that fail to defend the rights of LGBT people against social prejudice and violence.
Asked by: Paul Masterton (Conservative - East Renfrewshire)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has had made to the Palestinian Authority on (a) its decision to prevent Palestinian LGBTQ group Al Qaws from holding events in the West Bank and (b) the effect of that decision on the LGBTQ community in the West Bank.
Answered by Andrew Murrison
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
Asked by: Paul Masterton (Conservative - East Renfrewshire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much funding (a) has been and (b) is planned to be allocated to the Money and Pensions Service for the delivery of pensions dashboards in (i) 2019-20 and (ii) each of the three subsequent years from (A) the financial services levy on FCA-regulated firms, (B) the general levy on pension schemes and (C) general taxation.
Answered by Guy Opperman
Pensions dashboard are a priority of this Government. The Government is committed to ensuring that the Money and Pensions Service has the funding necessary to develop the non-commercial dashboard and to work with industry, through the Industry Delivery Group (IDG), to develop the dashboard architecture.
The Money and Pensions Service has £8.2m funding for 2019/20 to begin development of the non-commercial dashboard and the dashboard architecture. This funding consists of:
We will continue to work with the Money and Pensions Service to understand the future development and ongoing maintenance costs over future years, including over the next three years to ensure sufficient funding is allocated from the levies.
Asked by: Paul Masterton (Conservative - East Renfrewshire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how funding for the Money and Pension Service for delivery of pensions dashboards will be allocated between (a) the delivery of a non-commercial dashboard hosted by the Money and Pensions Service and (b) the Industry Delivery group for implementation of the wider project.
Answered by Guy Opperman
Pensions dashboard are a priority of this Government. The Government is committed to ensuring that the Money and Pensions Service has the funding necessary to develop the non-commercial dashboard and to work with industry, through the Industry Delivery Group (IDG), to develop the dashboard architecture.
The Money and Pensions Service has £8.2m funding for 2019/20 to begin development of the non-commercial dashboard and the dashboard architecture. This funding consists of:
We will continue to work with the Money and Pensions Service to understand the future development and ongoing maintenance costs over future years, including over the next three years to ensure sufficient funding is allocated from the levies.
Asked by: Paul Masterton (Conservative - East Renfrewshire)
Question to the Home Office:
What steps he is taking to ensure that tech companies tackle serious crimes perpetrated on their platforms.
Answered by Ben Wallace
Tackling serious crime online is one of our highest priorities. We are increasing our investment in law enforcement and will set out plans to legislate in the Online Harms White Paper.
The Online Harms White Paper will set clear responsibilities for tech companies to keep UK citizens safe online and counter online harms including serious online crime.
Asked by: Paul Masterton (Conservative - East Renfrewshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
When his Department plans to publish a response to its call for evidence on home education.
Answered by Nick Gibb
There were more than 3000 responses to the call for evidence which are still being considered. Many dedicated families are doing a very good job educating their children at home, taking on heavy responsibilities in doing so.
We are concerned, however, that overall numbers of children said to be being educated at home are rising, the reasons for which are complex. We need to help local authorities deal effectively with children who are not in school. We will publish the Government’s response soon.
Asked by: Paul Masterton (Conservative - East Renfrewshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
What steps he is taking to prevent self-harm and suicide among children.
Answered by Jackie Doyle-Price
Although suicides among children are relatively rare, I am concerned about increases in suicide and self-harm amongst teenagers. As Suicide Prevention Minister I am personally committed to do whatever we can to prevent suicides in children.
We have challenged social media companies to step up and protect children from harmful suicidal and self-harm content and cyberbullying.
The NHS long-term plan commits to increasing funding for children and young people’s mental health services which will ensure children can access the right support, including crisis care provision.
Asked by: Paul Masterton (Conservative - East Renfrewshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what information his Department holds on the number of children who are being home educated after leaving school due to bullying.
Answered by Anne Milton
Information on the number of children being educated at home, and the reasons for their being so educated, is not held centrally.
In 2018, the department held a consultation and call for evidence on home education to gain more information about home education in England. The government’s response to this will be published shortly.