Asked by: Paul Sweeney (Labour (Co-op) - Glasgow North East)
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 ensure that people over 75 who cannot afford to pay for a TV licence will be able to access democracy and keep informed of current affairs from June 2020.
Answered by Jeremy Wright
The future of the over 75 licence fee concession is the responsibility of the BBC. In the 2015 funding settlement, the Government and the BBC agreed that responsibility for the concession would transfer to the BBC in June 2020.
However, the Government is disappointed with the BBC’s decision as it has been clear that it wants and expects the BBC to continue this concession. Since the BBC took its decision, I have met with the Chairman of the BBC Board and the Director-General of the BBC and I have asked them to do more to help the most vulnerable groups affected by the decision.
Asked by: Paul Sweeney (Labour (Co-op) - Glasgow North East)
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 ensure that people over 75 who do not use the internet are not digitally excluded and will receive the necessary support to pay for a TV licence from June 2020.
Answered by Jeremy Wright
The future of the over 75 licence fee concession is the responsibility of the BBC. In the 2015 funding settlement, the Government and the BBC agreed that responsibility for the concession would transfer to the BBC in June 2020.
However, the Government is disappointed with the BBC’s decision as it has been clear that it wants and expects the BBC to continue this concession. Since the BBC took its decision, I have met with the Chairman of the BBC Board and the Director-General of the BBC and I have asked them to do more to help the most vulnerable groups affected by the decision.
Asked by: Paul Sweeney (Labour (Co-op) - Glasgow North East)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps he plans to take to ensure that people over 75 whose level of income is above the threshold of eligibility for pension credit are able to pay for a TV licence from June 2020.
Answered by Jeremy Wright
The future of the over 75 licence fee concession is the responsibility of the BBC. In the 2015 funding settlement, the Government and the BBC agreed that responsibility for the concession would transfer to the BBC in June 2020.
However, the Government is disappointed with the BBC’s decision as it has been clear that it wants and expects the BBC to continue this concession. Since the BBC took its decision, I have met with the Chairman of the BBC Board and the Director-General of the BBC and I have asked them to do more to help the most vulnerable groups affected by the decision.
Asked by: Paul Sweeney (Labour (Co-op) - Glasgow North East)
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 plans to take to help people over 75 with a long-term complex illness such as dementia to pay for a TV licence from June 2020.
Answered by Margot James
The BBC is responsible for the cost and the administration of the over 75 licence fee concession from June 2020.
The BBC says that it will work with older peoples groups, charities and voluntary organisations to design a bespoke system to support all those over 75 affected by its decision. As part of this system, the BBC says that its licensing arm, TV Licensing, will make it as easy as possible for carers and family members to act as representatives for pensioners seeking to claim a free TV licence, including those caring for elderly people with complex illnesses like dementia.
Asked by: Paul Sweeney (Labour (Co-op) - Glasgow North East)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what guidance his Department plans to provide to carers who work with people over 75 to help those people pay for a TV licence from June 2020.
Answered by Margot James
The BBC is responsible for the cost and the administration of the over 75 licence fee concession from June 2020.
The BBC says that it will work with older peoples groups, charities and voluntary organisations to design a bespoke system to support all those over 75 affected by its decision. As part of this system, the BBC says that its licensing arm, TV Licensing, will make it as easy as possible for carers and family members to act as representatives for pensioners seeking to claim a free TV licence, including those caring for elderly people with complex illnesses like dementia.
Asked by: Paul Sweeney (Labour (Co-op) - Glasgow North East)
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 effect of proposed changes to the TV licence for people over 75 on the accommodation for residential care concessionary TV licence; and what guidance his Department plans to provide to residential care homes on the effect of the change on that licence.
Answered by Margot James
The future of the over 75 licence fee concession is the responsibility of the BBC. However, the Government has no intention to change the accommodation for residential care licence fee concession.
Guidance on the accommodation for residential care licence fee concession can be found on the TV Licensing website: https://www.tvlicensing.co.uk/faqs/FAQ78
Asked by: Paul Sweeney (Labour (Co-op) - Glasgow North East)
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 effect of the removal of free TV licences for people aged over 75 on people with sight impairments.
Answered by Margot James
The future of the over 75 licence fee concession is the responsibility of the BBC. However, the Government has no intention to change the blind (severely sight impaired) licence fee concession, regardless of the age of the recipient.
Guidance on the blind (severely sight impaired) licence fee concession can be found on the TV Licensing website: https://www.tvlicensing.co.uk/check-if-you-need-one/for-your-home/blindseverely-sight-impaired-aud5
Asked by: Paul Sweeney (Labour (Co-op) - Glasgow North East)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what resources his Department provide to (a) voluntary and (b) statutory support services to help prevent technology-facilitated abuse.
Answered by Margot James
The Government published the Online Harms White Paper on the 8 April. This sets out the Government’s plans for world leading laws to make the UK one of the safest places in the world to be online. These will make companies more responsible for their users’ safety online, especially children and other vulnerable groups.
Asked by: Paul Sweeney (Labour (Co-op) - Glasgow North East)
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 ensure that UK data security is protected in respect of the involvement of Huawei in the development of the UK's 5G network.
Answered by Margot James
The Government has a long established strategy for managing the presence of Huawei in the UK telecoms sector. The Huawei Cyber Security Evaluation Centre (HCSEC) was established in 2010 as part of a mitigation strategy.
The need to ensure that the UK telecoms network is secure both now and for future mobile generations is the reason for the Telecoms Supply Chain Review. The terms of reference are available here. The Review includes consideration of the full UK market position, including the resilience and security standards of equipment for 5G. A statement will be made to the House to communicate the outcome of the Review at the appropriate time.
Asked by: Paul Sweeney (Labour (Co-op) - Glasgow North East)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether the Government had plans to include reference to smart, internet-connected devices in the definition of online harms.
Answered by Margot James
The Online Harms White Paper consultation proposes that the duty of care applies to companies that provide services or tools that allow, enable or facilitate users to share or discover user-generated content, or interact with each other online. It, therefore, would not typically apply to consumer smart devices. Harms suffered by individuals that result directly from a breach of data protection, breach of cyber-security or hacking are also excluded from scope.
However, the Government has taken a number of actions to increase the security of consumer smart devices. In October 2018, DCMS published the Code of Practice for Consumer Internet of Things (IoT) Security to support manufacturers in building strong security into smart products by design. We recognise that further action is needed, and we will soon be publishing a consultation on our regulatory proposals regarding consumer IoT security.