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Written Question
Internet: Safety
Monday 25th January 2021

Asked by: Peter Kyle (Labour - Hove)

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what proposals he plans to include in the forthcoming Online Harms Bill to support women aged over 18 who are experiencing sexual exploitation.

Answered by Caroline Dinenage

The Full Government Response to the Online Harms White Paper consultation, published in December 2020, sets out expectations on companies to keep their users safe online, including measures to tackle online abuse and exploitation. The Online Safety Bill, which will give effect to the Full Government Response, will be ready this year.

Under our proposals, websites, apps and other services which host user-generated content or allow people to talk to others online will need to remove and limit the spread of illegal content. This includes social media, online marketplaces and community forums. Where pornography sites host user generated content or facilitate online user interaction, that content will be subject to the new legal duty of care. The largest social media companies will be held to account for what they say they are doing to tackle activity and content that is harmful to adults using their services.

The non-consensual disclosure of private sexual photographs and films with intent to cause distress, is already a criminal offence under section 33 of the Criminal Justice and Courts Act 2015. This is often referred to as the “revenge porn” offence. Under the new online safety laws, all companies will need to tackle illegal content, including “revenge porn” and illegal online abuse on their services, by making sure it is taken down quickly and using tools to minimise the risk of similar material appearing. Failure to do so could result in enforcement action by the regulator.

The Government is also working with the Law Commission to review the criminal law related to non-consensual image sharing. This includes the creation and sharing of ‘deep-fake’ pornography, upskirting and revenge porn. This review is considering existing offences, including the current “revenge porn” offence, and will identify where there are any gaps in protection already offered to victims. The Law Commission will publish its consultation paper shortly.


Written Question
Internet: Safety
Monday 25th January 2021

Asked by: Peter Kyle (Labour - Hove)

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 level of accountability of (a) subscription-based adult websites and (b) free community selling pages to prevent online abuse and exploitation.

Answered by Caroline Dinenage

The Full Government Response to the Online Harms White Paper consultation, published in December 2020, sets out expectations on companies to keep their users safe online, including measures to tackle online abuse and exploitation. The Online Safety Bill, which will give effect to the Full Government Response, will be ready this year.

Under our proposals, websites, apps and other services which host user-generated content or allow people to talk to others online will need to remove and limit the spread of illegal content. This includes social media, online marketplaces and community forums. Where pornography sites host user generated content or facilitate online user interaction, that content will be subject to the new legal duty of care. The largest social media companies will be held to account for what they say they are doing to tackle activity and content that is harmful to adults using their services.

The non-consensual disclosure of private sexual photographs and films with intent to cause distress, is already a criminal offence under section 33 of the Criminal Justice and Courts Act 2015. This is often referred to as the “revenge porn” offence. Under the new online safety laws, all companies will need to tackle illegal content, including “revenge porn” and illegal online abuse on their services, by making sure it is taken down quickly and using tools to minimise the risk of similar material appearing. Failure to do so could result in enforcement action by the regulator.

The Government is also working with the Law Commission to review the criminal law related to non-consensual image sharing. This includes the creation and sharing of ‘deep-fake’ pornography, upskirting and revenge porn. This review is considering existing offences, including the current “revenge porn” offence, and will identify where there are any gaps in protection already offered to victims. The Law Commission will publish its consultation paper shortly.


Written Question
Events Industry: Coronavirus
Friday 16th October 2020

Asked by: Peter Kyle (Labour - Hove)

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if he will put in place a staged roadmap for the return of business events similar to that which he put in place for the return of the performing arts.

Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)

We recognise the events industry’s disappointment at the delayed reopening of large business conferences and exhibitions.

We have always been clear that our roadmap to recovery is dependent on continued progress against the virus. Due to the sharp rise in cases over recent weeks, we needed to pause the planned 1st October reopening of business conferences and exhibitions.

Meetings of up to 30 for training, education and work purposes can still take place in permitted venues, as per the Covid-19 Secure guidance for the visitor economy. Since 11 July, a range of outdoor events have been able to take place, although again this is subject to COVID secure guidelines.

We are also aware that many in the sector support the notion of an events reopening roadmap. We continue to engage with stakeholders, including through the Visitor Economy Working Group and the Events Industry Senior Leaders Advisory Panel, to assess how we can best support the sector’s safe reopening. The business events pilots we carried out in September will ensure that the correct advice and guidance is put in place to help larger events reopen when it is safe to do so.


Written Question
Events Industry: Coronavirus
Thursday 15th October 2020

Asked by: Peter Kyle (Labour - Hove)

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether he plans to provide additional support to the business events industry as a result of the pause in the planned 1 October 2020 reopening of those events in England.

Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)

We are aware that the events and exhibition industry, as well as other sectors, have been severely impacted by Government measures to control the spread of Covid-19.

Businesses can continue to access the Government’s UK wide support package. This includes the Bounce Back Loans scheme, the Self-Employed Income Support Scheme and, until the end of October, the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme.

On top of existing measures, the Chancellor has expanded the Job Support Scheme to provide temporary support to businesses whose premises have been legally required to close as a direct result of Covid-19 restrictions set by one or more of the four governments of the UK.

The government intends for the Chancellor’s announcement to cover those directly employed by business conferences and exhibition centres which are unable to reopen. Further detail will be set out in due course.

We continue to engage with stakeholders, including through the Visitor Economy Working Group and the Events Industry Senior Leaders Advisory Panel, to monitor the situation facing the sector.


Written Question
Youth Services
Monday 21st October 2019

Asked by: Peter Kyle (Labour - Hove)

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if she will make it her policy to produce a long-term plan for the provision of youth services.

Answered by Baroness Morgan of Cotes

We recognise the importance of investing in our young people, and so in September this year the Chancellor announced a £500 million Youth Investment Fund over five years. This will help build up to 60 new youth centres and refurbish hundreds of existing youth facilities across the country, as well as providing over 100 mobile facilities for harder to reach areas. The fund will also support the provision and coordination of high-quality services for young people, and an investment in the youth workforce.


Written Question
Youth Services
Monday 21st October 2019

Asked by: Peter Kyle (Labour - Hove)

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 Department's News story of 10 July 2019, Review launched into statutory guidance for local authorities on providing youth services, what steps she plans to take to actively involve the views of young people in need of such services.

Answered by Baroness Morgan of Cotes

It is really important that young people are at the heart of the policies we make about them, and that we listen to and take into account their views. The DCMS Youth Steering Group examined the strengths and weaknesses of the current statutory guidance document, and helped develop the questions for the call for evidence which was opened to the public on the 3rd of October.

We are working with a number of youth organisations to make sure there are plenty of opportunities for young people to have a direct say about local services in their areas and how we can make sure the new guidance document is as helpful as possible.

Young people are able to fill out a questionnaire and send their views to us, and can also attend a number of sessions that will be facilitated throughout the country over the next couple of months.


Written Question
Youth Services
Monday 21st October 2019

Asked by: Peter Kyle (Labour - Hove)

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what plans she has to increase funding for local authorities to deliver (a) the provision of youth workers on a long-term basis and (b) other core youth work.

Answered by Baroness Morgan of Cotes

Local Councils are directly responsible for allocating public funding to youth services in their area. We believe they are best placed to know what is required in their communities.

The government has announced that following the Spending Round councils will receive the biggest year-on-year real terms increase in funding for almost a decade. The proposed settlement will increase the core spending power of local authorities in real terms by an estimated 4.3% to £49.1 billion in 2020 to 2021, an increase of £2.9 billion.

To support the provision of youth services for all young people, a public call for evidence was opened on the 3rd October, as part of the review of the guidance which sets out the statutory duty placed on local authorities to provide appropriate local youth services. We expect that the review will provide greater clarity of Government’s expectations, including the value added by good youth work.


Written Question
Journalism: Pay
Wednesday 5th June 2019

Asked by: Peter Kyle (Labour - Hove)

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what his Department’s policy in on the practice of payment on publication in the journalism industry.

Answered by Margot James

Payment on publication is one aspect of contractual agreements between journalists and publishers and as such is not something in which the government would seek to intervene.


Written Question
Creative Europe
Friday 22nd February 2019

Asked by: Peter Kyle (Labour - Hove)

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether it is his policy to maintain access to the Creative Europe programme after leaving the EU.

Answered by Margot James

The PM has previously made it clear where possible, the UK will continue to participate in EU programmes where there is mutual benefit to the UK and the EU.

The UK is exploring continued participation in EU programmes, including on culture and education where it is in the EU and UK's mutual interest. UK participation in programmes will be agreed between the parties and depend on the nature of the next generation of EU programmes and wider UK priorities. Any ongoing participation would need to be value for money for the UK taxpayer.


Written Question
British Telecom: Occupational Pensions
Thursday 14th September 2017

Asked by: Peter Kyle (Labour - Hove)

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 5 September 2017 to Question 5938, on occupational pensions: British Telecom, whether in the event of BT entering insolvent winding up, 100 per cent of BT Pension Scheme claimants' pension payments will be paid under the Crown Guarantee.

Answered by Matt Hancock

I refer the Hon Member to my answer to PQ 5938.