Asked by: Rebecca Long Bailey (Labour - Salford)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of ending the Strategic Priorities Grant funding for journalism courses in higher education on students from different social and economic backgrounds seeking employment in professional journalism.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government has had to make tough prioritisation decisions driven by the challenging fiscal context that we inherited. For the Department of Education, this has meant prioritising support for high-cost subjects that are essential to delivery of our industrial strategy and core funding to support access to higher education for disadvantaged groups. It is important that the targeted funding allocated through the Strategic Priorities Grant (SPG) supports courses that have higher costs of delivery and our Plan for Growth.
The Government’s commitment that opportunity is available for all remains unwavering, and we will achieve this by addressing gaps in access and outcomes faced by disadvantaged groups. That is why we have asked that the Office for Students retain the per-student funding rates for the full-time, part-time, disabled premium and mental health Student Premiums at their current level. We have also maintained funding for Uni Connect, which delivers targeted interventions and support aimed at increasing the number of young people from under-represented groups going into further and higher education.
The Government also remains committed to supporting the invaluable role which journalism plays in the fabric of our society. We acknowledge journalism as an important and valued subject in higher education, alongside numerous other subjects that do not attract SPG high-cost subject funding, such as history, languages, economics, maths and law.
DCMS officials are engaging with the Department for Education, as well as the press sector and the key journalism professional bodies, to better understand the impact this will have on the journalism industry. These discussions form part of our planning for the DCMS Local Media Strategy. It is important to maintain a healthy and diverse pipeline of talent into the industry through the provision of journalism education opportunities. With this in mind, we are exploring through the Strategy whether more can be done to promote journalism as a career amongst young people, including through the DCMS-funded Creative Careers Programme which is intended to promote careers in the creative industries among young people and recently added the National Council for the Training of Journalists to its steering group.
Asked by: Rebecca Long Bailey (Labour - Salford)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Education on the decision to end Strategic Priorities Grant funding for journalism courses in higher education.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government has had to make tough prioritisation decisions driven by the challenging fiscal context that we inherited. For the Department of Education, this has meant prioritising support for high-cost subjects that are essential to delivery of our industrial strategy and core funding to support access to higher education for disadvantaged groups. It is important that the targeted funding allocated through the Strategic Priorities Grant (SPG) supports courses that have higher costs of delivery and our Plan for Growth.
The Government remains committed to supporting the invaluable role which journalism plays in the fabric of our society. We acknowledge journalism as an important and valued subject in higher education, alongside numerous other subjects that do not attract SPG high-cost subject funding, such as history, languages, economics, maths and law.
DCMS officials are engaging with the Department for Education, as well as the press sector and the key journalism professional bodies, to better understand the impact this will have on the journalism industry, as part of the wider creative industries.
Asked by: Rebecca Long Bailey (Labour - Salford)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to support the Voluntary Community and Social Enterprise sector groups fulfilling local service needs.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Department of Culture Media and Sport (DCMS) has policy responsibility for Civil Society, including voluntary, community and social enterprise organisations (VCSEs). DCMS is supporting VCSEs fulfilling local service needs in a number of ways, including:
Support for local commissioners through the Life Chances Fund to create partnerships between public, private and VCSE sectors as a means to tackle entrenched social issues. This innovative £70m fund has co-funded 29 projects that are testing the use of social outcomes partnerships (SOPs) to provide flexible and effective local services. Since its launch in 2016 over 100,000 outcomes have been recorded by local projects. The Life Chances Fund will run to March 2025, with some projects continuing beyond this period. This government is continuing to look at how SOPs can be used to continue to support VCSEs.
Delivery of a number of grant programmes which help VCSEs to in turn support their local communities, including the VCSE Energy Efficiency Scheme, the Know Your Neighbourhood Fund and the Social Enterprise Boost Fund.
Support through social investment which provides access to grants, repayable finance and a blend of the two. This government is continuing to look at how dormant assets can be used to support the availability of finance to facilitate VCSEs becoming more entrepreneurial and financially resilient. An estimated £350 million will flow into the Dormant Assets Scheme between 2024-28, with details on how this money will be allocated to be provided in due course.
Through the Contract Readiness Programme, a £900,000 package of support enabling VCSEs in England to better compete for government contracts. The programme provides fully funded training for VCSEs interested in bidding for public contracts and support to public sector commissioners to increase awareness and understanding, with the aim of enabling more effective partnerships. Since launch, over 800 VCSEs have benefitted from the programme. This programme will run to March 2025. This government is continuing to look at ways VCSEs and Commissioners can be supported to develop effective partnerships.
Asked by: Rebecca Long Bailey (Labour - Salford)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what recent assessment she has made of the impact of holiday and short term rentals in apartment blocks on neighbouring long term residents.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
The Tourism Recovery Plan, published in June 2021, included a commitment to consult on a Tourism Accommodation Registration Scheme in England.
Ahead of this, the government intends to launch a call for evidence that will seek views on a range of issues that arise from the increase in short term and holiday letting.
First, I want to gather information that will improve the government’s understanding of the benefits and challenges of the increase in short-term and holiday letting we have seen in England in recent years. Second, I want to gather initial views on what would and would not constitute a proportionate response to addressing some of the challenges.
This evidence will help us determine whether there are options the government should pursue through a consultation.
Asked by: Rebecca Long Bailey (Labour - Salford)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what plans the Information Commissioner's Office has to take regulatory action against banks and other financial lenders, who fail to meet their obligations relating to Subject Access Requests, submitted to them by law firms acting on behalf of clients bringing actions under the Consumer Credit Act 1974.
Answered by John Whittingdale
The Information Commissioner is the UK’s independent regulator of the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA). Under the data protection legislation, people have the right to access and receive a copy of their personal data from organisations. This is commonly referred to as a subject access request. Individuals have a right to appoint a third party to act on their behalf, if they wish.
A subject access request must be responded to without undue delay and at the latest within one month of receiving the request. An extension of a further two months can be given if the request is complex, or if the individual has submitted a number of requests, for example, other types of requests relating to individuals’ rights.
The DPA provides a number of exemptions from the requirement to comply with a subject access request. For example, organisations can withhold information if that information could identify someone else, and it would not be reasonable to disclose that information to the individual; or if the information relates to legal proceedings and is subject to legal professional privilege. An organisation can also refuse to comply with a subject access request if the request is ‘manifestly unfounded’ or ‘manifestly excessive’.
People have the right to make a complaint to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) if an organisation fails to comply with a subject access request. The ICO can be contacted by telephone on 0303 123 1113 or through its website: https://ico.org.uk/global/contact-us/. The ICO may take action against the organisation in appropriate cases, for example, by issuing the organisation with a warning, reprimand or enforcement notice. The ICO can issue a civil monetary penalty in the most serious cases.
The ICO exercises its enforcement powers in accordance with its Regulatory Action Policy, which can be found at: https://ico.org.uk/media/1853/data-protection-regulatory-action-policy.pdf. The ICO monitors patterns in complaints, and is not aware of any particular pattern of non-compliance by banks or other financial lenders with regards to subject access requests.
A requester may also apply for a court order in the event of non-compliance with a subject access request, requiring the organisation to comply or to seek compensation. It is a matter for the court to decide, in each particular case, what action to take.
Asked by: Rebecca Long Bailey (Labour - Salford)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what further steps he will take to ensure that banks and other financial lenders are meeting their obligations when responding to Subject Access Requests, submitted to them by law firms acting on behalf of clients bringing actions under the Consumer Credit Act 1974.
Answered by John Whittingdale
The Information Commissioner is the UK’s independent regulator of the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA). Under the data protection legislation, people have the right to access and receive a copy of their personal data from organisations. This is commonly referred to as a subject access request. Individuals have a right to appoint a third party to act on their behalf, if they wish.
A subject access request must be responded to without undue delay and at the latest within one month of receiving the request. An extension of a further two months can be given if the request is complex, or if the individual has submitted a number of requests, for example, other types of requests relating to individuals’ rights.
The DPA provides a number of exemptions from the requirement to comply with a subject access request. For example, organisations can withhold information if that information could identify someone else, and it would not be reasonable to disclose that information to the individual; or if the information relates to legal proceedings and is subject to legal professional privilege. An organisation can also refuse to comply with a subject access request if the request is ‘manifestly unfounded’ or ‘manifestly excessive’.
People have the right to make a complaint to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) if an organisation fails to comply with a subject access request. The ICO can be contacted by telephone on 0303 123 1113 or through its website: https://ico.org.uk/global/contact-us/. The ICO may take action against the organisation in appropriate cases, for example, by issuing the organisation with a warning, reprimand or enforcement notice. The ICO can issue a civil monetary penalty in the most serious cases.
The ICO exercises its enforcement powers in accordance with its Regulatory Action Policy, which can be found at: https://ico.org.uk/media/1853/data-protection-regulatory-action-policy.pdf. The ICO monitors patterns in complaints, and is not aware of any particular pattern of non-compliance by banks or other financial lenders with regards to subject access requests.
A requester may also apply for a court order in the event of non-compliance with a subject access request, requiring the organisation to comply or to seek compensation. It is a matter for the court to decide, in each particular case, what action to take.
Asked by: Rebecca Long Bailey (Labour - Salford)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions he has had with the British Association of Leisure Parks, Piers and Attractions on (a) the guidance for children's soft play centres to safely reopen in a covid-secure way, and (b) the limitations on maximum occupancy at soft play centres due to needing a minimum of 100 sq ft per person.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
Officials in DCMS have been working closely with the British Association of Leisure Parks, Piers and Attractions (BALPPA) and public health officials on the guidance for children’s indoor play centres, including soft play. Government officials supported BALPPA to develop COVID-secure guidance to enable the sector to safely reopen on 15 August. As part of this guidance, a series of robust measures have been put in place - including a regular enhanced cleaning schedule, removal of ‘clutter’ and systems to enable test and trace.
The guidance currently states that there is a maximum capacity of 40% for soft play frames based on the total number of users, including parents or guardian supervising. This measure was recommended by public health officials to ensure that venues are COVID-secure, which is necessary to help avoid the transmission of COVID-19.
The reference to 100sqft has since been removed from the guidance following conversations with BALPPA and other industry leaders.
Asked by: Rebecca Long Bailey (Labour - Salford)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to the recent easing of covid-19 lockdown restrictions, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of permitting metal detecting hobbyists to return to their recreation.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
This government recognises that finds made by the public, including those found by metal-detectorists, make an immense contribution to our knowledge of the archaeology and history of Britain.
The recent easing of lockdown restrictions means that since 13th May, people have been, and are, able to enjoy metal-detecting, as long as they adhere to social distancing measures. At the moment, in England, this means that groups of up to six individuals from different households are able to meet outside to metal detect as long as they maintain 2 meters between them.
To support the hobby, the department has published guidance on gov.uk: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/guidance-on-searching-for-archaeological-finds-in-england-during-covid-19.
Asked by: Rebecca Long Bailey (Labour - Salford)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to page 154 of the Industrial Strategy, when he plans to publish the review of the telecoms market.
Answered by Margot James
The Government published its Future Telecoms Infrastructure Strategy on 23 July 2018. It can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/future-telecoms-infrastructure-review
Asked by: Rebecca Long Bailey (Labour - Salford)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what recent assessment she has made of the effect on small businesses of the licensing enforcement regime for the use of music in public spaces.
Answered by Matt Hancock
The Government believes that the Licensing Act 2003 has been effective in striking a fair balance between the wider public interest and potential impacts on individual citizens and removing unnecessary burdens for lower risk entertainment activities, which hampered cultural and community creativity and prevented businesses (especially small businesses) from diversifying.