Asked by: Royston Smith (Conservative - Southampton, Itchen)
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 is on ticket touting.
Answered by Margot James
We are committed to cracking down on unacceptable behaviour in the ticketing market and improving fans’ chances of buying tickets at a reasonable price.
We have strengthened the existing ticketing information requirement in the Consumer Rights Act 2015, and have introduced a new criminal offence of using automated software to buy more tickets than that allowed for profit.
We support the work of enforcement agencies in this area, such as the Competition and Markets Authority, National Trading Standards, and the advertising industry's own regulator the Advertising Standards Authority.
Asked by: Royston Smith (Conservative - Southampton, Itchen)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether he has estimated the cost of implementing safe standing areas at football stadiums.
Answered by Tracey Crouch
Spectator safety at sports grounds remains the priority for Government. We are looking into any changes that may be needed, are in discussions with the football authorities and relevant stakeholders and are keen to carefully review the evidence on the matter. I look forward to discussing at length the nuances and complexities of sports ground safety in Parliament next week.
Asked by: Royston Smith (Conservative - Southampton, Itchen)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of safe standing areas at football grounds.
Answered by Tracey Crouch
Spectator safety at sports grounds remains the priority for Government. We are looking into any changes that may be needed, are in discussions with the football authorities and relevant stakeholders and are keen to carefully review the evidence on the matter. I look forward to discussing at length the nuances and complexities of sports ground safety in Parliament next week.
Asked by: Royston Smith (Conservative - Southampton, Itchen)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of rail seating at football stadiums.
Answered by Tracey Crouch
Spectator safety at sports grounds remains the priority for Government. We are looking into any changes that may be needed, are in discussions with the football authorities and relevant stakeholders and are keen to carefully review the evidence on the matter. I look forward to discussing at length the nuances and complexities of sports ground safety in Parliament next week.
Asked by: Royston Smith (Conservative - Southampton, Itchen)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, which organisations have expressed to his Department their support for the safe standing initiative at football stadiums.
Answered by Tracey Crouch
The English Football League and the Football Supporters’ Federation have expressed support for the introduction of standing accommodation.
Representations have also been received from the following football clubs about the possible introduction of certain types of accommodation which could facilitate standing at parts of their respective grounds: Bristol City, Peterborough United, Grimsby Town, Shrewsbury Town and West Bromwich Albion. Representations about the all-seater policy have also been received from Southampton City Council.
Asked by: Royston Smith (Conservative - Southampton, Itchen)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, which parts of the UK have the (a) fastest and (b) slowest broadband speeds.
Answered by Matt Hancock
The Department does not hold information on broadband speed as a constituency average. Currently in the hon member's constituency, according to Thinkbroadband, 94.3% of premises have access to Superfast coverage.
Information on Superfast coverage is available from third party sites like Think Broadband (http://labs.thinkbroadband.com/local/uk).
Asked by: Royston Smith (Conservative - Southampton, Itchen)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, how the Government holds to account broadband providers that fail to meet their agreed commitments.
Answered by Matt Hancock
We are supporting investment in superfast and basic broadband through the Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK) Programme. BDUK has a comprehensive project assurance system in place and Government funding is only committed when a contract is fit for purpose. All contracts are proactively managed through the BDUK Programme and, if necessary, robust contractual mechanisms can be applied if contractual commitments are not met.
Asked by: Royston Smith (Conservative - Southampton, Itchen)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what information her Department holds on the gender pay gap at the BBC in each of the last five years.
Answered by Matt Hancock
The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport does not hold any information on the gender pay gap at the BBC for the last five years. The BBC has published the pay of top talent and is due to publish its first mandatory gender pay gap reporting figures by April next year.
Asked by: Royston Smith (Conservative - Southampton, Itchen)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what progress has been made on ratifying the UNESCO Convention on the Protection of Underwater Heritage.
Answered by Tracey Crouch
Government remains committed to considering the results of the 2014 Impact Review on the 2001 UNESCO Convention on the Protection of Underwater Cultural Heritage, in order to assess whether the UK should pursue ratification. A decision on timescales for reviewing the Convention will be made in late Spring 2017. Government has already adopted the Rules for activities directed at underwater cultural heritage, found in the annex of the Convention, as best practice.
Asked by: Royston Smith (Conservative - Southampton, Itchen)
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 merits of portable television licences for people living in multiple accommodation.
Answered by Matt Hancock
We have made no assessment of the potential merits of a portable television licence for people living in multiple accommodation.