Asked by: Sajid Javid (Conservative - Bromsgrove)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps the review into the Football Index Gambling Product is taking to engage with former customers who may be able to support its work.
Answered by John Whittingdale
The Secretary of State has appointed Malcolm Sheehan QC to lead the independent review of the Football Index gambling product and we have published its scope and terms of reference on gov.uk. As I said in my Written Ministerial Statement of 7 June, many former customers of Football Index have already contacted the Department to provide information and they can continue to do so via gamblingactreview@dcms.gov.uk. The statement can be found at: https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-statements/detail/2021-06-07/hcws63
Asked by: Sajid Javid (Conservative - Bromsgrove)
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 is taking to implement an age verification process for access to legal online pornography.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
Protecting children is at the heart of our online harms agenda and wider government priorities. The strongest protections in the online safety legislation will be for children.
Under our now-published draft Online Safety legislation, we expect companies to use age verification technologies to prevent children from accessing services which pose the highest risk of harm to children, such as online pornography.
The online safety regime will capture both the most visited pornography sites and pornography on social media, therefore covering the vast majority of sites where children are most likely to be exposed to pornography. Social media platforms will need to put appropriate systems and processes in place to prevent children viewing pornography on their services.
The draft Online Safety legislation will be subject to pre-legislative scrutiny in this session. We are also working closely with Ofcom to ensure that the implementation period, that will be necessary following passage of the legislation, is as short as possible.
Asked by: Sajid Javid (Conservative - Bromsgrove)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what Government support is available for (a) the provision of facilities for and (b) to encourage participation in grassroots football.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston
Sports and physical activity are incredibly important for our physical and mental health, and are a vital weapon against coronavirus.
Many football clubs have benefited from the multi-billion pound package of cross-sector business support from the Government that has enabled many sports clubs and leisure businesses to survive, including the furlough scheme and business interruption loan scheme. Sports have accessed many hundreds of millions of pounds of support through this.
As part of this, Sport England has provided £220 million directly to support community sport clubs and exercise centres through this pandemic, via a range of funds including their £35 million Community Emergency Fund. This support is available to both men’s and women’s clubs with the latest figures showing £10.5m has already been awarded to over 1,500 football clubs. This sector support was recently boosted by an extra £50 million to help grassroots sports clubs and organisations as part of Sport England’s new strategy Uniting the Movement.
The Government continues to invest in community sport facilities as well, via the Football Foundation, alongside The Football Association and the Premier League, with government investing £18 million per annum. This three-way partnership sees £70 million of investment into community sport facilities every year.
Asked by: Sajid Javid (Conservative - Bromsgrove)
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 is taking to increase the level of tourism to (a) Worcestershire and (b) Bromsgrove District once covid-19 restrictions are eased.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston
My Department is taking a number of steps to encourage tourism once restrictions are eased, including in Worcestershire.
The Global Travel Taskforce last year committed the Government to publish a Tourism Recovery Plan in support of the sector. The Government intends to set out proposals in the Spring, including plans for a marketing campaign to welcome visitors back to the UK as soon as it is safe to do so.
We are working with VisitBritain, VisitEngland and local partners to champion the UK’s diverse tourism offer through the Escape the Everyday campaign.
We will continue to work with industry to provide assurance regarding when people can safely visit attractions - as demonstrated through the We’re Good to Go industry standard, which has been used by over 45,000 businesses.
The March Budget included £700m of extra funding to support our world-leading arts, culture and sporting institutions - protecting the venues which make the UK an attractive destination to visit.
Across all rounds and competitions of the Culture Recovery Fund, the West Midlands region received around £110m in funding, through awards to over 450 organisations/sites. As examples of funding in Mid-Worcestershire, Hartlebury Castle Preservation Trust received £290,000 across both rounds of funding, and The Mono Box received £107,318 across both rounds of funding.
As some examples of funding in Bromsgrove, Avoncroft Museum received £275,943 across both rounds of funding, and Blackwell Adventure received £55,000 in Round 2.
In total, over £25bn has been provided to the tourism, leisure and hospitality sectors in the form of grants, loans and tax breaks.
Asked by: Sajid Javid (Conservative - Bromsgrove)
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 is taking to ensure leisure services operated by district councils are supported during the covid-19 pandemic.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston
Sports and physical activity are incredibly important for our physical and mental health, and are a vital weapon against coronavirus.
The National Leisure Recovery Fund seeks to support eligible public sector leisure centres to reopen to the public, giving the sport and physical activity sector the best chance of recovery to a position of sustainable operation over the medium term.
A total of £100 million is available as a biddable fund to eligible local authorities in England, which will be allocated in a single funding round covering the period 1 December 2020 to 31 March 2021. Eligible local authorities include: those in England who hold responsibility for the provision of leisure services, those who have outsourced their leisure provision to an external body to and those whose outsourced leisure arrangements have ended since 20 March 2020 and services are now delivered as an in-house function. This is in addition to the wider financial support provided to councils throughout the pandemic.
Government has worked closely with the Local Government Association (LGA), ukactive, the District Councils' Network, Community Leisure UK, Chief Cultural and Leisure Officers Association and others to make sure the application and funding process is as fast and simple as possible.
In addition, the Local Government Income Compensation Scheme looks to compensate authorities for eligible losses income from sales, fees and charges.
Asked by: Sajid Javid (Conservative - Bromsgrove)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what progress his Department has made on delivering support for the culture and heritage sector through the Culture Recovery Fund in (a) Worcestershire and (b) Bromsgrove district.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
Through the Culture Recovery Fund, 2 awards have been made in the Local Authority of Bromsgrove to date, totalling £267,948. These are:
Avoncroft Museum (£183,943)
Tardebigge Locks - Canal and River Trust (£84,005)
Across the constituencies of Worcester, West-Worcestershire, East-Worcestershire, Bromsgrove, Wyre Forest, and Redditch (which approximates Worcestershire), 22 awards have been made so far, totalling £4,132,799
Please note awards from the first round of Culture Recovery Fund are still being processed, and a second round of grant funding is currently open. Please see the website of the relevant delivery bodies for further detail (Arts Council England, National Lottery Heritage Fund/Historic England, and the British Film Institute).
Asked by: Sajid Javid (Conservative - Bromsgrove)
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 potential effect on the rate of transmission of covid-19 of the public health requirement that (a) golf courses and (b) tennis clubs must temporarily close during the November 2020 covid-19 lockdown in England.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston
Sports and physical activity are incredibly important for our physical and mental health, and are a vital weapon against coronavirus. That’s why we made sure that people could exercise at least once a day even during the height of the first period of enhanced national restrictions and why we opened up grassroots sport and leisure facilities as soon as it was safe to do so.
Nobody wanted to be in the position of having to introduce further National Restrictions. However as the Prime Minister said, with the virus spreading faster than expected we cannot allow our health system to be overwhelmed. The National Restrictions are designed to get the R rate under control through limiting social contact and reducing transmissions. We have not introduced further exemptions because when you unpick at one activity the effectiveness of the whole package is compromised.
However, as the Prime Minister said on 23 November national restrictions will end on Wednesday 2 December and gyms and the wider leisure sector including golf courses and tennis clubs can reopen across all tiers.
Asked by: Sajid Javid (Conservative - Bromsgrove)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if he will make an assessment of the potential effect of the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham on business opportunities for businesses in Bromsgrove District.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston
The Government, along with Birmingham City Council and its partners, is investing £778 million to deliver the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games. The Games will be about far more than 11 days of sport and Government’s significant investment will provide legacy opportunities such as job creation, community and sports facilities and a timely boost to businesses for the whole of the West Midlands, including Bromsgrove District. The additional investment of £24 million from the Government and the West Midlands Combined Authority to create a Trade, Tourism, and Investment Programme for the Games will also ensure the West Midlands can fully maximise the national and international economic opportunities of hosting the 2022 Commonwealth Games.
Asked by: Sajid Javid (Conservative - Bromsgrove)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what recent discussions his Department has had with representatives of above Step 5 (a) football clubs and (b) governing bodies of English football on supporting a safe return to (i) playing and (ii) spectating as covid-19 lockdown restrictions are eased.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston
The safety and security of players and spectators is of paramount importance.
On Tuesday 22 September it was announced that all sports pilot events currently ongoing would be paused with immediate effect. The Government has taken the decision to pause test events due to the sharp upward trajectory of Covid-19 cases. A?s set out in our Roadmap, sports events pilots, and the full return of fans to stadia would only ever take place when it was safe to do so.
The Government remains in regular dialogue with all the football authorities to understand their current circumstances and is keen to see the safe return of spectators to live sports events. The Government fully understands that fans want to be back watching live sports and we are continuing to work with the sector on solutions and innovations.
I was delighted that we were able to see the safe return of competitive grassroots football from 18 July.
Asked by: Sajid Javid (Conservative - Bromsgrove)
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 is taking to support the roll-out of superfast broadband to rural communities in (a) Worcestershire and (b) Bromsgrove District.
Answered by Matt Warman
Good progress has been made in Worcestershire, with over 96% of premises able to access superfast broadband - up from 25% in November 2010. In Bromsgrove District, over 96% of premises have access to superfast broadband, up from 24% in October 2010. Gigabit-capable coverage in the District stands at 49% which is almost double the UK figure of 26%.
For those premises that are still struggling from slow speeds, DCMS runs a voucher scheme that can be used by rural communities across the UK to reduce the cost of installing gigabit-capable connectivity. This provides a voucher worth up to £3,500 for eligible small businesses and vouchers worth up to £1,500 for residents. The department is also in discussion with Worcestershire County Council about a ‘top-up’ scheme which could potentially increase these voucher values.
Furthermore the government has pledged £5 billion to invest in the hardest to reach areas of the UK. Supplier engagement has taken place over the summer, and their feedback will be used to refine and finalise the delivery vehicle of the programme.
Bromsgrove was included in recent Openreach announcements of towns that they have included in the first wave of their national fibre rollout programme which they call “Fibre First”. The full list, including Bromsgrove, is here: https://www.openreach.com/content/dam/openreach/openreach-dam-files/images/fibre-broadband/fibre-first/DCMS%20Transparency%20Data%20Capture%2029%20Jul%202020.pdf