Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
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 26 April 2018 to question 136923 on Internet: Children, what criteria is planned to be used to define online services which are likely to be accessed by children.
Answered by Margot James
It will be for the Information Commissioner's Office to determine what criteria is used to define online services which are likely to be accessed by children as they are responsible for developing the new age-appropriate design code.
Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
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 adequacy of the powers available to the Information Commissioner’s Office to enforce their guidelines on online child safety.
Answered by Margot James
The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) is responsible for regulating compliance with data protection legislation. The Government's Data Protection Bill will strengthen legislation around data protection and give the Commissioner tougher powers to ensure that organisations comply.
As part of this Bill, the Information Commissioner’s office will now be responsible for producing a new statutory age appropriate design code for online services which are likely to be accessed by children. This code will help ensure that children in the UK are granted a robust data regime so they are able to access online services in a way that meets their age and development needs. It will ensure that websites and applications are designed in a way that makes clear what data is being collected on children, how this data is being used, and how both children and parents can stay in control of this data. Non-compliance with this code will be a factor in any ICO decision to bring forward enforcement action against websites that do not comply with the GDPR.
The Information Commissioner provides guidance and works with organisations to build compliance. There are a number of tools available to the ICO to ensure compliance with GDPR, including criminal prosecution, non-criminal enforcement and audit. For those who commit serious breaches there are significant financial penalties including fines up to £18 million or 4% of global turnover that can be applied as well as the backstop of criminal prosecution.
Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what the Government's policy is on the grounds on which government files are allowed to be exempt from the 30 year rule.
Answered by Matt Hancock
The Public Records Act (1958) requires central government departments, and certain other public bodies, to identify records of historical value and transfer them for permanent preservation to The National Archives, or to another appointed place of deposit. In 2013 the government began its move towards releasing records when they are 20 years old, instead of 30. We are currently in the middle of the transition from 20 to 30 years, with 2 years’ worth of government records being transferred each year until 2022.
In accordance with Section 3(4) of The Public Records Act, departments may retain records if ‘they are required for administrative purposes or ought to be retained for any other special reason’. The Advisory Council on National Records and Archives is an independent body established by The Public Records Act that advises the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport on issues related to transfer of public records that are over 20 years old. Departments apply to the Advisory Council giving their reasons to retain records using the commonly cited grounds for retention, set-out in guidance published by The National Archives (link below). The Advisory Council will then make a recommendation to the Secretary of State, who signals her approval by issuing a Retention Instrument which allows departments to legally retain their records for a specified period of time.
Records transferred to The National Archives will be open at transfer, unless exempt under Freedom of Information legislation. Access to closed records is considered under the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act, Environmental Information Regulations and the Data Protection Act.
Guidance: http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documents/information-management/retention.pdf
Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what the stages are in the application process for the Tampon Tax Fund; and whether the Minister for Civil Society approves each grant decision.
Answered by Rob Wilson
We will shortly agree the specifics of each of the 70 projects that successfully applied to the Tampon Tax Fund this year, to ensure that taxpayers' money is put to the best use. We will only make grants where we are 100% certain that they align with the aims of the fund.
All applications into the fund were assessed by officials against three criteria: evidence for the need of the project: the organisation’s ability to deliver; and the sustainability/impact of the project, and were then vetted by officials before they were signed off.
Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will review the decision to award the anti-abortion charity, Life, a grant from the Tampon Tax Fund.
Answered by Rob Wilson
We will shortly agree the specifics of each of the 70 projects that successfully applied to the Tampon Tax Fund this year, to ensure that taxpayers' money is put to the best use. We will only make grants where we are 100% certain that they align with the aims of the fund.
Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will publish the (a) Tampon Tax Fund application submitted by the charity, Life and (b) criteria for awarding grants from the Tampon Tax Fund.
Answered by Rob Wilson
We will shortly agree the specifics of each of the 70 projects that successfully applied to the Tampon Tax Fund this year, to ensure that taxpayers' money is put to the best use. We will only make grants where we are 100% certain that they align with the aims of the fund.
It would not be appropriate to publish details of individual applications in advance of grants being made. All applications into the fund were assessed by officials against three criteria: evidence for the need of the project: the organisation’s ability to deliver; and the sustainability/impact of the project.
Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether she received representations on concerns relating to the application made by the charity, Life for funding from the Tampon Tax Fund.
Answered by Rob Wilson
The Department of Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) administers the Tampon Tax Fund. Since the announcement in late March of the 70 projects that successfully applied to the Tampon Tax Fund this year, DCMS has received correspondence from the public and letters from Members of Parliament regarding matters raised with them by their constituents, as well as a petition organised by the group 38 Degrees. This correspondence also included letters supporting the award of the grant.
Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, (a) how much has been paid to officials of his Department as an additional incentive for working overtime on top of their normal overtime payments, (b) how much has been offered to any individual staff member for a one-off occurrence, (c) how many staff received such incentivised additional payments, (d) from which budgets such payments were made and (e) at which Ministerial or official level the business cases or payment approval for such payments was made in (i) each of the last five years and (ii) 2016 to date.
Answered by Lord Vaizey of Didcot
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport do not, and have not in the last five years, paid any additional incentive for working overtime above the normal overtime payments.