Asked by: Scott Arthur (Labour - Edinburgh South West)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether she plans to introduce further regulation for prize draws.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Large scale commercial prize draws are a significant and growing market. Whilst not regulated as a gambling product under the Gambling Act, we want people who participate to be confident that proportionate protections are in place. The department is grateful for the voluntary action taken so far by the sector to act transparently and apply player protection measures.
We want to ensure high standards across the sector. The Minister for Gambling recently met with the leading operator Omaze to discuss this work further and will meet others in the sector soon. We will update Parliament further in due course.
Asked by: Scott Arthur (Labour - Edinburgh South West)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether she has plans to make changes to the rules on public notices for small online news publishers.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Public notices are important for ensuring that the public is kept informed of decisions made by their council which may affect their quality of life, local services or amenities, or their property. The independent 2019 Cairncross Review into sustainable journalism found that public notices are also an important source of revenue for local newspapers.
However, the Government is aware of feedback from some sectors about the audience reach of these notices and the desire for greater digitalisation. In this context, the sector’s Public Notice Portal is a welcome innovation, intended to take advantage of print publishers’ growing digital audiences and provide a centralised resource for all types of public notice. We are monitoring the progress of the Portal, and the effect that it has on the audience reach of public notices.
We also welcome the plans for expansion of the Portal, announced in December and funded by the Google News Initiative, including a fully searchable archive and new consultation functions to help public bodies and commercial entities engage with the public more effectively. We consider this type of industry innovation and collaboration to be integral to securing the sector’s future, and will seek to further support and incentivise it through our Local Media Strategy.
Asked by: Scott Arthur (Labour - Edinburgh South West)
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 local independent journalism.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Sustainability of the local media sector across the country is an area of particular concern for this Government. We are developing a Local Media Strategy, in recognition of the importance of this vital sector. Our vision is a thriving local media that can continue to play an invaluable role as a key channel of trustworthy information at local level, reporting on the issues that matter to communities, reflecting their contributions and perspectives, and helping to foster a self-confident nation in which everyone feels that their contribution is part of an inclusive national story.
Officials have met with the Public Interest News Foundation, founders of the Local News Commission, as part of our continued engagement with key external stakeholders. Government welcomes the publication of the Commission’s report and will consider its recommendations as part of our wider work on the Strategy. Our work is also being informed by the range of studies conducted into the state of local journalism in the UK in recent years.
Asked by: Scott Arthur (Labour - Edinburgh South West)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, when she plans to publish the research her Department commissioned from London Economics on large scale commercial prize draws.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Department is still considering the findings of the independent research, which looked at the size and nature of the prize draw market, as well as possible gambling harm associated with these products. This research is informing our policy considerations, as whilst not regulated as a gambling product under the Gambling Act, we want people who participate in large scale commercial prize draws to be confident that proportionate protections are in place. We will update Parliament further in due course.
Asked by: Scott Arthur (Labour - Edinburgh South West)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what her planned timetable is for publishing proposals on regulating large scale commercial prize draws.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Large scale commercial prize draws are a significant and growing market. Whilst not regulated as a gambling product under the Gambling Act, we want people who participate in large scale commercial prize draws to be confident that proportionate protections are in place. The department is grateful for the voluntary action taken so far by the sector to act transparently and apply player protection measures. We want to ensure high standards in this area and the Minister for Gambling will be meeting the sector to discuss this work.
Asked by: Scott Arthur (Labour - Edinburgh South West)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether she has had recent representations on the potential merits of zero-rating society lotteries under any future statutory levy on gambling operators.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
As set out in the Government’s response to the consultation on the statutory levy, we will introduce a statutory levy charged to all licensed gambling operators. Society lotteries will be charged the levy at the lowest rate of 0.1%, in recognition of the low rates of harm associated with participation in society lotteries and the important benefits they bring to good cause fundraising. The Gambling Act 2005 is clear that all licensees are in scope of the levy, but to minimise disruption this 0.1% will be charged as a proportion of proceeds retained after good causes.