Asked by: Tim Loughton (Conservative - East Worthing and Shoreham)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department has made an assessment of International Game Technology's adherence to modern slavery rules in its supply chains in relation to the running of the National Lottery.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Key suppliers in the running of the National Lottery must complete an annual supplier assessment on their compliance with the Modern Slavery Act 2015. This includes International Game Technology (IGT), which supplies gaming system technology and hardware to Camelot, the current National Lottery operator.
IGT has confirmed in its most recent assessment that it did not have any convictions, breaches or risks in relation to modern slavery. Additionally, IGT publishes an annual Modern Slavery Statement, available here.
Asked by: Tim Loughton (Conservative - East Worthing and Shoreham)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of UK lottery players' personal data being disclosed to Chinese state-owned businesses.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Personal data of UK National Lottery players has not been disclosed to or processed by Chinese state-owned businesses.
The Operator of the National Lottery must ensure that it and its suppliers are compliant with Data Protection legislation.
Asked by: Tim Loughton (Conservative - East Worthing and Shoreham)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many young people have graduated from National Citizen Service (NCS) since its inception; and what the annual cost to the public purse of NCS has been (a) in total and (b) per head in that period.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Between 2011/12 and 2021/22, 710,774 young people participated in the National Citizen Service (NCS) programme. In 2022/23, more than 100,000 young people benefited from the NCS programme. The final participation number will be confirmed in the NCS Trust’s 2022/23 Annual Report and Accounts, which will be published later this year.
Consecutive, independent evaluations have demonstrated the positive impacts that NCS delivers both to its participants on key target areas including social cohesion, social mobility, leadership and civic engagement. NCS has been shown to have an even greater positive impact on certain priority groups. NCS’ 2019 evaluation showed that for every £1 of taxpayer money spent, £3.05 was provided back to society in terms of wellbeing benefits.
The NCS programme has been allocated a total of £1.4 billion since inception. The table below shows the allocated funding per year, to the nearest million. In this period, the NCS programme transitioned from being delivered by NCS Trust Community Interest Company to being delivered by NCS Trust, a Public Body sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.
Year | 2011/12 | 2012/13 | 2013/14 | 2014/15 | 2015/16 | 2016/17 | 2017/18 | 2018/19 | 2019/20 | 2020/21 | 2021/22 | 2022/23 | 2023/24 |
Total grant funding (£M) | 21 | 62 | 84 | 117 | 155 | 181 | 186 | 189 | 176 | 75 | 96 | 72 | 49 |
The cost-per-head of NCS experiences has decreased during that period. In 2015, the cost-per-head was £1,825 coming down to £1,721 in 2019. Since the start of the covid-19 pandemic, NCS Trust offered a range of experiences including schools-based, community-based and digital opportunities with a lower cost-per-head.
Asked by: Tim Loughton (Conservative - East Worthing and Shoreham)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to ensure that data collected by her (a) Department and (b) Department’s associated arms-length bodies records biological sex as opposed to gender identity.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
In respect of employee data, DCMS collects both biological sex and gender identity data on our HR System. Our processing and handling of this data is set out in our HR privacy notice published on gov.uk. The Department does not have oversight of staff data collected by its ALBs.
The Department also follows the Government Social Research and Government Statistical Service guidance and best practice on biological sex and gender identity as published on gov.uk.
Asked by: Tim Loughton (Conservative - East Worthing and Shoreham)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether she has had discussions with the Association of Tennis Professionals on (a) the £820,000 pound fine given to the Lawn Tennis Association and (b) the participation of Russian and Belarusian players in tennis tournaments.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The UK Government has made it clear in writing to both the Association of Tennis Professionals and the Women’s Tennis Association that we fully supported the decision of the Lawn Tennis Association and the All England Lawn Tennis Club to decline entries from Russian and Belarusian players to competition in England.
It is essential that the international sport community stands united in ensuring President Putin cannot use sport to legitimise his barbaric invasion of Ukraine. Fining the AELTC and LTA sends completely the wrong message to Putin, and we strongly urge the ATP and WTA to reconsider.
Asked by: Tim Loughton (Conservative - East Worthing and Shoreham)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether the anticipated media legislation will introduce measures to ensure that age ratings used by video on demand services are (a) widely recognised, (b) based on transparent standards and (c) informed by UK public opinion.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Following public consultation on video-on-demand regulation, the government continues to view the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) age ratings as best practice. As set out in the government’s consultation response, the government is keen to encourage video-on-demand services to consider applying BBFC age ratings to their content, but is of the view that the existing evidence does not warrant mandating the use of age ratings at this time.
Alongside improved Ofcom protections for video-on-demand audiences, the government has set out plans to give Ofcom an enhanced ongoing duty to assess all video-on-demand providers’ audience protection measures, including measures like pin codes and content warnings alongside age ratings, to ensure that the systems put in place are effective and fit for purpose. Ofcom will have powers to provide guidance, report, and deal effectively with any future rogue providers.
Asked by: Tim Loughton (Conservative - East Worthing and Shoreham)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department is taking steps to encourage more video on demand services to adopt British Board of Film Classification age ratings.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Following public consultation on video-on-demand regulation, the government continues to view the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) age ratings as best practice. As set out in the government’s consultation response, the government is keen to encourage video-on-demand services to consider applying BBFC age ratings to their content, but is of the view that the existing evidence does not warrant mandating the use of age ratings at this time.
Alongside improved Ofcom protections for video-on-demand audiences, the government has set out plans to give Ofcom an enhanced ongoing duty to assess all video-on-demand providers’ audience protection measures, including measures like pin codes and content warnings alongside age ratings, to ensure that the systems put in place are effective and fit for purpose. Ofcom will have powers to provide guidance, report, and deal effectively with any future rogue providers.
Asked by: Tim Loughton (Conservative - East Worthing and Shoreham)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions Ministers in (a) her Department or (b) other Government Departments have had with their Greek counterparts on the ownership and location of the Elgin Marbles; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Parthenon Sculptures in the British Museum were legally acquired under the laws pertaining at the time and are legally owned by the Trustees of the British Museum, which is operationally independent of the Government. Decisions relating to the care and management of the museum's collections are a matter for the Trustees of the British Museum. The Government fully supports the position taken by the Trustees of the British Museum.
DCMS ministers have not had any recent discussions on this matter with Greek counterparts. When the Greek Prime Minister called on the Prime Minister in November last year, Mr Mitsotakis raised the issue of the Parthenon Sculptures. The Prime Minister reiterated the UK’s longstanding position that this is a matter for the Trustees of the British Museum. There have been no subsequent ministerial discussions on the Parthenon Sculptures, although we continue to talk to colleagues in the Greek government on wider issues of cultural co-operation.
Asked by: Tim Loughton (Conservative - East Worthing and Shoreham)
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 (a) ownership and (b) home of the Elgin Marbles; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Parthenon Sculptures in the British Museum were legally acquired under the laws pertaining at the time and are legally owned by the Trustees of the British Museum, which is operationally independent of the Government. Decisions relating to the care and management of the museum's collections are a matter for the Trustees of the British Museum. The Government fully supports the position taken by the Trustees of the British Museum.
DCMS ministers have not had any recent discussions on this matter with Greek counterparts. When the Greek Prime Minister called on the Prime Minister in November last year, Mr Mitsotakis raised the issue of the Parthenon Sculptures. The Prime Minister reiterated the UK’s longstanding position that this is a matter for the Trustees of the British Museum. There have been no subsequent ministerial discussions on the Parthenon Sculptures, although we continue to talk to colleagues in the Greek government on wider issues of cultural co-operation.
Asked by: Tim Loughton (Conservative - East Worthing and Shoreham)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the effect of rises in the cost of energy and chemicals on the viability of public leisure centres with swimming pools; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
We recognise the importance of ensuring public access to leisure facilities and swimming pools, which are great spaces for people of all ages to stay fit and healthy, and play an important role within communities. The ongoing responsibility of providing access to public leisure facilities lies at Local Authority level, and the government continues to encourage Local Authorities to invest in leisure facilities.
We also recognise the impact rising energy prices will have on businesses of all sizes. Ofgem and the government are in regular contact with business groups and the leisure sector to understand the challenges they face and explore ways to protect consumers and businesses. The Government is also working with partners within the sector to monitor the availability and supply of pool chemicals.