Asked by: Tom Brake (Liberal Democrat - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps he is taking to tackle the spread of disinformation on social media.
Answered by Margot James
Disinformation will be one of the harms addressed in the forthcoming Online Harms White Paper, which will set out legislative and non-legislative measures to ensure platforms take adequate steps to protect their users. We are considering all options available to us.
As the White Paper is finalised, we continue to have regular and robust dialogue with these companies on their progress to tackle this critical issue.
We are also working across academia, civil society and internationally to expose and build resilience to disinformation. This includes a media literacy roundtable hosted by Ministers today.
Asked by: Tom Brake (Liberal Democrat - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether gagging clauses have been used in contracts drawn up between his Department and any charities, voluntary sector organisations, social enterprises or companies with the intention of stopping any criticism of Ministers of his Department.
Answered by Margot James
None of DCMS’ contracts include any statement that could be interpreted as a “gagging clause” of this kind.
Asked by: Tom Brake (Liberal Democrat - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, how many citizens of non-UK EU countries work in (a) his Department, (b) its agencies and (c) its non-departmental public bodies.
Answered by Margot James
At 1st October 2018 the number of staff declaring their national identity as that of a non-UK EU country was 32.
All Government Departments are bound by EU and UK requirements concerning right to work in the UK and, in addition, the Civil Service Nationality Rules. Documentary evidence of nationality is checked at the point of recruitment into the Civil Service as part of wider pre-employment checks.
However DCMS does not hold this information centrally and staff declare their national identity voluntarily. Therefore this figure will not be a true representation of the workforce as a whole.
We do not hold the information requested centrally for b) and C) and to obtain it would incur a disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Tom Brake (Liberal Democrat - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Written Statement of 13 March 2018 on Spring Statement, HCWS540, how much of that funding he has allocated to (a) programmes, (b) administration and (c) staffing in his Department.
Answered by Margot James
HM Treasury has allocated over £2 billion of additional funding to departments and the Devolved Administrations for EU exit preparations so far. This breaks down as:
£412m of additional funding over the spending review period for the Department for Exiting the European Union, Department for International Trade and the Foreign & Commonwealth Office at Autumn Statement 2016.
£286m of additional funding for 17/18 (a full breakdown of which can be found in Supplementary Estimates 17/18).
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/679738/PU2137_Supplementary_estimates_web.pdf.
Over £1.5bn of additional funding for 18/19. A full breakdown of which can be found in the Chief Secretary’s Written Ministerial Statement, HCWS540, laid on the 13th March (https://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-statement/Commons/2018-03-13/HCWS540/)
DCMS was allocated £26.2m for costs arising as the UK leave the EU in the Spring Statement 2018. The final breakdown between programme and administration spend, and the split of staffing costs, will be confirmed in the Supplementary Estimates.
Asked by: Tom Brake (Liberal Democrat - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what the cost to the public purse has been of his Department hiring additional staff to cover issues related to the UK leaving the EU.
Answered by Margot James
EU Exit is an all-of-government operation. DCMS is working in close collaboration with other government departments in preparation for the ongoing negotiations by understanding the risks and opportunities of leaving the EU and coordinating planning. Given the interactions between EU exit work and the Department’s other priorities, it would not be possible to give an accurate figure.
Asked by: Tom Brake (Liberal Democrat - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what the total cost to the public purse for his Department’s work preparing for the UK to leave the EU has been since 23 June 2016.
Answered by Margot James
Work relating to the UK leaving the EU, is an all-of-government operation. Members of staff across the Department provide advice and analysis on EU Exit issues as required. But, given the interactions between EU Exit work and the departments other priorities, it would not be possible to give an accurate figure of cost.
Asked by: Tom Brake (Liberal Democrat - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment the Government has made of the effect on the productivity of the hospitality sector of the reduction in EU net migration to the UK.
Answered by Michael Ellis
We have not made an assessment of the effect of a reduction in EU net migration on the productivity of the hospitality sector. The Government remains committed to improving productivity, as set out in its Industrial Strategy.
The Government has been clear that after the UK leaves the EU, free movement will end but migration between the UK and the EU will continue. The UK will remain an open and tolerant country; one that recognises the valuable contribution migrants make to our society.
We recognise that international migrants make a significant contribution to the hospitality sector, which continues to grow and is supported by the record numbers of inbound visitors to the UK (39.2 million in 2017, 4% more than in 2016). We have encouraged the sector to feed views into the Migration Advisory Committee's call for evidence, including a granular understanding of the roles in tourism with domestic skills gaps
Asked by: Tom Brake (Liberal Democrat - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions have taken place in negotiations on the UK leaving the EU on UK citizens and businesses paying mobile roaming charges in the EU after the UK has left the EU; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Margot James
On 12 July the government published a White Paper on the future relationship between the UK and the EU. It provides a framework for wider negotiations. The White Paper states that: “To ensure that open trade between the UK and EU economies is not at the expense of consumers, and in the context of the future economic partnership, the UK proposes to commit to maintain reciprocal high levels of consumer protection”.
Asked by: Tom Brake (Liberal Democrat - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions the Government has had with the European Commission on ensuring that businesses can hold and transfer data and personal information to EU member states without interruption after the UK has left the EU.
Answered by Margot James
The government is committed to agreeing a UK-EU model for protecting and exchanging personal data that maintains the free unhindered flow of personal data between the UK and the EU post-exit; offers stability and confidence for EU and UK individuals and businesses, as well as public authorities; reassures EU and UK citizens that their data is subject to robust protection; and does not impose unnecessary additional costs to EU and UK businesses.
The government holds regular discussions with the EU on the future economic and security partnerships, covering a wide range of topics. In May 2018, UK government officials presented slides to the European Commission outlining a framework for a UK-EU future partnership on data protection. The slides are available on gov.uk. A further paper was presented by the UK government to the Commission in June 2018, which set out the benefits to the EU of a new data protection agreement. The paper is available on gov.uk.
Asked by: Tom Brake (Liberal Democrat - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether he is able to intervene in circumstances in which Virgin Media fails to provide telecommunication services to a charitable organisation within a reasonable timeframe.
Answered by Margot James
Using the new powers in the Digital Economy Act 2017, Ofcom has introduced, amongst other actions, an Automatic Compensation Scheme that will benefit around 90% of landline and broadband customers in the UK from early 2019. As part of this scheme, if a provider promises a residential customer to start a new service on a particular date, but fails to do so, they will have to pay £5 for each calendar day of delay. For business customers, Ofcom is also introducing new rules to ensure all SMEs are given clearer, more detailed information upfront about what service quality to expect. This includes whether they can claim compensation when problems occur.
At present, if the charitable organisation has a customer relationship with Virgin Media, the complaint for failing to provide telecommunication services can be pursued with Virgin Media. If Virgin Media are unable to resolve the situation within eight weeks, or where the complaint reaches deadlock, the case can be referred for alternative dispute resolution (ADR) to the Communications & Internet Services Adjudication Scheme (CISAS), providing it meets the scheme’s eligibility criteria. Further details about their service can be viewed at: https://www.cedr.com/consumer/cisas.