Asked by: Tracy Gilbert (Labour - Edinburgh North and Leith)
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 effectiveness of legislation on the transparency of charity funding and donations.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Government and the Charity Commission are alive to the risks of state threats to the charity sector. The Charity Commission works with other agencies to protect the sector from the risks of being exploited, and also has guidance on protecting charities from abuse for extremist purposes.
The Government works closely with a range of partners to tackle foreign interference in our society. Where there is clear evidence of unacceptable activity, the Government will respond accordingly. In July 2025, the Government launched the Foreign Influence Registration Scheme (FIRS), which is designed to enable transparency of foreign influence and strengthen the resilience of the UK political system, as well as providing greater assurance around the activities of certain foreign powers or entities in the UK. In addition, as set out by the Security Minister in Parliament on 4 March, under the counter-political interference and espionage plan, officials are developing a programme of work to engage with the UK’s think-tanks and non-profit sector to discuss the threats that they face from foreign interference.
Greater transparency is to be encouraged as a matter of good practice, but it is not a legal requirement for charities to publicly disclose the identity of individual donors or grant-makers. Donor anonymity is an important consideration in ensuring people have the confidence to donate to charitable causes they care about.
Asked by: Tracy Gilbert (Labour - Edinburgh North and Leith)
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 with Cabinet colleagues of the vulnerability of the third sector to be used by foreign actors to influence UK politics.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Government and the Charity Commission are alive to the risks of state threats to the charity sector. The Charity Commission works with other agencies to protect the sector from the risks of being exploited, and also has guidance on protecting charities from abuse for extremist purposes.
The Government works closely with a range of partners to tackle foreign interference in our society. Where there is clear evidence of unacceptable activity, the Government will respond accordingly. In July 2025, the Government launched the Foreign Influence Registration Scheme (FIRS), which is designed to enable transparency of foreign influence and strengthen the resilience of the UK political system, as well as providing greater assurance around the activities of certain foreign powers or entities in the UK. In addition, as set out by the Security Minister in Parliament on 4 March, under the counter-political interference and espionage plan, officials are developing a programme of work to engage with the UK’s think-tanks and non-profit sector to discuss the threats that they face from foreign interference.
Greater transparency is to be encouraged as a matter of good practice, but it is not a legal requirement for charities to publicly disclose the identity of individual donors or grant-makers. Donor anonymity is an important consideration in ensuring people have the confidence to donate to charitable causes they care about.
Asked by: Tracy Gilbert (Labour - Edinburgh North and Leith)
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 the potential impact of the practice by video game publishers of remotely disabling access to games that consumers have legally purchased on consumer rights.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government is aware of concerns relating to the continued access to video games, including licensed, online-only video games, and we appreciate the frustrations of players of some games that have been discontinued. The Government has responded to a recent petition on this issue.
There are no plans to amend existing consumer law on disabling video games. Those selling games must comply with existing requirements in consumer law, including the Consumer Rights Act 2015 (CRA) and Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 (CPRs), giving clear advice to consumers. Video game sellers must not omit or hide material information, or provide it in an unclear, unintelligible, ambiguous or untimely manner.