Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what recent discussions he has had with representatives of internet search providers to tackle the presence of advertisements encouraging additional payments for tasks of minimal financial cost or no cost, including driving licence renewal and health cards.

My department continues to work closely across government to support the development of a coherent and robust approach to dealing with online fraud, including with the Home Office as the lead department responsible for setting out the government’s approach to tackling fraud. The Government is aware this type of advertising exists and depending on the final scope of the policy, this type of advertising may fall within the scope of the Online Advertising Programme. The programme is seeking to reduce harms through online advertising.

Following a call for evidence in 2020, DCMS will be launching the Online Advertising Programme later this year to examine how best to strengthen standards around the placement and content of online advertising to minimise these types of financial harm, and to ensure they can be effectively enforced, including through new legislation where required.

More information about the Online Advertising Programme can be found here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/online-advertising-call-for-evidence/online-advertising-call-for-evidence