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

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether the Government consulted the British Board of Film Classification as part of the recent consultation on audience protection standards on video-on-demand services; and whether the Government has made any assessment of the value to VoD consumers of BBFC age ratings being applied more consistently on such services.

The government is considering levelling the playing field between traditional broadcasters and on-demand streaming services to provide a fair competitive framework, and to give viewers confidence that equivalent standards are applied regardless of the technologies they choose to use.

The Department has engaged with a wide range of stakeholders including video-on-demand providers, broadcasters, Ofcom, and the British Board of Film Classification. The government is considering responses to the recent consultation, which closed on the 26 October, and will respond in due course.