Apr. 19 2024
Source Page: Letter dated 17/04/2024 from Lucy Frazer MP to Chris Bryant MP regarding the Labour Party and Creative Tax Reliefs. 2p.Found: reliefs for the creative industries by opposing tax relief for high-end TV productions and the video game
Asked by: Navendu Mishra (Labour - Stockport)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to help increase participation of (a) girls and (b) women in cricket.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government is committed to supporting women's sport at every opportunity including pushing for greater participation.
We are pleased to see the significant progress in the number of women and girls taking up cricket in recent years, and wider developments in the women’s game, as noted by the Independent Commission for Equity in Cricket (ICEC) report. The England and Wales Cricket Board’s five year plan, Inspiring Generations, launched in 2020 aims to inspire a new generation to believe that ‘cricket is a game for me’. The plan focuses on six priority areas including making cricket gender-neutral with women and girls being properly represented across the whole game.
Initiatives like Chance to Shine, which receives funding from Sport England, play an important role in encouraging girls to play cricket. The project gives all children the opportunity to play, learn and develop through cricket.
The Independent Commission for Equity in Cricket (ICEC) report notes that while positive progress has been made in the women’s game, there are still areas of concern where more action is needed.
The ECB has provided a full response to the ICEC report and has committed to taking on board the majority of the recommendations to create lasting change across the sport. We welcome the ECB’s commitment to bring forward a plan to tackle these serious issues and secure a sustainable future for the sport, and look forward to receiving updates on this.
Jul. 24 2023
Source Page: The legislation game at Civil Service LiveFound: The legislation game at Civil Service Live
Asked by: Angela Crawley (Scottish National Party - Lanark and Hamilton East)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether she plans to increase regulation of micro-transactions in video games.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government monitors the impact of microtransactions in video games on players, including children and young people. In 2020, we launched a call for evidence on loot boxes in video games which found an association between purchasing loot boxes and problem gambling, although no causal link has been found.
We have since welcomed new industry-led guidance to improve protections for players and meet the following Government objectives that:
purchases of loot boxes should be unavailable to all children and young people unless and until they are enabled by a parent or guardian; and
all players should have access to and be aware of spending controls and transparent information to support safe and responsible gaming.
We are working with industry and academics to monitor the implementation and effectiveness of the new guidance and will provide an update following the 12-month implementation period, and independent academic scrutiny. We continue to keep our position on possible future legislative options under review. We monitor developments in other international jurisdictions, including Belgium, although no recent discussions with Belgian counterparts have taken place.
Whilst the new guidance relates to paid loot boxes specifically, a number of the measures are relevant to in-game microtransactions more broadly, particularly for children and young people. This includes driving awareness of and uptake of parental controls, and running a three-year £1 million public information campaign to provide information to players and parents about safe and responsible play
We have also published a Video Games Research Framework to improve the evidence base on the impacts of video games, including microtransactions and player spending. The Framework outlines the research topics and priorities which we have identified as core areas in need of further research. This includes better understanding of the impact of different monetisation features on players’ experiences, and the effectiveness of mechanisms to mitigate the risk of problematic spending behaviours.
While some microtransactions share similarities with traditional gambling products, we view the ability to legitimately cash out rewards as an important distinction. In particular, the prize does not normally have real world monetary value outside of the game, and its primary utility is to enhance the in-game experience. The Gambling Commission has shown that it can and will take robust enforcement action where the trading of items obtained from in-game microtransactions does amount to unlicensed gambling. Microtransactions within video games - including loot boxes - are also subject to consumer protection legislation that protects against misleading or aggressive marketing.
Asked by: Angela Crawley (Scottish National Party - Lanark and Hamilton East)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether she has had discussions with her Belgian counterpart on regulating micro-transactions in video games as gambling.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government monitors the impact of microtransactions in video games on players, including children and young people. In 2020, we launched a call for evidence on loot boxes in video games which found an association between purchasing loot boxes and problem gambling, although no causal link has been found.
We have since welcomed new industry-led guidance to improve protections for players and meet the following Government objectives that:
purchases of loot boxes should be unavailable to all children and young people unless and until they are enabled by a parent or guardian; and
all players should have access to and be aware of spending controls and transparent information to support safe and responsible gaming.
We are working with industry and academics to monitor the implementation and effectiveness of the new guidance and will provide an update following the 12-month implementation period, and independent academic scrutiny. We continue to keep our position on possible future legislative options under review. We monitor developments in other international jurisdictions, including Belgium, although no recent discussions with Belgian counterparts have taken place.
Whilst the new guidance relates to paid loot boxes specifically, a number of the measures are relevant to in-game microtransactions more broadly, particularly for children and young people. This includes driving awareness of and uptake of parental controls, and running a three-year £1 million public information campaign to provide information to players and parents about safe and responsible play
We have also published a Video Games Research Framework to improve the evidence base on the impacts of video games, including microtransactions and player spending. The Framework outlines the research topics and priorities which we have identified as core areas in need of further research. This includes better understanding of the impact of different monetisation features on players’ experiences, and the effectiveness of mechanisms to mitigate the risk of problematic spending behaviours.
While some microtransactions share similarities with traditional gambling products, we view the ability to legitimately cash out rewards as an important distinction. In particular, the prize does not normally have real world monetary value outside of the game, and its primary utility is to enhance the in-game experience. The Gambling Commission has shown that it can and will take robust enforcement action where the trading of items obtained from in-game microtransactions does amount to unlicensed gambling. Microtransactions within video games - including loot boxes - are also subject to consumer protection legislation that protects against misleading or aggressive marketing.
Asked by: Angela Crawley (Scottish National Party - Lanark and Hamilton East)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department (a) has and (b) plans to make an assessment of the potential impact of micro-transactions in video games on levels of spending among children and young people.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government monitors the impact of microtransactions in video games on players, including children and young people. In 2020, we launched a call for evidence on loot boxes in video games which found an association between purchasing loot boxes and problem gambling, although no causal link has been found.
We have since welcomed new industry-led guidance to improve protections for players and meet the following Government objectives that:
purchases of loot boxes should be unavailable to all children and young people unless and until they are enabled by a parent or guardian; and
all players should have access to and be aware of spending controls and transparent information to support safe and responsible gaming.
We are working with industry and academics to monitor the implementation and effectiveness of the new guidance and will provide an update following the 12-month implementation period, and independent academic scrutiny. We continue to keep our position on possible future legislative options under review. We monitor developments in other international jurisdictions, including Belgium, although no recent discussions with Belgian counterparts have taken place.
Whilst the new guidance relates to paid loot boxes specifically, a number of the measures are relevant to in-game microtransactions more broadly, particularly for children and young people. This includes driving awareness of and uptake of parental controls, and running a three-year £1 million public information campaign to provide information to players and parents about safe and responsible play
We have also published a Video Games Research Framework to improve the evidence base on the impacts of video games, including microtransactions and player spending. The Framework outlines the research topics and priorities which we have identified as core areas in need of further research. This includes better understanding of the impact of different monetisation features on players’ experiences, and the effectiveness of mechanisms to mitigate the risk of problematic spending behaviours.
While some microtransactions share similarities with traditional gambling products, we view the ability to legitimately cash out rewards as an important distinction. In particular, the prize does not normally have real world monetary value outside of the game, and its primary utility is to enhance the in-game experience. The Gambling Commission has shown that it can and will take robust enforcement action where the trading of items obtained from in-game microtransactions does amount to unlicensed gambling. Microtransactions within video games - including loot boxes - are also subject to consumer protection legislation that protects against misleading or aggressive marketing.
Asked by: Angela Crawley (Scottish National Party - Lanark and Hamilton East)
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 micro-transactions in video games on gambling behaviours among children and young people.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government monitors the impact of microtransactions in video games on players, including children and young people. In 2020, we launched a call for evidence on loot boxes in video games which found an association between purchasing loot boxes and problem gambling, although no causal link has been found.
We have since welcomed new industry-led guidance to improve protections for players and meet the following Government objectives that:
purchases of loot boxes should be unavailable to all children and young people unless and until they are enabled by a parent or guardian; and
all players should have access to and be aware of spending controls and transparent information to support safe and responsible gaming.
We are working with industry and academics to monitor the implementation and effectiveness of the new guidance and will provide an update following the 12-month implementation period, and independent academic scrutiny. We continue to keep our position on possible future legislative options under review. We monitor developments in other international jurisdictions, including Belgium, although no recent discussions with Belgian counterparts have taken place.
Whilst the new guidance relates to paid loot boxes specifically, a number of the measures are relevant to in-game microtransactions more broadly, particularly for children and young people. This includes driving awareness of and uptake of parental controls, and running a three-year £1 million public information campaign to provide information to players and parents about safe and responsible play
We have also published a Video Games Research Framework to improve the evidence base on the impacts of video games, including microtransactions and player spending. The Framework outlines the research topics and priorities which we have identified as core areas in need of further research. This includes better understanding of the impact of different monetisation features on players’ experiences, and the effectiveness of mechanisms to mitigate the risk of problematic spending behaviours.
While some microtransactions share similarities with traditional gambling products, we view the ability to legitimately cash out rewards as an important distinction. In particular, the prize does not normally have real world monetary value outside of the game, and its primary utility is to enhance the in-game experience. The Gambling Commission has shown that it can and will take robust enforcement action where the trading of items obtained from in-game microtransactions does amount to unlicensed gambling. Microtransactions within video games - including loot boxes - are also subject to consumer protection legislation that protects against misleading or aggressive marketing.