Asked by: Baroness Jones of Whitchurch (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to raise awareness of the risks of online scams, particularly for those with limited digital skills.
Answered by Viscount Camrose - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
This Government is committed to protecting those who are most vulnerable to online scams.
The Online Safety Act will require social media providers to take steps to safeguard their users from illegal scams and fraudulent advertising. In overseeing the framework, Ofcom must ensure that there are adequate protections for those that are most vulnerable to online harm.
The legislation also expands Ofcom’s duty to promote media literacy under the 2003 Communications Act. The regulator is now required to raise the public’s awareness of how to keep themselves and others safe online. It will need to publish a strategy for achieving this, which must be updated every three years.
In tandem, the Government is taking action to improve people’s media literacy more widely. In July 2021, we published the Online Media Literacy Strategy. This seeks to support the empowerment of internet users with the skills they need to make safe and informed choices online. Through the Strategy, the Government is funding multiple organisations to support the media literacy and critical thinking skills of vulnerable internet users.
Written Evidence Mar. 06 2024
Inquiry: The future of news: impartiality, trust and technologyFound: Trust in the news media, for example, can be understood as faith in media organizations as expert
Written Evidence Feb. 20 2024
Inquiry: The future of news: impartiality, trust and technologyFound: FON0009 - The future of news: impartiality, trust and technology Department for Culture, Media and Sport
Written Evidence Mar. 18 2024
Inquiry: The future of news: impartiality, trust and technologyFound: Media literacy: Since 2003 we have had responsibilities to promote and research media literacy,
Written Evidence Mar. 20 2024
Inquiry: Defending DemocracyFound: Media literacy to empower citizens to reflect upon and critically analyse content they see, and deepfake
Mentions:
1: John Penrose (Con - Weston-super-Mare) We ended up with some useful points, particularly duties on Ofcom relating to media literacy and making - Speech Link
2: Andrew Percy (Con - Brigg and Goole) Friend has outlined are important, as are the things about digital media literacy and all the rest of - Speech Link
3: Jim Shannon (DUP - Strangford) Government should invest in initiatives and strategies that promote media literacy, while technology - Speech Link
4: Chris Evans (LAB - Islwyn) That enables students to be confident with media literacy and allows them to be resilient in the face - Speech Link
Mentions:
1: None that the Ulverston library offers a vital service to a local people from lending books to supporting literacy - Speech Link
2: None In addition, they provide practical help and guidance, including for literacy, digital skills, health - Speech Link
Mentions:
1: Rosie Winterton (Lab - Doncaster Central) improving levels of media literacy among audiences in the period covered by the plan, which must be - Speech Link
2: John McDonnell (Lab - Hayes and Harlington) literacy and the demands for consultation on media changes. - Speech Link
3: John McDonnell (Lab - Hayes and Harlington) pursuing that media literacy requirement. - Speech Link
Asked by: Gosal, Pam (Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party - West Scotland)
Question
To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to ensure that young people learn life skills and financial literacy while at school.
Answered by Gilruth, Jenny - Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills
Curriculum for Excellence seeks to provide our young people with the knowledge, attitudes and skills to succeed as underpinned by its four capacities: successful learners; confident individuals; responsible citizens and effective contributors. Financial literacy and the life skills feature in learning about numeracy and maths, business studies and personal and social education.
Education Scotland provides support to schools through curriculum guidance, in particular the “ Building the Curriculum 4 ” publication which is relevant to literacy, numeracy and associated thinking skills; skills for health and wellbeing, including personal learning planning, career management skills, working with others, leadership and physical co-ordination and movement skills; and skills for enterprise and employability. Schools can also access the Skills for Development Framework from the Scottish Qualifications Authority relevant to their senior phase qualifications.
In the senior phase, financial literacy features in qualifications such as SCQF levels 4 & 5 Personal Finance awards and the Applications of Mathematics qualifications, which provides advanced learning in a range of core and practical maths skills; including finance. Education Scotland also provide a range of further professional learning resources on financial literacy. A range of organisations offer further support to schools to reinforce and enhance learning in financial education including HMRC, Barclays Lifeskills, NatWest MoneySense and the Young Enterprise ‘My Money’ Talks.
In relation to skills for life and work, examples of relevant senior phase qualifications and awards include: the SafeCert SCQF Level 6 Award in Emergency First Aid at Work; Prince's Trust SCQF Awards and certificates in Personal Development and Employability Skills; Duke of Edinburgh’s Award and Youth Scotland Dynamic Youth Awards. These are in addition to a range of SQA technical and vocational qualifications. Total attainment for SQA Skills for Work, SQA Awards, National Certificates and National Progression Awards in 2023 was 72,120 passes, up 12.3% from 64,240 in 2022, the highest number on record.
Mentions:
1: Viscount Camrose (Con - Excepted Hereditary) literacy strategy to generate awareness of and resilience to misinformation and disinformation. - Speech Link
2: Viscount Camrose (Con - Excepted Hereditary) We are establishing bridges between these communities and the social media platforms. - Speech Link