Asked by: Mark Tami (Labour - Alyn and Deeside)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if she will publish details of all official correspondence received by her Department from representatives of (a) CVC Capital Partners and (b) Sisal Group since 1 July 2019.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The competition for the next licence to run the National Lottery is run by the Gambling Commission. Government is not involved in selecting the winning bid. The Commission has received four final applications to run the licence. This is the highest number of applications received since the first licence was awarded in 1994 and reflects the strength of the competition, and the market’s recognition of the opportunity which exists.
While the competition remains on-going it is not appropriate to comment on whether an individual, or organisation, has participated in any stage of it. We have no plans to publish any correspondence received by the Department from either CVC Capital Group or Sisal partners.
As part of the Department’s public appointments process, applicants to public bodies roles, including to the Gambling Commission’s board, must declare in their application any private interests which would result in actual, potential or perceived conflicts of interest. On taking up an appointment to the Gambling Commission, Commissioners are required to adhere to principles in Nolan Principles and the Gambling Commission’s own Code of Conduct for Commissioners. Further to this:
All Commissioners are required to declare interests at least annually, and ensure in year changes are notified as necessary;
Their interests are published on the Gambling Commission’s website;
Declarations of interest are sought at the beginning of every board and committee meeting; and
When an interest is declared, it is reviewed by the Head of Governance and the Chair of the Commission to identify if any action is required as a result (up to and including asking my Department to terminate the appointment/asking them to terminate their interest).
The purpose of the National Lottery, as set out in legislation, is to raise monies for the four good cause pillars. The National Lottery must be run by a single purpose vehicle, with controls in place to ensure that proceeds cannot be diverted to another area of the operator’s business. The mechanism by which proceeds are divided between good cause returns and profits will be set out in the licence while decisions about the use of their profits will be a matter for the operator.
Defined benefit pension schemes are an important source of retirement income for many people in the UK, and the Government is committed to ensuring that they are protected. Whilst it is not appropriate for Ministers to comment on the arrangements of particular pension schemes, the Pensions Regulator monitors private Defined Benefit pension schemes and has the powers to act where they believe a breach of the law has taken place. The Government is committed to strengthening the powers at the disposal of the Regulator and new sanctions, within the Pension Schemes Act 2021, will strengthen the punishment for irresponsible management of pension schemes.
Asked by: Mark Tami (Labour - Alyn and Deeside)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to ensure that political donations made to the Conservative Party by managing parties of CVC Capital, the owner of Sisal S.p.A Group do not influence the Government's approach to the Fourth National Lottery Licence.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The competition for the next licence to run the National Lottery is run by the Gambling Commission. Government is not involved in selecting the winning bid. The Commission has received four final applications to run the licence. This is the highest number of applications received since the first licence was awarded in 1994 and reflects the strength of the competition, and the market’s recognition of the opportunity which exists.
While the competition remains on-going it is not appropriate to comment on whether an individual, or organisation, has participated in any stage of it. We have no plans to publish any correspondence received by the Department from either CVC Capital Group or Sisal partners.
As part of the Department’s public appointments process, applicants to public bodies roles, including to the Gambling Commission’s board, must declare in their application any private interests which would result in actual, potential or perceived conflicts of interest. On taking up an appointment to the Gambling Commission, Commissioners are required to adhere to principles in Nolan Principles and the Gambling Commission’s own Code of Conduct for Commissioners. Further to this:
All Commissioners are required to declare interests at least annually, and ensure in year changes are notified as necessary;
Their interests are published on the Gambling Commission’s website;
Declarations of interest are sought at the beginning of every board and committee meeting; and
When an interest is declared, it is reviewed by the Head of Governance and the Chair of the Commission to identify if any action is required as a result (up to and including asking my Department to terminate the appointment/asking them to terminate their interest).
The purpose of the National Lottery, as set out in legislation, is to raise monies for the four good cause pillars. The National Lottery must be run by a single purpose vehicle, with controls in place to ensure that proceeds cannot be diverted to another area of the operator’s business. The mechanism by which proceeds are divided between good cause returns and profits will be set out in the licence while decisions about the use of their profits will be a matter for the operator.
Defined benefit pension schemes are an important source of retirement income for many people in the UK, and the Government is committed to ensuring that they are protected. Whilst it is not appropriate for Ministers to comment on the arrangements of particular pension schemes, the Pensions Regulator monitors private Defined Benefit pension schemes and has the powers to act where they believe a breach of the law has taken place. The Government is committed to strengthening the powers at the disposal of the Regulator and new sanctions, within the Pension Schemes Act 2021, will strengthen the punishment for irresponsible management of pension schemes.
Asked by: Caroline Lucas (Green Party - Brighton, Pavilion)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions she is having with her international counterparts in the 43 jurisdictions that criminalise private (a) consensual sexual activity between women using laws against lesbianism, (b) sexual relations with a person of the same sex and (c) gross indecency on the repeal of those laws.
Answered by Wendy Morton
UK Government ministers and our overseas missions continue to urge countries that criminalise LGBT+ individuals, and same sex conduct to uphold the universality of human rights, to decriminalise same-sex relations and to pass laws to protect their LGBT+ people from violence and discrimination. We remain committed to funding £3 million of LGBT+ rights projects this year, including project work with a focus on tackling discriminatory legislation.
Asked by: Ben Bradshaw (Labour - Exeter)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what representations she is making to her counterparts in the 15 jurisdictions that criminalise the gender identity and/or expression of transgender people, using cross-dressing, impersonation and disguise laws, on repealing those laws.
Answered by Wendy Morton
UK Government ministers and our overseas missions continue to urge countries that criminalise LGBT+ individuals, and same sex conduct to uphold the universality of human rights, to decriminalise same-sex relations and to pass laws to protect their LGBT+ people from violence and discrimination. We remain committed to funding £3 million of LGBT+ rights projects this year, including project work with a focus on tackling discriminatory legislation.
Asked by: Ben Bradshaw (Labour - Exeter)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what representations she is making to her counterparts in the 11 jurisdictions in which the death penalty is imposed or at least a possibility for private, consensual same-sex sexual activity on repealing those laws.
Answered by Wendy Morton
UK Government ministers and our overseas missions continue to urge countries that criminalise LGBT+ individuals, and same sex conduct to uphold the universality of human rights, to decriminalise same-sex relations and to pass laws to protect their LGBT+ people from violence and discrimination. We remain committed to funding £3 million of LGBT+ rights projects this year, including project work with a focus on tackling discriminatory legislation.
Asked by: Crispin Blunt (Independent - Reigate)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 7 June 2021 to Question 7725, on Psilocybin: Health Hazards, for what reason her Department has not commissioned a review into the scheduling status of psilocybin in the context of no recent analysis of the evidence for that drug's harm having been commissioned or published by the Government to support the compound being a Class A and a Schedule 1 drug and recent evidence of that drug's clinical and experimental potential.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
There is an established process for the development of medicines, which enables medicines (including those containing Schedule 1 drugs such as psilocybin) to be developed, evaluated in clinical trials and licensed based on an assessment of their safety, quality and efficacy.
The Government recognises that a number of studies into the potential use of psilocybin as part of the treatment for mental health conditions have been or are being conducted in the UK. However, medicines based on psilocybin have not yet been licensed by the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Authority (MHRA) which would address safety, quality and efficacy concerns. Ministers could seek advice from the ACMD about the rescheduling of psilocybin-based products on the basis of evidence of the therapeutic use of unlicensed medicines, but we would ordinarily do this only in consultation with the Department for Health and Social Care and the MHRA.
The MHRA continues to support the safe and scientifically sound conduct of trials in this area and also to provide regulatory and scientific advice to companies at all stages of developing medicines. Should a company apply for a marketing authorisation (a product licence), it will ultimately be a decision for the MHRA whether to license a psilocybin-based medicine as a therapy.
If a psilocybin-based medicine is made available following an assessment of its quality, safety and efficacy by the MHRA, the Home Office will seek and then consider advice provided by the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) on its scheduling under the Misuse of Drugs Regulations 2001 as soon as possible. Such advice is a statutory requirement and will be considered before any decision is taken on scheduling under the 2001 Regulations.
Asked by: Fleur Anderson (Labour - Putney)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he or any of the Ministers in his Department use personal email addresses to conduct Government business.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
Departmental business is conducted through the official DfT email systems. Any correspondence to external addresses will be directed to our official DfT channels.
All DfT staff and ministers have DfT email accounts and sign up to acceptable use and cyber security operating policies, which state that departmental business must be conducted via DfT email addresses, and not personal email or other web-based mail system.
Asked by: Fleur Anderson (Labour - Putney)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether she or any of the Ministers in her Department use personal email addresses to conduct Government business.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Ministers will use a range of digital forms of communication for discussions in line with relevant guidance on information handling and security.
Ministers will have informal conversations from time to time, in person or remotely, and significant content relating to government business from such discussions is passed back to officials.
The Cabinet Office has previously published guidance on how information is held for the purposes of access to information, and how formal decisions are recorded for the official record. Ministers are also given advice on managing the security risks inherent in electronic communications.
Asked by: Fleur Anderson (Labour - Putney)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he or any of the Ministers in his Department use personal email addresses to conduct Government business.
Answered by Nigel Adams
Ministers will use a range of digital forms of communication for discussions in line with relevant guidance on information handling and security. Ministers will have informal conversations from time to time, in person or remotely, and significant content relating to government business from such discussions is passed back to officials.
The Cabinet Office has previously published guidance on how information is held for the purposes of access to information, and how formal decisions are recorded for the official record. Ministers are also given advice on the security of electronic communications.
Asked by: Florence Eshalomi (Labour (Co-op) - Vauxhall)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether he or any of the Ministers of his Department use personal email addresses to conduct Government business.
Answered by Nick Gibb
I refer the hon. Member for Vauxhall to the answer I gave on 5 July 2021 to Questions 23184 and 23186.