The below Parliamentary question was asked by Anne-Marie Trevelyan on 2015-10-21.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when he plans to publish the Armed Forces Covenant Report 2015; and if he will make a statement.
Mark Lancaster
The 2015 Armed Forces Covenant Annual Report is scheduled for publication in December 2015.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2015-10-21.
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what comparative estimate he has made of the costs, other than initial offers, of a typical package of landline and broadband services in (a) the UK, (b) France, (c) Germany, (d) Spain and (e) Ireland.
Mr Edward Vaizey
The followingOfcom publications provide price comparisondata for the UK, France, Germany and Spain. Ofcom’s International Communications Market Report (December 2014)
http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/market-data-research/market-data/communications-market-reports/cmr14/international/; and Ofcom’s European Broadband Scorecard (February 2015)
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2015-10-21.
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to his Answer of 13 October 2015 to Question 11722, which companies provide fixed broadband services in the UK.
Mr Edward Vaizey
Any company that complies with Ofcom’s General Conditions Entitlement has authorisation to provide telecommunications services in the UK. This Department does not hold a comprehensive list of companies that provide fixed broadband services in the UK.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Carolyn Harris on 2015-10-21.
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to paragraph 7 of his Department’s Triennial Review of gaming machine stake and prize limits, published in October 2013, whether it is his policy that there is a serious case to answer in relation to the potential harm caused by category B2 gaming machines.
Tracey Crouch
Following the last review, new measures were introduced in April 2015 to help players of fixed odds betting terminals (FOBTs) stay in control. Players of FOBTs who want to stake more than £50 in one play are now required to interact with staff over the counter or register a customer account card. My department are in the process of conducting an evaluation of thesemeasuresand I will publish the results in due course.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dr Matthew Offord on 2015-10-21.
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what plans his Department has to protect cultural heritage abroad.
Mr Edward Vaizey
Government is committed to the protection of Cultural Heritage abroad.A £3m Iraqi Emergency Heritage Management Project – run by the British Museum over five years – will create a team of local experts to assess, document and stabilise afflicted sites in Iraq, and help begin the process of reconstruction and preservation of some of the world’s most precious culturalheritage. The Culture Secretary has also reaffirmed the Government’s commitment to ratifying the Hague Convention on the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict – with a plan to get it onto the statute books at the first opportunity. This isthe firstpart of a comprehensive Government plan to rescue ancient sites and objects from destruction by terrorists, wars or natural disasters across the world.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gregory Campbell on 2015-10-21.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the potential effect on employment in the hospitality sector of reducing the VAT rate in that sector to 10 per cent.
Mr David Gauke
The Government has reviewed the economic case for a reduction in VAT for the hospitality sector.
The Government position was set out in the Westminster Hall debate on 17 March 2015.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dan Jarvis on 2015-10-21.
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps his Department is taking to maintain the level of regional news provision after the BBC Charter review.
Mr Edward Vaizey
We welcome the BBC’s commitment to work in partnership with local news providers, as it set out in its proposals published in September, and look forward to seeing these proposals developed further in discussion with industry to make sure they have a positive impact.
The overall scale and scope of the BBC, including the provision regional news, is part of the Charter Review discussion.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2015-10-21.
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment he has made of the level of mobile telephone coverage available to train passengers in tunnels; how that matches his Department’s coverage targets; whether his Department classifies such coverage as in-building coverage; and what steps he is taking to improve that coverage.
Mr Edward Vaizey
The Department for Transport is leading work on improving mobile coverage on the rail network and my department is working closely with them. A joint Call for Evidence was issued in June and responses received are currently being analysed.
This complements the ongoing improvements to mobile coverage arising from the Government’s landmark agreement with mobile network operators in 2014, to provide coverage to 90% of the UK landmass, and the licence obligation on Telefonica to provide indoor 4G coverage to 98% of UK premises by 2017.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Carolyn Harris on 2015-10-21.
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps his Department has taken to ensure that bookmakers have a code of conduct relating to fixed odds betting terminals.
Tracey Crouch
It is a licence condition that bookmakers adhere to social responsibility requirements, as set out in the Gambling Commission’s Licence Conditions and Codes of Practice, including specific requirements on fixed odds betting terminals (FOBTs). In addition, the Association of British Bookmakers recently published its revised Code on Social Responsibility, which also requires its members to have in place measures on FOBTs to help players stay in control.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Neil Gray on 2015-10-21.
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how much funding has been returned to his Department by BT following take up beyond 20 per cent under the Broadband Delivery UK contract.
Mr Edward Vaizey
The rollout of superfast broadband is delivering value for customers and for the taxpayer – BT has committed to return up to £129 million to local authorities and devolved administrations to further fund local broadband projects, as take-up of broadband services is likely to exceed the 20 per cent assumed in BT’s initial financial model.