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  • Helen Goodman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Helen Goodman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Goodman on 2016-04-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what recent discussions he has had with the newspaper industry on ad-blocking and platform regulation.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    The Secretary of State hold regular discussions with the newspaper industry on a wide range of issues. As he said in his speech to the Oxford Media Convention on 2 March 2016, he will shortly be hosting roundtable meetings with a wide range of relevant stakeholders, including newspaper industry representatives, to discuss ad-blocking and its impact.

  • Chi Onwurah – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Chi Onwurah – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2016-04-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what progress his Department has made against its targets set out in the Government’s Digital Inclusion Strategy of April 2014 on reducing the number of people who are digitally excluded.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    The 2014 Digital Inclusion Strategy, created under the last Government, sets out a series of commitments and digital inclusion targets for government and the private and voluntary sectors.

    Since the Strategy was published, ONS data has indicated a reduction in the proportion of adults who have never used the internet, from 13% in 2014 to 11% in 2015. However there are still a significant proportion of the UK population that lack basic digital skills, which is why work must continue across all sectors to increase digital engagement and motivate people to get online and make the most of the internet.

  • Chi Onwurah – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Chi Onwurah – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2016-04-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what statistics his Department collects on the use of computers in libraries.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    The annual library statistics compiled, and published in December 2015, by the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy indicate that from 1 April 2014 to 31 March 2015 there were 26 million recorded hours of use of computers in public libraries in England.

  • Chi Onwurah – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Chi Onwurah – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2016-04-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessments he has made of the role of libraries in reducing digital exclusion.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    Libraries play a significant role in supporting digital engagement, by providing computers and WiFi to enable people to access the internet and digital services, as well as offering digital skills training and support.

    Thanks to Government funding, free WiFi is available in 99% of public libraries in England. DCMS and the Leadership for Libraries Taskforce are working with national partners to develop the role of libraries in improving digital engagement. From 1 October 2015 to 31 March 2016, The Tinder Foundation, in partnership with the Taskforce, carried out a Libraries Digital Inclusion Action Research Project. This supported 16 library authorities across England to pilot and assess new approaches to build digital engagement in socially excluded, hard to reach groups. The Foundation published interim findings in February 2016, and a final report is due in this summer that will help inform future digital engagement activity for libraries.

  • Julie Elliott – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Julie Elliott – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julie Elliott on 2016-04-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps his Department is taking to prevent scam and nuisance calls exploiting unknowing consumers.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    The Government takes all types of fraud, including those operating through telephones, extremely seriously.

    The Government is taking forward a range of measures to tackle nuisance calls, which will increase consumer protection and choice by strengthening the Information Commissioner’s Office’s (ICO) ability to take enforcement action against organisations that break the law.

    Specific actions include; lowering the threshold under the the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulation 2003 (PECR) to make it easier for the ICO to take action against organisations that break the law, resulting in £3,420,000 worth of fines issued; and we recently made an amendment to PECR, requiring direct marketing companies registered in the UK, to display Calling Line Identification.

    The Department is also working closely with Home Office who recently launched a new joint fraud taskforce to tackle the issue of scams. Further information about the taskforce is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/home-secretary-launches-new-joint-fraud-taskforce

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  • Gerald Kaufman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Gerald Kaufman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gerald Kaufman on 2016-04-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, when he intends to answer the letter to him dated 10 March 2016 from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton, with regard to Ms B Touhy.

    Mr Marcus Jones

    A reply was sent to the right hon. Member on 26 April.

  • Craig Tracey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Craig Tracey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Craig Tracey on 2016-04-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many emergency traveller sites there are in England; and how many of those sites are operational.

    Brandon Lewis

    The Department for Communities and Local Government does not collect or publish data on emergency traveller sites.

  • Nick Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Nick Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nick Smith on 2016-04-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many (a) incidents have been reported to trading standards teams of and (b) prosecutions have taken place for food with falsely-labelled ingredients in the most recent period for which figures are available.

    Jane Ellison

    Monitoring food businesses to ensure compliance with legislation on food labelling and composition is the responsibility of county councils, unitary authorities, the London Boroughs and some but not all metropolitan borough councils. These local authorities are also responsible for taking enforcement action, including prosecutions, where non-compliance is found.

    Data is reported to the Food Standards Agency (FSA) on the number of food analyses undertaken in relation to compositional issues and labelling and presentation issues; 23,599 analyses were undertaken in 2014/15, 16,899 for compositional issues and 6,700 for labelling and presentation issues.

    Data is also reported to the FSA on the total number of prosecutions concluded for food standards issues. This includes action in relation to composition, labelling and presentation but also for other issues such as chemical contamination. In 2014/15, 75 United Kingdom food establishments were subject to prosecution.

    The FSA has recently established a central register of successful food law prosecutions. Data collected for the first year of operation of the register is not yet complete, but in future it will provide more definitive data on prosecutions for offences of this nature.

  • Justin Madders – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Justin Madders – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Justin Madders on 2016-04-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what representations he has received in favour of elected mayors in Cheshire and Warrington.

    James Wharton

    Cheshire and Warrington were one of 38 areas across the country to submit devolution deal proposals in September 2015. Devolution deal proposals are developed and led by local areas. Therefore, the decision to release information regarding the content of any submission—including governance objectives—is a matter for the local area to decide, not the Government.

  • Justin Madders – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Justin Madders – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Justin Madders on 2016-04-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many public consultations his Department has conducted on the subject of mayors in Cheshire and Warrington since 2010.

    James Wharton

    Devolution deals, including commitments for mayoral governance, are negotiated and agreed with those democratically elected to represent their area, and who are accountable to their local electorate.

    This Department has not undertaken direct public consultations on this matter in Cheshire and Warrington.