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  • Gregory Campbell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Gregory Campbell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gregory Campbell on 2016-04-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions his Department has held with football associations and police forces on ensuring security and protection for fans travelling abroad for the European Championships.

    David Evennett

    My Department has regular discussions with both the Home Office and the FCO on a range of matters in relation to the 2016 UEFA European Football Championships taking place in France this summer. Departments are in contact with the relevant football associations, and fans attending the tournament will be encouraged to follow the Government’s official travel advice.

  • Carolyn Harris – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Carolyn Harris – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Carolyn Harris on 2016-04-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment his Department has made of the progress made by bookmakers in reducing gambling-related harm.

    David Evennett

    This Government has been clear with the whole gambling industry that they are expected to demonstrate they are continuously improving player protection initiatives and evaluating the effects of previous initiatives. The Association of British Bookmakers (ABB) revised its social responsibility Code of Conduct in 2015. On 6 April the industry also launched the multi-operator self-exclusion scheme, which allows customers to self-exclude from all bookmakers at once.

    In January, we published the Evaluation of Gaming Machine (Circumstances of Use) (Amendment) Regulations 2015, which can can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/evaluation-of-gaming-machine-circumstances-of-useamendment-regulations-2015. We are considering the findings of the evaluation before deciding if there is a need for further action.

  • Rachael Maskell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Rachael Maskell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rachael Maskell on 2016-04-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps he is taking to ensure that regional museums and galleries are adequately funded.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    Councils have almost £200 billion to spend on local services, over the lifetime of this parliament. It is for each local authority who know their area best to decide how to allocate its budget to provide museum services to its communities.

    In addition, through the Arts Council England, DCMS has increased funding for 21 Major Partner Museums Networks (130 Museums in total) from £20.3m to £22.6 million over 2015-2018. Regional museums can bid for funds from ACE’s £10 million per year Resilience Fund, and for lottery funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund. We are also investing millions of pounds to boost local and regional museums, for example, £5 million towards a new South Asia Gallery at Manchester Museum and £2.5 million to the Manchester Museum of Science and Industry.

    As announced in our Culture White Paper, we will conduct a wide-ranging review into the museums sector that will examine local and regional museums, as well as Government-sponsored museums and the museums infrastructure nationally.

  • Scott Mann – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Scott Mann – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Scott Mann on 2016-04-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps his Department is taking to increase tourism in Cornwall from (a) domestic and (b) foreign visitors.

    David Evennett

    Our tourism industry supports millions of jobs and is one of the nation’s leading employers and export earners. In 2014, the sector contributed nearly £60bn to the UK economy, and at the latest spending round the Chancellor announced a new £40m Discover England to encourage international visitors to explore beyond London. In the South West, the number of domestic visitors has​ increased by 14% in the 12 months to December 2015, compared with the previous year; and we have been working to promote international tourism through the £5m South West Tourism Growth Fund. Full-year data for international visitors in 2015 will be released in due course.

  • David Mackintosh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    David Mackintosh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Mackintosh on 2016-04-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 9 March 2016 to Question 30395, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that (a) consumers are aware of the broadband speeds available to them and (b) internet service providers are transparent with consumers about the best speeds available.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    Ofcom’s Broadband speeds Code of Practice requires that Internet Service Providers provide consumers with clear, accurate information on broadband speeds, including the maximum speeds they can achieve, the estimated speed on their line, and factors that may slow down the speed, such as any fair use or traffic management policies.

    In addition, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) provides rules on how headline broadband speed claims are presented to consumers, including requiring the use of the qualification ‘up to’ when presenting the headline broadband speed, and that the maximum stated speed must be achieved by at least 10% of the relevant customer base.

  • Daniel Zeichner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Daniel Zeichner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2016-04-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how much of the Local Growth Fund has been earmarked for (a) housing loan finance and (b) flexible grant funding.

    James Wharton

    The £12 billion Local Growth Fund includes £2 billion for housing loan finance and up to £7.1 billion of flexible grant funding.

  • Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-04-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answers of 21 March 2016 to Questions 31227 and 31228, if he will review what guidance is given by his Department to local authorities on public private partnerships.

    Mr Marcus Jones

    There are no current plans to produce updated guidance for local authorities on public private partnerships. However, my Department continuously reviews developments in the sector and if it is identified that take-up of new public private partnerships by local authorities is increasing, I will reconsider this position.

  • David Mackintosh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    David Mackintosh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Mackintosh on 2016-04-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what procedures his Department has to ensure that housing associations maintain an adequate level of housing stock available for key workers.

    Brandon Lewis

    Housing associations have ambitious plans to increase their housing stock over the next few years. The Government is supporting this with £8 billion of funding to deliver over 400,000 affordable homes. This will extend the opportunity of home ownership to more hard working families, including key workers, through measures aimed at doubling the number of first time buyers. The funding prospectus for the new Shared Ownership and Affordable Homes Programme was published on Wednesday 13 April.

    The voluntary Right to Buy between the Government and the housing association sector will give another 1.3 million families the chance to purchase a home at Right to Buy level discounts. Homes sold to tenants under this agreement will be replaced on a one for one basis using the proceeds from the sale of the property.

  • Daniel Zeichner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Daniel Zeichner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2016-04-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of adequacy of the level of transparency in the recruitment process for Chief Fire Officers.

    Mike Penning

    Matters of recruitment are for individual fire and rescue authorities as employers. However, Ministers have been clear that payments for senior fire officers who return to employment immediately after retirement are an unacceptable use of taxpayers’ money, especially when fire authorities need to be making sensible savings.

    That is why this Government has issued explicit guidance on the re-employment of senior staff who have previously been in receipt of a redundancy or severance payment, or who are in receipt of a local government or fire service pension. Fire and rescue authorities have the ability to deal with this problem and should do so. The public have a right to know when, and on what basis, these decisions have been made, and we have made provision for this.

  • Roberta Blackman-Woods – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Roberta Blackman-Woods – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roberta Blackman-Woods on 2016-04-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, with reference to paragraph 6 of the March 2016 Locally-led Garden, Towns and Cities prospectus, when he will introduce legislative proposals to update the New Towns Act 1981.

    Brandon Lewis

    The government will introduce legislation to update the New Towns Act 1981 at the earliest legislative opportunity.