Tag: Chi Onwurah

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2016-10-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what consumer protection is available for people who book and pay for accommodation through Airbnb and then find that the accommodation does not exist.

Margot James

Consumer protection is a cornerstone of a well-functioning economy that works for everyone. As such, all UK consumers, including those in the sharing economy, are covered by consumer protection regulations against unfair commercial practices.

As the sharing economy continues to grow and diversify an important part of the success of companies, such as AirBnB, will be ensuring the safety and confidence of consumers is paramount. The Government has worked closely with sharing economy businesses and recognises that a number of companies are taking welcome steps to achieve this. Alongside this, the trade body SEUK, has recently developed a Kitemark to give consumers increased trust and confidence.

The Government will continue to work with industry to consider what further steps may be necessary to ensure consumers are adequately protected as part of a sharing economy that works for all.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2015-11-03.

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 15 October 2015 to Question 11489, if he will make available the minutes of the Data Steering Group.

Matthew Hancock

The Data Steering Group has been established, chaired by the National Statistician, John Pullinger, which brings together leading experts to advise government on the strategic direction of the new Government Data Programme. Notes of these meetings will be made available on the Government Data Programme blog page on GOV.UK in due course.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2015-11-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps are taken by (a) his Department and (b) Ofcom to investigate objections to the content of a UK-licenced radio station made by a foreign government.

Mr Edward Vaizey

Any complaint made by a foreign government about a television or radio station that is licensed in the UK is a matter for Ofcom to deal with.

Ofcom will apply the same procedures that they use for evaluating any other complaint. Those procedures are available from Ofcom’s website at:

http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/broadcasting/guidance/complaints-sanctions/standards/

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2015-11-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what requirements for wifi delivery his Department plans to put in future rail franchises; and how his Department plans to assess the quality of wifi service provided pursuant to those franchises.

Claire Perry

On all Department for Transport-controlled rail franchises, in England and Wales, free Wi-Fi is being introduced. All train operators bidding for new franchises and direct award agreements will have to present a phased implementation plan for free Wi-Fi, which will deliver Wi-Fi on the majority of all franchised train fleets by end of 2018.

Train operators will be required to monitor and report on performance, availability and usage of the service.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2015-11-30.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, for what reasons statistics on National Lottery good causes expenditure has not been updated on the gov.uk website since December 2014; and when he plans to publish those updated statistics.

Tracey Crouch

We have encountered significant technical difficulties in updating the National Lottery Grants Database which have proved much more complex to resolve than anticipated. The delay in updating is very unfortunate however we have been working hard to resolve the issue and expect an update to be accessible in the New Year. Meanwhile, information about grants can be found on the websites of many distributors.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2015-12-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what proportion of the total declared claw back from BT under National Broadband Scheme contracts has been reallocated to local authorities for additional roll-out under the Scheme.

Mr Edward Vaizey

All of the£129 million clawback funding that has been announced by BT is available to the local authorities to support additional roll-out, subject to suitable deployment opportunities being identified which ensure value for money.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2016-01-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many (a) homes and (b) businesses he expects to receive a rural satellite broadband voucher in the next 12 months.

Mr Edward Vaizey

Up to 300,000 premises are currently eligible for support under the Universal Service Commitment.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2016-01-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what his policy is on (a) the number and type of wheelchair access and accompanying person spaces at sports stadiums and (b) ticketing prices and arrangements for those spaces; and what support his Department advises such stadiums to extend to those who use wheelchairs and those who accompany them.

David Evennett

We believe that all people should be able to enjoy and participate in sports – and that disability should not be a barrier to that. Approved accessibility audits should be undertaken by individual clubs and stadia to determine the number and type of wheelchair access and accompanying person spaces which are available at those venues. The Accessible Stadia guide also sets out the minimum guidelines for such accommodation. Ticketing prices and arrangements for those spaces are a matter for the individual club or stadium to determine. My Department advises that such stadiums and clubs make the reasonable adjustments necessary to accommodate those who use wheelchairs and for those who accompany them in line with the provisions of the Equality Act 2010.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2016-02-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment (a) his Department and (b) Ofcom has made of the number of (a) business parks which do not have superfast broadband and (b) businesses based in business parks which do not have superfast broadband.

Mr Edward Vaizey

In its 2015 publication Connected Nations, Ofcom estimated that 68% of SMEs had access to superfast broadband in May 2015, and almost half (around 130,000) in certain business areas were unable to receive speeds above 10Mbit/s.

The Government is supporting investment to provide superfast broadband coverage to 90% of UK premises by early 2016 and 95% by December 2017. In addition, BDUK’s Connection Voucher Scheme issued around 55,000 vouchers to businesses to enable to access Superfast broadband. However, this does not include the provision of leased lines which offer an alternative connectivity option for businesses.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2016-03-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what requirements or guidelines her Department issues on the reference or inclusion of digital and online resources in the curriculum (a) in general and (b) for students without access to broadband at home.

Nick Gibb

The National Curriculum, introduced from September 2014, focuses on the essential knowledge that teachers should teach, not on how they should teach it.

Schools are best placed to decide which resources meet their needs and to secure these accordingly. Wherever possible, the development of new resources and training should be sector-led, with schools prioritising their use of funding in their budgets in order to best exploit the opportunities offered by the new National Curriculum.

The Government is in favour of schools embracing digital technology in order to improve educational outcomes. We want to see schools making informed decisions about what and how technology will best meet their specific needs, keeping in mind that pedagogy should drive the use of technology.

Where teachers use digital resources in the curriculum, we would expect them to take into account the circumstances of all pupils and make appropriate provision for those without access to broadband at home.