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Tag: Chi Onwurah

  • 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 2016-02-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many times the Minister of State for Culture and the Digital Economy has visited each region in the last year.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    The Minister of State for Culture and the Digital Economy has visited the following local authorities since Feburary 2015: ​Southampton City Council, City of Cardiff Council, Norwich City Council, Ipswich Borough Council, Watford Borough Council, Northampton Borough Council, Corby Borough Council, Brighton & Hove City Council, Coventry City Council, Bristol City Council, Sheffield City Council, Hull City Council, City of York Council, Leeds City Council, Chichester City Council, Guildford Borough Council, Manchester City Council, Liverpool City Council, Peterborough City Council, Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council, and Birmingham City Council. DCMS ministers make sure to experience the excellent work being carried out by their sectors across the country, whilst balancing their parliamentary and departmental duties in Westminster.

  • Chi Onwurah – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Chi Onwurah – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2016-02-26.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of whether payments to AirBnB constitute remittances for the purposes of financial regulation.

    Harriett Baldwin

    I can confirm that Airbnb is not currently an FCA-authorised firm. However, it is not for the Government to comment on the regulatory status of individual firms. It is for the FCA to decide whether a firm should be brought into regulation, based on a detailed assessment of that firm’s activities, and with reference to the regulations that the FCA is responsible for enforcing. It is for firms to review their own business operations to see whether they are carrying out regulated activities.

  • 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 2016-04-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what progress has been made on the implementation of the Government’s Digital Inclusion Strategy, published in April 2014.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    Government has invested heavily in basic digital skills. For example, BIS continues to fund a programme to help people gain the skills needed to access employment, education and wider opportunities. The Future Digital Inclusion programme aims to support 1 million people, including those with low skills, the unemployed and people with disabilities and learning difficulties. It indirectly supports SMEs and sole traders. Since September 2014 it has supported 482,000 individuals. Last year, Arts Council England oversaw government investment of £2.7m for more than 1,000 libraries to ensure that free WiFi is now available in over 99% of libraries in England.

    Increasing the level of digital engagement in the UK requires commitment from all sectors. To date, 93 organisations have signed up to collaborate with government departments to increase digital engagement in the UK. This commits them to working together to join up their efforts where relevant, to scale up good ideas and to devise new and innovative solutions. A wide range of activities and programmes have been delivered by partners across the UK.

  • 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 2016-05-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many voucher codes have been issued to date under the satellite broadband subsidy scheme; and for what proportion of those codes has installation been completed.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    The Basic Broadband Scheme comprises two schemes running in parallel: the main scheme is administered by the Local Authorities and BT using only satellite suppliers; and the second supplementary scheme is administered by BDUK and uses fixed wireless suppliers as well as satellite suppliers. These schemes form part of the Government’s commitment to ensure that every home and business in the UK has access to a broadband service of at least 2 Mbps.

    On the main scheme, there have been 2774 successful applications for codes, with 278 going on to place orders. On the supplementary scheme, there has been 1171 successful applications for codes, with 282 going on to place orders.

  • 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 2016-05-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many (a) fixed residential and (b) business broadband lines there were in each parliamentary constituency in the latest year for which data is available.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    BDUK do not hold data on the number of residential and broadband lines in each constituency.

  • Chi Onwurah – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Chi Onwurah – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2016-07-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to his Department’s distributed ledger technology benefits payments trial, whether restrictions are placed on where benefit recipients can spend their benefits payments; whether benefit recipients’ spending will be tracked; what information is given to benefit recipients taking part in that trial about the potential risks to their privacy; what incentives are provided to benefit recipients to take part in that trial; what data analysis is being carried out as part of that trial and how that analysis complies with Government guidelines on conducting data science projects; and when his Department plans to publish the privacy impact assessment on that trial.

    Damian Hinds

    The DWP works continuously with industry partners to identify and test new innovations that could save taxpayer money, safeguard information and better protect payments to customers.

    The DWP is undertaking some small scale research involving blockchain technology which is expected to last 3-6 months with the results available in the last quarter of 2016. It uses a private permissioned distributed ledger to allow participants to store their transactions, including payments from DWP. Those transactions can then be viewed securely on a mobile application so that they can, if they wish, monitor and allocate their spending into categories, check their available balance and plan future spending. There are currently about 12 people in the trial which we expect to increase to around 24 people by the close.

    The participants in the trial have complete control over their data and how it is used; the government does not receive or see any of that data. The DWP takes privacy and security extremely seriously and this will form part of the learning from the trial.

  • Chi Onwurah – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Chi Onwurah – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2016-09-05.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the Open Banking Standard report published in February 2016, how the Government plans to ensure that customers provide informed consent when using open banking services.

    Simon Kirby

    The Open Banking Working Group was created at the request of the government to explore options for allowing customers to use their bank data in a safe, secure and efficient manner. The Group published its report in February 2016. The conclusions reached represent the views of the Working Group and are not government policy.

    Subsequently, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) issued the final report of its investigation into retail banking on 9 August 2016. As part of this, the CMA requires nine leading UK banks to create an open API (Application Programming Interface) to allow access to customer account information as set out in the revised Payment Services Directive (PSDII), which will come into force in January 2018. Informed consent, data protection and cyber security are key considerations in the PSDII, and the government will be consulting on the transposition of this directive shortly.

  • 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 2016-10-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions she has had with the BBC Trust and Ofcom on the implications for users of the BBC requiring registration and identification to use iPlayer.

    Matt Hancock

    The case for requiring user verification for the iPlayer was discussed during the Charter Review process and the White Paper, published in May, made clear that the Government thinks there is a case for iPlayer to require verification both to improve enforcement and allow BBC content to be ‘portable’ for UK licence fee payers. However, it will ultimately be up to the BBC to decide if and how they wish to implement this.

  • 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 2016-10-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will ask Ofcom to review communications markets definitions to reflect the role of data as an effective proxy for payment, particularly in regard to the standard SSNIP test.

    Matt Hancock

    As the independent communications regulator it is for Ofcom to determine how it should approach the issue of defining communications markets and how it applies the standard SSNIP test. Ofcom does already take into account developments such as the role of advertising and the role of data as proxy for payments in the course of carrying out its duties and will continue to do so in its assessments of market power and its analysis of competition.

  • Chi Onwurah – 2022 Speech on Post Office Compensation Scheme

    Chi Onwurah – 2022 Speech on Post Office Compensation Scheme

    The speech made by Chi Onwurah, the Labour MP for Newcastle upon Tyne Central, in the House of Commons on 7 December 2022.

    I welcome today’s statement and apology, which represent an important step forward in the delivery of justice following what may well be the largest miscarriage of justice in our country’s history. There have been 900 prosecutions. All the postmasters involved have their own stories of dreams crushed, careers ruined, families destroyed, reputations smashed, and lives lost. Innocent people have been bankrupted and imprisoned.

    Let me start by paying tribute to the Justice for Subpostmasters Alliance, the campaigning group, and to the hundreds of sub-postmasters whom no monetary amount can compensate for the injustice that they have suffered. This has been a long walk towards justice, and Members in all parts of the House have stood and spoken out in solidarity with the postmasters. I want to recognise, in particular, my right hon. Friend the Member for North Durham (Mr Jones) and Lord Arbuthnot, who are rightly to be members of the independent advisory board.

    I also pay tribute to the Minister who was previously formerly responsible for the Post Office, the hon. Member for Sutton and Cheam (Paul Scully). I do not do so lightly, but after successive Conservative Governments had sat on the scandal, he was the first to take hold of it and eventually—following much campaigning by Members of Parliament and members of the Labour party—to establish a statutory inquiry. Finally, I want to thank the journalist Nick Wallis, whose BBC Radio 4 series “The Great Post Office Trial” did much to bring this scandal to general attention.

    While I am pleased that some kind of acceptable outcome for the postmasters seems finally to be in sight, I have some questions to ask. The press release refers to a compensation scheme for postmasters who helped to expose the scandal, but I remind the Secretary of State that it was his Government who spent years aiding and abetting the Post Office in targeting those self-same postmasters who were looking for justice. Nearly £100 million was spent by the Post Office to defend the indefensible as part of a campaign of intimidation and deceit. The Government are the only shareholder in the Post Office, so it is right for the Secretary of State to take responsibility.

    At the core of this unforgivable scandal is the belief that workers were dishonest and technology infallible. Perhaps that is not surprising, given the Government’s track record on defending the rights of working people. Decent, honest people have had their lives torn apart, have been put in prison, and have been made to wait years for justice. Will the Secretary of State tell us how long he expects it will take for this scheme, and the other schemes, to pay the appropriate compensation, and whether the aim of these schemes is to return people to what would have been their original position had it not been for their involvement in Horizon? Will he also tell us which legal firm will be involved in the administration of this scheme, and whether that firm has previously advised either the Government or the Post Office on this matter?

    Value for taxpayers’ money is a key consideration on this side of the House, even if the Government like to waste it. Having wasted tens of millions of pounds on persecuting postmasters, can the Secretary of State tell us where the money for the scheme will come from as we face a cost of living crisis made in Downing Street? Will post office services suffer, or will other budgets be cut? The press release does not mention the Justice for Subpostmasters Alliance or Alan Bates, who led its efforts. Does the scheme have their full support?

    I hope the Secretary of State agrees that those who were involved in this injustice should not benefit from their involvement. Will he tell us how he intends to hold Fujitsu to account, and whether it is still being given Government contracts? Will he also tell us whether he supports the continued retention of the CBE that was awarded to Paula Vennells—who oversaw the Horizon scandal—for services to the Post Office?

    The Post Office is a national institution. It is part of so many of our lives. Its reputation has been hugely tarnished by this scandal, and I hope the Secretary of State will tell us how he intends to ensure that this never happens again and that the sub-postmasters receive justice as soon as possible.

    Grant Shapps

    I am grateful for the hon. Lady’s comments, although I rather hoped the House would come together today and debate this matter in a non-political, cross-party way, and she sought to make a number of, I think, somewhat inappropriate political points. I should gently point out that it was her party that was in power for the first 11 years of this scandal. I am pleased that we have worked across parties to fix it, and I think we should leave it there.

    Earlier today I spoke to Alan Bates, the founder and leader of the Justice for Subpostmasters Alliance, who is sitting in the Public Gallery. Obviously the members of the JFSA will speak for themselves, as they always have, about the extent to which they are satisfied with today’s statement, but we have been working closely together. The Minister for Enterprise, Markets and Small Business, my hon. Friend the Member for Thirsk and Malton (Kevin Hollinrake), has been meeting them as well, and will be keeping a close eye on the operation of the scheme.

    I reiterate the hon. Lady’s comments in thanking not just the right hon. Member for North Durham (Mr Jones) —as I did earlier—but my hon. Friend the Member for Sutton and Cheam (Paul Scully), Lord Arbuthnot, and others who have campaigned endlessly on this issue, including the BBC journalist Nick Wallis, who has played an important role in this long battle.

    The hon. Lady asked about timescales. As I said in my statement, we aim to complete this part of the scheme by the end of 2023, or, I hope, sooner. The large number of documents that we are putting online this morning will enable people to get on with processing their applications before making formal applications early next year. Sir Wyn Williams, who is conducting the formal inquiry, will, I hope, be able to shed significant light on what went wrong and provide a set of recommendations to prevent it from happening again. I have no doubt that Members, certainly on this side of the House, will be anxiously awaiting those recommendations.