Commons Sense

House of Commons · Ministers' Questions

Topical Questions

Thursday 16 January 2020 · 8 questions

Summarised by AI from the official record, so it can contain mistakes.

Read the full transcript on Parliament.uk

At a glance

Answered 8 Partly answered 0 Not answered 0

Key points

  • Minister committed to making the UK the safest place to be online and the best digital economy.
  • Government announced banning gambling on credit cards due to harmful practices.
  • Parliament aims to lay affirmative secondary legislation to increase society lottery sales limits soon.

Topics (select to filter)

Questions & Answers

Q1 Damian Collins Con Loughborough
Culture, Media & Sport
Context

The government has previously considered the issue of online harms in Parliament.

Question

It is important that we act to ensure that big social media companies do more to protect people from harmful content online, and that this should be overseen by an independent regulator with statutory powers to ensure that they do so. Can the Minister confirm press reports that the Government will respond in the next few weeks to the online harms White Paper?

Answer from Nigel Adams (Minister of State for Digital and Culture)

My hon. Friend is going to have to settle for an answer from the Box. We are committed to making the UK the safest place to be online and the best digital economy in the world. As the Prime Minister said at Prime Minister's questions, we are developing legislative proposals at pace and we will bring forward a Bill as soon as possible.

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Q2 Kevin Brennan Lab Cardiff West
Culture, Media & Sport
Context

The Government have made some recent interventions on gambling, including the ban of credit card use for online gambling.

Question

My father used to enjoy a weekly 10 bob yankee down the bookies, but he would have been appalled at the sheer volume of advertising and the dodgy practices that are going on in picking on vulnerable people in relation to gambling. When are the Government going to introduce the new gambling Bill that is so long overdue?

Answer from Helen Whately (Minister of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport)

I thank my hon. Friend for his question. He is absolutely right to raise this again, because there is a huge level of concern about gambling in this country. As he says, we announced this week that we were banning gambling on credit cards, because we know that that is particularly harmful. We are also going to review the Gambling Act 7035 to ensure that it is fit for the modern age.

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Q3 Marco Longhi Con Tewkesbury
Culture, Media & Sport
Context

The government recently announced a ban on the use of credit cards for online gambling.

Question

Many people have had their lives ruined by a gambling addiction, so I commend my hon. Friend for her decision to ban people from gambling using credit cards and therefore using money that they often do not have. What other steps are the Government taking to deal with the scourge of problem gambling?

Answer from Helen Whately (Minister of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport)

I thank my hon. Friend for his question. He is absolutely right to raise this again, because there is a huge level of concern about gambling in this country. As he says, we announced this week that we were banning gambling on credit cards, because we know that that is particularly harmful. We are also going to review the Gambling Act 7035 to ensure that it is fit for the modern age.

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Q4 Brendan O'Hara SNP Glasgow North West
Culture, Media & Sport
Context

The government announced last year an increase in the limits for society lottery sales and prize limits, but this requires affirmative secondary legislation.

Question

It is six months to the day since the Government announced that the limits on charity lotteries would be raised, but to the frustration of charities and good causes, nothing has been done and they are losing millions of pounds of potential funding. Could the Minister perhaps text the Public Gallery and ask the Secretary of State when this will be done?

Answer from Helen Whately (Minister of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport)

As the hon. Gentleman said, we announced last year that we would be increasing society lottery sales and prize limits. These changes require affirmative secondary legislation, and our aim is to lay this in Parliament very soon.

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Q5 James Wild Con Grimsby
Science & Technology
Context

The government has pledged to deliver gigabit broadband across the UK.

Question

While I warmly welcome the pledge to deliver gigabit broadband, many of my constituents in Grimston, Heacham, Brancaster and other places have yet to receive speeds of 10 megabits per second. Will the Minister confirm that the plans are ready to deliver minimum speeds from March, and that the Government will hold BT to account to do that?

Answer from Matt Warman (Minister for Business, Energy and Clean Growth)

My hon. Friend is right that we must ensure that the 10-megabit universal service obligation is delivered on the ground. We will of course continue to talk to the two providers— BT and KCOM—to ensure that it is there when it needs to be in March this year.

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Q6 Patricia Gibson SNP North Ayrshire and Arran
Scotland Science & Technology
Context

The Scottish Government relies on UK government funding for broadband infrastructure.

Question

The Scottish Government received just £21 million of UK Government funding for broadband—3.5% of the total funding in Scotland—with the other £580 million being paid by the Scottish Government. Despite the nonsense we often hear in this Chamber, broadband is a matter reserved to the UK Government. Will the Minister therefore explain why the UK Government are failing properly to fund broadband in Scotland?

Answer from Matt Warman (Minister for Business, Energy and Clean Growth)

The hon. Lady is right that we hear a lot of nonsense in this Chamber—primarily from the SNP Benches. It is deeply disappointing that the Scottish Government's delivery of R100 has been delayed again. The UK Government have provided significant amounts of funding, and we will continue to work with the Scottish Government to provide the help they so clearly need.

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Q7 Jonathan Edward Gullis Con Richmond Park
Science & Technology Local Government
Context

The Conservative-led Stoke-on-Trent City Council is working on a full fibre broadband roll-out.

Question

The Conservative-led Stoke-on-Trent City Council is working to roll out full fibre broadband across the Potteries with this Government's unique funding. Given that Staffordshire University is a pioneer in game design and video production and that this new Conservative Government will be rolling out full gigabit broadband across the country, does my hon. Friend agree that silicon Stoke is a real possibility?

Answer from Matt Warman (Minister for Business, Energy and Clean Growth)

My hon. Friend makes an excellent point on this Government's full fibre roll-out programme across the country. I pay tribute to my right hon. Friend the Member for Stoke-on-Trent South (Jack Brereton) and his colleagues in delivering this scheme.

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Q8 Kerry McCarthy Lab
Context

The EU copyright directive could aid creators in obtaining repeat fees for their work, benefiting actors from shows like 'Casualty' and 'Holby City'.

Question

Will the Government assure us that the directive will be transposed into UK law as soon as possible?

Answer from Nigel Adams

We will of course consider whether to adopt the copyright directive. I agree that it contains many protections for our creative sector, but the decision will be taken over the coming year.

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