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1275150

registered interest
date	11/01/2021
answering body	Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
answering dept id	7
answering dept short name	Housing, Communities and Local Government
answering dept sort name	Housing, Communities and Local Government
hansard heading	Help to Buy Scheme: North East
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether his Department plans to increase the house value threshold for prospective first-time buyers in the North East under the Help to Buy: Equity Loan Scheme.
tabling member constituency	North Durham
tabling member printed	Mr Kevan Jones
uin	135834
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/01/2021 answer text <p>The Help to Buy: Equity Loan scheme offers loans of up to 20 per cent of the full purchase price of a new build homes in order to help tackle deposit constraints. This is consistent across the country, apart from in London where customers can make use of loans of up to 40 per cent in order to reflect the higher cost of housing.</p><p>The new first-time buyer Help to Buy scheme, which commences from 1 April, will introduce regional property price caps which set the maximum purchase price in each region. The regional caps were announced at Budget 2018 and are aligned to the first-time buyer market. They are all set at 1.5 times the forecast regional average first-time buyer price, in line with the Office of Budget Responsibility’s house price inflation forecast for 2021/22, up to a maximum of £600,000 in London.</p><p>The caps were designed to support the purchase of properties that are more consistent with the wider first-time buyer market. This in turn helps optimise the resources available to enable purchasers to achieve the dream of home ownership. We have recently reviewed the caps and continue to be satisfied they allow good availability of first-time buyer type properties in each region.</p><p>There will of course be local hotspots within each region that are more expensive. However, the approach is aimed at striking the right balance between better targeting the scheme so it can assist more first time buyers, whilst accounting for a degree of price variation within regions without the additional complexity that may arise from more localised caps. Therefore, there are no plans to revise the caps.</p> answering member constituency Tamworth answering member printed Christopher Pincher grouped question UIN 134372 question first answered 15/01/2021 12:07:27 answering member 4075 label Biography information for Christopher Pincher
tabling member	1438 label Biography information for Lord Beamish

1275156

registered interest
date	11/01/2021
answering body	Department for Transport
answering dept id	27
answering dept short name	Transport
answering dept sort name	Transport
hansard heading	Driving Tests: Key Workers
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will reinstate emergency driving tests for critical workers.
tabling member constituency	Bromley and Chislehurst
tabling member printed	Sir Robert Neill
uin	135887
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/01/2021 answer text <p>To help stop the spread of coronavirus, routine driving tests have been suspended in all areas of England, Scotland and Wales.</p><p> </p><p>In England and Wales, the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) will respond to requests for driving tests from organisations on behalf of frontline mobile emergency workers, who require a driving licence to carry out duties in their employment role. This service is restricted to candidates working in health and social care, and public bodies providing a service in the national interest. The DVSA will contact eligible organisations.</p><p> </p><p>Approved driving instructors and trainers can return to work only for the purpose of supporting a mobile emergency worker with a booked test.</p> answering member constituency Redditch answering member printed Rachel Maclean question first answered 15/01/2021 15:04:44 answering member 4668 label Biography information for Rachel Maclean
tabling member	1601 label Biography information for Sir Robert Neill

1275164

registered interest
date	11/01/2021
answering body	Department for Transport
answering dept id	27
answering dept short name	Transport
answering dept sort name	Transport
hansard heading	Motorcycles: Training
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the potential legislative changes necessary in order to extend the 2 year Compulsory Basic Training period before a full test or taking CBT again is required.
tabling member constituency	North West Norfolk
tabling member printed	James Wild
uin	136074
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/01/2021 answer text <p>Compulsory Basic Training (CBT) helps to ensure riders can ride safely on their own while they prepare to take the full moped or motorcycle test. It is the expectation motorcycle riders will go on and take their full test within two years. If they do not take the motorcycle test within this timeframe, they will need to renew their CBT.</p><p> </p><p>The Government has no current plans to extend the validity period for CBT pass certificates. Riders will need to pass another course if their certificate expires, in order to continue riding.</p> answering member constituency Redditch answering member printed Rachel Maclean question first answered 15/01/2021 15:01:33 answering member 4668 label Biography information for Rachel Maclean
tabling member	4787 label Biography information for James Wild

1275216

registered interest
date	11/01/2021
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Care Leavers and Children in Care: Coronavirus
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that (a) looked-after children and (b) care leavers can access (i) IT equipment and (ii) internet during the covid-19 lockdown announced in January 2021.
tabling member constituency	Birmingham, Selly Oak
tabling member printed	Steve McCabe
uin	135792
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/01/2021 answer text <p>The government is investing over £400 million to support access to remote education and online social care services, including securing 1.3 million laptops and tablets for disadvantaged children and young people. This includes over 700,000 laptops and tablets that were delivered to schools, academy trusts and local authorities by 11 January. We have published the latest data here:<a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/laptops-tablets-and-4g-wireless-routers-progress-data" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/laptops-tablets-and-4g-wireless-routers-progress-data</a></p><p>We prioritised the delivery of devices for children receiving support from a social worker and care leavers during the summer term of the 2019/20 academic year. The Department delivered devices to local authorities, so that all children receiving support from a social worker and care leavers would have access to a device. These devices are the property of the local authority and they are responsible for their ongoing maintenance and support.</p><p>We have partnered with the UK’s leading mobile operators to provide free data to help disadvantaged children get online as well as delivering 54,000 4G wireless routers for pupils without connection at home. We are grateful to EE, O2, Smarty, Sky Mobile, Tesco Mobile, Three, Virgin Mobile, and Vodafone. We continue to invite a range of mobile network providers to support the offer.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Chelmsford answering member printed Vicky Ford question first answered 15/01/2021 17:23:50 answering member 4674 label Biography information for Vicky Ford
tabling member	298 label Biography information for Steve McCabe

1275218

registered interest
date	11/01/2021
answering body	Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
answering dept id	10
answering dept short name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
answering dept sort name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
hansard heading	Video on Demand
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps he is taking to encourage the adoption of BBFC age ratings on online video streaming platforms.
tabling member constituency	Newcastle upon Tyne Central
tabling member printed	Chi Onwurah
uin	135926
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/01/2021 answer text <p>It is vital that children are protected from accessing age-inappropriate, harmful content online. We have now published the Full Government Response to the Online Harms White Paper consultation, which sets out how the proposed legal duty of care on online companies will work in practice and gives them new responsibilities towards their users. The strongest protections in our online harms proposals are for children. All companies in scope will be required to assess whether children are likely to access their services, and if so, provide additional protections for children using them. Companies will need to take steps to protect children from harmful content and activity on their service. We will set out in secondary legislation the priority harms that this regulation will tackle, in consultation with Ofcom. Ofcom will then set out in Codes of Practice the steps companies can take to protect children from harm on their services.</p><p>Ahead of Online Harms legislation, Regulations transposing the revised Audiovisual Media Services Directive came into force on 1 November 2020 which require UK-established video sharing platforms to take appropriate measures to protect minors from harmful content and all users from illegal content. The Regulations require that the most harmful content is subject to the strongest protections, such as age assurance or more technical measures. Ofcom, as the regulatory authority, may take robust enforcement action against video sharing platforms which do not adopt measures to adequately protect their users.</p><p>Over the past year we have been working with the BBFC and industry to drive the voluntary adoption of the BBFC’s age rating symbols to Video On Demand platforms. Doing so will provide consumers with well recognised age ratings and consumer advice.</p><p><strong> </strong></p> answering member constituency Gosport answering member printed Caroline Dinenage grouped question UIN 135927 question first answered 15/01/2021 16:39:35 answering member 4008 label Biography information for Dame Caroline Dinenage
tabling member	4124 label Biography information for Chi Onwurah

1275220

registered interest
date	11/01/2021
answering body	Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
answering dept id	10
answering dept short name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
answering dept sort name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
hansard heading	Social Media
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of applying BBFC ratings to user-generated video content on YouTube, Facebook and similar sites and linking those ratings to parental filters.
tabling member constituency	Newcastle upon Tyne Central
tabling member printed	Chi Onwurah
uin	135927
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/01/2021 answer text <p>It is vital that children are protected from accessing age-inappropriate, harmful content online. We have now published the Full Government Response to the Online Harms White Paper consultation, which sets out how the proposed legal duty of care on online companies will work in practice and gives them new responsibilities towards their users. The strongest protections in our online harms proposals are for children. All companies in scope will be required to assess whether children are likely to access their services, and if so, provide additional protections for children using them. Companies will need to take steps to protect children from harmful content and activity on their service. We will set out in secondary legislation the priority harms that this regulation will tackle, in consultation with Ofcom. Ofcom will then set out in Codes of Practice the steps companies can take to protect children from harm on their services.</p><p>Ahead of Online Harms legislation, Regulations transposing the revised Audiovisual Media Services Directive came into force on 1 November 2020 which require UK-established video sharing platforms to take appropriate measures to protect minors from harmful content and all users from illegal content. The Regulations require that the most harmful content is subject to the strongest protections, such as age assurance or more technical measures. Ofcom, as the regulatory authority, may take robust enforcement action against video sharing platforms which do not adopt measures to adequately protect their users.</p><p>Over the past year we have been working with the BBFC and industry to drive the voluntary adoption of the BBFC’s age rating symbols to Video On Demand platforms. Doing so will provide consumers with well recognised age ratings and consumer advice.</p><p><strong> </strong></p> answering member constituency Gosport answering member printed Caroline Dinenage grouped question UIN 135926 question first answered 15/01/2021 16:39:36 answering member 4008 label Biography information for Dame Caroline Dinenage
tabling member	4124 label Biography information for Chi Onwurah

1275281

registered interest
date	11/01/2021
answering body	Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
answering dept id	208
answering dept short name	Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
answering dept sort name	Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
hansard heading	China: Falun Gong
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what representations he has made to the Chinese Government on the persecution of followers and practitioners of Falun Gong.
tabling member constituency	Midlothian
tabling member printed	Owen Thompson
uin	136006
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/01/2021 answer text <p>We remain deeply concerned about the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners, Christians, Muslims, Buddhists and others on the grounds of their religion or belief in China. The freedom to practise, change or share ones faith or belief without discrimination or violent opposition is a human right that all people should enjoy. We regularly raise our concerns about the human rights situation with the Chinese authorities, and will continue to do so.</p> answering member constituency Selby and Ainsty answering member printed Nigel Adams question first answered 15/01/2021 09:30:35 answering member 4057 label Biography information for Nigel Adams
tabling member	4482 label Biography information for Owen Thompson

1275347

registered interest
date	11/01/2021
answering body	Department for Transport
answering dept id	27
answering dept short name	Transport
answering dept sort name	Transport
hansard heading	Motor Vehicles: Testing
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of further extending the MOT eligibility period in response to the January 2021 covid-19 lockdown.
tabling member constituency	Hornsey and Wood Green
tabling member printed	Catherine West
uin	136022
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/01/2021 answer text <p>MOT due dates for cars, motorcycles and light vans were automatically extended by six months from 30 March 2020 to help prevent the spread of COVID-19. These extensions ceased from 1 August 2020 and there are no current plans to reintroduce extensions to MOT due dates.</p><p> </p><p>Most garages remain open and are carrying out MOTs. MOT garages have received guidance on how to carry out MOT tests in a COVID-19 secure way and many MOT providers have also been able to introduce contact-free testing services, including pick-up and drop-off of vehicles.</p> answering member constituency Redditch answering member printed Rachel Maclean question first answered 15/01/2021 14:58:57 answering member 4668 label Biography information for Rachel Maclean
tabling member	4523 label Biography information for Catherine West

1275475

registered interest
date	11/01/2021
answering body	Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
answering dept id	7
answering dept short name	Housing, Communities and Local Government
answering dept sort name	Housing, Communities and Local Government
hansard heading	Building Safety Fund
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the Building Safety Fund imposes restrictions on recipients communicating with journalists about repairs without prior written approval; and, if so, why.
tabling member printed	Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle
uin	HL11960
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/01/2021 answer text <p>The building safety fund does not impose restrictions on leaseholders or residents in their private capacity as individual flat owners commenting on remediation projects or government policy. Funding agreements for the fund include a clause which is standard in commercial agreements between building owners and funders of construction of work which applies to communication with the media about the individual construction project. The clause applies to applicants to the fund who we expect to discuss with delivery partners in the first instance any queries about the remediation project or the funding agreement. We want a constructive working relationship with building owners who apply to the fund, which ensures that the Government’s provision of £1.6 billion of funding will make buildings safe for residents as swiftly as possible.</p><p> </p> answering member printed Lord Greenhalgh question first answered 15/01/2021 13:07:56 answering member 4877 label Biography information for Lord Greenhalgh
tabling member	4719 label Biography information for Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle

1274692

registered interest
date	08/01/2021
answering body	Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
answering dept id	10
answering dept short name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
answering dept sort name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
hansard heading	Music: Coronavirus
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if his Department will publish revised guidance to allow amateur singing groups to resume rehearsing and performing in a covid-secure way.
tabling member constituency	Wycombe
tabling member printed	Mr Steve Baker
uin	134420
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/01/2021 answer text <p>On 4 January the Prime Minister announced that new national restrictions would come into effect the following day in England to help stem the spread of coronavirus and the new variant strain of the virus. Guidance on the national restrictions advise that people should only leave home for a limited number of reasons and that people should travel to work only where it is unreasonable for you to do your job from home. We have updated the Performing Arts Guidance to be clear that during this period all amateur activity including amateur choirs and orchestras, cannot take place.</p><p>We are committed to moving to stage 5 of the performing arts roadmap, for both professional and amater activity, as soon as it is safe to do so. However we have always been clear that the activity permitted would be in line with the latest public health context.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Gosport answering member printed Caroline Dinenage question first answered 15/01/2021 13:55:39 answering member 4008 label Biography information for Dame Caroline Dinenage
tabling member	4064 label Biography information for Mr Steve Baker