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1353413

registered interest
date	07/09/2021
answering body	Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
answering dept id	201
answering dept short name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
answering dept sort name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
hansard heading	Post Offices
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what (a) steps his Department is taking to ensure effective provision of post office services across the UK and (b) funding his Department has provided to support that provision in each of the last five years.
tabling member constituency	Inverclyde
tabling member printed	Ronnie Cowan
uin	44381
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/09/2021 answer text <p>The Government protects the branch network by setting minimum access criteria and protects services by setting minimum services to be provided at post offices across the UK. These criteria ensure that 90% of the population are within one mile of the nearest post office branch and that 99% of the population are within three miles of the nearest post office branch.</p><p> </p><p>The Government invested £640 million in the Post Office between 2015 and 2018, £370 million from 2018 to 2021 and £227 million in 2021/22. This funding allows Post Office Ltd to safeguard services in the uncommercial parts of the network and invest for the future.</p> answering member constituency Sutton and Cheam answering member printed Paul Scully question first answered 15/09/2021 15:56:39 answering member 4414 label Biography information for Paul Scully
tabling member	4465 label Biography information for Ronnie Cowan

1353526

registered interest
date	07/09/2021
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	Universal Credit: Inverclyde
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the effect of the planned removal of the £20 per week uplift to the standard allowance of universal credit on claimants in Inverclyde constituency.
tabling member constituency	Inverclyde
tabling member printed	Ronnie Cowan
uin	44382
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/09/2021 answer text <p>No impact assessment has been made.</p><p> </p><p>The Chancellor announced a temporary six-month extension to the £20 per week uplift at the Budget on 3 March to support households affected by the economic shock of Covid-19. Universal Credit has provided a vital safety net for six million people during the pandemic, and the temporary uplift was part of a COVID support package worth a total of £407 billion in 2020-21 and 2021-22.</p><p> </p><p>The latest poverty figures (2019/20) demonstrate that absolute poverty rates (both before and after housing costs) for working-age adults in working families have fallen since 2009/10. In 2019/20, 8% of working age adults in working families were in absolute poverty (before housing costs), compared to 9% in 2009/10.</p><p> </p><p>There have been significant positive developments in the public health situation since the uplift was first introduced. With the success of the vaccine rollout and record job vacancies, it is right that our focus is on helping people back into work.</p><p> </p><p>Through our Plan for Jobs, we are targeting tailored support schemes of people of all ages to help them prepare for, get into and progress in work. These include: Kickstart, delivering tens of thousands of six-month work placements for UC claimants aged 16-24 at risk of unemployment; Restart, which provides 12 months’ intensive employment support to UC claimants who are unemployed for a year; and JETS, which provides light touch employment support for people who are claiming either Universal Credit or New Style Jobseekers Allowance, for up to 6 months, helping participants effectively re-engage with the labour market and focus their job search. We have also recruited an additional 13,500 work coaches to provide more intensive support to find a job. In total, our Plan for Jobs interventions will support more than two million people.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince grouped question UIN 44433 46952 question first answered 15/09/2021 17:00:46 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
tabling member	4465 label Biography information for Ronnie Cowan

1347719

registered interest
date	16/07/2021
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	Internet and Video Games: Gambling
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 data and research he has on the player base of people playing (a) loot boxes, (b) social casinos, (c) twitch gaming and (d) e-sports betting.
tabling member constituency	Inverclyde
tabling member printed	Ronnie Cowan
uin	34520
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/07/2021 answer text <p>We continue to work with the video games industry, other government departments, and relevant regulatory bodies to ensure games are enjoyed safely. We launched a call for evidence in September to understand players’ experiences with loot boxes and to examine evidence of potential harms. This received over 30,000 responses and we have been working to evaluate fully the evidence gathered. The response will be published in the coming months and will set out preferred actions and potential solutions to any issues identified from the evidence.</p><p>The government regularly engages with the Gambling Commission and other bodies to discuss emerging trends, including esports betting. Esports betting is regulated with the same protections as any other sports, and operators must abide by the same regulation and license conditions.</p><p>Data from the Gambling Commission’s quarterly surveys shows that in the year to December 2020 9% of adults reported they had ever bet on esports with money or items. Further details can be found at: <a href="https://www.gamblingcommission.gov.uk/statistics-and-research/publication/taking-a-more-in-depth-look-at-online-gambling#ref-4" target="_blank">https://www.gamblingcommission.gov.uk/statistics-and-research/publication/taking-a-more-in-depth-look-at-online-gambling#ref-4</a> The government does not collect statistics on the player base of people opening loot boxes, playing social casino games or accessing twitch gaming streams.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Maldon answering member printed Mr John Whittingdale grouped question UIN 34544 34545 question first answered 21/07/2021 13:23:52 answering member 39 label Biography information for Sir John Whittingdale
tabling member	4465 label Biography information for Ronnie Cowan

1328232

registered interest
date	26/05/2021
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	Gambling: Advertising
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 24 May 2021 to Question 2347 on Gambling: Advertising, whether the Government has an evidential basis for the absence of a causal link between (a) exposure to gambling advertising and (b) the development of problem gambling.
tabling member constituency	Inverclyde
tabling member printed	Ronnie Cowan
uin	7862
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 07/06/2021 answer text <p>The government launched the Review of the Gambling Act 2005 on 8 December with the publication of a Call for Evidence. As part of that we called for evidence on the benefits or harms of allowing gambling operators to advertise and will consider carefully any evidence of links between advertising and gambling related harm. The call for evidence closed on 31 March and received approximately 16,000 submissions from a broad range of interested organisations and individuals. We are currently considering the evidence submitted and aim to publish conclusions by the end of the year.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>Professor Per Binde’s 2014 literature review, conducted for the Responsible Gambling Trust (now GambleAware), explored five possible mechanisms by which gambling advertising could impact problem gambling behaviour:</p><ol><li><p>Stimulating a current gambler’s gambling behaviour to an extent that it becomes problematic;</p></li><li><p>Inducing a non-gambler to start gambling in a way that quickly becomes problematic;</p></li><li><p>Inducing a non-gambler to start gambling in a way that eventually becomes problematic;</p></li><li><p>Maintaining or exacerbating existing problem gambling behaviour; or</p></li><li><p>Creating a positive societal attitude (particularly amongst young people) towards gambling.</p></li></ol><p><strong> </strong></p><p>Of these potential impacts, Binde’s review found empirical evidence only for the fourth. While this research found evidence that advertising may adversely impact problem gamblers’ efforts to cut down, it did not establish a causal link between exposure to advertising and the development of problem gambling.</p><p><strong> </strong></p> answering member constituency Maldon answering member printed Mr John Whittingdale grouped question UIN 7863 question first answered 07/06/2021 09:46:15 answering member 39 label Biography information for Sir John Whittingdale
tabling member	4465 label Biography information for Ronnie Cowan

1328233

registered interest
date	26/05/2021
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	Gambling: Advertising
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 effect of increases in (a) gambling advertising on levels of gambling and (b) gambling on levels of gambling-related harm.
tabling member constituency	Inverclyde
tabling member printed	Ronnie Cowan
uin	7863
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 07/06/2021 answer text <p>The government launched the Review of the Gambling Act 2005 on 8 December with the publication of a Call for Evidence. As part of that we called for evidence on the benefits or harms of allowing gambling operators to advertise and will consider carefully any evidence of links between advertising and gambling related harm. The call for evidence closed on 31 March and received approximately 16,000 submissions from a broad range of interested organisations and individuals. We are currently considering the evidence submitted and aim to publish conclusions by the end of the year.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>Professor Per Binde’s 2014 literature review, conducted for the Responsible Gambling Trust (now GambleAware), explored five possible mechanisms by which gambling advertising could impact problem gambling behaviour:</p><ol><li><p>Stimulating a current gambler’s gambling behaviour to an extent that it becomes problematic;</p></li><li><p>Inducing a non-gambler to start gambling in a way that quickly becomes problematic;</p></li><li><p>Inducing a non-gambler to start gambling in a way that eventually becomes problematic;</p></li><li><p>Maintaining or exacerbating existing problem gambling behaviour; or</p></li><li><p>Creating a positive societal attitude (particularly amongst young people) towards gambling.</p></li></ol><p><strong> </strong></p><p>Of these potential impacts, Binde’s review found empirical evidence only for the fourth. While this research found evidence that advertising may adversely impact problem gamblers’ efforts to cut down, it did not establish a causal link between exposure to advertising and the development of problem gambling.</p><p><strong> </strong></p> answering member constituency Maldon answering member printed Mr John Whittingdale grouped question UIN 7862 question first answered 07/06/2021 09:46:15 answering member 39 label Biography information for Sir John Whittingdale
tabling member	4465 label Biography information for Ronnie Cowan

1327873

registered interest
date	25/05/2021
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	Poverty: Children
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment she has made of the effect of the £20 uplift in universal credit on levels of child poverty in (a) Scotland and (b) Inverclyde constituency.
tabling member constituency	Inverclyde
tabling member printed	Ronnie Cowan
uin	7209
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 07/06/2021 answer text <p>No assessment has been made.</p><p> </p><p>This Government is wholly committed to supporting those on low incomes, including by increasing the living wage, and by spending an estimated £112 billion on welfare support for people of working age in 2020/21. This included around £7.4 billion of Covid-related welfare policy measures.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>As the economy recovers, our ambition is to help people move into and progress in work as quickly as possible based on clear evidence around the importance of employment, particularly where it is full-time, in substantially reducing the risks of poverty. We are investing over £30 billion in our ambitious Plan for Jobs which is already delivering for people of all ages right across the country.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince grouped question UIN 7211 question first answered 07/06/2021 13:58:31 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
tabling member	4465 label Biography information for Ronnie Cowan

1315163

registered interest
date	17/05/2021
answering body	Department of Health and Social Care
answering dept id	17
answering dept short name	Health and Social Care
answering dept sort name	Health and Social Care
hansard heading	Shipping: Coronavirus
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of providing covid-19 vaccinations to (a) UK cruise ship employees and (b) other UK seafarers working in UK waters.
tabling member constituency	Inverclyde
tabling member printed	Ronnie Cowan
uin	2346
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/06/2021 answer text <p>The Department of Health and Social Care alongside the Department for Transport continues to assess how the Government can best support the vaccination of UK cruise ship employees and other UK seafarers working in UK waters. The UK Government encourages all eligible cruise ship employees and seafarers to receive a COVID-19 vaccine in line with the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) advice.</p><p>We are working closely with DfT, the Devolved Administrations and NHS England and Improvement to ensure that operational challenges in vaccinating these groups are mitigated so all those who are eligible can access the vaccine in an efficient and convenient way.</p> answering member constituency Stratford-on-Avon answering member printed Nadhim Zahawi question first answered 11/06/2021 14:45:51 answering member 4113 label Biography information for Nadhim Zahawi
tabling member	4465 label Biography information for Ronnie Cowan

1315169

registered interest
date	17/05/2021
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	Gambling: Advertising
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 effect of gambling advertising during the upcoming European Championships on people at risk of gambling-related harm.
tabling member constituency	Inverclyde
tabling member printed	Ronnie Cowan
uin	2347
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/05/2021 answer text <p>The Government does not hold data on the volume of broadcast gambling advertising and so cannot provide an estimate of the number of advertising breaks that will contain a gambling advert during the UEFA European Championship. Broadcasters have discretion over how advertising breaks are set and what adverts are broadcast, in line with Ofcom and ASA standards. The Gambling Industry Code for Socially Responsible Advertising also prohibits adverts being shown around or during live sports broadcast before the 9pm watershed.</p><p>The government has not seen any evidence which demonstrates a causal link between exposure to gambling advertising and the development of problem gambling. However, all gambling advertising, wherever it appears, is subject to strict controls on content and placement.</p><p>Gambling adverts must never be targeted at children or vulnerable people. The Advertising Standards Authority independently administers these standards through the Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP) which covers online and non-broadcast spaces and the Broadcast Committee of Advertising Practice (BCAP) for TV. If an advert for gambling holds particular appeal to children and is freely accessible then it will break the rules.</p><p>The government launched the Review of the Gambling Act 2005 on 8 December with the publication of a Call for Evidence. This closed on 31 March and received approximately 16,000 submissions from a broad range of interested organisations and individuals. As part of the wide scope of that Review, we called for evidence on the benefits or harms of allowing gambling operators to advertise and we are considering the evidence carefully.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Maldon answering member printed Mr John Whittingdale grouped question UIN 2348 question first answered 24/05/2021 14:06:49 answering member 39 label Biography information for Sir John Whittingdale
tabling member	4465 label Biography information for Ronnie Cowan

1315170

registered interest
date	17/05/2021
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	Gambling: Advertising
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 estimate he has made of the number of advertising breaks which will contain a gambling advert during the upcoming European Championships; and if he will take steps to prohibit gambling adverts from being broadcast before the 9.00pm watershed.
tabling member constituency	Inverclyde
tabling member printed	Ronnie Cowan
uin	2348
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/05/2021 answer text <p>The Government does not hold data on the volume of broadcast gambling advertising and so cannot provide an estimate of the number of advertising breaks that will contain a gambling advert during the UEFA European Championship. Broadcasters have discretion over how advertising breaks are set and what adverts are broadcast, in line with Ofcom and ASA standards. The Gambling Industry Code for Socially Responsible Advertising also prohibits adverts being shown around or during live sports broadcast before the 9pm watershed.</p><p>The government has not seen any evidence which demonstrates a causal link between exposure to gambling advertising and the development of problem gambling. However, all gambling advertising, wherever it appears, is subject to strict controls on content and placement.</p><p>Gambling adverts must never be targeted at children or vulnerable people. The Advertising Standards Authority independently administers these standards through the Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP) which covers online and non-broadcast spaces and the Broadcast Committee of Advertising Practice (BCAP) for TV. If an advert for gambling holds particular appeal to children and is freely accessible then it will break the rules.</p><p>The government launched the Review of the Gambling Act 2005 on 8 December with the publication of a Call for Evidence. This closed on 31 March and received approximately 16,000 submissions from a broad range of interested organisations and individuals. As part of the wide scope of that Review, we called for evidence on the benefits or harms of allowing gambling operators to advertise and we are considering the evidence carefully.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Maldon answering member printed Mr John Whittingdale grouped question UIN 2347 question first answered 24/05/2021 14:06:49 answering member 39 label Biography information for Sir John Whittingdale
tabling member	4465 label Biography information for Ronnie Cowan

1315176

registered interest
date	17/05/2021
answering body	Treasury
answering dept id	14
answering dept short name	Treasury
answering dept sort name	Treasury
hansard heading	Cash Dispensing
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what progress he is making on ensuring people have access to cash throughout the UK; and if he will make a statement.
tabling member constituency	Inverclyde
tabling member printed	Ronnie Cowan
uin	2349
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/05/2021 answer text <p>The Government recognises that cash is important to the daily lives of millions of people across the UK, and has committed to legislating to protect access to cash for those who need it and ensuring that the UK's cash infrastructure is sustainable for the long term.</p><p> </p><p>Last year, the Treasury published a Call for Evidence, which sought views on the key considerations associated with cash access, including deposit and withdrawal facilities, cash acceptance, and regulatory oversight of the cash system. The Government has recently announced that it will consult this Summer on legislative proposals for protecting cash for the long term.</p><p> </p><p>The Government has also made legislative changes to support the widespread offering of cashback without a purchase by shops and other businesses as part of the Financial Services Act 2021. These changes will come into effect in late June of this year. The Government’s view is that cashback without a purchase has the potential to be a valuable facility to cash users, and to play an important role in the UK’s cash infrastructure.</p> answering member constituency Salisbury answering member printed John Glen question first answered 20/05/2021 09:36:40 answering member 4051 label Biography information for John Glen
tabling member	4465 label Biography information for Ronnie Cowan