Contributions
2,569 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDDigital Markets, Competition and Consumers BillNo. I am grateful that we have separated the debate on the noble Lord’s previous amendment from this so that I can respond directly to the amendment brought by my noble friend…13 Mar 2024HANSARDDigital Markets, Competition and Consumers BillThe noble Lords have intervened at a helpful point, because I was about to outline that we want to ensure that the new measures do not have undesired effects on wider foreign…13 Mar 2024HANSARDDigital Markets, Competition and Consumers BillThe provisions we will bring forward at Third Reading will relate to newspapers and periodical news magazines, as I have set out. It will not cover television and radio…13 Mar 2024HANSARDDigital Markets, Competition and Consumers BillThat is what I was saying, but it depends on when the Bill gets Royal Assent. That is in the hands of noble Lords and not just the Government. If any live case is still ongoing at…13 Mar 2024HANSARDTV Licence Non-payment: WomenYes, the BBC does very important work through the Local Democracy Reporting Service. Local radio stations provide hugely important information and news to their local communities,…05 Mar 2024HANSARDTV Licence Non-payment: WomenIt is important to emphasise that licence fee evasion is not an imprisonable offence the maximum sanction is a fine of up to £1,000. But the noble Baroness is right to point to…05 Mar 2024HANSARDTV Licence Non-payment: WomenThe noble Lord is right: women make up around 75% of people prosecuted for TV licence evasion. As the overall number of prosecutions has fallen, the number of women and vulnerable…05 Mar 2024HANSARDTV Licence Non-payment: WomenThe Government consulted on decriminalisation of TV licence evasion in 2020, and we published our response in 2021. The appropriate time to make this decision is as part of the…05 Mar 2024HANSARDTV Licence Non-payment: WomenOfcom, not the Government, regulates the provision of news, whatever channel people receive it on. The BBC receives some £3.8 billion in licence fee income; that income allows it…05 Mar 2024HANSARDTV Licence Non-payment: WomenThe Simple Payment Plan does help people pay the television licence fee at present. As I say, we are looking at all the ways in which the BBC might receive its funding in the…05 Mar 2024HANSARDTV Licence Non-payment: WomenI hope I can reassure the noble Baroness that the number of women being prosecuted is falling. In the year ending June 2022, 35,000 women were prosecuted; in the year ending June…05 Mar 2024HANSARDTV Licence Non-payment: WomenThe Government are committed to making sure that everybody—men and women—can reach their full potential and play their full part in our society and economy. We bring forward…05 Mar 2024HANSARDTV Licence Non-payment: WomenMy noble friend is right. The uptake of TV licences has fallen by around 1.7 million from its peak of nearly 56 million in 2017. As people consume media in different ways, the…05 Mar 2024HANSARDTV Licence Non-payment: WomenYes. I commend the work that the BBC has done: it commissioned a gender disparity review, with which I believe the noble Baroness, Lady Young of Hornsey, from your Lordships’…05 Mar 2024HANSARDTV Licence Non-payment: WomenNo. We want to look carefully at the issue of how we make sure that the BBC continues to get the funding that it needs to produce the wonderful programming that is much admired.…05 Mar 2024HANSARDTV Licence Non-payment: WomenMy Lords, the BBC is responsible for the collection and enforcement of the licence fee and it has undertaken a review of the disparity between the sexes in prosecutions for TV…05 Mar 2024HANSARDCharities: National Minimum WageThe noble Lord is right to point to the important contribution of civil society and charitable organisations—the Government recognise that. We saw that very clearly during the…29 Feb 2024HANSARDCharities: National Minimum WageMy noble friend speaks with great authority as the president of the Independent Schools Association, as he mentioned. He is right to point to the valuable work that independent…29 Feb 2024HANSARDCharities: National Minimum WageMy Lords, charities are vital to the delivery of social care services and to the support of families and carers across the country. His Majesty’s Government have made available an…29 Feb 2024HANSARDCharities: National Minimum WageThe noble Lord rightly points to the 9.8% increase to the national living wage, a record cash increase of £1.02 an hour from 1 April, which will give a pay rise to around 3…29 Feb 2024