UK Council for Child Internet Safety
Jeremy Hunt MP, Shadow Secretary of State for Culture Media and Sport: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families (1) when he expects the UK Council for Child Internet Safety to develop advice on child internet safety accessible to parents and children via the DirectGov information network, as recommended in the Byron Review; (2) what plans he has to develop a public information and awareness campaign on child internet safety; (3) by what date he expects the UK Council for Child Internet Safety to have agreed a kitemarking system for parental control computer software; (4) what progress has been made in appointing an advisory group to the UK Council for Child Internet Safety; and if he will make a statement. [227193-227197]
Rt Hon Jim Knight MP, Minister of State for Schools and Learners: The June 2008 Byron Review Action Plan commits the Government to working with Council partners to develop an authoritative ‘one stop shop’ website on child internet safety by spring 2009. Initial development has already begun. The ‘one stop shop’ must be a trusted and central portal for high quality internet safety information, with signposts to the wide range of support and services provided by Council members. This will be developed in close consultation with the Council.
The June 2008 Byron Review Action Plan commits the Government to:
- include e-safety in its £9 million child safety awareness campaign over the next three years;
- ensure that Parent Know How funded help lines are able to signpost parents concerned about e-safety to sources of further information; and
- work with CEOP and other Council members to launch an e-safety week in 2009.
The Government will work with Council members to ensure that this activity is linked with campaigns that are already planned or under way, by Government and stakeholders.
The Home Office and Ofcom have been working with the British Standards Institute (BSI) to develop a Publicly Available Specification (PAS) for assessing the quality of filtering software for computers. This has already been delivered, and discussions are under way with major industry players about the time scale for submitting software for testing.
There are no plans to establish an advisory group to the UK Council for Child Internet Safety. As recommended in Dr. Byron’s report, on 29 September the Government announced the appointment of senior representatives from across industry, the third sector, law enforcement and the devolved administrations to the UK Council’s Executive Board.
The Board will play a crucial role in the governance and strategic direction of all Council activity. It will provide expert guidance, inject momentum into the work of the Council and provide the necessary level of challenge and scrutiny to the working groups. The Board will be the key driving force behind the development and implementation of the Child Internet Safety Strategy in spring 2009.
Further information on Board membership can be found at:http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/pns/DisplayPN.cgi?pn_id=2008_0215
Source: Hansard 17 October 2008: http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200708/cmhansrd/cm081017/text/81017w0021.htm#qn_113
Page Created: Wed, November 12th, 2008
Page Modified: Fri, December 5th, 2008
