Children: Internet
James Brokenshire MP: To ask the Secretary of
State for Children, Schools and Families what guidance his Department
has published for parents on protecting children from harm arising from
use of the internet. [263940]
Rt Hon Beverley Hughes MP, Minister of State for Children, Young People and Families:
In partnership with Childnet International, the department has
published a range of guidance and resources for parents under the “Know
It All” brand to promote safe and positive use of the internet. This
award-winning family of products has so far been distributed to over one
million parents in England.
In addition we have published comprehensive online guidance on both departmental websites and those of our partners. We are currently updating guidance on social networking websites and have established a public awareness working group as part of the UK Council for Child Internet Safety to further promote the importance of internet safety to families.
James Brokenshire MP: To ask the Secretary of
State for Children, Schools and Families what progress has been made on
implementation of the recommendations of the Byron review, Safer
children in a digital world. [263941]
Rt Hon Beverley Hughes MP, Minister of State for Children, Young People and Families:
Safety (UKCCIS) as part of its commitment to implement the
recommendations of the Byron review. The Council consists of over 100
organisations from across industry, government, law enforcement and the
third sector. An Executive Board to the Council has been appointed which
has agreed the immediate priority activities and established a number
of working groups to draw together expertise and assist in the
implementation of the report.
The Council will publish the first ever Child Internet Safety
Strategy later this year to provide an overview of how the Byron
recommendations will be met. Significant progress has already been made
on a number of specific recommendations including the publication of new
advice to parents and teachers, commissioning research to develop the
evidence base for policy making and providing support for initiatives to
reduce cyber-bullying and promote European Safer Internet Day.
James Brokenshire MP: To ask the Secretary of
State for Children, Schools and Families what progress has been made on
the development of the child internet safety strategy. [263942]
Rt Hon Beverley Hughes MP, Minister of State for Children, Young People and Families:
The Government published their Byron Review Action Plan in June 2008
which outlined how we will implement all the recommendations contained
in Dr. Byron's Report. At the first meeting of the Executive Board of
the UK Council for Child Internet Safety (UKCCIS) in December 2008, the
board agreed the immediate priorities for UKCCIS activity.
At its most recent meeting on 10 March, the board agreed that the
Child Internet Safety strategy should be published in the autumn and
following extensive consultation with stakeholders.
This will be taken forward through a number of recently set up UKCCIS working groups.
James Brokenshire MP: To ask the Secretary of
State for Children, Schools and Families on how many occasions the UK
Council on Child Internet Safety (UKCCIS) has met; how much his
Department has spent on UKCCIS; and how much is planned to be spent on
UKCCIS in (a) 2009-10 and (b) 2010-11. [263943]
Rt Hon Jim Knight MP, Minister of State for Schools and Learners:
The UK Council for Child Internet Safety (UKCCIS) was launched in
September 2008. Since then the Executive Board to the Council has met
twice—in December 2008 and March 2009. Four working groups have been
established and will meet shortly. These meetings will be supported by
online discussions and other smaller gatherings of council members to
look at specific issues. The council as a whole will meet on an annual
basis at its summit to review progress and agree forward work.
The Government allocated £300,000 to support the activity of UKCCIS
for 2008-09, and £450,000 for 2009-10. This does not include the cost
of officials working within the UKCCIS secretariat or the delivery of
Dr. Byron’s recommendations which will rely on building digital safety
into planned activities and services that are already funded, such as £9
million on a safety awareness campaign for children that will include
internet safety.
The budget for 2010-11 is yet to be decided.
James Brokenshire MP: To ask the Secretary of
State for Children, Schools and Families on what date the Child Internet
Safety Summit will be held. [263944]
Rt Hon Beverley Hughes MP, Minister of State for Children, Young People and Families: On March 10, the Executive Board of the UK Council for Child Internet Safety, made up of representation from across Government, industry, law enforcement and the third sector, agreed that the Child Internet Safety Summit should take place in the autumn.
The Government expect to announce the exact date shortly.
James Brokenshire MP: To ask the Secretary of
State for Children, Schools and Families on how many occasions the
Executive Board of the UK Council on Child Internet Safety has met; and
if he will place a copy of the minutes of each meeting in the Library.
[263945]
Rt Hon Beverley Hughes MP, Minister of State for Children, Young People and Families: The Executive Board of the UK Council for Child Internet Safety has met twice. The first meeting was on 9 December 2008 and the most recent was 10 March 2009. The next quarterly meeting is scheduled for 9 June.
Meeting notes from all Board meetings are published online on the UKCCIS website:
