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Government publishes action plan to implement Byron recommendations

DEPARTMENT FOR CHILDREN, SCHOOLS AND FAMILIES News Release (2008/0126) issued by The Government News Network on 24 June 2008

The Byron Review Action Plan published today by Children's Minister Kevin Brennan, will set out key milestones to deliver all of Dr Byron's recommendations as set out in her report "Safer Children in a Digital World"

Kevin Brennan Minister for Children and Families said:

"Internet and video games are an everyday part of many young people's lives. Enjoying the benefits should come hand in hand with managing risks.

"Our commitment to deliver the action plan ahead of time will help to continue the momentum Dr Byron set to empower parents and protect children in tackling the harms associated with Internet and Video Games.

"Government working with industry and partners will meet the commitment to deliver Dr Byron's recommendations by building on the collaborative and consultative approach established by Dr Byron during the review."

Home Office Minister Vernon Coaker said:

"I am determined to do all I can to help ensure that there is an internet environment that is safe for children to use.

"The Home Office has already published the first ever social networking guidance to make sites safer, and we will soon require child sex offenders to notify their e-mail addresses to police so that they can allow this information to be passed on to social networking websites.

"By working in partnership with law enforcement agencies and charities we can drive forward our efforts to protect children online from the harms associated with the internet, and help make sure it is safe for them."

Culture Minister Margaret Hodge said:

"The UK video games industry is a real success story and the internet is now part of our lives in a way that we couldn't have imagined a few years ago. But just because these technologies are fast-moving and exciting doesn't mean that we shouldn't have appropriate safeguards.

"By taking forward Dr Byron's recommendations we will help children to safely navigate the internet and allow parents to make informed decisions about what is appropriate for their child."

The Action Plan sets out detailed actions and milestones which will timetable how these recommendations will be made into reality. The recommendations sit under six main groups which are:

* UK Council for Child Internet Safety
The UK Council for Child Internet Safety will be a forum where Government department, stakeholders and industry come together and jointly contribute to the development and delivery of the Child Internet Safety Strategy.

* Better Regulation
Activity under "Better regulation" will be the responsibility of the council. But as Byron identified if we are really serious about making the internet a safer place for children we need to secure the cooperation of industry many who are not in the UK. Breaking new ground Government will explore self regulatory standards for industries to sign up to.

* Public Information and Awareness Campaign
Byron's recommendation identified the need for more public information with 53% of adults wanting more information on the internet and 57% of parents not knowing where to get information about how to protect their children online. Therefore e-safety will be included in the Government's major child safety awareness campaign which will begin in summer 2008 supported by £9m investment and developed with the UKCCIS. This will not be about telling people what to do - but empowering them to keep themselves and their families safe.

* Better Education
Specific recommendations mean that working with Ofsted, schools and other services are important partners to equipping Children and Parents to stay safe online. The UKCCIS will work with various partners to pull together a strategy to act on this complex and wide-ranging area of activity. The Governments Staying Safe Action Plan will also play a key part in delivering activity on e-safety and this includes an increased emphasis on internet safety in the new ICT Curriculum for Key Stage 3 in September 2008.

* Reforming the classification system for video games
Government will address the confusion around video games ratings and will shortly launch a consultation to consider all necessary evidence around current and future video games classification.

* Information and support to parents on video games
Working with industry Government will help agree a set of standards for in-store information with the aim of raising awareness to consumers and to ensure age-appropriate gaming.

NOTES TO EDITORS

1. The Byron Review Action Plan can be found at http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/byronreview/actionplan where a full list of actions and milestones are listed.

2. The plan sets out estimated costs of implementing the Reviews recommendations. The full costs of implementing the recommendations will become clearer once UKCCIS has developed the Child Internet Safety Strategy in spring 2009.

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