Asked by: James McMurdock (Reform UK - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to support the tourism sector in Essex.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government is implementing the most significant overhaul of regional destination management in a generation, creating a portfolio of nationally supported, strategic and high-performing Local Visitor Economy Partnerships (LVEPs) in partnership with VisitEngland. These LVEPs will provide strong local leadership and governance in tourism destinations all over the country, and Essex is included in this programme as part of the Visit Essex LVEP. Visit Essex works in partnership with private sector businesses to support economic growth, through promoting the county as a place to visit, live and do business, and to continue to grow tourism and ensure that Essex remains a leading visitor destination.
Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what recent discussions she has had with VisitEngland on the progress of the roll out of Local Visitor Economy Partnerships across England.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The government has been working closely with VisitEngland to create a portfolio of nationally supported, strategic and high-performing Local Visitor Economy Partnerships (LVEPs). 38 LVEPs have now been accredited across England, and the new LVEPs work in collaboration locally, regionally and nationally on shared priorities and targets. Their mission is to transform England’s visitor economy landscape through a new and robust structure, and the LVEPs will provide strong local leadership in tourism destinations all over the country.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to help promote tourism within the Channel Islands.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
DCMS is responsible for tourism within England, however the UK Government continues to consult and engage with the self-governing Crown Dependencies within the Channel Islands and their respective tourism boards (Visit Jersey and Visit Guernsey).
These tourism boards for the Channel Islands are accountable to their respective Governments and the UK works in collaboration with the Crown Dependencies on tourism policy issues as part of the Common Travel Area.
Asked by: Clive Lewis (Labour - Norwich South)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions she has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on Spending Review funding for (a) grassroots music venues, (b) music education and innovation and (c) the night-time culture economy.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
My department talks to HM Treasury about a range of matters all the time, including support for the Creative Industries and music sector
Asked by: Julian Lewis (Conservative - New Forest East)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what recent assessment she has made of the contribution made by the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme to the (a) repair and (b) conservation of such buildings for the use by (i) current communities and (ii) future generations; and if she will make it her policy to extend the Scheme beyond 31 March 2025.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Since 2010, the grant scheme has returned nearly £350 million to listed places of worship across the UK. This has helped protect our listed places of worship and enabled them to continue their work as centres of worship and community assets.
The scheme will now run until the end of March 2026. As was the case with previous Governments, further spending commitments are a matter for the Spending Review.
Asked by: Chris Evans (Labour (Co-op) - Caerphilly)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to limit children's exposure to gambling advertisements on popular streaming platforms.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
We are committed to protecting children and young people from harmful gambling. There are existing robust rules in place to ensure that gambling advertising, whenever it appears, is socially responsible, with a particular regard to the need to protect children and young people. As part of the advertising codes which cover both broadcast and non-broadcast advertising, including on Video on Demand (VOD) or streaming platforms, operators are required to ensure advertising is not targeted at children, and must not appear in media created for children or for which children make up 25% or more of the audience.
Asked by: Andrew Snowden (Conservative - Fylde)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to support the tourism industry in Fylde constituency.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government is implementing the most significant overhaul of regional destination management in a generation, creating a portfolio of nationally supported, strategic and high-performing Local Visitor Economy Partnerships (LVEPs) in partnership with VisitEngland. These LVEPs will provide strong local leadership and governance in tourism destinations all over the country, and Fylde is included in this programme as part of the Marketing Lancashire LVEP. The Marketing Lancashire LVEP works collaboratively with both local authority and private sector partners to communicate investment opportunities and to showcase Lancashire’s strengths as a place to live, work, study and invest in, as well as a premier destination for visitors.
Asked by: Ben Goldsborough (Labour - South Norfolk)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how much money released by the Dormant Assets scheme has been allocated to (a) England, (b) East Anglia and (c) Norfolk in each year since the scheme began.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
As of 2023/24, a total of £826 million has been allocated from the Dormant Assets Scheme to England, with DCMS responsible for this portion of funding. This is broken down by year as follows: 2011/12: £39.9 million; 2012/13: £41.6 million; 2013/14: £70 million; 2014/15: £41.1 million; 2015/16: £30.7 million; 2016/17: £79.1 million; 2017/18: £128 million; 2018/19: £59.8 million; 2019/20: £57.6 million; 2020/21: £75.6 million; 2021/22: £44.8 million; 2022/23: £77.9 million; and 2023/24: £79.9 million.
To date, this has been distributed by four independent, expert organisations set up with the explicit purpose of delivering dormant assets funding: Youth Futures Foundation, Fair4All Finance, Better Society Capital, and Access: The Foundation for Social Investment. Dormant assets funding seeks to address entrenched societal challenges through long-term, innovative programmes at a national scale, and is not allocated on a regional basis.
Examples of how dormant assets funding has benefited East Anglia and Norfolk include Fair4All Finance investing £88,240 in community finance organisations in Norwich to support people in vulnerable circumstances by improving their access to fair and affordable financial products and services. Additionally, Asperger East Anglia received a £35,000 loan from Access’s Growth Fund, funded by dormant assets.
Asked by: Alex McIntyre (Labour - Gloucester)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to help support leisure centres in Gloucester constituency.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government recognises that leisure facilities are important to communities up and down the country. High-quality, inclusive facilities help people get active. Everyone, no matter who they are or where they live, should have access to high quality facilities and opportunities to participate in sport and physical activity.
The ongoing responsibility for public leisure facilities lies at Local Authority level. Local Authorities work in partnership with operators who manage leisure services. The Government and Sport England continue to work closely with Local Authorities to monitor pressures in the sector and provide advice and guidance.
Asked by: Martin Wrigley (Liberal Democrat - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will implement financial incentives to encourage media organisations to come within the remit of Impress, in the context of the Leveson Report.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government is committed to protecting press freedom, which is essential to a strong and functioning democracy. In the UK, there exists an independent, self-regulatory system for the press, which is crucial to maintain press freedom.
For that reason, the Government currently has no plans to bring forward financial incentives to encourage media organisations to join Impress.