Asked by: Julian Knight (Independent - Solihull)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many staff have left The National Archives in each year since 2015.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The National Archives does not hold data on the number of staff who have left the department every year since 2015.
Asked by: Julian Knight (Independent - Solihull)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many British Film Institute staff have left that organisation in each year since 2015.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
DCMS does not hold this data centrally.
Asked by: Julian Knight (Independent - Solihull)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many Arts Council England staff have left that organisation in each year since 2015.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The information is not held centrally.
Asked by: Lord Kamall (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the BBC’s announcement of the launch of spin-off stations on BBC Sounds before Ofcom have completed their regulatory scrutiny of DAB+ proposals.
Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The BBC has responsibilities set out in its Royal Charter to avoid unnecessary adverse impacts on the market, which were underscored in the Government’s recent Mid-Term Review. HM Government will continue to monitor the effectiveness of the reforms as we approach the renewal of the BBC’s Royal Charter.
The BBC is required by the Royal Charter to submit a Public Interest Test to Ofcom for review when considering making any material changes to its public service output. The Corporation is currently consulting on the Public Interest Test regarding planned new radio services.
As the BBC’s independent regulator, it will be for Ofcom to review the evidence provided and robustly to hold the BBC to account in meeting its obligations to both its audiences and the market.
Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Wentworth and Dearne)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many publicly accessible (a) swimming pools and (b) lidos have been opened in each year since 2010.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
A total of 537 pools and lidos have opened since 2010. This figure does not include education ownership facilities such as school swimming pools. The breakdown of openings since 2010 is as follows:
2010 - 4 lidos and 70 pools
2011 - 4 lidos and 46 pools
2012 - 4 lidos and 47 pools
2013 - 3 lidos and 32 pools
2014 - 1 lidos and 26 pools
2015 - 3 lidos and 61 pools
2016 - 3 lidos and 47 pools
2017 - 0 lidos and 22 pools
2018 - 2 lidos and 32 pools
2019 - 3 lidos and 29 pools
2020 - 0 lidos and 20 pools
2021 - 0 lidos and 27 pools
2022 - 2 lidos and 37 pools
2023 - 3 lidos and 9 pools
Asked by: Simon Jupp (Conservative - East Devon)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether she has had discussions with the Football Association on the recent decision to end FA Cup replays.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The management of competitive programmes is a matter for the relevant National Governing Body which, in this instance, is the Football Association (FA), but clearly it is incumbent on the FA and Premier League to explain this decision and why it is in the interests of fans.
We expect the FA and Premier League to consult with the English Football League (EFL) and other leagues further down the pyramid on moves such as this and reach agreements collectively.
The Secretary of State and I regularly engage with national governing bodies, and I will shortly be meeting with the FA to discuss this, alongside a range of issues.
Asked by: Owen Thompson (Scottish National Party - Midlothian)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what information her Department holds on the number of fixed-odds betting terminals there were in Midlothian constituency in each of the last five years.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Fixed-odds betting terminals refer to Category B2 gaming machines. In April 2019, the maximum stakes on these machines were reduced from £100 to £2. Following this reduction in maximum stakes there has been a dramatic decrease in the number of physical B2 machines in operation. The Gambling Commission’s industry statistics indicate that from April 2020 to March 2023 there were zero Category B2 gaming machines in operation across Great Britain.
Asked by: Owen Thompson (Scottish National Party - Midlothian)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what information her Department holds on the level of gambling addiction in Midlothian constituency in each of the last five years.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
DCMS does not hold data on the level of gambling-related harm for individual constituencies.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
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 the growth of creative industries in (a) Lincolnshire and (b) the East Midlands.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The UK Government has a clear plan to grow the creative industries by a further £50 billion and support another 1 million jobs by 2030. This was set out in June 2023 in the Creative Industries Sector Vision, which was accompanied by £77 million of new funding to support the sector’s growth. This is on top of a range of tax reliefs introduced or expanded since 2010 covering film, television, animation, video games, orchestras, theatres and more.
Creative Industries GVA grew at more than twice the rate of UK GVA between 2010 and 2022 (50.3% vs 21.5%), and helped support more than a million new jobs since 2010.
Measures in the Sector Vision include the £28.4 million Create Growth Programme (CGP) to support high-growth creative businesses in twelve English regions outside London to scale up and become investment ready. The CGP is being delivered in twelve local area partnerships, including Leicester and Leicestershire Enterprise Partnership in the East Midlands.
It also includes £950k for the Creative Careers Programme, which raises young people’s awareness of creative careers and pathways by providing specialist advice and information through a range of industry-led engagement. It is delivered in regions around England, including the East Midlands (Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire, Leicester and Leicestershire and Greater Lincolnshire).
It includes £50 million announced for the second wave of the Creative Clusters Programme, designed to deliver innovation and R&D funding across the UK. This builds on the original £56 million programme initiated in 2018.
The Arts Council England 2023-2026 Investment Programme is also investing £444 million each year into arts and culture in England and is providing around £22 million per year to cultural organisations in the East Midlands, including Lincolnshire.
Asked by: Lord Foster of Bath (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government, following the recent breach of the Advertising Standards Authority codes by DCMS Technical Working Group members Electronic Arts, Jagex, and Hutch Games, what steps they are taking to (1) evaluate, and (2) ensure compliance with, industry-led principles and guidance on the use of paid loot boxes in computer games.
Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Following our response to the call for evidence on loot boxes in video games, HM Government has welcomed new industry-led guidance to improve protections for all players, including young people.
Measures to protect players should ensure that the purchase of loot boxes is unavailable to all children and young people unless enabled by a parent or guardian, and that all players have access to, and can be aware of, spending controls and transparent information to support safe and responsible playing of games.
We are working closely with the industry and academia to support independent scrutiny of these new measures. The Government has agreed a 12-month implementation period and has asked the industry, co-ordinated by Ukie, to report back to DCMS on the extent to which the new measures have been implemented.
We will continue to keep our position on possible future legislative options under review, informed by academic scrutiny of the industry-led guidance. We will provide a further update following the 12-month implementation period.