Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport

As set out in section 507B of the Education Act 1996, local authorities have a statutory duty to secure, so far as is reasonably practicable, sufficient educational and recreational activities for young people.

On the 10th December, the Government published ‘Youth Matters: Your National Youth Strategy’ alongside a State of the Nation report. It is backed by over £500 million of funding over the next few years from DCMS for things to do outside of school, support when and where young people need it, more safe spaces and access to trusted adults. This includes investing in selected local areas to develop high-quality youth offers and local leadership through our Local Youth Transformation Programme. Learnings will be shared across the youth and local government sectors to establish national best practices.

We have also worked to ensure that metrics covering youth services are included within the Local Outcomes Framework under the priority outcome very Child Achieving and Thriving’ to increase consistency and quality of youth service delivery across local areas.

The Gambling Commission, as the independent regulator for gambling, has responsibility for making decisions around licensing.

As part of its regulatory approach, the Gambling Commission assesses applicants against the statutory licensing objectives and may take compliance and enforcement action where it identifies evidence of breaches of licence conditions or other regulatory requirements. This includes where operators or gambling software licensees are found to be supplying the illegal gambling market.

The UK remains one of Ukraine's leading humanitarian donors, having committed up to £577 million in humanitarian assistance to Ukraine and the wider region since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion. Through trusted humanitarian partners, UK support helps protect vulnerable people affected by the conflict, promote respect for International Humanitarian Law, and provide lifesaving assistance to those most affected by Russia's continued attacks.

The Charity Commission for England and Wales also published guidance for charities and trustees responding to the crisis in Ukraine in March 2022.

The Sport for Development Coalition received Sport England National Lottery funding between March 2022 and December 2025 totalling £773,334.

Rather than delivering programmes itself, the Coalition acts as the collective voice for the sport-for-development sector. As a result, it is not possible to quantify direct programme participation or user numbers attributable to the Coalition itself.

The governance of rugby union is a matter for the Rugby Football Union (the national governing body for rugby union), which is independent of the Government.

The Government monitors the financial situation of rugby union closely and continues to work with the RFU, representatives of Prem and Champ clubs as well as the Tier Two Board, and the wider sport sector to support the ongoing sustainability of elite and community level rugby union.

I have met with the RFU and Prem Rugby previously to discuss the long-term financial sustainability of professional rugby union, and my officials regularly engage with the RFU and Prem Rugby on this issue.

The governance of rugby union is a matter for the Rugby Football Union (the national governing body for rugby union), which is independent of the Government.

The Government monitors the financial situation of rugby union closely and continues to work with the RFU, representatives of Prem and Champ clubs as well as the Tier Two Board, and the wider sport sector to support the ongoing sustainability of elite and community level rugby union.

I have met with the RFU and Prem Rugby previously to discuss the long-term financial sustainability of professional rugby union, and my officials regularly engage with the RFU and Prem Rugby on this issue.

The governance of rugby union is a matter for the Rugby Football Union (the national governing body for rugby union), which is independent of the Government.

The Government monitors the financial situation of rugby union closely and continues to work with the RFU, representatives of Prem and Champ clubs as well as the Tier Two Board, and the wider sport sector to support the ongoing sustainability of elite and community level rugby union.

I have met with the RFU and Prem Rugby previously to discuss the long-term financial sustainability of professional rugby union, and my officials regularly engage with the RFU and Prem Rugby on this issue.

Our arm’s length body, Sport England, is providing long-term investment of £16.9 million to the Rugby Football Union (RFU) between 2022 and 2029 to support grassroots rugby participation. The RFU, as the National Governing Body for rugby union, is responsible for decisions on how and where to target that investment into rugby union clubs.

Grassroots participation issues were discussed with the RFU at a recent event to celebrate sport held at Number 10, and the Government continues to engage with key stakeholders such as the RFU to ensure that everyone, regardless of background or where they live, has the opportunity to play sport and get physically active.

Our arm’s length body, Sport England, is providing long-term investment of £16.9 million to the Rugby Football Union (RFU) between 2022 and 2029 to support grassroots rugby participation. The RFU, as the National Governing Body for rugby union, is responsible for decisions on how and where to target that investment into rugby union clubs.

Grassroots participation issues were discussed with the RFU at a recent event to celebrate sport held at Number 10, and the Government continues to engage with key stakeholders such as the RFU to ensure that everyone, regardless of background or where they live, has the opportunity to play sport and get physically active.

Our arm’s length body, Sport England, is providing long-term investment of £16.9 million to the Rugby Football Union (RFU) between 2022 and 2029 to support grassroots rugby participation. The RFU, as the National Governing Body for rugby union, is responsible for decisions on how and where to target that investment into rugby union clubs.

Grassroots participation issues were discussed with the RFU at a recent event to celebrate sport held at Number 10, and the Government continues to engage with key stakeholders such as the RFU to ensure that everyone, regardless of background or where they live, has the opportunity to play sport and get physically active.

The Government recognises the role rugby community foundations play in promoting physical and mental well-being, raising aspirations, and building stronger, more cohesive communities.

While professional rugby community foundations operate as independent charitable arms of their clubs, we monitor the financial health of rugby union closely and engage regularly with the Rugby Football Union and Premiership clubs to support the ongoing sustainability of elite and grassroots rugby union. Through public bodies such as Sport England, we continue to invest in grassroots and community sport programmes that align with our national priorities on health, education, and community development.

Sport England provides long term investment of £16.9 million to the Rugby Football Football Union between 2022 and 2029 to support grassroots rugby union.

Sport England’s Movement Fund also offers grants between £500 - £15,000 to support projects that support getting more people active, which includes rugby community outreach programmes.

The Government recognises the role rugby community foundations play in promoting physical and mental well-being, raising aspirations, and building stronger, more cohesive communities.

While professional rugby community foundations operate as independent charitable arms of their clubs, we monitor the financial health of rugby union closely and engage regularly with the Rugby Football Union and Premiership clubs to support the ongoing sustainability of elite and grassroots rugby union. Through public bodies such as Sport England, we continue to invest in grassroots and community sport programmes that align with our national priorities on health, education, and community development.

Sport England provides long term investment of £16.9 million to the Rugby Football Football Union between 2022 and 2029 to support grassroots rugby union.

Sport England’s Movement Fund also offers grants between £500 - £15,000 to support projects that support getting more people active, which includes rugby community outreach programmes.

The Government recognises the role rugby community foundations play in promoting physical and mental well-being, raising aspirations, and building stronger, more cohesive communities.

While professional rugby community foundations operate as independent charitable arms of their clubs, we monitor the financial health of rugby union closely and engage regularly with the Rugby Football Union and Premiership clubs to support the ongoing sustainability of elite and grassroots rugby union. Through public bodies such as Sport England, we continue to invest in grassroots and community sport programmes that align with our national priorities on health, education, and community development.

Sport England provides long term investment of £16.9 million to the Rugby Football Football Union between 2022 and 2029 to support grassroots rugby union.

Sport England’s Movement Fund also offers grants between £500 - £15,000 to support projects that support getting more people active, which includes rugby community outreach programmes.

The National Archives has not transferred any records to the Royal Archives since 2010.

Since 2013, the law has required central government departments to identify records of historical value and transfer them for permanent preservation to The National Archives by the time they are 20 years old.

The total number of records relating to the Royal Family that have been withheld, or redacted, under section 37 of the Freedom of Information Act can be reported on, with the number of exemptions relating to the Royal Family made under section 37 for each of the years cited being as follows:

2007: 0

2017: 97

2020: 80

2022: 35

2024: 46

However, records transferred in these years would not date from 30 years previously as public records are now due for transfer 20 years after their creation. Under the timetable for transitioning to the 20-year rule between 2013-2022, records dating from 1987-1994 were processed between 2015-2018. Details of exemptions made under section 37 on this basis are as follows:

2007 (1977 records): 0

2015 (1987 records): 33

2016 (1990 records): 58

2017 (1992 records): 97

2018 (1994 records): 84

It should be noted, however, that The National Archives cannot determine how many Royal Family-related records may have been withheld under other exemptions because it is not possible to search the actual content of all records held by The National Archives to identify those that include information relating to a particular subject. This is because searches in The National Archives’ Discovery catalogue are based on the terms used in catalogue descriptions rather than the full content of records. As a result, searching for a broad term such as “Royal Family” will not necessarily identify all relevant records, as many records may instead be catalogued under the name of an individual, institution, title, event, or other descriptive term.

Consequently, TNA officials are unable to provide a comprehensive figure for such records or express them as a proportion of the total number of records relating to the Royal Family.

The Government is committed to ensuring that as many women and girls as possible have access to and benefit from quality sport and physical activity opportunities.

The Government provides the majority of funding for grassroots sport through our Arm’s Length Body, Sport England, whose work includes providing more opportunities for children and young people from all backgrounds to be active.

Sport England supports the work of the local Active Partnership which covers Woking, Active ​S​urrey, who champion physical activity with local leaders to develop interventions tailored to communities. Alongside this, Sport England invested £47,286 into sports-related projects in the constituency of Woking in 2024/25.

In addition, Sport England’s This Girl Can campaign has also inspired millions of women and girls across the country to get active. 1.6 million more women are expected to be active as a result of the campaign by 2028.

The Government is committed to ensuring that as many women and girls as possible have access to and benefit from quality sport and physical activity opportunities.

The Government provides the majority of funding for grassroots sport through our Arm’s Length Body, Sport England, whose work includes providing more opportunities for children and young people from all backgrounds to be active.

Sport England supports the work of the local Active Partnership which covers Woking, Active ​S​urrey, who champion physical activity with local leaders to develop interventions tailored to communities. Alongside this, Sport England invested £47,286 into sports-related projects in the constituency of Woking in 2024/25.

In addition, Sport England’s This Girl Can campaign has also inspired millions of women and girls across the country to get active. 1.6 million more women are expected to be active as a result of the campaign by 2028.

As stated in my response to HL680, Arts Council England funding decisions are made independently of the government. DCMS ensures that the Arts Council operates within the policy framework and controls set by Government. This reflects the arm's-length principle, under which Arts Council England is established as a non-departmental public body that makes funding decisions independently, and as such, DCMS does not routinely scrutinise individual funding decisions by Arts Council.

The Arts Council aims to fund a diverse range of cultural activity that represents the broad spectrum of views and interests of citizens and communities across the country. Where individuals have concerns about specific organisations supported by Arts Council or the conduct of individual funding recipients, these can be addressed by using Arts Council’s Raising a Concern process online.

The Media Green Paper, Watch this Space, sets out how we will ensure Public Service Media content is prominent where audiences are watching TV, including on third party platforms. The Government's preference remains for industry-led, voluntary agreements to achieve increased prominence in a sustainable and robust way that benefits all parties.

The Department has held a series of roundtables with the public service media providers and video sharing platforms to encourage industry led voluntary partnerships ensuring public service media content is made prominent and on fair terms. The Green Paper sets out that prominence should be outcomes-based, giving platforms the flexibility to deliver the objectives in a way that works for their platform, whether through recommendation algorithms or other means.

With regards to freedom of speech, at present social media companies, rather than the public, have the control over what content is made visible to users - we want to ensure that trustworthy news is not crowded out. There is no intention to restrict or censor content.

We are currently consulting on the proposals in the Green Paper, and stakeholder input including from independent content creators, will directly inform the Government’s next steps.

The Media Green Paper, Watch this Space, sets out how we will ensure Public Service Media content is prominent where audiences are watching TV, including on third party platforms. The Government's preference remains for industry-led, voluntary agreements to achieve increased prominence in a sustainable and robust way that benefits all parties.

The Department has held a series of roundtables with the public service media providers and video sharing platforms to encourage industry led voluntary partnerships ensuring public service media content is made prominent and on fair terms. The Green Paper sets out that prominence should be outcomes-based, giving platforms the flexibility to deliver the objectives in a way that works for their platform, whether through recommendation algorithms or other means.

With regards to freedom of speech, at present social media companies, rather than the public, have the control over what content is made visible to users - we want to ensure that trustworthy news is not crowded out. There is no intention to restrict or censor content.

We are currently consulting on the proposals in the Green Paper, and stakeholder input including from independent content creators, will directly inform the Government’s next steps.

The Media Green Paper, Watch this Space, sets out how we will ensure Public Service Media content is prominent where audiences are watching TV, including on third party platforms. The Government's preference remains for industry-led, voluntary agreements to achieve increased prominence in a sustainable and robust way that benefits all parties.

The Department has held a series of roundtables with the public service media providers and video sharing platforms to encourage industry led voluntary partnerships ensuring public service media content is made prominent and on fair terms. The Green Paper sets out that prominence should be outcomes-based, giving platforms the flexibility to deliver the objectives in a way that works for their platform, whether through recommendation algorithms or other means.

With regards to freedom of speech, at present social media companies, rather than the public, have the control over what content is made visible to users - we want to ensure that trustworthy news is not crowded out. There is no intention to restrict or censor content.

We are currently consulting on the proposals in the Green Paper, and stakeholder input including from independent content creators, will directly inform the Government’s next steps.

The Media Green Paper, Watch this Space, sets out how we will ensure Public Service Media content is prominent where audiences are watching TV, including on third party platforms. The Government's preference remains for industry-led, voluntary agreements to achieve increased prominence in a sustainable and robust way that benefits all parties.

The Department has held a series of roundtables with the public service media providers and video sharing platforms to encourage industry led voluntary partnerships ensuring public service media content is made prominent and on fair terms. The Green Paper sets out that prominence should be outcomes-based, giving platforms the flexibility to deliver the objectives in a way that works for their platform, whether through recommendation algorithms or other means.

With regards to freedom of speech, at present social media companies, rather than the public, have the control over what content is made visible to users - we want to ensure that trustworthy news is not crowded out. There is no intention to restrict or censor content.

We are currently consulting on the proposals in the Green Paper, and stakeholder input including from independent content creators, will directly inform the Government’s next steps.

The Media Green Paper, Watch this Space, sets out how we will ensure Public Service Media content is prominent where audiences are watching TV, including on third party platforms. The Government's preference remains for industry-led, voluntary agreements to achieve increased prominence in a sustainable and robust way that benefits all parties.

The Department has held a series of roundtables with the public service media providers and video sharing platforms to encourage industry led voluntary partnerships ensuring public service media content is made prominent and on fair terms. The Green Paper sets out that prominence should be outcomes-based, giving platforms the flexibility to deliver the objectives in a way that works for their platform, whether through recommendation algorithms or other means.

Before determining whether legislation is required, we intend to allow more time for voluntary agreements to be developed and to collect more evidence on their effectiveness. The consultation will allow us to collect evidence on the costs and benefits of any intervention.

The Media Green Paper, Watch this Space, sets out how we will ensure Public Service Media content is prominent where audiences are watching TV, including on third party platforms. The Government's preference remains for industry-led, voluntary agreements to achieve increased prominence in a sustainable and robust way that benefits all parties.

The Department has held a series of roundtables with the public service media providers and video sharing platforms to encourage industry led voluntary partnerships ensuring public service media content is made prominent and on fair terms. The Green Paper sets out that prominence should be outcomes-based, giving platforms the flexibility to deliver the objectives in a way that works for their platform, whether through recommendation algorithms or other means.

Before determining whether legislation is required, we intend to allow more time for voluntary agreements to be developed and to collect more evidence on their effectiveness. The consultation will allow us to collect evidence on the costs and benefits of any intervention.

The Media Green Paper, Watch this Space, sets out how we will ensure Public Service Media content is prominent where audiences are watching TV, including on third party platforms. The Government's preference remains for industry-led, voluntary agreements to achieve increased prominence in a sustainable and robust way that benefits all parties.

The Department has held a series of roundtables with the public service media providers and video sharing platforms to encourage industry led voluntary partnerships ensuring public service media content is made prominent and on fair terms. The Green Paper sets out that prominence should be outcomes-based, giving platforms the flexibility to deliver the objectives in a way that works for their platform, whether through recommendation algorithms or other means.

Before determining whether legislation is required, we intend to allow more time for voluntary agreements to be developed and to collect more evidence on their effectiveness. The consultation will allow us to collect evidence on the costs and benefits of any intervention.

The BBC has a duty to reflect the diversity of the United Kingdom, both in its output and services. As set out in the recent Charter Review Green Paper, it is this Government’s ambition for the BBC to tell a unifying national story that represents all communities across the UK, and to drive growth in the nations and regions. This includes supporting the sustainability of minority language broadcasting and local media.

The Media Act ensures that, for the first time, indigenous and minority languages - including Cornish – form part of the public service remit for television in the UK, including for the BBC. It is for Ofcom, the independent regulator, to monitor compliance.

The Charter Review is considering a range of measures to ensure the BBC can continue to serve all audiences, including how it continues to support Minority Language Broadcasting.

We recognise the impact on public interest news publishers of generative AI platforms and services, including AI assistants and answer engines, which risk diverting audiences and advertising revenue by presenting news summaries which limit the need to click through to news websites.

As set out in our Local Media Action Plan, published in March, these summaries can also be inaccurate or misleading, with one recent study finding that 81% of news-related responses from AI assistants contained issues relating to accuracy, editorialisation, sourcing errors or limited contextualisation. These summaries also risk distorting the market by drawing on a narrow range of prominent newsbrands. Over the long term, this risks further commercial harm to local media and other news providers, to public trust in news as a whole, and to the quality of news accessed by citizens.

The Action Plan committed to helping news providers adapt to the emerging challenges of AI-generated news summaries, and supporting a healthy licensing ecosystem while also working with industry to ensure proportionate transparency. We want to support all rights holders, including news publishers, to be able to license their work in the digital age, while allowing AI developers to benefit from access to creative material in the UK. Our taskforce on AI labelling will put forward proposals for Government on best practice to ensure consumers understand whether content has been made using AI. Alongside this, we will also publish a review of the mechanisms available for creators to control their works online. This will include standards, technical solutions and best practice on input transparency. This review will inform where there are gaps and whether there is an appropriate role for government in addressing them.

This builds on other work already underway in this area. The CMA recently imposed the first Conduct Requirement under the Digital Markets regime on publisher controls in Google Search and search advertising, aiming to ensure transparency, attribution and choice for publishers in how their content is used in Google’s AI services. We also welcome the news industry’s proactive efforts to address concerns in this area, including through the Standards for Publisher Usage Rights (SPUR) coalition, which is focused on bridging the gap between news publishers and AI developers and developing shared industry standards. SPUR has recently published a draft of a Content Telemetry standard, an open standard which enables publishers and content owners to directly understand how AI systems are using their content.

As the Gambling Commission is an independent regulatory body, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport does not hold records of which organisations have lobbied the Commission on any particular topic.

Transparency data for ministerial meetings will be published quarterly in due course.

It is not possible to provide an exact cost for preparing Ministers to respond to Westminster Hall Debates. There will be differences in the costs of Civil Service, Special Adviser and Ministerial time depending on the policy matter and length of the debate. Debates can also be cross-cutting and require resources from multiple departments or engage departmental bodies.

The Government is clear that no one should be left behind as television watching increasingly moves online. A core objective of the DCMS’s future of TV distribution work is to ensure that any transition is inclusive, and supports both the continued sustainability of the UK’s media ecosystem and the Government’s wider ambitions for digital inclusion. The Department recognises that some audiences may face challenges around affordability, connectivity, digital confidence or usability, and these issues are being carefully considered. As set out in the recent Media Green Paper ‘Watch this Space’ the Government expects an audience support package will be needed to help them move from Digital Terrestrial Television to TV watched over the internet smoothly and with confidence.

As set out in the Creative Industries Sector Plan, the Government is committed to supporting the growth of the UK video games sector. In April this year we launched the £30 million Games Growth Package, doubling funding to invest in UK games businesses, create new opportunities and develop future talent.

Under competition law, responsibility for investigating the impact of mergers and acquisitions on competition falls to the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), the UK’s independent competition authority sponsored by the Department for Business and Trade. The Government has ensured that the CMA has significant powers and expertise to investigate the benefits and risks of mergers in relation to competition, including those that may impact the video games sector.

DCMS is working with Sally Davies, AI Champion of the Creative Industries, and others to consider how best to support AI adoption. Sally has been engaging closely with the sector to inform her AI Adoption Plan for the Creative Industries, which was published in June.

Sally’s recommendations are not formally part of government policy, however we will carefully consider next steps in order to allow our creative industries to best seize the opportunities for innovation and growth presented by AI. This includes recommendations to raise the practical AI knowledge and confidence and develop trusted guidance, standards and tools for AI adoption.

We aim to help creative businesses, especially SMEs and the self-employed, build the skills and confidence to use AI safely and effectively. The government joins the AI Champion in supporting an augmentation-first approach to AI Adoption in the creative industries. AI should support human creativity, not displace it.

We are committed to working with Sally and the sector to increase accessibility to industry-backed knowledge, infrastructure and support, so as to empower creatives to make an informed decision on whether they’ll use AI or not.

The Government has been clear that arenas and stadiums have a vital role to play to accelerate adoption of the £1 ticket contribution to support grassroots music. The Government has convened the live music industry, including arena and stadium operators and their representative bodies, to drive further uptake of the voluntary levy and to understand remaining challenges and opportunities. As set out in our Music Plan, published on 13 July, we support the industry's leadership on this so far, with the LIVE Trust already having distributed £1.5 million to vital initiatives. However, we want to see uptake increase further, and we have consistently said that we are prepared to explore legislative options if required.

The Creative Content Exchange (CCE) is funded by UKRI through its Missions Accelerator Programme. My Department has not directly contributed funding to the programme. An early version is already live online with a range of already digitised content.

Early adopters including partnering DCMS ALBs had the opportunity to apply for UKRI grant funding of up to £125,000 to support legal and technical aspects of making already digitised material available.

The Creative Content Exchange is in a pilot phase. The purpose of the pilot is to build an online solution and test the market for both content supply and demand from customers. The outcome of the pilot will determine how the Exchange is taken forward.

The Creative Content Exchange (CCE) is funded by UKRI through its Missions Accelerator Programme. My Department has not directly contributed funding to the programme. An early version is already live online with a range of already digitised content.

Early adopters including partnering DCMS ALBs had the opportunity to apply for UKRI grant funding of up to £125,000 to support legal and technical aspects of making already digitised material available.

The Creative Content Exchange is in a pilot phase. The purpose of the pilot is to build an online solution and test the market for both content supply and demand from customers. The outcome of the pilot will determine how the Exchange is taken forward.

The British Museum is curatorially independent of the Government. Decisions on signage and object labelling are made by curatorial experts at the Museum.

DCMS officials have discussed these matters with British Museum officials to understand the Museum’s decision. We note the Museum’s public statements made in February 2026, which explain the curatorial justifications for two recent changes.

The government understands how important it is that citizens can access information in times of national emergency. Resilient radio and television play an important role in a range of different emergency scenarios.

The BBC has specific requirements under its Framework Agreement in relation to broadcast security and resilience, and works closely with DCMS in ensuring its infrastructure is able to support emergency communications.

DCMS works with the Cabinet Office and other Departments to ensure the BBC’s public emergency messaging capabilities are integrated into wider cross government resilience planning.

The Common Understanding from the inaugural UK-EU Summit in May 2025 notes that the UK and EU are committed to cultural and artistic exchange, including through the activities of touring artists. This is a priority, as set out in the Government’s manifesto.

To deliver this commitment, we regularly engage with the EU institutions and Member States, as well as music and arts industry stakeholders, to determine the most effective ways to foster cultural exchange and support touring artists who wish to perform across the European continent. Our engagement has led to improvements in individual EU Member States, for instance the recent removal of visa and work authorisation certificate requirements for touring artists and technical staff for stays of less than three months in Croatia.

On 24 March, I co-chaired the first UK-European Commission High-Level Meeting on Culture with Commissioner Micallef (Intergenerational Fairness, Youth, Culture and Sport) to support UK-EU cultural cooperation. I also attended an industry panel session at the European Parliament, hosted by MEPs Hannes Heide and Bogdan Zdrojewski in collaboration with the Cultural Exchange Coalition, focused on strengthening UK-EU cultural exchange, including removing barriers to cross-border touring.

I welcome the European Commission’s new EU Visa Strategy, which commits to exploring practical flexibilities for touring artists, specialist crew, and hauliers within the existing Schengen framework. This Government is also modernising cross-border infrastructure to simplify processes and reduce administrative burdens. Most notably, we have launched HMRC’s digital ATA carnets pilot on 1 June, in collaboration with EU Member States, Switzerland, and Norway, enabling touring artists and their crews to move equipment temporarily without the burden of customs duties.

The Government is fully committed to our elite sport system and enabling our athletes to achieve their potential and excel on the world stage.

As Karate is not part of the Olympic and Paralympic programme it does not receive funding from UK Sport.

The British Karate Federation, supported by Karate England, together offers financial support for elite athletes.

Under the Enterprise Act 2002, if a merger meets the necessary thresholds, the Secretary of State has a quasi-judicial role and can intervene on public interest grounds to refer the merger to the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA). It would not be appropriate to comment on any live discussions regarding a potential media merger.

Lowering the voting age will have no impact on the definition of children in the Licensing Act 2003. There is no single definition of the age at which someone becomes an ‘adult’ in the UK; the idea of 18 being the ’standard’ age of adulthood is a misconception. People can work part time from 14, donate blood at 17, and adopt at 21.

Decisions about classifying films are made by the British Board of Film Classification at arm's length from the government to ensure impartiality. The BBFC’s age ratings are continually updated to respond to changing social attitudes towards media content through public consultation and research.

National Lottery funding for churches and historic buildings is primarily given via the National Lottery Heritage Fund (NLHF). NLHF’s decision-making on grant funding is independent from DCMS.

The Department is working closely with funders in the sector to ensure that opportunities for funding places of worship throughout the UK are maximised. The NLHF already offers grants for places of worship across all the UK and is currently investing £100m over 3 years through National Lottery Heritage Grants and a strategic initiative designed to provide targeted support to build capacity.

On 1 July the UK Government launched a major call for evidence on lottery good causes funding, seeking views from people, organisations and communities across the country on future funding. This is currently live on GOV.UK and will close on 23 September 2026.

DCMS does not provide any discretionary capital funding for local heritage projects, however the National Lottery Heritage Fund has capital funding streams available.

We are proud to already boast a large number of existing UK World Heritage Sites and are committed to supporting UNESCO’s ambition for a more globally balanced, representative World Heritage List. The UK Government does not currently have any plans to consider additional sites for nomination to UNESCO, beyond those already included on the UK’s Tentative List.

Since July 2024, 146 public appointments have been made to DCMS public bodies. All have been announced publicly on the gov.uk website.

In the same time period, 18 direct ministerial appointments have been made, which have been publicly announced, including on gov.uk and the Cabinet Office’s direct ministerial appointments website. There were an additional 25 joint unregulated ministerial appointments made in January 2025 by the Secretary of State for DCMS and the Foreign Secretary.