Asked by: Earl of Clancarty (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to help enable (1) museums, and (2) libraries, to act as warm hubs during the coming winter.
Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Shadow Minister (Culture, Media and Sport)
The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy has announced an Energy Bill Relief Scheme to support non-domestic energy users (including museums and libraries) with increased energy prices. The support provides a discount on gas and electricity unit prices, applied to energy usage initially between 1 October 2022 and 31 March 2023. That will support museums and libraries to provide heating to people who visit this winter, but no separate support is being provided specifically to enable the sectors to act as warm hubs.
Public libraries are run by local authorities, as are some museums. In these cases it will be for each local authority to identify the needs of local residents and to make decisions about the use of these community assets to meet those needs, including the provision of warm hubs.
Asked by: Earl of Clancarty (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to establish an independent expert panel to (1) deliberate, and (2) make recommendations, on (a) restitution, and (b) repatriation, claims on cultural objects (excepting Nazi-looted objects) held in public collections.
Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Shadow Minister (Culture, Media and Sport)
HM Government has no plans to establish such a panel.
Museums and galleries in the UK operate independently of HM Government. Decisions relating to their collections are a matter for the trustees of each museum.
National museums are prevented by law from “deaccessioning” objects in their collections unless, broadly, they are duplicates or unfit for retention. The two exceptions to this are when the objects are human remains that are less than 1,000 years old, and objects that were spoliated during the Nazi era.
Asked by: Earl of Clancarty (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to the use of a levy on streaming services to help fund a continuation of the Young Audiences Content Fund.
Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Shadow Minister (Culture, Media and Sport)
The full evaluation of the three-year pilot Young Audiences Content Fund will begin following the final determination of Year Three award funding; a timetable for the evaluation’s conclusion has not been set at this stage. The potential of further investment will be assessed following the conclusion of the evaluation and against future public service broadcasting needs.
HM Government has no current plans to put additional taxes on video-on-demand services or to introduce levies.
Asked by: Earl of Clancarty (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the remarks by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay on 17 March (HL Deb col 450), how long the evaluation of the Young Audiences Content Fund will take; and when they will decide whether to extend that fund.
Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Shadow Minister (Culture, Media and Sport)
The full evaluation of the three-year pilot Young Audiences Content Fund will begin following the final determination of Year Three award funding; a timetable for the evaluation’s conclusion has not been set at this stage. The potential of further investment will be assessed following the conclusion of the evaluation and against future public service broadcasting needs.
HM Government has no current plans to put additional taxes on video-on-demand services or to introduce levies.
Asked by: Earl of Clancarty (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to engage directly with creative freelancers in a similar manner to their engagement with creative industries through regular meetings with the Creative Industries Council.
Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Shadow Minister (Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government is well aware of the great contribution freelancers make to the creative industries, and to our society and economy more widely. We are reviewing the scope of the Creative Industries Council to ensure it has appropriate representation, and so that it can be a voice for the full range of people working in the creative industries. We will be gathering views from a wide range of relevant parties to inform this work, including creative freelancers. In addition, we are consulting freelancers on the challenges they face through the Independent Review on Job Quality in the Creative Industries.
Asked by: Earl of Clancarty (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have measured the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on (1) creative freelancers, and (2) other creative workers; and if so, by what means.
Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Shadow Minister (Culture, Media and Sport)
We recognise the significant challenge the pandemic poses to our arts and creative sectors and to the many individuals and freelancers working across these industries.
DCMS officials have been engaging with HMRC, the Creative Industries Federation (CIF), Arts Council England, and leading organisations such as ‘What’s Next’ and individual freelancers within the sector to better understand the level of impact the pandemic has had on the sector and those working in it.
We have supported freelancers through the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS) which was extended at Budget to September 2021. Freelancers are also supported through the unprecedented Culture Recovery Fund support package, which has helped ensure the venues and organisations which support them have survived the pandemic. We were also pleased to announce Government funding via Arts Council England last December of an immediate £1.5 million emergency support for freelancers affected by the pandemic, alongside a further £1.35 million contribution from the theatre sector.
We will continue to work closely with freelancers and organisations across the sectors to see how we can best provide support to those affected.
Asked by: Earl of Clancarty (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the potential to support authors by increasing the Public Lending Right Fund.
Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Shadow Minister (Culture, Media and Sport)
There has been no assessment of an increase of the Public Lending Right (PLR) central fund. The PLR central fund is part of the overall funding for the British Library, which is set for each Spending Review period.
The PLR Scheme is a valued right for authors and other contributors to receive payment when their books are borrowed from public libraries. My department conducts an assessment of the rate per loan annually following a recommendation by the British Library. The PLR rate per loan calculation is based on the annual number of ‘notional loans’ of books from public libraries in the UK.
Asked by: Earl of Clancarty (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will use the Cultural Recovery Fund to support businesses implementing COVID-19 certification.
Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Shadow Minister (Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government’s unprecedented £2 billion Culture Recovery Fund has now given out £1.5 billion of support to around 5,000 organisations and venues in grants and loans, ensuring the survival of organisations facing financial challenges. The Culture Recovery Fund has supported successful applicants with costs associated with operating in a manner compliant with Covid regulations.
The £300 million third round of the Fund is still open for applications, providing vital ongoing support for the cultural, heritage, and creative sectors. We will keep the delivery of the programme under active review and consider how best to adapt it in line with the needs of the sector.
Asked by: Earl of Clancarty (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to widen the representation of the fashion industry on the DCMS-led working group on touring.
Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Shadow Minister (Culture, Media and Sport)
The Touring Working Group was set up at the beginning of 2021 to help the creative and cultural sectors understand and adapt to new requirements following the UK's exit from the EU.
Membership of the Working Group includes the British Fashion Council, and we encourage all members of the working group to reach out to others to ensure that it hears and understands the views from across all the sectors it represents.
We have published a specific page on gov.uk to help the fashion sector navigate the guidance available online, and provide clarity regarding the practical steps that need to be taken by UK fashion professionals working in the EU.
The Government has also engaged with representatives of the fashion industry specifically on EU customs and export issues, through the Brexit Business Taskforce on Fashion and Textiles, chaired by Lord Frost in May, two of DIT’s Trade Advisory Groups, and a seminar jointly organised with the British Fashion Council.
Asked by: Earl of Clancarty (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the announcement on 11 October by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport regarding "visa-free short-term touring allowed in 20 member states", how many days per year a creative professional can work for without a (1) visa, or (2) work permit, in each of these 20 countries.
Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Shadow Minister (Culture, Media and Sport)
Many of the 20 Member States offer visa and work permit free routes for up to 90 days, including some of the biggest touring markets such as France, Germany and Italy. All 20 Member States have confirmed they offer visa and work permit free routes for at least 30 days, aside from Sweden (up to 14 days a year), Latvia (up to 14 days), Estonia (up to 5 days in a 30 day period) and the Czech Republic (up to 7 consecutive days, or 30 days over a year). Austria offers visa and work permit free routes for up to four weeks, although artists may take up several chronologically linked employments for a longer overall duration.
Durations, precise definitions and requirements can vary from Member State to Member State. Travellers should therefore check what requirements they need to fulfill with the Member State to which they are travelling. To support this, we have published general business traveller summaries for all Member States on gov.uk, and we are engaging with Member States to encourage clear and accessible guidance. We are also sharing information with the industry on an ongoing basis, and working with sector organisations to help clarify areas of uncertainty in their own guidance.