Asked by: Lord Smith of Finsbury (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the UK's cultural sector as a whole, and its national museums and galleries in particular, on levels of overseas tourism to the UK.
Answered by Baroness Twycross - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Government recognises the significant role that the UK’s cultural sector plays in attracting international visitors and supporting the visitor economy. The UK’s museums, galleries, heritage sites, and wider cultural offer are a key part of the country’s global appeal and contribute strongly to the UK’s reputation as a world class tourism destination.
Evidence from VisitBritain indicates that cultural and heritage assets are key motivations for inbound visitors. Data from the International Passenger Survey shows that visiting museums or art galleries is the ninth most popular activity among overseas visitors, with around 11.8 million visits in 2024 (30% of inbound visitors) and associated visitor spending of around £12.7 billion. Cultural heritage more broadly also attracts significant participation, with around 11.2 million visitors (29%) visiting castles or historic houses and 7.9 million (20%) visiting religious buildings.
Through VisitBritain’s international marketing activity and the Government’s support for the cultural sector, the UK continues to promote its rich cultural offer to international audiences. This supports inbound tourism, drives visitor spending across the UK’s regions and nations, and strengthens the UK’s global soft power and reputation as a leading cultural destination.
Asked by: Lord Smith of Finsbury (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the possibility of implementing the proposals for tax incentives in the Independent Review of Arts Council England, published on 16 December 2025.
Answered by Baroness Twycross - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
With regard to tax incentive recommendations in the Arts Council England Review, the government already provides the culture and creative industries with tax reliefs, which are some of the most generous in the world. They provided £2.4 billion support in 2023-24 - including £261 million for Theatres Tax Relief, £50 million for Orchestras Tax Relief, and £28 million in Museums and Galleries Exhibition Tax Relief. The Chancellor considers changes to the tax system at fiscal events in the usual way and in the context of the wider public finances.
The government is now considering the Review with relevant departments and the Arts Council, and will publish a response shortly.
Asked by: Lord Smith of Finsbury (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had, or plan to have, with Arts Council England to understand their decision to withdraw all national programme funding from English National Opera; and what plans they have to ask the Arts Council to reconsider this decision.
Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Shadow Minister (Culture, Media and Sport)
The Secretary of State, other Ministers, and officials from DCMS all regularly meet Arts Council England – which is an arms-length body of the Department – to discuss all aspects of its work. This includes meetings to discuss Arts Council England’s 2023–26 Investment Programme.
All decisions on which organisations to fund through the 2023–26 Investment Programme, and by how much, have been taken by Arts Council England. In line with the long-standing principle that the Arts Council makes such decisions at arm’s length from Government, there are no plans to ask it to reconsider these decisions. The Department is keen that Arts Council England and English National Opera work together on the future of the organisation.
Asked by: Lord Smith of Finsbury (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the privatisation of Channel 4 on the independent production sector.
Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Shadow Minister (Culture, Media and Sport)
Her Majesty’s Government consulted extensively on the future ownership model of Channel 4, and the views and evidence from a wide range of interested parties – including from the independent production sector – has informed the Government’s assessment and wider policy decisions.
The Government recognises that Channel 4 has consistently delivered on its remit in the decades since being established, including supporting the UK’s independent production sector. Forty years on, this sector is now flourishing. Independent production is increasingly less reliant on income from UK public service broadcasters, and will continue to be in demand for the high-quality, differentiated, distinctively British content it produces. In the 10 years between 2008 and 2018, the contribution of public service broadcaster commissions to sector revenue fell from 64% to 42%, due in large part to the growth of international revenue.
Her Majesty’s Government will publish its response to the consultation shortly.
Asked by: Lord Smith of Finsbury (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the fundamental differences between Channel 4 and international streaming services, such as Netflix.
Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Shadow Minister (Culture, Media and Sport)
The increasing popularity in the UK of international media and streaming groups means that Channel 4, in common with other public service broadcasters, faces growing competition for audiences, programmes, and talent from new, global groups with greater spending power.
Channel 4 and these global streamers are certainly fundamentally different. But no one can deny that the markets within Channel 4 operates have been radically changed by the arrival of such competitors, and Channel 4 will need different tools to succeed in the future.
Audiences are increasingly likely to consume content on non-linear platforms such as video-on-demand services. Whilst overall daily audio-video viewing is increasing, broadcast TV’s share of total viewing fell from 74% in 2017 to 61% in 2020. At the same time, subscription video-on-demand services’ share of total video more than trebled, increasing from 6% in 2017 to 19% in 2020.
Global players such as Netflix have significant financial and operational resources compared to UK public service broadcasters, and they are driving up content costs and viewer acquisition costs across the sector. This is reflected across a number of genres, including high-end dramas. Channel 4’s commissioning spending is dwarfed by Netflix, and small in the context of broadcasters. Netflix invested £9.2 billion in 2020, which included spending £779 million on original UK productions, over twice as much as Channel 4, which spent £329 million on original programming on its main channel in 2020.
Asked by: Lord Smith of Finsbury (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they will take to safeguard the specific public service duties of Channel 4 in the event of privatisation.
Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Shadow Minister (Culture, Media and Sport)
Her Majesty’s Government believes that the need for public service broadcasting remains as strong as ever, and wants to ensure that the UK’s broadcasting system is dynamic and relevant, and that it can continue to meet the needs of audiences in the future.
The Government has been very clear that it wants Channel 4 to remain a public service broadcaster, with obligations and benefits similar to those which all public service broadcasters have – both public and privately-owned – so that it continues to make an important social, economic, and cultural contribution to the UK.
Asked by: Lord Smith of Finsbury (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions, if any, they have had with (1) the BBC, and (2) the Scottish government, about provisions for the (a) protection and (b) enhancement, of Gaelic broadcasting in any broadcasting White Paper.
Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Shadow Minister (Culture, Media and Sport)
The UK Government has a strong record of demonstrating its commitment to minority language broadcasting, including broadcasting in Scottish Gaelic, to ensure that our broadcasting sector serves all audiences of the UK. This includes the requirement in the Government’s Framework Agreement with the BBC for it to support the provision of output in Gaelic in Scotland and to operate a television channel (BBC Alba) in partnership with MG ALBA.
Such broadcasting has an important role to play in the UK’s broadcasting ecology, providing not only an opportunity for people to access content in a language familiar to them, but as a means of cultural expression for communities across the UK.
The Government is undertaking a strategic review of public service broadcasting in order to ensure that viewers across the whole UK continue to benefit from a system capable of meeting their needs, now and in the future. In undertaking this work the Government is engaging with a wide range of interested parties including the devolved administrations and the BBC, as well as other broadcasters, industry bodies, and viewer interest groups. We will set out the review's conclusions in due course.
Asked by: Lord Smith of Finsbury (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions they have had, if any, with the Victoria and Albert Museum about securing for the Theatre & Performance Collection (1) expert custodianship, and (2) continued safe access for (a) researchers, and (2) other members of the public.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Shadow Minister (Education)
The V&A Museum has a duty to protect its collections and make them available to the public. The responsibility to determine how to discharge this duty is delegated to the Museum, as an Arm’s Length Body of Government. As such, the proposed restructure of the V&A’s Curatorial, Research and National Art Library departments is an operational matter for the Museum.
As the sponsor department, we have a close working relationship with the museum and I am assured that - even after these changes are made - there will be no material impact on public access, including for research purposes, to the Theatre and Performance Collection, and that appropriate expertise will be retained when the new structure is in place.
Asked by: Lord Smith of Finsbury (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Barran on 9 March (HL13616), whether their working group on the ability of UK artists to perform in the EU includes, or will hear from, performers with experience of applying for the necessary visas.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Shadow Minister (Education)
The Government recognises the importance of the creative and cultural sectors, and is committed to helping them navigate the new rules under the Trade and Cooperation Agreement.
The DCMS-led working group on creative and cultural touring, which involves sector representatives and other key government departments, is looking at the issues and options to help the sectors resume touring with ease as soon as it is safe to do so.
Membership of the Working Group includes a range of sector representative bodies, including: Association of Independent Music, the Music Managers’ Forum, Musicians’ Union, UK Music, BPI, LIVE, the Association of British Orchestras, UK Theatre, One Dance UK, the Incorporated Society of Musicians, the Creative Industries Federation, the Featured Artists Coalition, National Museum Directors’ Council, ACE, the British Fashion Council, the Production Services Association, Creative Scotland, Arts Councils for each of the nations, Logistics UK, the Road Haulage Association, #WeMakeEvents and the Council of Music Makers .
Sector representatives that are in attendance are encouraged to reach out to others to ensure the working group hears and understands the concerns from organisations and individuals right across the cultural and creative sectors.
Asked by: Lord Smith of Finsbury (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Barran on 9 March (HL13616), to provide a list of the people they have appointed to their working group on the ability of UK artists to perform in the EU.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Shadow Minister (Education)
The Government recognises the importance of the creative and cultural sectors, and is committed to helping them navigate the new rules under the Trade and Cooperation Agreement.
The DCMS-led working group on creative and cultural touring, which involves sector representatives and other key government departments, is looking at the issues and options to help the sectors resume touring with ease as soon as it is safe to do so.
Membership of the Working Group includes a range of sector representative bodies, including: Association of Independent Music, the Music Managers’ Forum, Musicians’ Union, UK Music, BPI, LIVE, the Association of British Orchestras, UK Theatre, One Dance UK, the Incorporated Society of Musicians, the Creative Industries Federation, the Featured Artists Coalition, National Museum Directors’ Council, ACE, the British Fashion Council, the Production Services Association, Creative Scotland, Arts Councils for each of the nations, Logistics UK, the Road Haulage Association, #WeMakeEvents and the Council of Music Makers .
Sector representatives that are in attendance are encouraged to reach out to others to ensure the working group hears and understands the concerns from organisations and individuals right across the cultural and creative sectors.