Asked by: Lord Dodds of Duncairn (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what financial commitments they have made towards the redevelopment of Casement Park in Belfast.
Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Department for Communities in Northern Ireland is responsible for the procurement process for the redevelopment of Casement Park. Funding decisions are therefore for the Northern Ireland Executive to consider.
His Majesty’s Government is working closely with partners in Northern Ireland to make sure that EURO 2028 leaves a lasting legacy across the whole United Kingdom.
Asked by: Lord Dodds of Duncairn (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure the safety and security of spectators at future major football events.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The safety of all those who attend sporting fixtures is a priority for the government. We fund the Sports Grounds Safety Authority (SGSA) whose purpose is to ensure sports grounds are safe for everyone. While it is the responsibility of individual clubs and venue owners to take the necessary steps to put in place reasonable protection for spectators at events, the SGSA provides support to minimise risk and help deliver safe events. It does this by setting high standards for safety in its internationally-renowned Guide to Safety at Sports Grounds, and through its expert team of inspectors who provide first-rate advice across all areas of sports grounds safety to individual clubs and grounds.
Additionally, the SGSA enforces the Government’s all-seater policy by issuing annual licenses to all grounds of clubs in the Premier League and Football League along with Wembley and the Principality Stadium. Under the Football Spectators Act 1989, the clubs of these grounds are unable to admit spectators without a licence issued by the SGSA.
Following incidents of public disorder at the UEFA EURO 2020 finals held at Wembley on 11 July, all key local partners and expert bodies, including the FA, UEFA, City Hall, the Metropolitan police, local authority and SGSA are investigating the events that took place in and around the stadium to ensure that robust plans are in place to prevent a recurrence.
Asked by: Lord Dodds of Duncairn (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with the Northern Ireland Executive about the joint bid for hosting the FIFA Men's World Cup in 2030.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
We regularly engage with the Northern Ireland Executive, as well as the other Devolved Administrations, on a range of sporting matters. This includes discussions around a potential UK and Ireland bid to host the 2030 FIFA World Cup which is being coordinated across the five Football Associations in the UK and Ireland.
Asked by: Lord Dodds of Duncairn (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what schemes his Department has allocated funding to for the purchase or hire of (a) uniforms and (b) instruments by (i) musical and (ii) marching bands in the last five years.
Answered by Michael Ellis
My Department does not hold this information. In England, funding decisions in this area are made by Arts Council England. As culture is a devolved matter, questions regarding funding decisions made in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales should be directed to the devolved administrations.
Asked by: Lord Dodds of Duncairn (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what interim arrangements are in place to ensure that the interests of Northern Ireland are fully represented on the BBC Board in the absence of Northern Ireland executive.
Answered by Margot James
The BBC Board has implemented interim arrangements to ensure that Northern Ireland interests are fully represented. This includes the Chairman acting as a member of the Northern Ireland sub-committee and feeding these views into the main board. Elan Closs Stephens, the BBC non-executive director for Wales, is also a member of the Committee which is chaired by Board member Ken MacQuarrie, the Director of Nations and Regions.
Asked by: Lord Dodds of Duncairn (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that the BBC Trust contains a member from Northern Ireland in accordance with the Royal Charter.
Answered by Margot James
In April 2017 the BBC Trust was replaced by a new unitary BBC Board. Under the Charter, no appointment can be made for the Board member for Northern Ireland without the agreement of the Executive Committee. Interim arrangements are in place to ensure that the interests of Northern Ireland are fully represented.
Asked by: Lord Dodds of Duncairn (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what proportion of public monies received by the (a) community and (b) voluntary sector came from the EU.
Answered by Tracey Crouch
Government is continuing to assess the impact of leaving the EU on the voluntary, community and social enterprise (VCSE) sector, including around funding. The National Council for Voluntary Organisations estimate that in 2014/15 the UK voluntary sector received between £350-450 million of EU funding. Estimates for 2016 are not yet available.
There are a wide range of EU funds that community and voluntary sector organisations access. Government is actively listening to the views of community and voluntary sector organisations as we develop successor funding schemes to EU programmes
Asked by: Lord Dodds of Duncairn (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what plans he has to visit Northern Ireland to meet with representatives of the creative industries.
Answered by Margot James
The Secretary of State has no current plans to visit Northern Ireland. However he is constantly reviewing his regional visits programme.
Creative industries policy is a devolved matter. Members of the Devolved Administrations attend meetings of the Creative Industries Council, which the Secretary of State co-Chairs.
We work closely with Northern Ireland on creative industries policy through DCMS’s participation in the British-Irish Council creative industries workstream.
Asked by: Lord Dodds of Duncairn (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what information his Department holds on the number of overseas visitors to England and Wales that visited Northern Ireland as part of their stay in each of the last five years.
Answered by Michael Ellis
Although precise data is not available, VisitBritain estimate that international visits to Northern Ireland which also include a visit to England, Scotland or Wales was 14% in 2016, 10% in 2015, 15% in 2014, 10% in 2013 and 19% in 2012.
Asked by: Lord Dodds of Duncairn (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether the Government has taken steps to deter the display or sale of Nazi memorabilia on social media marketplace platforms; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Margot James
As set out in the Internet Safety Strategy, behaviour which is unacceptable offline is unacceptable online. Therefore, where the sale of memorabilia supports harmful views or could encourage hate crime, we expect social media companies to have robust processes in place to remove this content.