Asked by: Lord Watson of Wyre Forest (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what are the dates and times of meetings that ministers in the Department for Culture, Media and Sport have held with representatives of UK newspapers since 5 July.
Answered by Baroness Twycross - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
Ministers and officials working in the Department for Culture, Media and Sport regularly engage with stakeholders on a range of press-related issues. Details of ministerial meetings are published on a quarterly basis on Gov.uk.
Asked by: Lord Watson of Wyre Forest (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions ministers in the Department for Culture, Media and Sport have had since 5 July regarding the protection of victims of illegal press intrusion.
Answered by Baroness Twycross - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
Ministers and officials working in the Department for Culture, Media and Sport regularly engage with stakeholders on a range of press-related issues. Details of ministerial meetings are published on a quarterly basis on Gov.uk.
Asked by: Lord Watson of Wyre Forest (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what are the dates and locations of all ministerial visits made by the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport since her appointment.
Answered by Baroness Twycross - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
Since her appointment, the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport has made a range of ministerial visits across the UK, supporting treasured national and local assets across DCMS sectors, and meeting the people with skin in the game and a stake in the outcome in their own communities, to understand what they need and how the Government can support them. Details of ministerial meetings are published on a quarterly basis on Gov.uk.
Asked by: Lord Watson of Wyre Forest (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport has to visit (a) Belfast, (b) Cardiff, and (c) Edinburgh.
Answered by Baroness Twycross - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport visited Edinburgh in August 2024 and looks forward to visiting both Cardiff and Belfast in early 2025, subject to parliamentary business.
Asked by: Lord Watson of Wyre Forest (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to promote poetry in public institutions and cultural programmes.
Answered by Baroness Twycross - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
After 14 years of indifference and cultural vandalism, this government is committed to making sure that arts and cultural activities will no longer be the preserve of a privileged few.
The Department for Culture and Media and Sport, via its Arms Length body, Arts Council England (ACE) plays an important role in promoting poetry, primarily through its grants and support for arts institutions, festivals, and individual practitioners.
For example, ACE supports the Poetry Society who promote poetry through innovative education and commissioning programmes, performances, readings and competitions for all ages across the country. The Ledbury Poetry festival, also supported by ACE, brings together world leading poets to read, debate and share their work during its main programme over two weeks in the summer, and continues throughout the year with projects that involve local schools and hundreds of local people through its community projects.
Additionally, as the national development agency for libraries in England, ACE also supports public libraries through funding, advocacy and collaboration. Public libraries promote poetry by encouraging reader development and helping to inspire, educate, support and entertain people of all ages and backgrounds.
Asked by: Lord Watson of Wyre Forest (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to meet representatives of UK nuclear test veterans.
Answered by Lord Coaker - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
This is a Government of service that will always stand up for those who serve our country. As part of the Minister for Veterans and People’s role, he will regularly meet and engage with veterans including UK nuclear test veterans, to learn about their experiences and understand how the Government can provide the right support to them.
The Minister for Veterans and People has engagements planned in the coming weeks to discuss specific concerns raised by nuclear test veterans.
Asked by: Lord Watson of Wyre Forest (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to include single-storey dwellings such as bungalows in the new housing targets for both urban and rural areas.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The National Planning Policy Framework makes clear that Local Authorities should assess the size, type and tenure of housing needed for different groups in the community, and reflect this in Local Plan policies. Each Local Plan is subject to a public examination in front of an independent inspector, who plays an important role in examining plans to ensure they are consistent with national policy, supported by evidence and take the views of local people into account. The overall housing targets set by central government do not specify the proportion or type of dwelling that should be provided.
Asked by: Lord Watson of Wyre Forest (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to review the provision of public lavatories in the station upgrade proposals of the TransPennine Route Upgrade programme between Manchester and Leeds.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
There are no plans to make any further provision of public lavatories as part of the Transpennine Route Upgrade programme inherited from the previous Government. Public lavatories will be replaced where the programme modifies or removes public lavatories at stations to facilitate works.
Asked by: Lord Watson of Wyre Forest (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how much funding has been earmarked in the next three years for the UK-led Strategic Communication Initiative under the Substantial NATO-Georgia Package.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
The UK led Strat Comms initiative as part of the Substantial NATO- Georgia Package (SNGP) concluded as planned in March 2024. We are currently considering our position on future Strategic Communication collaboration with Georgia.
Asked by: Lord Watson of Wyre Forest (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Viscount Camrose on 10 April (HL3606), which stakeholders they are engaging with regarding the regulation of large language models; and when they anticipate reaching conclusions and recommendations based on these consultations.
Answered by Viscount Camrose - Shadow Minister (Science, Innovation and Technology)
In the white paper consultation response, the Government set out the case for targeted binding measures for the most powerful AI systems to ensure adherence to the principles set out in the AI white paper including safety, transparency and accountability. The Government also set out key questions to consider as we develop our thinking, and we are engaging with stakeholders across academia, civil society, legal experts and regulators on this work. Government has committed to publishing an update by the end of the year.