Asked by: Alex Easton (Independent - North Down)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether Young Futures Hubs will have a role in the implementation of the National Year of Reading.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The National Year of Reading is a Department for Education initiative, in collaboration with the National Literacy Trust.
Young Futures Hubs will bring together services to improve access to opportunities and support for young people at community level, promoting positive outcomes and enabling them to thrive. Local Authorities participating in the programme will co-design the services in each hub alongside young people in the community to ensure it meets local needs.
Young Futures Hubs are just one part of delivering support within a much wider youth landscape, and will work closely with core services and wider initiatives spanning youth, education, employment, social care, mental health, youth justice and policing.
Asked by: Alex Easton (Independent - North Down)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what recent discussions she has had with the BBC Board on compliance with statutory obligations on impartiality; and whether her Department plans to bring the BBC's editorial standards under Government control.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
As set out in my response to WPQ 89121, the Secretary of State has been speaking regularly to the Chair of the Board in relation to the points raised in a letter written by Michael Prescott. The public expects and deserves the highest editorial standards from the BBC. The Secretary of State has been consistently clear that where these standards are not met, firm and transparent action must follow.
The BBC is editorially and operationally independent from the Government and this is a crucial component of why people trust it. As such, the BBC Board is responsible for setting and overseeing the BBC’s editorial guidelines and standards.
It is then for Ofcom, as the independent regulator, to ensure the BBC is fulfilling its obligations to audiences, including on impartiality and accuracy, as outlined in the Charter.
Asked by: Alex Easton (Independent - North Down)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions her Department has had with the BBC Board on the editing of a speech by the President of the United States on 6 January 2021 in an edition of Panorama broadcast in October 2024; and what recent discussions she has had with the BBC Board on its adherence to its editorial guidelines on (a) impartiality and (b) accuracy in political reporting.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Secretary of State has been speaking regularly to the Chair of the Board in relation to the points raised in a letter written by Michael Prescott, a former independent adviser to the BBC’s Editorial Guidelines and Standards Committee (EGSC). Dr Samir Shah, Chair of the BBC, has rightly apologised for editorial failings, and has committed to a number of steps including undertaking a review of each item set out in Michael Prescott’s letter and reviewing how the EGSC works and propose changes.
The public expects and deserves the highest editorial standards from the BBC. The Secretary of State has been consistently clear that where these standards are not met, firm and transparent action must follow. The Government therefore welcomes the steps set out by the Chair, and the Secretary of State will continue to seek updates on their progress.