Asked by: Anne Marie Morris (Conservative - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of ending the furnished holiday let tax regime on the tourism industry.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
DCMS is working closely with other Government departments to ensure that different measures being considered across Government that apply to short-term lets are proportionate, complementary and easy to understand.
Asked by: Anne Marie Morris (Conservative - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to encourage volunteering during the recovery from the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
DCMS is focusing its role as a steward of the sector, working collaboratively to improve access to volunteering by removing long-standing barriers, some of which have been exacerbated or exposed by COVID-19.
As part of our work to investigate how and the extent to which COVID-19 has impacted on volunteering in England, we produced a report to investigate what drives demand for volunteers and how this varies over a typical calendar year, as a means of identifying potential issues in the supply of volunteers. This also examined the effect of the pandemic on volunteer supply and demand. *
We are working with the voluntary and community sector to develop a Vision for Volunteering, which will be a clear and actionable 10 year plan to simplify access to and experiences of volunteering in England.
We are also planning to launch a new Volunteering Futures Fund, which will provide new volunteering opportunities for young people and others who experience barriers to volunteering, within DCMS sectors (arts, culture, museums and heritage) as well as in youth, tackling loneliness and place-based community initiatives.
* https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/research-report-on-the-drivers-in-demand-for-volunteers
Asked by: Anne Marie Morris (Conservative - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of new national lottery terminals offering additional services such as cash withdrawals.
Answered by John Whittingdale
The Gambling Commission is responsible for regulating the National Lottery, including the operator of the National Lottery and the operation of National Lottery terminals.
The Gambling Commission in its role as overseer of the National Lottery licence must ensure that the National Lottery is run with all due propriety, the interests of every participant are protected and, subject to these two duties, that good cause returns are maximised.
There is a wide network of approximately 44,000 retailers that sell National Lottery products across the country, ranging from large chains of supermarkets to independent newsagents.
Asked by: Anne Marie Morris (Conservative - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 9 June 2021 to Question 10396 on Tourism: Coronavirus, what the timescale is for the Government's independent review of Destination Management Organisations.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government launched the independent review of Destination Management Organisations (DMOs) in England, led by Nick de Bois, in March. The review will examine how best to structure and support DMOs at a local and regional level in order to deliver the Government’s tourism policy priorities and support economic growth.
The first phase of the review included a public consultation, stakeholder conversations, and a survey of DMOs. The review's second phase was formed of regional roundtables, taking place across England in June.
Nick de Bois will evaluate his findings and submit a written report, including recommendations, to the DCMS Secretary of State in Summer 2021.
Asked by: Anne Marie Morris (Conservative - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 9 June 2021 to Question 10396, how much of the £2.3 million was allocated to Visit Devon.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
Visit Devon received £77,414 in total from the £2.3m allocated by VisitEngland to provide emergency financial support to Destination Management Organisations (DMOs). It received £26,666 from the DMO Resilience Fund, and £50,748 from the DMO Emergency Financial Assistance Fund.
Asked by: Anne Marie Morris (Conservative - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of adding tourist information centres and points to the list of statutory services provided by local authorities.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
No specific assessment has been made regarding the potential merits of adding tourist information centres to the list of statutory services provided by Local Authorities.
However, my Department recently commissioned an independent review of Destination Management Organisations led by Nick de Bois which is looking at how best regional and local tourism is structured, funded and supported by the central Government. As many Destination Management Organisations run their own tourist information centres, or have done so in the past, the review may touch on this issue.
Last year, the Government provided £2.3 million in financial support to England's Destination Management Organisations, so that they could continue carrying out vital business support roles during the pandemic.
Asked by: Anne Marie Morris (Conservative - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions officials in his Department have had with relevant stakeholders on the allocation of additional funding to support the running of tourist information centres following the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
No specific assessment has been made regarding the potential merits of adding tourist information centres to the list of statutory services provided by Local Authorities.
However, my Department recently commissioned an independent review of Destination Management Organisations led by Nick de Bois which is looking at how best regional and local tourism is structured, funded and supported by the central Government. As many Destination Management Organisations run their own tourist information centres, or have done so in the past, the review may touch on this issue.
Last year, the Government provided £2.3 million in financial support to England's Destination Management Organisations, so that they could continue carrying out vital business support roles during the pandemic.
Asked by: Anne Marie Morris (Conservative - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps he is taking to enable the safe return of spectators to National League football matches; and what discussions he has had with the (a) League and (b) FA on appropriate financial support for clubs.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The safety and security of players and spectators is of paramount importance.
On Tuesday 22 September it was announced that all sports pilot events currently ongoing would be paused with immediate effect, due to the sharp upward trajectory of Covid-19 cases. A?s set out in our Roadmap, sports events pilots, and the full return of fans to stadia would only ever take place when it was safe to do so.
However, the Government continues to work closely with a whole range of sports to understand the latest thinking that might allow spectators to return. This includes the creation of a new Sports Technology Innovation Working Group of sporting bodies and health experts to analyse new technologies which might support this.
The Government knows that the decision not to reopen stadia to spectators on 1 October will have major consequences for sports and clubs across the country who relied on those fans for income. We are working with those organisations to understand what they need and how we can support them.
Ministers have spoken to all of the major spectator sports, including football, and have asked for detailed financial returns so the Government can understand what support they might need.
Asked by: Anne Marie Morris (Conservative - Newton Abbot)
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 support community radio stations during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by John Whittingdale
The Government is strongly supportive of the community radio sector and recognises the great value that it offers to communities across the United Kingdom, in terms of providing quality local news, information and entertainment.
We recognise the challenges that some community stations are facing due to Covid-19 and are currently holding discussions with Ofcom and the Community Media Association (CMA) on possible options to provide urgent support for those stations in greatest need.
Asked by: Anne Marie Morris (Conservative - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if he will estimate the number of businesses in Newton Abbot constituency which have download speeds of 10Mb/s.
Answered by Lord Vaizey of Didcot
The Government has committed to achieving availability of superfast broadband to 95% of homes and businesses in the UK by the end of 2017. 88 per cent of homes and businesses in Newton Abbott are estimated to have coverage by the end of 2016, and additional funding sources, including the clawback funding that BT have offered in response to the high levels of take-up, will allow coverage to be extended further in Newton Abbot and the rest of the area covered by the Devon and Somerset broadband project. The Government will also launch a public consultation early next year in preparation for the implementation of a new broadband USO by 2020,with the ambition to give people the legal right to request a connection to broadband with speeds of 10 Mbps, no matter where in the country they live.