Asked by: Carla Lockhart (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will meet with the National Churches Trust regarding support for the protection of historic places of worship.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
DCMS recognises the value and expertise of the National Churches Trust in supporting the protection of historic places of worship.
Baroness Twycross, the Minister for Heritage, is open to meeting with the National Churches Trust. The Department has engaged in various meetings with representatives of the sector, including the National Churches Trust, throughout the year, and the Minister looks forward to continuing this important dialogue.
Asked by: Carla Lockhart (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what measures her Department has put in place to protect historic places of worship.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Department offers support for the protection and preservation of historic places of worship through the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme, which in January 2025 was extended for a further year to March 2026 with a £23 million budget. This scheme allows religious organisations to reclaim the VAT costs of eligible repairs and renovations, recognising the vital heritage and community role of these sites.
Furthermore, DCMS arm's length bodies provide additional funding. The National Lottery Heritage Fund is committing around £100 million between 2023 and 2026 to help secure the future of places of worship across the UK. This includes £15 million dedicated to large-scale projects aimed at enhancing the heritage sector's sustainability and security. A further £85 million is expected to be awarded through National Lottery Heritage Grants over the next three years to improve the condition of places of worship and help develop the necessary skills for their future preservation.
In exceptional circumstances, some listed places of worship may also be eligible for Heritage at Risk funding provided by Historic England. In addition, the Department funded a Heritage At Risk Capital Fund in 2025/26 and of 37 projects awarded funding, 4 were places of worship receiving £1,387,842 in total.
Asked by: Carla Lockhart (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to help ensure equitable levels of representation of Northern Ireland in UK (a) broadcasting and (b) public service media.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Public service media plays an important role in terms of providing news and other content which reflects the full diversity of people, communities and experiences across the nations and regions, including Northern Ireland.
Currently under their Operating Licence, the BBC has to produce 3% of its network programming output in Northern Ireland each year, by spend and hours. Meanwhile Channel 4’s nations quota for content spend and hours has recently been increased by Ofcom from 9% to 12% from 2030 which Channel 4 have committed to delivering by 2028.
Ofcom has overall responsibility for these quotas and monitoring compliance.
Asked by: Carla Lockhart (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department has had recent discussions with (a) church authorities and (b) Historic England on increasing flexibility in the (i) renovation and (ii) adaptation of listed churches for (A) community use and (B) accessibility improvements.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
DCMS ministers have recently met with both Church representatives and Historic England, however discussions have not covered the specific issue of increasing flexibility in the renovation and adaptation of listed churches for community use and accessibility improvements.
Through the Ecclesiastical Exemption, many denominations are already able to manage alterations to their own listed buildings, including adaptation to community use and greater accessibility, through internal permission systems.
Asked by: Carla Lockhart (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what funding her Department is providing to (a) churches and (b) faith-based charities in the context of trends in the level of (i) energy costs and (ii) donations.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
We know this is a difficult time for the civil society sector; cost of living pressures are leading to increased demand for many organisations, alongside their higher running costs.
Over the last year, my department has been delivering the VCSE Energy Efficiency Scheme, which is a £25.5 million fund to support voluntary, community and social enterprise organisations across England to save money on energy bills. The fund was designed to help groups with rising energy costs and was targeted at those delivering key frontline services. Recipients of the fund have included over 40 churches and faith-based organisations.
Asked by: Carla Lockhart (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of broadcasting regulations on the impartiality of news coverage in Northern Ireland.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The regulation of due impartiality in broadcast news is a matter for the independent regulator Ofcom.
Asked by: Carla Lockhart (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will make an estimate of the number of underage people that use (a) gambling apps and (b) online gambling.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
The Gambling Commission’s ‘Young People and Gambling’ report has measured gambling behaviour in children since 2014. The latest edition for 2023 can be found here.
Asked by: Carla Lockhart (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how much funding from the Tampon Tax Fund has been allocated to (a) England, (b) Scotland, (c) Wales and (d) Northern Ireland in each of the last two years.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
In 2020/21 and 2021/22, the Tampon Tax Fund was allocated between each administration using the Barnett formula.
| 2020/21 | 2021/22 |
England | £11,995,000 (inc £150k administration costs ) | £9,000,000 (inc £150k administration costs ) |
Wales | £905,000 | £675,000 |
Scotland | £1,570,000 | £1,181,250 |
Northern Ireland | £530,000 | £393,750 |
Total | £15,000,000 | £11,250,000 |
Asked by: Carla Lockhart (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many applications from groups and organisations in Northern Ireland for funding from the Tampon Tax Fund have been received in each of the last two years; and how many and what proportion of those applications were successful.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
The 2021/22 round of the Tampon Tax Fund (TTF) received six applications from organisations delivering solely in Northern Ireland. Of these, two did not meet eligibility criteria. Of the remaining four, one bid was successful in being awarded funding.
There were no applications to the 2020/21 round of Tampon Tax funding from organisations delivering solely in Northern Ireland.
The minimum application threshold was also reduced for the 2021/22 round of TTF to £350,000 specifically to enable more bids from organisations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Asked by: Carla Lockhart (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what recent progress her Department has made on bringing forward a Media Bill.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Shadow Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology
The Media Bill was announced in the Queen’s Speech in May 2022. The Government will introduce this legislation when Parliamentary time allows.