Asked by: Chris Williamson (Independent - Derby North)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether his Department has (a) funded, (b) awarded contracts to and (c) procured the services of the Integrity Initiative in each financial year since 2015-16.
Answered by Margot James
DCMS has provided no funding, contracts or procured services from the Integrity Initiative.
Asked by: Chris Williamson (Independent - Derby North)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps the Government is taking to reduce the number of local libraries closing.
Answered by John Glen
Local authorities in England have a statutory duty under the Public Libraries and Museums Act 1964 (1964 Act) to provide a comprehensive and efficient library service.
In December 2016, the Taskforce published ‘Libraries Deliver: Ambition for Public Libraries in England 2016-2021’, which sets out a vision for library services in England. The Government is working with the Taskforce to promote good practice and innovation to assist library services and enable them to be sustainable for the long term.
Asked by: Chris Williamson (Independent - Derby North)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what plans she has to ensure that local authorities have adequate funds to maintain their local libraries.
Answered by John Glen
Local authorities are responsible for funding and providing public library services in England, and made net investment of £701 million in 2015/16. The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) has additionally provided funding support for library authorities throughout England. This included funding a £2.6 million programme to support the installation or upgrade of wifi in public libraries in England; benefitting around 1,000 libraries, and enabling over 99% of public libraries to offer free wifi. DCMS also financed the £3.9m Libraries: Opportunities for Everyone fund to support innovative library service activity to benefit disadvantaged people and places in England. The Government will continue to encourage local authorities to invest in libraries to ensure that they remain relevant and meet the needs of the community.
Asked by: Chris Williamson (Independent - Derby North)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, how much funding her Department will provide to local authorities in England to maintain and run libraries in the next 12 months.
Answered by John Glen
Local authorities are responsible for funding and providing public library services in England, and made net investment of £701 million in 2015/16. The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) has additionally provided funding support for library authorities throughout England. This included funding a £2.6 million programme to support the installation or upgrade of wifi in public libraries in England; benefitting around 1,000 libraries, and enabling over 99% of public libraries to offer free wifi. DCMS also financed the £3.9m Libraries: Opportunities for Everyone fund to support innovative library service activity to benefit disadvantaged people and places in England. The Government will continue to encourage local authorities to invest in libraries to ensure that they remain relevant and meet the needs of the community.