Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will conduct a review of public notices advertising to ensure that those notices are distributed in (a) printed and (b) online news outlets.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Public notices are important for ensuring that the public is kept informed of decisions made by their council which may affect their quality of life, local services or amenities, or their property. The independent 2019 Cairncross Review into sustainable journalism found that public notices are also an important source of revenue for local newspapers. However, the Government is aware of feedback from some sectors about the audience reach of these notices and the desire for greater digitalisation. In this context, the sector’s Public Notice Portal is a welcome innovation, intended to take advantage of print publishers’ growing digital audiences and provide a centralised resource for all types of public notice. We are monitoring the progress of the Portal, and the effect that it has on the audience reach of public notices.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of a fan-led review of the music industry.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government will respond to the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee’s report on Grassroots music venues as soon as we can in the autumn, including its recommendation on a fan-led review of live and electronic music. As part of our commitment to putting fans at the heart of our policy on music, we will launch a consultation on the secondary ticket market in the autumn alongside a call for evidence on dynamic pricing.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if he will provide an update on the steps taken by his Department to implement the recommendations of the Cairncross Review.
Answered by Julia Lopez
The Government is committed to supporting local and regional newspapers as vital pillars of communities and local democracy. They play an essential role in holding power to account, keeping the public informed of local issues and providing reliable, high-quality information.
However, as the independent Cairncross Review into the future of journalism identified, society is increasingly moving online and local news publishers are facing significant challenges in transitioning to sustainable digital business models.
The Government supported the majority of Cairncross recommendations and has taken them forward through a range of fiscal and regulatory interventions. This has included delivery of a £2 million Future News Fund, the zero rating of VAT on e-newspapers; the extension of a 2017 business rates relief on local newspaper office space until 2025; the publication of the Online Media Literacy Strategy; and our work through the Mid-Term Review of the BBC Charter, exploring how the BBC seeks to act as a complement to, rather than a substitute for, local commercial news outlets. The BBC also continues to support the sector directly, through the £8m it spends each year on the Local News Partnership, including the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme, which was expanded in 2020 to fund the placement of 165 journalists in newsrooms across the UK.
We have also introduced legislation to address the far-reaching power of the biggest tech firms, building on the findings of the Competition and Markets Authority’s market study into online platforms and digital advertising. Among many other things, the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumer Bill will help rebalance the relationship between publishers and online platforms on which they rely increasingly.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether she has had recent discussions with Reach plc on its third round of proposed redundancies.
Answered by Julia Lopez
The Government is committed to supporting local and regional newspapers as vital pillars of communities and local democracy. They play an essential role in holding power to account, keeping the public informed of local issues and providing reliable, high-quality information.
As society is increasingly moving online and local news publishers are facing significant challenges in transitioning to sustainable digital business models, the Government has taken action to support them.
This includes delivery of a £2 million Future News Fund, the zero rating of VAT on e-newspapers; the extension of a 2017 business rates relief on local newspaper office space until 2025; the publication of the Online Media Literacy Strategy; and our work through the Mid-Term Review of the BBC Charter, exploring how the BBC seeks to act as a complement to, rather than a substitute for, local commercial news outlets. The BBC also continues to support the sector directly, through the £8m it spends each year on the Local News Partnership, including the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme, which was expanded in 2020 to fund the placement of 165 journalists in newsrooms across the UK.
We have also introduced legislation to address the far-reaching power of the biggest tech firms, building on the findings of the Competition and Markets Authority’s market study into online platforms and digital advertising. Among many other things, the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumer Bill will help rebalance the relationship between publishers and online platforms on which they rely increasingly.
DCMS Ministers and officials continue to engage regularly with representatives from across the press sector, including Reach plc, on matters relating to the financial sustainability of the press.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether she has made an assessment of the effectiveness of the National Lottery Heritage Fund in awarding grants to small charities.
Answered by John Whittingdale
The National Lottery Heritage Fund makes funding decisions independently of HM Government.
The Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport sets Policy Directions for the UK and England. The National Lottery Heritage Fund ensures that its investment activities and strategies are aligned with these directions, as well as with the Financial Directions that it receives from HM Government, which were also issued under the National Lottery Act 1993.
The Heritage Fund has developed its strategy for 2023–33, Heritage 2033, which sets out the long-term vision and ambition of the Fund, as well as a series of 3-year plans for how to realise that strategy, which was endorsed by DCMS Ministers and which the Fund monitors and reports to the Department against.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether officials in her Department have received representations from (a) the UK Cinema Association and (b) cinemas acting independently of the association on the potential impact of a rise in performing rights fees as proposed by PRS for Music.
Answered by John Whittingdale
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) continues to work closely with the UK’s cinema sector. DCMS has received representations from the UK Cinema Association and individual cinemas, primarily via their local MPs, regarding the potential impact of a rise in performing rights fees proposed by PRS for Music.
As DCMS has set out in response to these representations, this is a commercial matter for the film and music industries to resolve.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps the Government is taking to help ensure the financial security of UK Athletics.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
UK Sport - the Department’s Arm’s Length Body on elite sport - works very closely with UK Athletics and other National Governing Bodies.
UK Sport is continuing to invest in both UK Athletics’ elite performance and major events programmes. This includes an investment of £22,175,520 in the Athletics World Class Programme and an investment of £9,065,401 in the Para Athletics World Class Programme across the four year cycle leading to Paris 2024.
UK Sport is investing £1.45 million in the 2024 World Indoor Athletics Championships in Glasgow and £3 million in the 2026 European Athletics Championships in Birmingham.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions she has had with the (a) the Secretary of State for the Home Department and (b) professional footballing bodies on the eligibility of talented footballers on dependent visas to access professional sporting contracts.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
I meet regularly with cabinet colleagues on areas of mutual interest. Access to professional sports person visas has been established following extensive consultation between the Home Office and over 60 Home Office approved Sports Governing Bodies (SGBs), including the four home nations’ football associations.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department has purchased mobile UV virus irradiation units.
Answered by Julia Lopez
DCMS has purchased no mobile UV virus irradiation units.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether the Government has made representations to the FIFA President on his remarks on equality and inclusion on 20 November 2022.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
Sport operates independently of the government, therefore direct representations to FIFA on equality and inclusion would be a matter for Home Nation football governing bodies to raise.
The Government continues to work with National Governing Bodies of sport and sector organisations to tackle LGBT discrimination in local, national and international sport. Our aim is to increase diversity within sporting organisations and to help the sport sector be more inclusive and welcoming to its spectators, participants and people in its workforce.