Asked by: Edward Morello (Liberal Democrat - West Dorset)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment her Department has made of steps to help reduce fatality rates of cyclists on rural roads in West Dorset constituency.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department has not made an assessment of steps to help reduce fatality rates of cyclists on rural roads in West Dorset constituency.
Dorset Unitary Authority has been awarded £774,233 in revenue and capital funding from the Consolidated Active Travel Fund. It will be for the local authority to allocate this funding in line with local investment priorities, such as improving safety for cyclists in West Dorset.
We are committed to reducing the numbers of those killed and injured on our roads. The Department is developing our Road Safety Strategy and will set out more details in due course.
Asked by: Edward Morello (Liberal Democrat - West Dorset)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether Integrated Care Board mergers are planned for Dorset.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England has asked integrated care boards (ICBs) to act primarily as strategic commissioners of health services and reduce duplication of responsibilities within their structure. NHS England provided additional guidance to ICBs, National Health Service trusts and NHS foundation trusts on 1 April 2025 where ICBs were tasked to develop plans setting out how they will manage their resources to deliver across their priorities. The guidance is available at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/working-together-in-2025-26-to-lay-the-foundations-for-reform/
Dorset ICB is discussing proposals to form a wider ICB “cluster” with neighbouring colleagues at NHS Somerset and NHS Bath and North East Somerset, Swindon and Wiltshire. This is very much a proposal, which will need to be worked through in more detail over the coming months.
Asked by: Edward Morello (Liberal Democrat - West Dorset)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department has held recent discussions with (a) Bridport Arts Centre and (b) Dorchester Arts on access to capital funding (i) to tackle maintenance backlogs and (ii) for modernisation.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Our arms-length body Arts Council England (ACE) is investing £176,345 over three years in Bridport Arts Centre as part of their National Portfolio 2023-26 (NPO). In 2024/25 ACE granted a further £20,000 to Bridport Arts Centre from their Area Funds to explore the lease/ownership of the building which will have a direct impact on their ability to address energy efficiency and accessibility.
In 2024/25 ACE invested £12,650 in Dorchester Arts through their open-access National Lottery Project Grants to deliver a festival of scriptwriting. All recipients of ACE funding remain fully responsible for their operations, artistic programme, and the day-to-day management of their activities.
The Spending Review sets out DCMS’s high-level funding settlement, and individual decisions on how to invest departmental resources will be determined in due course. The Spending Review does, however, commit to significant investment into Arts, Culture, and Heritage infrastructure. Across the spending review period DCMS will be delivering funding across its major capital programmes, supporting local institutions and leveraging economic growth across the regions.
DCMS has not had any recent discussions with Bridport Arts Centre or Dorchester Arts directly, however, in September 2024, ACE held discussions with Bridport Arts Centre about their lease on their Grade II listed building as the contract end approaches.
On 23 June, an ACE Annual Progress Review took place to assess Bridport Arts Centre’s progress against the objectives set out in their ACE funding agreement over 12 months. This included consideration of their contribution to ACE’s Environmental Responsibility Investment Principle which includes energy efficiency.
Both organisations are eligible to apply to ACE’s current round of capital funding, and more information can be found on their website here: https://www.artscouncil.org.uk/developing-creativity-and-culture/capital
Asked by: Edward Morello (Liberal Democrat - West Dorset)
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 provide financial support to help (a) Bridport Arts Centre and (b) Dorchester Arts to help meet (i) energy efficiency and (ii) accessibility standards; and what capital funding she has allocated to regional arts centres over the period of the Spending Review 2025.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Our arms-length body Arts Council England (ACE) is investing £176,345 over three years in Bridport Arts Centre as part of their National Portfolio 2023-26 (NPO). In 2024/25 ACE granted a further £20,000 to Bridport Arts Centre from their Area Funds to explore the lease/ownership of the building which will have a direct impact on their ability to address energy efficiency and accessibility.
In 2024/25 ACE invested £12,650 in Dorchester Arts through their open-access National Lottery Project Grants to deliver a festival of scriptwriting. All recipients of ACE funding remain fully responsible for their operations, artistic programme, and the day-to-day management of their activities.
The Spending Review sets out DCMS’s high-level funding settlement, and individual decisions on how to invest departmental resources will be determined in due course. The Spending Review does, however, commit to significant investment into Arts, Culture, and Heritage infrastructure. Across the spending review period DCMS will be delivering funding across its major capital programmes, supporting local institutions and leveraging economic growth across the regions.
DCMS has not had any recent discussions with Bridport Arts Centre or Dorchester Arts directly, however, in September 2024, ACE held discussions with Bridport Arts Centre about their lease on their Grade II listed building as the contract end approaches.
On 23 June, an ACE Annual Progress Review took place to assess Bridport Arts Centre’s progress against the objectives set out in their ACE funding agreement over 12 months. This included consideration of their contribution to ACE’s Environmental Responsibility Investment Principle which includes energy efficiency.
Both organisations are eligible to apply to ACE’s current round of capital funding, and more information can be found on their website here: https://www.artscouncil.org.uk/developing-creativity-and-culture/capital