Asked by: Gareth Snell (Labour (Co-op) - Stoke-on-Trent Central)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether planned funding arrangements for Young Futures Hubs will include provision for long-term funding.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government is committed to breaking down barriers to success and opportunity. Too many children and young people today do not have access to the same enrichment opportunities as their peers, suffer from poor mental health, and, in some cases, end up being drawn into crime rather than achieving their full potential.
While services already exist to provide support for this group, many still go unsupported, because they are unable to access the services they need, when and where they need them. Young Futures Hubs will bring together the support services that tackle these underlying needs and make them more accessible to those that need them. In doing so, the hubs will promote children and young people’s development, improve their mental health and wellbeing, and prevent them from being drawn into crime. They will be staffed with professionals including youth workers, mental health support workers and career advisors. The new Young Futures Hubs will support the delivery of the government’s safer streets, health and opportunity missions.
The number of hubs, their specific locations, and their reach are still being determined, and long term funding for these will be determined through the Phase 2 of the Spending Review.
The department will engage with national and local partners, local communities, and children and young people to work together on design and delivery, including considering relevant reports.
Asked by: Gareth Snell (Labour (Co-op) - Stoke-on-Trent Central)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether she is taking steps to provide ring-fenced revenue funding for universal and open-access youth services for all young people all year round.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
This Government fully recognises the importance of youth services to help young people live safe and healthy lives, and we are committed to giving all young people the chance to reach their full potential.
Next financial year, in 2025/26, we are increasing the total funding for other DCMS youth programmes. We will also be funding new work in partnership with local authorities to start the journey of building back lost capacity in local areas and of ensuring young people’s voices are heard in their local services.
We are also allocating over £85m of funding in 2025/26 to create fit-for-purpose, welcoming spaces for young people, including launching the new Better Youth Spaces fund, which will allocate at least £26m for youth clubs to buy new equipment and do renovations. This will also include completing the Youth Investment Fund projects.
In addition, this government has committed to the co-production of an ambitious new National Youth Strategy, which will allow us to put young people back in charge of their own destiny and provide them with meaningful choices and chances. As part of the Strategy, we will be engaging closely with young people and the youth sector from across the country over the coming months to fully understand their needs and the issues they consider to be most crucial in addressing. This will allow us to better target funding and services where they are most needed.
The Strategy will be published next year.
Asked by: Gareth Snell (Labour (Co-op) - Stoke-on-Trent Central)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether she plans to continue funding for research into shared impact measurements for youth services.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
This Government fully recognises the importance of youth services to help young people live safe and healthy lives, and we are committed to giving all young people the chance to reach their full potential.
We are also committed to improving the evidence base for the youth sector and making impactful improvements. Confirmation of decisions regarding any funding for improvements on shared measures will be shared in due course.
In November this government launched the ambitious new National Youth Strategy, which will be co-produced together with young people and the youth sector. This Strategy will allow us to put young people back in charge of their own destiny and provide them with meaningful choices and chances.
We are commissioning research that will inform the development and direction of the National Youth Strategy by exploring young people's challenges and experiences, and their proposed solutions. The research will consist of an evidence review as well as youth engagement.
The Strategy will be published next year.
Asked by: Gareth Snell (Labour (Co-op) - Stoke-on-Trent Central)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sports, what assessment she has made of the potential implications for her policies of the Design and Artists Copyright Society’s report entitled, UK Visual Artists a survey of earnings and contracts, published on 25 November 2024; and if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of digital copying on artists' and performers' remuneration.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
My department has made no recent assessment of the potential impact of digital copying on artists' and performers' remuneration. However, the Government wants to see remuneration arrangements that create the right conditions for sparking and driving innovation and investment, whilst rewarding creators for their work and is proud that it was a Labour Government that introduced the Artists Resale Right which is administered by DACS.
We recognise the importance of copyright protection in ensuring creators are protected and rewarded. The Government welcomes the publication of this informative report from the Design and Artists Copyright Society.
Asked by: Gareth Snell (Labour (Co-op) - Stoke-on-Trent Central)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what information his Department holds on the rate of remuneration for (a) cleaners, (b) security guards and (c) catering staff in his Department in (i) Greater London and (ii) outside Greater London.
Answered by Margot James
DCMS is based only in Greater London, and all our properties have facilities management provided by other Government departments.
Asked by: Gareth Snell (Labour (Co-op) - Stoke-on-Trent Central)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, how many staff in his Department that work (a) inside and (b) outside Greater London are paid at a rate below the Real Living Wage.
Answered by Margot James
No staff in the Department working (a) inside or (b) outside Greater London are paid at a rate below the Real Living Wage.
Asked by: Gareth Snell (Labour (Co-op) - Stoke-on-Trent Central)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, how many staff in his Department that work (a) inside and (b) outside Greater London are paid at a rate below the London Living Wage.
Answered by Margot James
No staff in the Department working (a) inside or (b) outside Greater London are paid at a rate below the London Living Wage.
Asked by: Gareth Snell (Labour (Co-op) - Stoke-on-Trent Central)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what the weekly contracted hours are for the highest paid member of staff in his Department.
Answered by Margot James
As of 1st September 2018, the highest paid member of staff in the department has contracted hours of 41 hours per week, including unpaid daily breaks of one hour.
Asked by: Gareth Snell (Labour (Co-op) - Stoke-on-Trent Central)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, how many staff (a) are employed directly by, (b) are seconded to and (c) work under contract to his Department.
Answered by Margot James
The number of staff in each of those categories at 31 July 2018 was as follows:
a) 985
b) 8
c) 54
Asked by: Gareth Snell (Labour (Co-op) - Stoke-on-Trent Central)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
What steps his Department is taking to encourage the public sector to commission goods and services from social enterprises.
Answered by Tracey Crouch
The Civil Society Strategy recently set out government's long term ambition to grow social value commissioning and strengthen the Social Value Act.
We have already committed £2.7 million to support the growth and sustainability of public service mutuals, the majority of which are staff-led social enterprises.
With the Cabinet Office, DCMS is implementing a package of measures for the future of social value and procurement. This includes training for government commercial staff and will help unlock more opportunities for social enterprises.