Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 17 February 2026 to Question 111615, for what reason does her Department not have the facility to offer payroll deductions for employees who wish to join a credit union.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The DCMS employee benefits package is directly shaped by employee demand. At present, joining a credit union is not included in our provision as we haven’t seen a significant appetite or interest. There is no requirement for DCMS to provide a facility for payroll deductions for employees who wish to join a credit union.
Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether they will require their department and agencies to offer payroll deductions to all employees to enable them to join a credit union.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
DCMS does not have, nor will have, the facility to offer payroll deductions for employees who wish to join a credit union.
Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions she will have with broadcasters on commissioning programmes that encourage those aged over 60 to participate in sporting activity.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government is committed to ensuring that everyone, including older people, should have access to and benefit from quality sport and physical activity opportunities to stay fit and healthy.
We understand sport helps encourage people to be active and support all grassroots activity to promote this message, and help people participate in sporting activity.
All national governing bodies and UK broadcasters are operationally and editorially independent of the Government. Consequently, we do not plan to have discussions with them regarding their commissioning plans in relation to encouraging those aged over 60 to participate in sporting activity.
Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to encourage the take-up of sport by people aged over 70.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government is committed to ensuring that everyone, including older people, should have access to and benefit from quality sport and physical activity opportunities to stay fit and healthy.
The Government provides the majority of support for grassroots sport through DCMS’s Arm’s Length Body, Sport England, which annually invests over £250 million in Exchequer and Lottery funding. Their ten-year Uniting the Movement strategy reinforces their commitment to increasing participation in sport and physical activity for those from under-represented groups, including older people. Sport England has also ensured that each of its programmes impact directly on those with long-term health conditions, including older people, with initiatives like the 'We are Undefeatable' campaign.
Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will take steps with the Secretary of State for Business and Trade on improving access to finance for the video games industry.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government is committed to making the UK the best place in the world to produce video games. We recognise the high growth potential of the sector, and are committed to improving its access to finance.
This is why, as part of the Creative Industries Sector Plan, we have committed £30 million over the next three years for the Games Growth Package, which includes a significant expansion of the UK Games Fund which will continue to provide grants to early-stage studios across the UK to develop prototypes and new intellectual property, and run development programmes for new graduates.
The tax reliefs offered to video games companies continue to make the UK one of the best places in the world to make video games. Our Video Games Expenditure Credit ensures that this highly skilled and innovative industry is able to thrive and the government will continue to work with stakeholders to ensure its continued effectiveness.
Also outlined in the Creative Industries Sector Plan was a significant increase in support from the British Business Bank (BBB) and UK Research and Innovation (UKRI). The BBB is committing an additional £4 billion of Industrial Strategy Growth Capital to support investment and growth in the eight priority Industrial Strategy sectors, including the creative industries, while UKRI will lead efforts to significantly increase public funding for the creative sectors, including support for commercialisation and tech adoption.
Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether she has had discussions with the International Olympic Committee on the inclusion of netball in the Olympic Games.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
I have not had discussions with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) about the inclusion of netball, or any other sport, in the Olympic Games.
The Olympic sports programme is determined by the IOC. The British Olympic Association, as the National Organising Committee for Great Britain and Northern Ireland, is the domestic representative to the IOC and does so operating independently of the Government.
Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)
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 her Department have been allocated to deal with issues related to international trade in (a) each of the past five years and (b) the next two years; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Shadow Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology
DCMS staff allocated to trade negotiations, trade policy development, and trade analysis over the last 5 years is approximately:
2018/19 - 37.5 FTE
2019/20 - 37.5 FTE
2020/21 - 39.9 FTE
2021/22 - 36.7 FTE
2022/23 - 34.3 FTE
With regards to FYs 2023-24 and 2024-25, future staffing is subject to ongoing Departmental Business Planning, therefore we are not able to comment on it at this time.
Additionally, there is an international trade dimension relevant to many aspects of DCMS's work and so it is not possible to fully disaggregate staff time on international trade aspects versus other policy work.
Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, how much financial support the Government has provided to support South Asia Heritage Month in each of the last five years; what proportion of that funding came from (a) his and (b) other Government departments; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport’s Arm's Length Body, Arts Council England (ACE), via its National Lottery Project Grants funding has supported a wide range of organisations and events focused on engaging with and celebrating South Asian Heritage, including supporting the South Asian Heritage Trust, which delivers their annual South Asian Heritage Month observance.
South Asian Heritage Month was established in 2020. Since then, ACE awarded a £20,175 National Lottery Project Grant to the South Asian Heritage Trust for their South Asian Heritage Month Online Programme in May 2022. Additionally, ACE awarded £41,700 to 'Tribe Arts' in July 2022 as part of a project to establish partnerships with South Asian Heritage Month.
Significant projects have also been funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund between 2003- 2021, in the London Borough of Harrow, with a total investment of £178,732 which explored and celebrated the South Asian community.
Current projects supported by Historic England are celebrating South Asian Places of Worship through thematic listing and research, and two projects have been awarded through their Everyday Heritage programme to the Bengali Photography Archive and the Sikh Development Academy.
Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, when her Department last funded celebrations, exhibitions and programmes related to (a) the contributions of the South Asian community to UK life and (b) the culture, history and religions of South Asian countries; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
My Department has funded many exhibitions and programmes related to the contribution of South Asian culture and history through the bodies it funds.
Significant projects have been funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund between 2003- 2021, in the London Borough of Harrow, with a total investment of £178,732 which explored and celebrated the South Asian community. Arts Council England’s National Lottery Project Grants has also supported a wide range of organisations and events including: the South Asian Heritage Trust, which delivers their annual South Asian Heritage Month observance; Luton Mela, a festival of South Asian arts and cultural heritage; and Croydon’s Beeja Dance Company who play a national role in developing the next generation of Indian dance leaders in the UK.
Current projects supported by Historic England are celebrating South Asian Places of Worship through thematic listing and research, and two projects have been awarded through their Everyday Heritage programme to the Bengali Photography Archive and the Sikh Development Academy.
There are also future events to look forward to. In 2023 the Manchester Museum will unveil a new South Asian gallery in partnership with the British Museum and which has been part-funded by a £5m grant from the government. The British Library also plays a part in celebrating South Asian culture and history through their partnership programmes and events such as the upcoming Lahore literature festival in 2023.
Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of adopting the UNICTRAL Model Law 2017 for UK-Australia trade; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Chris Philp - Shadow Home Secretary
In the UK Australia Free Trade Agreement both parties agreed to “…maintain a legal framework governing electronic transactions consistent with the principles of the UNCITRAL Model Law on Electronic Commerce…” and to “...recognise the importance of developing mechanisms to facilitate the use of electronic transferable records.”
In the Queen’s Speech, the Government committed to implementing the recommendations made by the Law Commission for England and Wales by legislating to put electronic documents on the same legal footing as paper documents, thereby delivering the principles of the UN Commission On International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) Model Law.
Reform in this area is a G7 commitment made under DCMS Secretary of State’s Digital Track of the UK G7 Presidency and confirmed by the Carbis Bay G7 Leaders’ Summit Communique.