Asked by: Greg Smith (Conservative - Mid Buckinghamshire)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to her Department's Sector Plan for the creative industries, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of changes to the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme on (a) creators and creative networks in the UK and (b) the ability to deliver Art for Everyone Everywhere.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
DCMS Ministers received advice on changes to the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme, including consideration of the potential impacts of various options to scale the scheme.
We believe that the changes announced were necessary and adequate given the tight fiscal challenges we inherited from the previous government and considering competing financial demands in other parts of the heritage and cultural sector, and will continue the widest distribution of the scheme’s benefits within the available means. Based on previous scheme data, we expect 94% of claims to be unaffected by this change.
Asked by: Greg Smith (Conservative - Mid Buckinghamshire)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of reductions to the Listed Places of Worship Grants Scheme on the Government's aim of increasing access to the arts at (a) local, (b) regional and (c) national level.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
DCMS Ministers received advice on changes to the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme, including consideration of the potential impacts of various options to scale the scheme.
We believe that the changes announced were necessary and adequate given the tight fiscal challenges we inherited from the previous government and considering competing financial demands in other parts of the heritage and cultural sector, and will continue the widest distribution of the scheme’s benefits within the available means. Based on previous scheme data, we expect 94% of claims to be unaffected by this change.
Asked by: Greg Smith (Conservative - Mid Buckinghamshire)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of (a) phasing in and (b) enabling the completion of projects already (i) on-site, (ii) soon-to-start and (iii) those part of the phased work part started prior to the changes to the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Claims received in this financial year are unaffected, assuming that they are eligible claims with the required detail and documentation.
We expect the cap will be applied to all claims received on or after 1 April 2025. We will be publishing guidance on scheme applications and eligibility in due course.
Asked by: Greg Smith (Conservative - Mid Buckinghamshire)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of changes to the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme on the number of apprenticeships and training opportunities across the heritage sector.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
We believe that the changes announced were necessary and adequate given the tight fiscal challenges we inherited from the previous government and considering competing financial demands in other parts of the heritage and cultural sector, and will continue the widest distribution of the scheme’s benefits within the available means. Based on previous scheme data, we expect 94% of claims to be unaffected by this change.
Asked by: Greg Smith (Conservative - Mid Buckinghamshire)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions her Department has had with grant making agencies on additional financial assistance to buildings with projects over £25,000 (a) underway and (b) about to commence work unable to claim back VAT under proposed changes to the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Based on the Department’s analysis of previous data, 94% of applications between 2022-2024 have been under £25,000, and most of these claims were for under £5,000. We believe that the modifications were necessary and adequate given the tight fiscal challenges we inherited from the previous government and the capital pressures on other parts of the heritage sector.
Asked by: Greg Smith (Conservative - Mid Buckinghamshire)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will have discussions with the Charity Commission on the potential merits of opening an investigation into the eligibility for charitable status of (a) Dar Alhekma and (b) the Abrar Islamic Foundation.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Charity Commission for England and Wales ('the Commission') has a statutory function to identify and investigate misconduct and mismanagement in charities, and we are confident that it has the expertise to do so effectively. The Commission assesses concerns in accordance with its published regulatory and risk framework, and has a wide range of powers to investigate and remedy the abuse of charities. Any evidence that a registered charity is engaged in misconduct or mismanagement should be referred to the Commission.
The Commission has open regulatory compliance cases into both the Abrar Islamic Foundation and the Dar Alhekma Trust, and will determine if there is a need to take action. As a civil regulator, the Commission is not a prosecuting authority and any allegations of criminal conduct should be referred to the Police.
The Charity Commission has been clear that the promotion of extremist views in charities is unacceptable, and that it will respond robustly where there proves to have been wrongdoing.
Asked by: Greg Smith (Conservative - Mid Buckinghamshire)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
Whether she is taking steps with Cabinet colleagues to ensure the availability of synthetic and sustainable fuels for use in motorsport.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
The Government welcomes the moves of the motorsport sector, including Formula 1, to develop, and make widely available, more advanced sustainable fuels. Formula 1 and the British motorsport industry has a great history of technological innovations which can have an enormous impact beyond the racetrack. Motorsport’s work to develop 100% sustainable fuels stands to benefit the global transport sector, and help our drive towards net zero.
Asked by: Greg Smith (Conservative - Mid Buckinghamshire)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of plans for the Gratitude Games.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston
The Government recognises the impact that sport and physical activity has on physical and mental health, and the importance of welfare and wellbeing for everyone participating in sport at all levels.
The Government's role in the support of bidding for and hosting major sporting events is set out in the Gold Framework. The Gratitude Games do not meet the criteria as set out in the Gold Framework and therefore would not be within scope for support. We encourage all organisations to continue to work together to support mental health through sport and physical activity.
Asked by: Greg Smith (Conservative - Mid Buckinghamshire)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of the Gratitude Games.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston
The Government recognises the impact that sport and physical activity has on physical and mental health, and the importance of welfare and wellbeing for everyone participating in sport at all levels.
The Government's role in the support of bidding for and hosting major sporting events is set out in the Gold Framework. The Gratitude Games do not meet the criteria as set out in the Gold Framework and therefore would not be within scope for support. We encourage all organisations to continue to work together to support mental health through sport and physical activity.
Asked by: Greg Smith (Conservative - Mid Buckinghamshire)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what plans the Government has to replace the international opportunities for young people previously accessed through the European Solidarity Corps and Erasmus+ programmes.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston
In light of the changing needs of young people and due to the pandemic, DCMS reviewed its programmes and funding for out-of-school provision to ensure it achieves maximum impact and levelling up opportunities. As a result, at the 2021 Spending Review, the government decided that DCMS should continue to focus on domestic youth provision through a National Youth Guarantee for young people and DfE will continue to offer the Turing Scheme, an international educational exchange scheme that has a genuinely global reach and increases social mobility.
The Turing scheme is backed by £110 million, providing funding for over 41,000 overseas placements for students in universities, colleges and schools, starting in September 2021.
48% of the overseas placements receiving Turing Scheme funding are for participants from disadvantaged backgrounds and areas which did not previously have many students benefiting from Erasmus+, making life-changing opportunities accessible to everyone across the country. The second year of the Turing Scheme will open for applications shortly, at which point youth organisations will be able to review the eligibility criteria when considering applying for funding.