Asked by: James Frith (Labour - Bury North)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether she plans to re-introduce the Young Audience Content Fund.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government has no plans to re-introduce the Young Audiences Content Fund which concluded on 31 March 2022. However, the Government is committed to the success of our world-leading TV production sector. UK-wide television and film tax reliefs, including for children’s television programming, continue to play a vital role in driving production, with more than £4 billion of expenditure supported in 2023.
Asked by: James Frith (Labour - Bury North)
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 to ensure that (a) the Independent Football Regulator plays an integral role in the process to settle the distribution deal and (b) the distribution deal must pass parameters set by the regulator.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Independent Football Regulator will only have the power to intervene on distributions as a last resort. The backstop mechanism has been designed to give the industry the opportunity and incentives to reach a timely, industry-led solution to distributions and it is right that the Regulator only steps in as a last resort.
If the relevant leagues cannot reach an agreement independently, they can apply to trigger the backstop. Then, if certain thresholds are met, the backstop can be triggered.
First, the relevant leagues will enter into a period of mediation and, if there is still no agreement, they will move to a final proposal stage.
At this point, the Regulator would convene an independent expert panel that will set out the relevant questions that need to be addressed through the arbitration and invite final proposals from both relevant leagues with accompanying analysis. The independent expert panel will then choose the proposal most consistent with the regulator’s objectives with consideration to potential burden on the commercial interests of the leagues. If neither proposal is consistent, the regulator will terminate the process without making a distribution order.
Asked by: James Frith (Labour - Bury North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she plans to reinstate the Music and Dance Scheme.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
The Music and Dance Scheme (MDS) is a programme currently in operation, supporting exceptionally talented children and young people to access specialist education and training in music and dance.
Funding of approximately £32 million is committed for the 2024/25 academic year for the MDS, giving opportunities for young people and allowing them access to specialist training and a pathway into the creative industries.
Asked by: James Frith (Labour - Bury North)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps her Department takes to ensure that recall decisions are (a) fair and (b) proportionate to public safety concerns.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The Government’s absolute focus is on public protection. Offenders on licence can be swiftly recalled to prison if they breach their licence conditions. The recall of an offender to custody is an important public protection measure, and successive thematic reviews conducted by HM Chief Inspector of Probation have found that the Probation Service is using recall appropriately.
Additionally, HMPPS has issued guidance to probation practitioners, to ensure all safe alternatives to recall are considered before a decision is taken to recall an offender.