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Written Question
Cultural Heritage: Grants
Monday 11th September 2023

Asked by: Jeff Smith (Labour - Manchester, Withington)

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department plans to review the level of grant-in-aid for heritage institutions, in the context of rises in inflation.

Answered by John Whittingdale

The UK’s heritage institutions play a vital part in our nation's rich history and cultural life.

Just as we supported it through the challenges of the pandemic, HM Government has made support available to mitigate increasing costs for the whole heritage sector, not just those bodies which receive grant-in-aid. The Energy Bills Discount Scheme was implemented from 1 April 2023, a key component of which is the higher level of support being provided to energy and trade-intensive industries. Heritage was recognised as one of these industries and therefore receives a higher level of discount on energy volumes and will be subject to the maximum discount for gas and electricity bills.

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport continues to work with its arm’s-length bodies and other Government Departments to support the sector’s resilience – and to deliver the Government’s promise to halve inflation this year to ease the cost of living and give people financial security.


Written Question
Culture: Brexit
Tuesday 23rd May 2023

Asked by: Jeff Smith (Labour - Manchester, Withington)

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she has made an assessment of the impact of the UK’s exit from the European Union on the income of UK cultural organisations.

Answered by John Whittingdale

HM Government recognises the great value of the UK’s world-leading arts and cultural sectors. The Creative Industries continue to thrive and are a key high growth sector of the economy. The sector contributed £108 billion in 2021, accounting for 6% of UK GVA, and employed 2.3 million people – 7% of the total UK workforce – with employment growth increasing at almost five times the rate of the economy more widely since 2011.

The UK Shared Prosperity Fund delivers on a commitment to match EU funding across all four nations of the UK and gives local communities control of how their money is spent, removing unnecessary bureaucracy and enabling them to invest in the cultural organisations that particularly matter to them.

Recently, the Department has also supported the cultural sector through unprecedented periods of financial instability and international border closures with the Culture Recovery Fund. As the published evaluation for the Fund shows, this £1.57 billion package of emergency cultural funding was delivered efficiently, helping support nearly 220,000 jobs and 5,000 organisations through the COVID-19 pandemic.

Similarly, the speed and highly targeted nature of the UK’s COVID-19 vaccination programme had a direct impact on our ability to open up the economy and ease social restrictions more quickly than other comparable countries.

The Department is also taking a number of steps to reaffirm and deepen the longstanding relationships with our European partners — and, indeed, with countries in other continents across the globe — which will support UK cultural organisations to maintain international connections and partnerships, and to forge new ones – for instance, supporting the British Council’s Seasons of Culture, via bilateral agreements with other governments, and through our membership of multilateral fora such as the Council of Europe and UNESCO. The Department also funds Arts Council England to support the sector to forge direct and deeper links at an institution-to-institution level. In all circumstances, we expect the UK’s creative output to continue to remain an export that is as highly valued in the European Union as it is across the world.


Written Question
Culture: EU Countries
Wednesday 3rd May 2023

Asked by: Jeff Smith (Labour - Manchester, Withington)

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 support cultural organisations to build and maintain relationships with European partners following the UK’s exit from the European Union.

Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

The Department is taking a number of steps to deepen the longstanding relationships with our European partners — and, indeed, with countries in other continents across the globe — for instance by supporting the British Council’s Seasons of Culture, via bilateral agreements with other Governments, and through our membership of multilateral fora such as the Council of Europe and UNESCO. Ministers also undertake regular international visits and hold virtual meetings to champion British arts and cultural organisations, and engage in regular dialogue with counterparts from key partner countries.

To give a recent example, in March 2023 the Department supported the UK-France Summit. The communiqué from this acknowledged our deep cultural connections and shared interests and agreed to develop people-to-people initiatives including encouraging mobility, culture, and exchanges, within the framework of the EU-UK relationship.

The Department also funds Arts Council England to support the sector to forge direct and deeper links at an institution-to-institution level. We agreed an objective with Arts Council England to ‘Help the Cultural Sector to Work Internationally’. This is included in its 2021–24 Delivery Plan and covered in accountability meetings.


Written Question
Sportsgrounds: Safety
Thursday 9th February 2023

Asked by: Jeff Smith (Labour - Manchester, Withington)

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether the Sports Ground Safety Authority has responsibility for (a) the safety of pitch-adjacent walls and barriers and (b) other aspects of player and athlete security within stadiums; and whether there are minimum and evidence-based standards in place to protect player safety.

Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

The safety, wellbeing and welfare of everyone taking part in sport is absolutely paramount.

Sports pitch perimeter safety is primarily the responsibility of the relevant national governing body of the sport, and the relevant competition/event organisers of the fixture.

It is for individual clubs to carry out risk assessments and put in place mitigations that will improve player safety.

The Sports Grounds Safety Authority has regulatory responsibility to issue licences which permit relevant football grounds to admit spectators, and to oversee local authorities in their duties around related safety certification.


Written Question
Future of Women's Football Review
Thursday 9th February 2023

Asked by: Jeff Smith (Labour - Manchester, Withington)

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what recent estimate she has made of when the Future of Women's Football review will publish its report; and whether players have had an opportunity to contribute to the work of the review.

Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

The Review is progressing well, with stakeholder evidence sessions taking place focused on the key themes of the Review. This has included evidence sessions with players from the Women’s Super League and Championship, as well as a session with retired players. These sessions focused on the key challenges and issues affecting a female professional footballer’s career, including wellbeing and safeguarding.

The Review’s report is expected by summer 2023, and the government will respond afterwards.


Written Question
Football: Sportsgrounds
Thursday 9th February 2023

Asked by: Jeff Smith (Labour - Manchester, Withington)

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department is taking steps with (a) football authorities and (b) the police to help (i) tackle large-scale pitch invasions in stadiums and (ii) protect the workplace safety of professional footballers.

Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

The safety of all players participating in football matches is a priority for the government.

Prior to the start of the 2022/23 football season, the Premier League and English Football League publicised that any fan entering the pitch would be banned by the club they support for a minimum period of one year. These bans could also be extended to accompanying parents or guardians of children who take part in these activities. These measures are in addition to the existing Football Banning Order regime which can be imposed by a court for a football-related offence, including entering the pitch.

The government will continue to work with the police and football authorities to review all forms of fan disorder at football matches.


Written Question
Future of Women's Football Review
Thursday 9th February 2023

Asked by: Jeff Smith (Labour - Manchester, Withington)

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether player (a) wellbeing and (b) safeguarding are being considered as part of the Future of Women's Football review.

Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

The Review is progressing well, with stakeholder evidence sessions taking place focused on the key themes of the Review. This has included evidence sessions with players from the Women’s Super League and Championship, as well as a session with retired players. These sessions focused on the key challenges and issues affecting a female professional footballer’s career, including wellbeing and safeguarding.

The Review’s report is expected by summer 2023, and the government will respond afterwards.


Written Question
Tourism
Monday 7th November 2022

Asked by: Jeff Smith (Labour - Manchester, Withington)

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to the Tourism Recovery Plan, published in June 2021, what progress the UK has made in returning inbound visitor volume to 41 million and spend to return to £28 billion by the end of 2023.

Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

The Government is committed to the recovery of the tourism industry in the UK and has been working towards the objectives set out in the Tourism Recovery Plan.

The Government will provide the DCMS Select Committee with an annual update on the progress of the Tourism Recovery Plan and the tourism industry more generally as it recovers.

The first annual report is forthcoming and we will update on all of the objectives set out in the Tourism Recovery Plan in due course.


Written Question
Tourism
Monday 7th November 2022

Asked by: Jeff Smith (Labour - Manchester, Withington)

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to the policy paper entitled Tourism Recovery Plan, published on 11 June 2021, what progress her Department has made on recovering annual domestic overnight (a) trip volume and (b) spend by the end of 2022.

Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

The Government is committed to the recovery of the tourism industry in the UK and has been working towards the objectives set out in the Tourism Recovery Plan.

The Government will provide the DCMS Select Committee with an annual update on the progress of the Tourism Recovery Plan and the tourism industry more generally as it recovers.

The first annual report is forthcoming and we will update on all of the objectives set out in the Tourism Recovery Plan in due course.


Written Question
Educational Visits: Economic Situation
Monday 7th November 2022

Asked by: Jeff Smith (Labour - Manchester, Withington)

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 impact of the youth, student and educational travel industry on the economy.

Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

Since the UK’s exit from the European Union, the government’s priority has been for people from Europe and beyond to be able to visit and enjoy the UK and for the tourism industry to thrive.The continuing desirability of English language skills drives the UK’s soft power on the world stage.

The Tourism Recovery Plan recognises educational travel as an important part of the visitor economy and highlights the 2021 updates to the International Education Strategy, which sets out how we will promote English Language Training in the UK.

There were 35,700 UK jobs supported by English Language Training in 2018, and this industry provided £1.4 billion GVA to the UK economy.