Asked by: John Cooper (Conservative - Dumfries and Galloway)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether she has made an assessment of public accountability mechanisms for the BBC in the event of it being granted a permanent Charter.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport)
The Culture Secretary has set out that while the structures and the funding for the BBC will continue to be negotiated every several years, she will seek to end the bizarre situation where if the Charter isn’t agreed in time, the BBC ceases to exist.
More broadly Charter Review is looking at a range of options to ensure the BBC is accountable to the public it serves, and in the Green Paper we made clear our view that we think that it is necessary for there to be regular reviews of the BBC as an organisation. As part of the Charter Review process, we are continuing to look at the responses to the public consultation and we will set out policy decisions in a White Paper, expected to be published later this year.
Asked by: John Cooper (Conservative - Dumfries and Galloway)
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 help ensure that a range of commercial media stakeholders are consulted during the BBC Charter Review process.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport)
The Charter Review was officially launched on 16 December with the publication of the Terms of Reference and Green Paper. The Charter Review is looking at a range of issues to make sure the BBC truly represents and delivers for every person in this country.
The Government ran a public consultation which asked people and organisations, including commercial media stakeholders, to be part of the conversation on the future of the BBC. We are also engaging extensively with a range of stakeholders (including commercial media) and experts on an ongoing basis, and undertaking additional research to help ensure we hear a broad range of voices and views on the BBC. This includes through a Ministerial lead roundtable with industry stakeholders in January 2026.
The Government is now considering responses to the public consultation, and will set out policy decisions for the next BBC Royal Charter in a White Paper, expected to be published later this year.
Asked by: John Cooper (Conservative - Dumfries and Galloway)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Business and Trade on the potential impact of upcoming changes to the subscription contracts regime on local and regional news publishers and their ability to adopt digital first and sustainable business models, as referenced in the recent Local Media Strategy.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government is committed to ensuring a healthy and plural local media for the benefit of communities and citizens across the UK. We have launched a Local Media Action Plan to help local newsrooms across the country innovate and adapt their business models for the online world, while incentivising and encouraging the production of high quality, trustworthy news.
Local media already has a strong propensity to innovate and many local publishers are shifting towards digital subscription models in an effort to secure their financial sustainability. This is an understandable response to the financial pressures faced by the industry and a reflection of the significant costs involved in provision of high quality journalism.
The purpose of the subscriptions regime set out in the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act is to protect consumers from being trapped in unwanted subscriptions. Government has consulted on how the regime will be implemented, and I have engaged alongside the Minister for Employment Rights and Consumer Protection with representatives from the news media sector and other DCMS stakeholders on this consultation. More broadly, DCMS continues to work closely with the Department for Business and Trade to reflect on the issues raised during the consultation and a Government Response will be published in due course.
Asked by: John Cooper (Conservative - Dumfries and Galloway)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many permanent civil servants in her Department are staff without assigned posts; and how many are placed in an equivalent (a) people action team, (b) priority movers list, (c) redeployment register, (d) talent pool and (e) skills match hub in the most recent period for which data is available.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport)
At any point in time, there is likely to be a small number of individuals who have been displaced due to restructures within their business units or who, for example, have returned from a loan from another department and their role no longer exists. The exact number changes on a regular basis.
In DCMS, there are currently no permanent civil servants in DCMS without assigned posts, and five members of staff on the department’s redeployment register.
Asked by: John Cooper (Conservative - Dumfries and Galloway)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how much (a) her Department and (b) each of its Arm’s Length Bodies has spent on external public relations since 5 July 2024; and which firms that funding went to.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport)
Public relations activity is a subset of communication spend. As such, this data is not held. The Government Communication Service encourages the prioritisation of low and no cost public relations activities wherever possible. It is recommended that all external communications support should be procured through approved government frameworks, with strict controls in place to ensure cost-effectiveness.
Asked by: John Cooper (Conservative - Dumfries and Galloway)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how much their Department spent on (a) media and (b) voice training for Ministers since 5 July 2024.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport)
The department has not spent any expenses on media or voice training for ministers since 5 July 2024.