Asked by: Jonathan Davies (Labour - Mid Derbyshire)
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 effectiveness of the British Council in delivering the Cultural Protection Fund in support of UNESCO World Heritage Sites in conflict-affected and fragile regions.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Since 2016, DCMS and the British Council have partnered to deliver the Cultural Protection Fund (CPF). This fund safeguards cultural heritage at risk due to conflict and climate change. The fund responds to open calls to protect heritage that is significant to the communities closest to it, regardless of UNESCO World Heritage status.
Since 2016 DCMS has awarded £56m to the British Council and the CPF has awarded over 150 grants to projects in 20 countries. DCMS has confirmed a further £9m of funding to the CPF until March 2029. The British Council’s plans remain ambitious over the coming period, opening a new call for applications in June 2026.
As reported in the 2019 tailored review of the British Council, DCMS feels the CPF has made a significant contribution to the department’s priorities. Three evaluations of the CPF have been published and the evaluation of the CPF’s 2022-2025 programme will be published in spring 2026.
Asked by: Jonathan Davies (Labour - Mid Derbyshire)
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 the British Council’s delivery of the Cultural Protection Fund on (a) strengthening support for communities connected to UNESCO World Heritage Sites and (b) promoting international cultural partnerships.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The CPF supports communities to safeguard cultural heritage threatened by conflict and climate change regardless of UNESCO World Heritage status. Funded projects strengthen individual, community and societal identity alongside protecting cultural heritage. The fund is well placed to strengthen support for communities connected to UNESCO World Heritage Sites if that is part of the project scope, and has done for many previous projects.
DCMS has confirmed a further £9m of funding to the CPF until March 2029. A new call for projects will launch in June 2026. While UNESCO sites may apply, and some have received funding from the CPF in the past, applicants must demonstrate local significance.
In 2026, CPF will also take on the stewardship of the Culture in Crisis programme, which will convene international heritage actors to learn from each other and international cultural partnerships.
Asked by: Jonathan Davies (Labour - Mid Derbyshire)
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 adequacy of the contribution of the British Council’s delivery of the Cultural Protection Fund on the safeguarding and long-term preservation of UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Since 2016, the Cultural Protection Fund (CPF) has worked to safeguard cultural heritage globally threatened by conflict or climate change. It supports projects significant to local communities through open calls, irrespective of UNESCO status.
The CPF has delivered projects in UNESCO World Heritage Sites such as Bamiyan in Afghanistan, Lamu Old Town in Kenya and Aleppo in Syria. The safeguarding of heritage, both tangible and intangible, is core to all projects delivered by the CPF.
DCMS is positive about the impact the CPF has had on keeping international cultural heritage sites and culturally significant objects safe, as reported in the 2019 Tailored Review of the British Council. Three evaluations of the CPF have been published and the evaluation of the CPF 2022-2025 programme will be published in spring 2026.
Asked by: Jonathan Davies (Labour - Mid Derbyshire)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether the forthcoming Places of Worship Renewal Fund will provide grants for adaptations, alteration and the addition of facilities alongside repairs.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Further details regarding the eligibility criteria and application process will be published in due course.
Asked by: Jonathan Davies (Labour - Mid Derbyshire)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether the forthcoming Places of Worship Renewal Fund will be open to non-listed as well as listed buildings.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Further details regarding the eligibility criteria and application process will be published in due course.
Asked by: Jonathan Davies (Labour - Mid Derbyshire)
Question
To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what guidance her Department provides to opposite‑sex civil partners wishing to marry but unable to convert their civil partnership without first declaring an irretrievable breakdown of their relationship.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
I refer the Hon. member back to the answer to PQ 32163, answered on 3rd March 2025.
Asked by: Jonathan Davies (Labour - Mid Derbyshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many (a) applications have been received under the Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme from people reporting disabilities resulting from the COVID-19 vaccination and (b) awards related to covid-19 vaccinations have been made through that scheme.
Answered by Ashley Dalton
The latest data from the National Health Service Business Services Authority, the administrators of the Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme (VDPS), show that as of 3 October 2025 (a) 22,079 VDPS applications have been received through the scheme relating to COVID-19 vaccinations. Of these, following medical assessment, (b) 237 applications have resulted in a payment being awarded.
Information about COVID-19 claims to the VDPS is published on a quarterly basis by the NHS Business Service Authority. Data is available at the following link:
https://opendata.nhsbsa.net/dataset/vdps-covid-19
Asked by: Jonathan Davies (Labour - Mid Derbyshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when the results of the forthcoming badger population survey will be published.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The first major badger population survey in a decade began in February 2025 to estimate badger abundance and population recovery. Surveying work will take place over the next two winters and a report will be published once that has concluded.
Asked by: Jonathan Davies (Labour - Mid Derbyshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the estimated timeframe is for the publication of the Department's TB eradication strategy.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The current plan is to publish a refreshed bovine TB strategy in 2026.
Asked by: Jonathan Davies (Labour - Mid Derbyshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 14 February to Question 29521, on Teachers: Music, for what reason the Department does not collect curriculum data from primary schools on the subjects taught by individual teachers; and whether consideration has been given to collecting such data in order to identify the number of primary teachers specialising in music.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
Information on the school workforce, including the number of teachers in state-funded schools and teacher entrants and leaver rates, is published in the ‘School workforce in England’ statistical publication, which is available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-workforce-in-england/2024.
The department publishes secondary subject level entrant numbers and leaver rates as part of the ‘Postgraduate initial teacher training targets’ (PGITT) publication, the most recent version of which is available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/postgraduate-initial-teacher-training-targets/2025-26.
To note that the entrant and leaver rates included within this publication are calculated for a specific purpose which is to produce the primary and secondary PGITT targets and teachers that arrive from or leave to the special/pupil referral unit phase are counted within the rates. This is a different methodology than used to calculate the overall national and phase level teacher entrant and leaver rates in the school workforce census and so the rates are not directly comparable. These data will be updated when new targets are published in Spring 2026.
The department collects and publishes data on the degree subjects held by primary school teachers. The number of primary school teachers who hold a music degree or degree in a music-related subject is available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/1a4752ff-957f-4676-b1dd-08de39895a0e. This data has been available since 31 July 2025.
1.7% of secondary school music teachers were aged 60 or over in 2024/25. There is no single set retirement age for teachers. The department does not collect information on subjects taught in primary schools.
The department does not collect curriculum data from primary schools on the subjects taught by individual teachers. Unlike secondary teachers, who specialise in individual subjects, primary school teachers typically instruct across the whole curriculum. Gathering detailed data on which subjects each teacher delivers would require extensive additional reporting, increasing administrative workload.