Asked by: Lewis Atkinson (Labour - Sunderland Central)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent progress the Joint Combating Drugs Unit has made; and what policy work relating to combating drugs she is currently undertaking with other departments.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Joint Combating Drugs Unit (JCDU) continues to work closely with departments to ensure we take a coordinated, whole-system approach to tackling drugs and drug-related harms.
JCDU maintains strong cross-system governance at national level, supported by work to further develop the national outcomes framework. At a local level, the unit continues to work with Combating Drugs Partnerships (CDPs) to support a joined-up approach to delivery, and recently published an independent evaluation which found that CDPs have strengthened multi-agency working with strong leadership and clear governance key to success (www.gov.uk/government/publications/process-evaluation-of-combating-drugs-partnerships/process-evaluation-of-combating-drugs-partnerships). The JCDU is also supporting Dame Carol Black, the Independent Advisor to Government on drugs, on a programme of expert-led work to improve our understanding of system challenges, as well as engaging with international partners to share information and best practice.
Alongside this, the Government continues to make progress on a range of department-led work to prevent drug use, improve treatment and recovery support, and support enforcement partners to tackle drug supply. This includes record numbers engaging with drug and alcohol treatment, wider access to life-saving naloxone, and increased drug seizures and county lines closures.
Tackling these issues is central to delivering the Government’s missions to make our streets safer, improve health, widen opportunity and support growth.
Asked by: Lewis Atkinson (Labour - Sunderland Central)
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 introduction of a voluntary levy on stadium and arena live music tickets.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government has called for widespread adoption of the live music sector’s £1 voluntary ticket contribution to help safeguard the future of the grassroots music sector. We want to see the levy in place for as many stadium and arena shows in 2026 as possible, and we continue to urge major promoters, venues, and artists to step up.
The Government welcomes the commitment already made by many, and is encouraged to see that the LIVE Trust has already distributed over £500,000 in levy funding to industry programmes and is projected to receive a total of £10 million in 2026.
However, we want to see uptake increase further, and have consistently said that we are prepared to explore legislative options if required to ensure the sustainability of our world-leading live music industry.