Asked by: Lilian Greenwood (Labour - Nottingham South)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Bill on the ability of charities to claim gift aid on membership subscriptions.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The purpose of the subscriptions chapter in the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Bill is to protect consumers from harm caused by unwanted subscription contracts, amounting to £1.6 billion per year.
Generally, charities will only be in scope to the extent that, in the course of their business, they enter into auto-renewing subscription contracts with consumers for the supply of goods, service or digital content in return for payment by the consumer. The Government understands the importance of Gift Aid to charities and officials are engaging with relevant stakeholders and HM Revenue and Customs to ensure the two regulatory frameworks work effectively.
Asked by: Lilian Greenwood (Labour - Nottingham South)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether she is steps taking to ensure the adequacy of funding for cultural activities in Nottingham.
Answered by John Whittingdale
His Majesty’s Government is committed to ensuring that everyone has access to high-quality arts and cultural opportunities and activities, no matter where they live. We have supported culture in Nottingham in a variety of ways.
Between 2020/21 and 2023/24, Arts Council England will have invested over £30 million in arts and cultural organisations in Nottingham. As part of its 2023–26 National Portfolio, public funding is being provided to 14 organisations in Nottingham encompassing theatre, dance, museums, visual arts, literature and libraries. This funding includes over £1.2 million per year to New Art Exchange, the highly successful visual arts centre.
As part of the above funding, Nottingham City Council’s museum service was reconfirmed as a National Portfolio Organisation in the latest round of funding, meaning it will receive £1.4 million over the next three years. A number of the local projects which it directly funds are aimed at encouraging more people from disadvantaged neighbourhoods and diverse backgrounds to engage with the city’s heritage. The independent National Justice Museum is also part of the Arts Council’s National Portfolio and will receive £733,000 of support over the period 2023–26.
Another of the City Council Museums, Wollaton Hall, has this year received £470,000 from the Government’s Museum Estate and Development Fund for assistance with maintenance, whilst Nottingham libraries have received funding through both rounds 1 and 2 of the Government’s Libraries Improvement Fund.
Nottingham Castle Museum’s recent transformation was funded in part by a £13.9 million grant from the National Lottery Heritage Fund. Arts Council England’s National Lottery Project Grants programme also remains open for funding bids from anyone operating arts and cultural organisations in England.
The recent announcement of the third round of the Government’s Levelling Up Fund included support for Bulwell, which will be receiving almost £20 million of public investment for Bulwell town centre – including a new marketplace, and aiming to improve the look and feel of hidden heritage by reinstating original features.
Organisations in Nottingham also benefited from the Culture Recovery Fund to protect them during the COVID-19 pandemic, with 39 organisations sharing over £10.5 million of funding.
Asked by: Lilian Greenwood (Labour - Nottingham South)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will make an assessment of the level of financial resilience in the charity sector.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
DCMS Ministers and senior officials meet regularly with civil society representatives to discuss a wide range of issues including challenges faced by the sector.
We also recognise that charities are seeing higher levels of demand for their services. That is why in the Spring Budget, the Chancellor announced a package of over £100 million for charities and community organisations in England. This funding is split into two strands and is supporting organisations in need right now. The £76 million Community Organisations Cost of Living Fund has closed for applications, and is awarding funding to frontline organisations supporting vulnerable individuals and households. The second strand, the £25 million VCSE Energy Efficiency Scheme, will support longer-term sustainability, and will launch later this year for applications.
Asked by: Lilian Greenwood (Labour - Nottingham South)
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 implications for her policies of the impact of energy costs on the charity sector.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
DCMS Ministers and senior officials meet regularly with civil society representatives to discuss a wide range of issues including challenges faced by the sector.
We also recognise that charities are seeing higher levels of demand for their services. That is why in the Spring Budget, the Chancellor announced a package of over £100 million for charities and community organisations in England. This funding is split into two strands and is supporting organisations in need right now. The £76 million Community Organisations Cost of Living Fund has closed for applications, and is awarding funding to frontline organisations supporting vulnerable individuals and households. The second strand, the £25 million VCSE Energy Efficiency Scheme, will support longer-term sustainability, and will launch later this year for applications.
Asked by: Lilian Greenwood (Labour - Nottingham South)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether she has had recent discussions with representatives of charities on (a) capacity and (b) trends in the level of demand for their services.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
DCMS Ministers and senior officials meet regularly with civil society representatives to discuss a wide range of issues including challenges faced by the sector.
We also recognise that charities are seeing higher levels of demand for their services. That is why in the Spring Budget, the Chancellor announced a package of over £100 million for charities and community organisations in England. This funding is split into two strands and is supporting organisations in need right now. The £76 million Community Organisations Cost of Living Fund has closed for applications, and is awarding funding to frontline organisations supporting vulnerable individuals and households. The second strand, the £25 million VCSE Energy Efficiency Scheme, will support longer-term sustainability, and will launch later this year for applications.
Asked by: Lilian Greenwood (Labour - Nottingham South)
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 Education on the potential impact of the cost of living on university students' ability to participate in volunteering.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government recognises the valuable contribution that student volunteers make to their communities and the benefits they gain from these experiences.
My department funds and works closely with the Vision for Volunteering, which is a voluntary sector initiative to lead the ongoing support and development of all volunteering in England.
My department has also funded several other initiatives to support volunteering participation including the Volunteering Futures Fund, Know Your Neighbourhood and the Big Help Out, which was a day of community volunteering to mark the Coronation of His Majesty the King and Her Majesty The Queen, held on 8 May 2023. My department has allocated funding for a repeat of the Big Help Out campaign, which will take place from 7-9 June 2024.
The Government continues to recognise and celebrate the extraordinary contributions of volunteers across the country. Since 2014, over 2,100 people have been named Points of Light by the Prime Minister, highlighting a wide array of innovative and inspirational volunteering across the UK.
The department has not specifically discussed student volunteering with the Secretary of State for Education.
Asked by: Lilian Greenwood (Labour - Nottingham South)
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 cyber-attack against the British Library at the end of October 2023 on the public’s access to learning and research materials.
Answered by John Whittingdale
The British Library is undertaking a forensic investigation of this incident, with the support of the National Cyber Security Centre and cybersecurity specialists, and has reported it to the Information Commissioner’s Office. This investigation will help to provide a full picture of what happened, and the extent of disruption caused. This will take time, during which the British Library is liaising closely with the Department for Culture, Media & Sport and others to provide updates.
The British Library’s physical sites remain open to the public and are offering a range of services, including reading room access for personal study, some limited manual collection item ordering, exhibitions, learning events, business support, and onsite retail. Details of what the public can access are available via the British Library’s social media channels.
Asked by: Lilian Greenwood (Labour - Nottingham South)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether the group or individual responsible for the recent cyber-attack against the British Library has been identified.
Answered by John Whittingdale
The attack has been claimed by a known cyber crime group, and we currently have no reason to doubt their claim.
Asked by: Lilian Greenwood (Labour - Nottingham South)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department has taken to increase the effectiveness of the Electronic Legal Deposit system since the cyberattack on the British Library.
Answered by John Whittingdale
The British Library has been keeping the other Legal Deposit Libraries of the UK and Ireland informed since the cyber attack against it. The Non-Print Legal Deposit network is designed for resilience in line with industry-wide digital preservation guidelines, and the British Library is working with partners on additional precautionary steps while the investigation is ongoing.
Asked by: Lilian Greenwood (Labour - Nottingham South)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether she has taken steps to help secure the restoration of the British Library’s services following the recent cyber-attack against it; and what estimate her Department has made of the date by which those services will be restored.
Answered by John Whittingdale
The British Library is undertaking a forensic investigation of this incident, with the support of the National Cyber Security Centre and cybersecurity specialists, and has reported it to the Information Commissioner’s Office. This investigation will help to provide a full picture of what happened, and the extent of disruption caused. This will take time, during which the British Library is liaising closely with the Department for Culture, Media & Sport and others to provide updates.
The British Library has taken targeted protective measures to ensure the integrity of its systems, including the quarantining of hardware, the resetting of passwords for all staff, and the installation of additional monitoring and detection software across its estate.
The British Library’s physical sites remain open to the public and are offering a range of services, including reading room access for personal study, some limited manual collection item ordering, exhibitions, learning events, business support, and onsite retail. Details of what the public can access are available via the British Library’s social media channels.
It is too soon to give an exact timetable but the British Library anticipates restoring many digital services in the next few weeks, although some disruption may persist for longer.