Asked by: Liz Jarvis (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what recent discussions she has had with international sporting bodies on the use of dynamic pricing for major sporting events.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
As a Government we are aware that the UK has a global reputation for excellence in staging major sporting events. These major cultural and sporting events are an important part of our national life.
This Government is committed to putting fans back at the heart of live events, which is why we launched a call for evidence on pricing practices in the live events sector, alongside a consultation on ticket resales. The call for evidence looked at how practices like dynamic pricing are impacting consumers and businesses. We are reviewing responses and will publish the government's response shortly.
Asked by: Liz Jarvis (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of enabling access to BBC iPlayer for license fee payers while abroad.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Under the Charter the BBC is required to act in the public interest, serving all audiences through the provision of impartial, high-quality and distinctive output and services which inform, educate and entertain. With regard to the provision of services internationally, as the BBC is operationally independent, decisions on whether and how the BBC makes its content available to licence fee payers abroad are therefore for the BBC to make independent of government.
DCMS has not made an assessment of the potential merits of enabling access to BBC iPlayer for license fee payers while abroad. However, it is worth noting that the ability of the BBC to make content available is limited in large part due to rights agreements. The BBC does not hold the international rights to many of the programmes it carries on iPlayer, and therefore cannot provide audiences outside the UK with access to the iPlayer service.
Asked by: Liz Jarvis (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what recent discussions she has had with the BBC on digitising the BBC archives.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport meets regularly with representatives of the BBC on a range of matters.
With regard to the digitisation of the BBC archives, the BBC has an obligation under their Framework Agreement to both maintain an archive, and give the public reasonable opportunities to visit the archive and view material kept there. As the BBC is operationally and editorially independent of the Government, decisions on how it discharges its obligations in relation to its Archive Services are a matter for the BBC.
Asked by: Liz Jarvis (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
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 the potential impact of the increase in cost of Electronic Travel Authorisations on her Department’s target of 50 million annual visits to the UK by 2030.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
DCMS closely monitors factors that may influence inbound tourism, including the cost of electronic travel authorisations (ETAs). We recognise the importance of balancing secure and efficient border processes with the need to remain competitive as a global tourism destination.
DCMS continues to engage with the Home Office to ensure that any changes to the cost of ETAs are proportionate and informed by robust evidence on their potential impact on our 50m inbound target. Supporting the UK's tourism industry remains a priority, and we will continue to review any challenges to its growth.
Asked by: Liz Jarvis (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department plans to take to support the development of padel courts in Eastleigh constituency.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government is determined to ensure that everyone has access to quality sport and physical activity opportunities. That is why we have committed another £400 million to transform facilities across the whole of the nation following the Spending Review.
We will now work closely with sporting bodies - including the Lawn Tennis Association - and local leaders to establish what each community needs and then set out further plans.
The Government provides the majority of support for grassroots sport through Sport England - which annually invests over £250 million in Exchequer and Lottery funding. Sport England provides long term investment to the LTA, which receives up to £10.2 million for 5 years from 2022 to invest in tennis and padel initiatives that will benefit as many people as possible.
Asked by: Liz Jarvis (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to the press release entitled Prime Minister announces multi-million pound boost for grassroots cricket, published on 5 April 2024, how much and what proportion of that funding was allocated to projects in (a) Eastleigh Borough and (b) Hampshire.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Future of Cricket fund was publicly announced by the previous Government before the General Election but did not receive formal business case sign off nor any financial commitment.
Future funding of sports facilities will be considered as part of the upcoming Spending Review.
Asked by: Liz Jarvis (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of the UK Games Fund in supporting the (a) long-term growth and (b) global competitiveness of the UK video game industry.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government is committed to supporting the growth of the UK’s video games sector as part of the upcoming creative industries sector plan, having identified the creative industries as one of eight priority sectors in the industrial strategy.
We recognise the challenges faced by the video games sector, and the wider creative industries, when it comes to accessing finance. These challenges are outlined in the Creative Industries Policy and Evidence Centre 2024 report on Growth Finance for the Creative Industries.
To address these issues at an early stage, the Government has announced £5.5 million funding for the UK Games Fund (UKGF) for 2025/26, which will provide grants to early-stage studios across the UK to develop prototypes and new intellectual property, and run development programmes for new graduates. Previous independent evaluation found that UKGF programmes served a well-established and identifiable gap within the sector – the provision of early stage funding and support to companies and teams seeking to develop video games. DCMS has commissioned a further independent evaluation of the UKGF which will be published in due course.
Additionally, video games companies can benefit from Video Games Expenditure Credit, the UK Global Screen Fund, and access support from the Create Growth Programme.
In January 2025 we announced that the British Business Bank will increase its support for the creative industries, including video games, as an area of high growth potential as part of the Industrial Strategy. Further detail will be set out in the Creative Industries Sector Plan, to be published in the coming months.
Asked by: Liz Jarvis (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment her Department has made of the potential barriers to accessible finance faced by video game developers.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government is committed to supporting the growth of the UK’s video games sector as part of the upcoming creative industries sector plan, having identified the creative industries as one of eight priority sectors in the industrial strategy.
We recognise the challenges faced by the video games sector, and the wider creative industries, when it comes to accessing finance. These challenges are outlined in the Creative Industries Policy and Evidence Centre 2024 report on Growth Finance for the Creative Industries.
To address these issues at an early stage, the Government has announced £5.5 million funding for the UK Games Fund (UKGF) for 2025/26, which will provide grants to early-stage studios across the UK to develop prototypes and new intellectual property, and run development programmes for new graduates. Previous independent evaluation found that UKGF programmes served a well-established and identifiable gap within the sector – the provision of early stage funding and support to companies and teams seeking to develop video games. DCMS has commissioned a further independent evaluation of the UKGF which will be published in due course.
Additionally, video games companies can benefit from Video Games Expenditure Credit, the UK Global Screen Fund, and access support from the Create Growth Programme.
In January 2025 we announced that the British Business Bank will increase its support for the creative industries, including video games, as an area of high growth potential as part of the Industrial Strategy. Further detail will be set out in the Creative Industries Sector Plan, to be published in the coming months.
Asked by: Liz Jarvis (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
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 improve access to investment and funding for video game developers in the UK.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government is committed to supporting the growth of the UK’s video games sector as part of the upcoming creative industries sector plan, having identified the creative industries as one of eight priority sectors in the industrial strategy.
We recognise the challenges faced by the video games sector, and the wider creative industries, when it comes to accessing finance. These challenges are outlined in the Creative Industries Policy and Evidence Centre 2024 report on Growth Finance for the Creative Industries.
To address these issues at an early stage, the Government has announced £5.5 million funding for the UK Games Fund (UKGF) for 2025/26, which will provide grants to early-stage studios across the UK to develop prototypes and new intellectual property, and run development programmes for new graduates. Previous independent evaluation found that UKGF programmes served a well-established and identifiable gap within the sector – the provision of early stage funding and support to companies and teams seeking to develop video games. DCMS has commissioned a further independent evaluation of the UKGF which will be published in due course.
Additionally, video games companies can benefit from Video Games Expenditure Credit, the UK Global Screen Fund, and access support from the Create Growth Programme.
In January 2025 we announced that the British Business Bank will increase its support for the creative industries, including video games, as an area of high growth potential as part of the Industrial Strategy. Further detail will be set out in the Creative Industries Sector Plan, to be published in the coming months.
Asked by: Liz Jarvis (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
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 implications for her policies of the reduction in VisitBritain's budget.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The GREAT Britain and Northern Ireland campaign has played and continues to play an important role in promoting the UK as a top global destination and supporting growth in the visitor economy. While decisions around the overall GREAT programme budget sit with the Cabinet Office, DCMS continues to work closely with the Minister for the Cabinet Office and other relevant departments to ensure that tourism remains a core focus of the campaign. Discussions are ongoing on how to maximise impact within available resources. We remain committed to working with VisitBritain and the wider sector to support the UK’s international tourism recovery, grow the visitor economy, and deliver on our ambition to attract 50 million inbound visitors by 2030.