Asked by: Navendu Mishra (Labour - Stockport)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to promote British holiday destinations to tourists from India.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The government promotes Britain as a holiday destination to tourists from India through VisitBritain, the national tourist board. India is one of VisitBritain's core markets and has staff based in Mumbai and New Delhi.
VisitBritain (India) works closely with inbound UK tourism businesses to inform and educate them on the potential of the Indian market and encourage them to consider the Indian market in their offers and products.
In 2022, VisitBritain (India) undertook a paid content campaign with Jio, one of India’s largest telecom service providers and content creators, to showcase visitor experiences within Birmingham and the West Midlands in tandem with the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games.
As part of the wider Business and Tourism Programme (BATP), VisitBritain (India) engaged with over 1000 industry partners across India to promote Birmingham and the West Midlands using the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games to encourage longer stays.
In addition to this VisitBritain has been building on the work delivered in 2019 during the Cricket World Cup to promote the north of England, positioning Manchester as the Gateway of the North.
Later this month, VisitBritain will host educational trips for international trade buyers across Britain. The delegation of Indian buyers will visit the West Midlands.
Asked by: Navendu Mishra (Labour - Stockport)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of the Cricket Discipline Commission at tackling discrimination, bullying, racism and sexism in cricket in (a) England and (b) Wales.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The work of the Cricket Discipline Commission is a matter for the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB). The Government has no role in scrutinising its work.
We will continue to directly hold the ECB to account on cultural change in the sport, particularly around racism, and reserve the right to take further measures if progress is not made.
Asked by: Navendu Mishra (Labour - Stockport)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 5 July 2022 to Question 26040 on Cricket: Ethnic Groups, what recent assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of the performance of the England and Wales Cricket Board to increase the number of ethnic minority cricket officials in (a) England and (b) Wales.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The national governing body for cricket, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) assesses trends in representation in the sport. This includes the level of representation of cricket officials from ethnic minorities.
The ECB have acknowledged there remains an under-representation of Black and South Asian heritage officials despite an increase in the proportion of umpires from ethnically diverse backgrounds on the National Panel last year. Following an independent Officiating Review in 2021, the ECB have committed to four ambitions focusing on equity of opportunity, inspiring the next generation, developing a diverse network that reflects society and promoting a culture of inclusivity and fairness.
The ECB continues to work on developing an officiating structure in which there is equality of opportunity for all. In the recreational game, applications will soon be invited for umpire tutors to deliver a new ECB umpiring course. The aim is to recruit and train a more diverse workforce. On 8 December 2022 the ECB also published updates to their game-wide action plan to tackle discrimination and their Equity, Diversity and Inculsion plan.
The updated Code for Sports Governance requires sports organisations that receive significant public funding, including the ECB, to agree a diversity and inclusion action plan with Sport England and/or UK Sport, which will be published and updated annually. The Government and our arm’s length bodies will continue to monitor and liaise with the cricket authorities on improving diversity and inclusion at all levels.
Asked by: Navendu Mishra (Labour - Stockport)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what recent assessment her Department has made of trends in the level of bullying in cricket in England.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The safety, wellbeing and welfare of everyone taking part in sport is absolutely paramount.
National Governing Bodies (NGBs) such as the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) are responsible for the regulation of their sports and for ensuring that appropriate measures are in place to protect participants from harm. With that in mind, we expect sports to do all they can to protect their athletes.
Where allegations about inappropriate or harmful behaviour such as bullying are made, these must be taken seriously. There is no place for abuse of any kind in sport and anyone responsible for such behaviour must be held accountable.
All NGBs and sporting organisations in receipt of public money must abide by the requirements of the Code for Sports Governance - including the ECB. The code is clear that sports need to ensure that their systems to deal with grievances and disputes are transparent and robust. We remain committed to working with the sports sector to help ensure the safety of all participants in sport.
Asked by: Navendu Mishra (Labour - Stockport)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether the Government has a strategy for the production of semiconductors in Britain.
Answered by Paul Scully
The Government recognises the importance of semiconductor technology to the global economy. Semiconductors are a fundamental enabling technology for electronic devices and the UK holds strengths in critical aspects of the advanced semiconductor supply chain, including semiconductor design.
On behalf of the government, DCMS has been reviewing its approach to the UK’s global semiconductor sector and intends to set out its support for the sector in the forthcoming UK Semiconductor Strategy. This will build on existing HMG support for innovation and infrastructure such as the Driving the Electronic Revolution challenge and the National Epitaxy Facility amongst others.
Domestically, the government is exploring how we can further support the UK semiconductor industry, protecting and growing existing UK capabilities, and seizing new opportunities - including in semiconductor design, compound chips, and academic research in related fields. We are also collaborating closely with international partners to capitalise and strengthen the UK’s competitive advantage and improve long term resilience within the global semiconductor ecosystem, recognising that the challenges facing the sector cannot be solved by the UK alone.
Asked by: Navendu Mishra (Labour - Stockport)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact of the use of Hikvision CCTV on national security.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The UK takes its national security extremely seriously, including the security of its critical infrastructure and all sectors of the economy. However, the government does not comment on the details of national security assessments.
We encourage all organisations to follow NCSC supply chain security guidance when selecting a technology supplier. This guidance clearly sets out the considerations that organisations should be making during the procurement process.
Under the National Cyber Strategy, we are taking forward legislation to protect consumers in the Product Security and Telecommunications Infrastructure Bill, and working with the National Cyber Security Centre to assist private and public sector users of connected devices, such as surveillance cameras, to operate in a safe and secure way.
Asked by: Navendu Mishra (Labour - Stockport)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment her Department has made of trends of racism in cricket in England.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government is clear that racism has no place in cricket, sport, or society at large.We were extremely concerned by the reports of racism at Yorkshire County Cricket Club and in the sport generally that emerged last year. We welcome the steps taken so far by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) and the chair of the Yorkshire County Cricket Club, Lord Patel, to address these issues. This includes the publication of a sport-wide 12 point action plan, against which the ECB regularly releases progress updates, and the launch of the Independent Commission for Equity in Cricket.
The Government expects to see clear and sustained evidence of cultural change across the sport resulting from these actions. We will continue to directly hold the ECB to account on this, and reserve the right to take further measures if progress is not made.
Asked by: Navendu Mishra (Labour - Stockport)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what systems her Department has in place to support whistle-blowers who raise allegations of (a) racism and (b) other forms of discrimination (i) within and (ii) against sports governing bodies.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government is clear there is no room for racism or any type of discrimination in sport or wider society. National Governing Bodies (NGBs) are responsible for the governance of their sports. We are working closely with our arm’s length bodies, UK Sport and Sport England, and NGBs themselves to ensure discrimination is tackled effectively.
UK Sport and Sport England’s Code for Sport Governance sets out the levels of transparency, accountability and integrity that are required from those organisations in receipt of public funding, this includes having appropriate policies in place. UK Sport provides guidance for sports on whistleblowing and confidential disclosure.
UK Sport launched a new independent disclosure and complaints service pilot called Sport Integrity in May 2022. The pilot will assist athletes, athlete support personnel and NGB staff, within Olympic and Paralympic high-performance programmes, to uphold the highest standards of conduct in their sports. It will provide an independent and confidential reporting line and an independent investigation process to deal with relevant allegations of bullying, harassment, discrimination, or abuse, and to allow sports to take the appropriate disciplinary action as necessary. These services will be made available free of charge to funded NGBs.
In June 2021, UK Sport also announced their commitment to enhancing integrity across sport and will be working closely with all the Sports Councils to ensure that this occurs beyond high performance sport.
Asked by: Navendu Mishra (Labour - Stockport)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what estimate her Department has made of the number of ethnic minority cricket officials in (a) England and (b) Wales.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The national governing body for cricket, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) assesses trends in representation in the sport. This includes the level of representation of African, Caribbean and Asian coaches, umpires and match officials. The Department does not have these figures.
The ECB have acknowledged there remains an under-representation of Black or South Asian heritage officials despite an increase in the proportion of umpires from ethnically diverse backgrounds on the National Panel last year. Following an independent Officiating Review in 2021, the ECB have committed to four ambitions focusing on equity of opportunity, inspiring the next generation, developing a diverse network that reflects society and promoting a culture of inclusivity and fairness.
We welcome the ECB’s promise to take meaningful action, including the creation of a diverse Officiating Oversight Panel, which met in October 2021, to challenge and question all decisions relating to selection, appointments, practices and processes across the department. They have also developed a targeted coaching and mentoring programme that focuses on supporting aspiring umpires from diverse backgrounds.
The updated Code for Sports Governance requires sports organisations that receive significant public funding, including the ECB, to agree a diversity and inclusion action plan with Sport England and/or UK Sport, which will be published and updated annually. The Government and our arm’s length bodies will continue to monitor and liaise with the cricket authorities on improving diversity and inclusion at all levels.
Asked by: Navendu Mishra (Labour - Stockport)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 24 June 2022 to Question 19721 on Cricket: Racial Discrimination, how much funding the Government has allocated to the England and Wales Cricket Board in the financial years (a) 2018-2019, (b) 2019-2020, (c) 2020-2021, (d) 2021-2022 and (e) so far in 2022-2023.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government does not provide direct funding to the England and Wales Cricket Board. All funding of sport National Governing Bodies is delivered by our Arm’s Length Bodies. In this case that is Sport England.
Since 2018 Sport England have allocated £7,899,140 to the England and Wales Cricket Board: £1.49 million in 2018/19; £1 million in 2019/20; £3,206,640 in 2020/21; and £2,202,500 in 2021/22. Figures for 2022-23 have not yet been published.