Asked by: Neil Duncan-Jordan (Labour - Poole)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether Dormant Assets Scheme funding will be used in part to support existing (a) Music Hubs and (b) other services and strategies.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
As announced in the Dormant Assets Strategy, DCMS will work with The National Lottery Community Fund to design the specific programmes to be delivered by the youth portion of funding. These will take into account the missions and Plan for Change, as well as the additionality principle which is central to the ongoing success of the Scheme. Further details will be announced in due course.
Asked by: Neil Duncan-Jordan (Labour - Poole)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, which stakeholders she is consulting as part of the Arts Council England review.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Baroness Hodge is conducting extensive nationwide engagement with stakeholders via interviews, visits, and roundtables to gather diverse perspectives for a comprehensive review.
The Review launched a survey on 20 February which enables anyone with a view to share their opinions. To date we've had over 7500 responses; the survey closes on 30 June.
Asked by: Neil Duncan-Jordan (Labour - Poole)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether she considered the potential merits of ensuring that the advisory panel for the Arts Council England review included (a) musicians, (b) dancers, (c) composers, (d) singers and (e) educationalists.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Advisory Panel members were selected for their wealth of knowledge and experience across the sectors that Arts Council England serves. They each bring a unique perspective from across the country to support the review.
The review’s engagement with sectors is not confined to the Advisory Panel's membership. Stakeholders from different sectors across the country are being consulted as part of the review.
Asked by: Neil Duncan-Jordan (Labour - Poole)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what the criteria were for appointing members of the advisory panel for the Arts Council England review.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Advisory Panel members were selected for their wealth of knowledge and experience across the sectors that Arts Council England serves. They each bring a unique perspective from across the country to support the review.
The review’s engagement with sectors is not confined to the Advisory Panel's membership. Stakeholders from different sectors across the country are being consulted as part of the review.
Asked by: Neil Duncan-Jordan (Labour - Poole)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what her Department's timetable is for introducing a statutory registration scheme for holiday lets.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Parliament legislated for a registration scheme for short-term lets in the Levelling Up and Regeneration Act 2023, and we are committed to introducing such a scheme as soon as possible. The initial phase of digital development is now complete, with public testing planned to start in the next 12 months. During this next phase, we will test a working interface with users to ensure our systems are robust and effective before launching a first version of the service.
Asked by: Neil Duncan-Jordan (Labour - Poole)
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 merits of requiring that a minimum number of (a) local and (b) regional freelance professionals are hired by (i) TV and (ii) film companies when filming is taking place in their area.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Department has not made any assessment of the potential merits of the particular suggestion of per-production employment quotas. However, our public service broadcasters are already subject to regional production quotas set by the regulator Ofcom. One of the criteria through which public service broadcasters can meet their quotas is by ensuring at least 50% of the off-screen production talent (by cost) working on a given production is based outside of London. This ensures that creative job opportunities continue to be available to freelance professionals building their careers in the nations and regions of the UK.
We are also incentivising television and film production in every region through our tax reliefs and support for studios, including the £25 million investment for Crown Works Studios in Sunderland via the North East Combined Mayoral Authority.
Asked by: Neil Duncan-Jordan (Labour - Poole)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department has plans to continue funding the UK Youth Parliament after March 2026.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
This government values the contribution young people have to make on decision making at all levels of government and understand this leads to better, more impactful policy locally, regionally and nationally. We are committed to ensuring young people have a voice on issues that matter to them and affect their lives. Through our new national youth strategy we will lead the way on effective youth participation in decision making at all levels and adopting approaches which can be used across government.
The UK Youth Parliament (UKYP) is one of the existing youth voice programmes. Through this programme, a number of young people can learn about the democratic process, engage with policy, and debate issues that matter to them. Whilst we are currently working towards the next spending review, future spending cannot be confirmed at this stage.
Asked by: Neil Duncan-Jordan (Labour - Poole)
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 potential impact of the level of Arts Council England funding to the English National Opera on the availability of (a) free tickets to young adults and (b) opportunities for young singers and actors.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Decisions about arts funding are subject to the arm’s-length principle and are made by Arts Council England. In December 2023, Arts Council England and English National Opera agreed £24m funding for 2024-2026. This will enable ENO to continue to deliver a substantial opera season every year in London, whilst co-developing significant performance and learning activity in Greater Manchester as it works towards establishing a new main base by 2029. This brings ACE’s investment in the ENO to over £35m.
The ENO provides invaluable opportunities for young people, including their free tickets for under 21s scheme. We are pleased to see that this initiative, amongst others, remains a key part of the ENO’s impact.
Asked by: Neil Duncan-Jordan (Labour - Poole)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to ensure there is adequate provision for youth services in all regions.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
This Government is committed to giving all young people the chance to reach their full potential and recognises the vital role that youth services and activities play in improving their life chances and wellbeing.
As set out in section 507B of the Education Act 1996, local authorities have a statutory duty to secure, so far as is reasonably practicable, sufficient provision of educational and recreational leisure-time activities for young people. This is funded from the local government settlement.
Additionally, as a government we are keen to ensure that there is appropriate youth provision to stop young people being drawn into crime and facing other poor outcomes. This is why we are creating the Young Futures programme, which will see the establishment of Prevention Partnerships in every local authority and the rollout of youth hubs across England and Wales. These Partnerships, supported by a network of hubs, will bring local services together and deliver support for young people to help them live safe and healthy lives.
This will build on the DCMS funding to invest £500 million in youth services to ensure every young person will have access to regular clubs and activities, adventures away from home and opportunities to volunteer.
Asked by: Neil Duncan-Jordan (Labour - Poole)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will take steps to introduce a national register of short-term rented properties to help ensure that those properties are compliant with relevant safety legislation.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Short-term lets are an important part of the UK’s visitor accommodation offer and the government recognises the benefits to the visitor economy.
Parliament legislated for a registration scheme for short-term lets in the Levelling Up and Regeneration Act 2023. This government is exploring the introduction of such a scheme, as a statutory requirement. This will promote a level playing field in the guest accommodation sector across England, particularly in the application of existing health & safety regulations.