Asked by: Neil Duncan-Jordan (Independent - 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 ensure that religious organisations’ assets are scrutinised before making decisions regarding an extension of the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme offers grants towards the VAT incurred on eligible repairs and renovations and is open to all listed places of worship. The future of the grant scheme will be considered as we work through the output of the Spending Review and Departmental business planning process.
Grants for the scheme are allocated on a first-come, first-served basis, determined by the eligibility of submitted invoices for repair work. The focus is on the nature of the conservation and repair work undertaken on historic buildings, and an organisation's financial assets or standing are not considered in the decision-making process.
Asked by: Neil Duncan-Jordan (Independent - Poole)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether she has had discussions with UK broadcasters on ensuring that television coverage of the Tour de France remains available to UK viewers.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government recognises concerns raised about losing free-to-air coverage of the Tour de France. Ensuring live cycling can be enjoyed by a wide reaching audience is important to growing the sport and inspiring the next generation of cyclists. Professional cycling, in particular the Tour de France, (men’s and women’s Tours) captivates fans with its exciting races and inspires people across the country to get on their bikes every weekend.
It is the responsibility of broadcasters and rights holders to think carefully about the balance between generating revenue and ensuring access to sports coverage for their viewers.
While I have regular discussions with UK broadcasters on a range of issues, decisions relating to coverage of particular sporting events - including the Tour de France - are ultimately a commercial decision for the relevant broadcaster and/or the rights holder, independent of government.
Asked by: Neil Duncan-Jordan (Independent - 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 ceasing television coverage of the Tour de France in the UK on levels of interest in British cycling.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government recognises concerns raised about losing free-to-air coverage of the Tour de France. Ensuring live cycling can be enjoyed by a wide reaching audience is important to growing the sport and inspiring the next generation of cyclists. Professional cycling, in particular the Tour de France, (men’s and women’s Tours) captivates fans with its exciting races and inspires people across the country to get on their bikes every weekend.
It is the responsibility of broadcasters and rights holders to think carefully about the balance between generating revenue and ensuring access to sports coverage for their viewers.
While I have regular discussions with UK broadcasters on a range of issues, decisions relating to coverage of particular sporting events - including the Tour de France - are ultimately a commercial decision for the relevant broadcaster and/or the rights holder, independent of government.
Asked by: Neil Duncan-Jordan (Independent - Poole)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether she is taking steps to ensure that television coverage of the Tour de France remains available to UK viewers.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government recognises concerns raised about losing free-to-air coverage of the Tour de France. Ensuring live cycling can be enjoyed by a wide reaching audience is important to growing the sport and inspiring the next generation of cyclists. Professional cycling, in particular the Tour de France, (men’s and women’s Tours) captivates fans with its exciting races and inspires people across the country to get on their bikes every weekend.
It is the responsibility of broadcasters and rights holders to think carefully about the balance between generating revenue and ensuring access to sports coverage for their viewers.
While I have regular discussions with UK broadcasters on a range of issues, decisions relating to coverage of particular sporting events - including the Tour de France - are ultimately a commercial decision for the relevant broadcaster and/or the rights holder, independent of government.
Asked by: Neil Duncan-Jordan (Independent - 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 (Independent - 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 (Independent - 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 (Independent - 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 (Independent - 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 (Independent - 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.