Asked by: Oliver Dowden (Conservative - Hertsmere)
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 support the film industry in (a) England and (b) Hertsmere.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government’s Industrial Strategy will prioritise the creative industries.
We will ensure that the sector can continue to drive growth, boost opportunities and help people to fulfil their creative potential across the UK, including in Hertsmere. Our support includes:
Providing £1 million in funding for 2025/26 for the British Film Commission, which has previously provided support for both Elstree Studios and Sky Studios Elstree in Hertsmere;
Expanding the global reach of independent content through with a further £7 million for the UK Global Screen Fund in 2025/26;
Building on the success of the screen sector tax reliefs, by introducing the enhanced Independent Film Tax Credit, and a new 5% uplift on the rate of relief for visual effects.
Opportunities to drive growth in our screen sectors exist across the whole of the UK, with seven established film production hubs and many more areas brimming with potential and ambition. The film industry also benefits from two major UK Research and Innovation programmes run by the Arts and Humanities Research Council: the £75.6 million CoSTAR programme and the £56 million Creative Industries Clusters programme
In addition, the British Film Institute has committed £34.2 million National Lottery funding over 2023-2026 for education and skills programmes. This includes £9 million to develop skills clusters, one of which has been set up to cover the Metro London area, which includes Hertfordshire, led by Film London.
Asked by: Oliver Dowden (Conservative - Hertsmere)
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 growth in the British film industry.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government’s Industrial Strategy will prioritise the creative industries.
We will ensure that the sector can continue to drive growth, boost opportunities and help people to fulfil their creative potential across the UK, including in Hertsmere. Our support includes:
Providing £1 million in funding for 2025/26 for the British Film Commission, which has previously provided support for both Elstree Studios and Sky Studios Elstree in Hertsmere;
Expanding the global reach of independent content through with a further £7 million for the UK Global Screen Fund in 2025/26;
Building on the success of the screen sector tax reliefs, by introducing the enhanced Independent Film Tax Credit, and a new 5% uplift on the rate of relief for visual effects.
Opportunities to drive growth in our screen sectors exist across the whole of the UK, with seven established film production hubs and many more areas brimming with potential and ambition. The film industry also benefits from two major UK Research and Innovation programmes run by the Arts and Humanities Research Council: the £75.6 million CoSTAR programme and the £56 million Creative Industries Clusters programme
In addition, the British Film Institute has committed £34.2 million National Lottery funding over 2023-2026 for education and skills programmes. This includes £9 million to develop skills clusters, one of which has been set up to cover the Metro London area, which includes Hertfordshire, led by Film London.
Asked by: Oliver Dowden (Conservative - Hertsmere)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what recent discussions her Department has had with the BBC board on impartiality in news coverage of the conflict in Israel and Gaza.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
My Department meets regularly with representatives of the BBC on a range of matters.
The BBC is editorially and operationally independent of the Government. As the external independent regulator of the BBC, Ofcom is responsible for ensuring BBC coverage is duly impartial and accurate under the Broadcasting Code and BBC Charter.
Asked by: Oliver Dowden (Conservative - Hertsmere)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to the Charities Act 2022: implementation plan, published April 2022, what plans do the Government have to bring sections 15 and 16 of the Act into force.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
The Government is deferring the commencement of sections 15 and 16 of the Charities Act 2022 until we fully understand the implications for National Museums and other charities. When Parliament debated the Charities Bill, enabling national museums to restitute items from their collections based on moral grounds was neither considered, nor agreed on.
Deferring the commencement of these sections of the Act, which were initially planned to be in the first tranche of commencements in autumn 2022, will have no impact on the implementation of the other sections in the Charities Act 2022.
Asked by: Oliver Dowden (Conservative - Hertsmere)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of the Charities Act 2022 on decisions by trustees of national museums to consider the moral claims of restitution claimants.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
The Government is deferring the commencement of sections 15 and 16 of the Charities Act 2022 until we fully understand the implications for National Museums and other charities. When Parliament debated the Charities Bill, enabling national museums to restitute items from their collections based on moral grounds was neither considered, nor agreed on.
Deferring the commencement of these sections of the Act, which were initially planned to be in the first tranche of commencements in autumn 2022, will have no impact on the implementation of the other sections in the Charities Act 2022.
Asked by: Oliver Dowden (Conservative - Hertsmere)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of the implementation of sections 15 and 16 of the Charities Act 2022 on the ability of trustees of national museums to seek authorisation from the (a) Charity Commission, (b) Attorney general or (c) in the courts to return collection items if they are motivated by a moral obligation.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
The Government is deferring the commencement of sections 15 and 16 of the Charities Act 2022 until we fully understand the implications for National Museums and other charities. When Parliament debated the Charities Bill, enabling national museums to restitute items from their collections based on moral grounds was neither considered, nor agreed on.
Deferring the commencement of these sections of the Act, which were initially planned to be in the first tranche of commencements in autumn 2022, will have no impact on the implementation of the other sections in the Charities Act 2022.
Asked by: Oliver Dowden (Conservative - Hertsmere)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what plans she has to allow pre-legislative scrutiny of the forthcoming Digital Markets Competition and Consumer Bill announced in the Queen's Speech 2022.
Answered by Damian Collins
The new pro-competition regime will remove the obstacles to competition and drive growth in digital markets, delivering lower prices for UK families, and giving consumers more choice and control over the services they use online.
The Draft Digital Markets, Competition and Consumer Bill was announced as part of the Queen's Speech 2022 and will be published as soon as parliamentary time allows.
Asked by: Oliver Dowden (Conservative - Hertsmere)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if she will provide an update on the Government's policy on digital market competition.
Answered by Damian Collins
The new pro-competition regime will remove the obstacles to competition and drive growth in digital markets, delivering lower prices for UK families, and giving consumers more choice and control over the services they use online.
The Draft Digital Markets, Competition and Consumer Bill was announced as part of the Queen's Speech 2022 and will be published as soon as parliamentary time allows.