Asked by: Paul Maynard (Conservative - Blackpool North and Cleveleys)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if she will publish a list the organisations that have received the Queen's Award for Voluntary Service in the boroughs of (a) Fylde, (b) Blackpool and (c) Wyre in each of the last five years.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
Three volunteer groups based in Fylde, Blackpool or Wyre have received The Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service over the last five years. These are:
2020 Blackpool Heritage Tram Tours (Blackpool)
2022 Friends of Stanley Park and Salisbury Woodland (Blackpool)
2022 Healthier Fleetwood (Wyre)
The award is made annually to outstanding local volunteer-led groups across the whole UK. Lancashire has been well represented over this period, with a total of 34 awards over the last five years.
Asked by: Paul Maynard (Conservative - Blackpool North and Cleveleys)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what his policy is on exempting from the TV licence fee people over the age of 75 who are registered as partially sighted.
Answered by John Whittingdale
The Government is deeply disappointed with the BBC's decision to restrict the over 75 licence fee concession to only those in receipt of pension credit. We recognise the value of free TV licences for over-75s and believe they should be funded by the BBC. The Government has said that the BBC must do more to support older people.
However, the Digital Economy Act 2017 provides that the future of the over-75s concession is the responsibility of the BBC, including whether it is extended to people aged over 75 and who are partially sighted.
TV Licence concessions are also available to people who are registered blind or severely sight impaired, and people living in qualifying residential care who are disabled or over 60 years old. There are no further concessions available for people with disabilities or other health conditions, and we are not considering changes to the current concessions regime at this time.
Asked by: Paul Maynard (Conservative - Blackpool North and Cleveleys)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what financial support his Department has provided to (a) Visit Bath and (b) other destination management organisations for the purposes of advertising in the national press.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston
The Government awarded funding to a number of Destination Management Organisations (DMOs) for the purposes of participating in the Enjoy Summer Safely marketing campaign.
Awards of up to £400,000 were made to successful applicants that had marketing recovery campaign proposals in a high state of preparedness. The Cabinet Office administered the media spend on behalf of successful applicants.
DMOs have provided vital business support to local tourism organisations during this crisis, and will play a key role in helping our tourism industry recover. We will continue to monitor the situation in the tourism sector, and I encourage DMOs to keep sharing information with VisitEngland and my Department.
Asked by: Paul Maynard (Conservative - Blackpool North and Cleveleys)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what projects in (a) Blackpool and (b) Lancashire have been allocated funding from (i) the Youth Accelerator Fund and (ii) the Youth Investment Fund.
Answered by Matt Warman
Government is funding up to £7 million this financial year (2019/20) through the Youth Accelerator Fund, expanding existing successful projects delivering positive activities for young people, and to address urgent needs in the youth sector. This fund is being delivered through DCMS ALB's alongside UK Youth
UK Youth is distributing over £1 million in small grants to support grassroots organisations to deliver extra sessions in youth clubs and increase positive activities for young people across the country. 5 grants have been awarded to organisations in Blackpool and Lancashire totalling over £35,000.
DCMS ALBs are expanding their existing positive activities programmes, and Sport England as part of their Youth Accelerator Funding, have awarded funding to the Lancashire Boys and Girls Clubs who work across the whole of Lancashire.
We are investing £500 million over five years through the new Youth Investment Fund, which will be launching in 2020/21.
Asked by: Paul Maynard (Conservative - Blackpool North and Cleveleys)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what recent steps his Department has taken to increase tourism in (a) Blackpool and (b) Lancashire.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston
The £45m Discover England Fund supports the development of multiple internationally marketed tourism products in Lancashire. These include Marketing Lancashire’s campaign to encourage young adults from the Nordic region to explore the North West of England, and VisitBritain’s Gateway Partnership with Manchester Airport. This promotes Manchester as an international gateway to tourist destinations in the North West, including the Lancashire coast.
The Coastal Communities Fund supported the £1m Access Fylde Coast project to improve the visitor experience for people with disabilities along the Fylde coast and in Blackpool.
Asked by: Paul Maynard (Conservative - Blackpool North and Cleveleys)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if he will consider the proposal from contributors to the report entitled Ambition for Public Libraries in England 2016 to 2021 to redefine what constitutes a comprehensive and efficient service under the 1964 Public Libraries and Museums Act.
Answered by Lord Vaizey of Didcot
Responses to the Leadership for Libraries Taskforce’s Ambition consultation are being carefully considered and the Ambition document will be published in due course. There are no plans to amend the Public Libraries and Museums Act 1964.
The 1964 Act does not seek to be overly prescriptive in defining comprehensive and efficient, and it is a matter for local authorities to determine how to provide a public library service to their local community, within available resources.
The ‘Libraries as a Statutory Service’ was published in December 2015 and contains information on the legislative framework for library services under the Act. This sets out the factors to which the Secretary of State gives consideration in response to complaints about whether a local authority is providing a comprehensive and efficient library service.
Asked by: Paul Maynard (Conservative - Blackpool North and Cleveleys)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment he has made of the feasibility of the Local Government Association's recommendation within the report entitled Ambition for Public Libraries in England 2016-2021, published on 23 March 2016, that library services should be included as part of the devolution deals for local authorities.
Answered by Lord Vaizey of Didcot
In its response to the consultation on the Leadership for Libraries Taskforce’s Ambition document, the Local Government Association supported the principle of library authorities working in partnership, collaborating and harnessing their potential for acting together when they want to do this. It is the responsibility for the relevant local authorities to explore and discuss the feasibility of including libraries as part of their devolution deals. DCMS will continue to work with the Libraries Taskforce to consider how we can support library authorities to engage with devolution discussions and share lessons learned with other local authorities.
Asked by: Paul Maynard (Conservative - Blackpool North and Cleveleys)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, which organisations have received how much funding from his Department aimed at supporting access to short breaks and respite provision for children, young people and their families experiencing all types of disadvantage in each of the last five financial years.
Answered by Helen Grant - Shadow Solicitor General
DCMS has not provided any funding to organisations aimed at supporting access to short breaks and respite provision for children, young people and their families. However, DCMS and VisitEngland contributed to the Parliamentary Inquiry into Social Tourism. VisitEngland also works with the Family Holiday Association (FHA) to raise awareness of the issue of families excluded from taking holidays. I visited ‘Kent Life' in March 2014 to promote Visit Kent's social tourism pilot with the FHA.