Asked by: Peter Bottomley (Conservative - Worthing West)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will instruct the Royal Parks to adjust the barriers at the Buxton Memorial Fountain in Victoria Tower Gardens to allow access to the east of the Fountain by the Thames wall.
Answered by Julia Lopez
The Royal Parks have full operational responsibility for the Buxton Memorial Fountain and the barriers which have been erected for the duration of essential repairs to it. A temporary footpath has been constructed around the memorial, so that access to the Embankment path remains.
Asked by: Peter Bottomley (Conservative - Worthing West)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department holds information on when barriers were erected around the Buxton memorial in Victoria Tower Gardens; for what reason those barriers were erected; and how long they will remain in place.
Answered by John Whittingdale
Barriers were erected around the Buxton memorial in April 2023, in order to protect the monument ahead of and during essential structural repairs needed to maintain it. They will remain in place until completion of the repairs, which has an estimated date of July 2024.
Asked by: Peter Bottomley (Conservative - Worthing West)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, how much public funding the English National Opera received in each of the last 15 years; and what discussions his Department had with Arts Council England on funding that organisation (a) over the next three years and (b) in the long term; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
Records of the level of public funding for English National Opera are available in its annual accounts, which are published online on the Companies House website.
Following Arts Council England’s decisions relating to English National Opera and its 2023–26 Investment Portfolio, which are taken at arm’s length from the Government, the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport is helping to convene relevant parties and support them to find a way forward. I am keen that Arts Council England and English National Opera work together on the future of the organisation.
All decisions on which organisations to fund through the 2023–26 Investment Programme, and by how much, have been taken by Arts Council England in line with the long-standing principle that Arts Council England makes such decisions at arm’s length from the Government. The Chief Executive of Arts Council England, Darren Henley, answered questions from the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee on these issues on 8 December 2022.
Asked by: Peter Bottomley (Conservative - Worthing West)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, on what date following the publication in September 2015 of the Holocaust Memorial Foundation briefing entitled Search for a Central London site did their Department become aware of the plan to site the memorial in Victoria Tower Gardens.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston
UK Holocaust Memorial Foundation member Lord Andrew Feldman wrote to the then Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, the Rt Hon John Whittingdale, on 26 October 2015 proposing that the Holocaust Memorial be located in Victoria Tower Gardens.
Following investigations into the feasibility of this site, the Foundation recommended Victoria Tower Gardens to the Government in January 2016 as the best choice of site. The then Prime Minister accepted this recommendation and announced Victoria Tower Gardens as the chosen site on Holocaust Memorial Day 2016.
Asked by: Peter Bottomley (Conservative - Worthing West)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if the Prime Minister will instruct each relevant Department to authorise the National Archive to make available access to all the material requested by Rupert Burgess and Clive Stafford-Smith in relation to the investigation and prosecution of the Hosein brothers for killing Mrs Muriel McKay; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Julia Lopez
The National Archives has not received a direct request for information from Mr Clive Stafford-Smith for access to material relating to the investigation and prosecution of the Hosein brothers.
The National Archives received a Freedom of Information (FOI) request on 02 June 2021 on behalf of one of the parties named for access to ten Crown Prosecution Service records (DPP 2/4806-4815) and one Attorney General’s Office record (LO 2/192).
The Freedom of Information (FOI) Act 2000 gives applicants the right to know whether a public authority holds the information requested and to have it communicated to them, subject to any exemptions, which may apply. Some of the information contained within the requested files has been made accessible to the public, however the majority remained closed because the information is exempt under sections 38 (1) (a) and 40 (2) (by virtue of section 40 (3A) personal data exemption) of the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act. As exemptions apply, The National Archives cannot make these records available to the applicant or to the public in general.
The FOI process is not subject to Ministerial or Prime Ministerial approval. There is, however, an appeals process in which any application of FOI exemptions/closure can be re-reviewed.
Outside of the FOI process, individual government departments may allow discretionary access to their historic files, having first recalled them from The National Archives for the purposes of review, as permitted by the Public Records Act (1958).
Asked by: Peter Bottomley (Conservative - Worthing West)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, when the National Archive received a request from Clive Stafford-Smith, in the interests of Krishna Maharaj and Rupert Burgess for the family of Mrs Muriel McKay, for access to material relating to the investigation and prosecution of the Hosein brothers; which Ministers will need to approve that request; and whether she expects the material requested will be made available.
Answered by Julia Lopez
The National Archives has not received a direct request for information from Mr Clive Stafford-Smith for access to material relating to the investigation and prosecution of the Hosein brothers.
The National Archives received a Freedom of Information (FOI) request on 02 June 2021 on behalf of one of the parties named for access to ten Crown Prosecution Service records (DPP 2/4806-4815) and one Attorney General’s Office record (LO 2/192).
The Freedom of Information (FOI) Act 2000 gives applicants the right to know whether a public authority holds the information requested and to have it communicated to them, subject to any exemptions, which may apply. Some of the information contained within the requested files has been made accessible to the public, however the majority remained closed because the information is exempt under sections 38 (1) (a) and 40 (2) (by virtue of section 40 (3A) personal data exemption) of the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act. As exemptions apply, The National Archives cannot make these records available to the applicant or to the public in general.
The FOI process is not subject to Ministerial or Prime Ministerial approval. There is, however, an appeals process in which any application of FOI exemptions/closure can be re-reviewed.
Outside of the FOI process, individual government departments may allow discretionary access to their historic files, having first recalled them from The National Archives for the purposes of review, as permitted by the Public Records Act (1958).
Asked by: Peter Bottomley (Conservative - Worthing West)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, how many responses to the Channel 4 consultation have been received as of 16 December 2021; how many have been considered; and whether those responses are affecting the Government's position on the comparative merits of (a) maintaining the present ownership of Channel 4 and (b) alternatives.
Answered by Julia Lopez
The Government has consulted on the best ownership model to support Channel 4 for years to come. Our public consultation closed on 14 September. We have received around 60,000 responses, and we are carefully considering all the views and evidence we have received to inform the government’s policy-making and final decision.
Asked by: Peter Bottomley (Conservative - Worthing West)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what regulatory barrier prevents non-public broadcasters adopting any or all of Channel 4's obligations and methods of operating.
Answered by Julia Lopez
The government wants Channel 4 to remain a public service broadcaster. Public service broadcasters - publicly and privately owned - have both benefits and obligations. Our consultation document outlines that we see the value in many of these obligations.
Channel 4’s ability to make distinctive content, and its work with independent producers are precisely the strengths we would protect and expect any potential buyer to look to develop and nurture, should we decide to proceed with a sale. We do not therefore subscribe to a false binary choice between public service remit and privatisation.
Indeed, we already have two privately-owned - and very successful - public service broadcasters in the examples of ITV and Channel 5. Both continue to deliver public service objectives.
Asked by: Peter Bottomley (Conservative - Worthing West)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the potential impact on (a) inclusiveness and (b) diversity of a possible sale of Channel 4.
Answered by Julia Lopez
Our consultation document outlines that the government sees the great value delivered to society through the obligations placed on Channel 4 to broadcast content appealing to diverse audiences. We have sought views on whether to retain or increase such obligations through our consultation.
We consider that Channel 4’s ability to reach a diverse range of audiences is a strength to be celebrated and maintained into its future, and that this is not at odds with private investment - in fact, this is an important facet of Channel 4’s brand that is likely to be an attractive asset to nurture and develop for any potential buyer.
We have consulted on the best ownership model to support Channel 4 for years to come.
Our public consultation closed on 14 September. We are carefully considering the views and evidence we have received to inform the government’s policy-making and final decision.
Asked by: Peter Bottomley (Conservative - Worthing West)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what is her assessment of the impact on the intellectual property of independent producers from a possible sale of Channel 4.
Answered by Julia Lopez
Channel 4 has played an important role in supporting independent production in the UK. The sector is now flourishing and increasingly less reliant on income from UK PSBs. Total UK production sector revenues increased by more than 30% over the five years to 2019, reaching £3.3 billion in 2019. The export market for UK content has continued to grow with the sector’s international revenues exceeding £1 billion in 2019, 30% more than the previous year.
Channel 4’s strengths in working with independent producers are precisely the kinds of attributes we would expect to be attractive to a buyer, and that we would expect any buyer to be likely to nurture and develop through new investment.
We have consulted on the best ownership model to support Channel 4 for years to come. Our public consultation closed on 14 September. We are carefully considering the views and evidence we have received to inform the government’s policy-making and final decision.
Whatever decision we make about the future ownership model of Channel 4 will not compromise this government’s commitment to the independent production sector and to the wider creative economy.