Asked by: Richard Baker (Labour - Glenrothes and Mid Fife)
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 with the music industry to ensure performing artists have access to adequate mental health support.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
This government recognises the importance of ensuring that everyone has access to support and resources for their mental health and wellbeing, including creative professionals such as musicians and performers.
This government welcomes efforts by the music industry to support artists, such as the Musicians' Union's Wellbeing Support Service and Help Musicians' Music Minds Matter helpline. We would encourage more organisations across the sector to follow suit in order to foster an environment where mental health is prioritised, and artists are empowered to thrive both personally and professionally.
We are working closely with industry stakeholders as they seek to address the recommendations of the Good Work Review, a sectoral deep dive funded by DCMS into job quality and working practice. This sets out a number of priorities to improve job quality in the sector, including developing dedicated support and guidance for self-employed creators.
The arts and creative industries are also crucial to supporting peoples' health and wellbeing. As part of the Government's ‘an NHS fit for the future’ Mission, we will review the evidence and recommendations from stakeholders, including the National Centre for Creative Health. The Creative Industries Council has also established a Health and Wellbeing Forum, whose outputs we will consider.
Additionally, the Arts Council England invests £145 million annually in National Portfolio Organisations to deliver projects including creative health, and in 2022 they published a Creative Health and Wellbeing Strategy to integrate health and wellbeing into the arts sector's core outcomes.
Asked by: Richard Baker (Labour - Glenrothes and Mid Fife)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what progress he has made on UK-EU veterinary agreement negotiations.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Prime Minister and President of the European Commission met on 7 November at the EPC in Budapest, where they discussed the strength of the UK-EU partnership and the need to work together to tackle the challenges facing Europe.
Defra’s approach to UK-EU relations will always respect the role of devolved governments and legislatures. The Government knows that many aspects of the Withdrawal Agreement and UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement fall within devolved competence, and there are many reserved aspects of particular importance to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Asked by: Richard Baker (Labour - Glenrothes and Mid Fife)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps he is taking to maximise the benefits of rejoining the (a) Horizon and (b) Copernicus programmes.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
It is our priority to make Horizon association a success. Government have launched a series of initiatives have been launched to help UK organisations engage with the programme. These include a marketing campaign and large-scale events around the country to promote Horizon Europe, and pump priming support to help increase application numbers, delivered by the British Academy and Innovate UK. On Copernicus, DSIT has been working closely with the UK Earth observation sector to promote the opportunities from renewed participation in the EU Copernicus programme. This includes hosting two Copernicus industry days, investing £250m to support industry and academics to stay at the forefront of Earth observation and through the UK Space Agency. For both programmes, the Department is actively working with European partners to promote UK expertise and capabilities and encouraging collaboration opportunities.
Asked by: Richard Baker (Labour - Glenrothes and Mid Fife)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps he is taking to replace the Galileo scheme.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
There are no plans to replace the EU’s Global Navigation Satellite System – Galileo – with a UK system. The Government is implementing the October 2023 Government Policy Framework for Greater Position, Navigation and Timing (PNT) Resilience, which will provide greater resilience for the PNT services that the UK relies upon in the event of any disruption to Global Navigation Satellite Systems.
Asked by: Richard Baker (Labour - Glenrothes and Mid Fife)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to reduce administrative requirements for school groups visiting the UK from Europe.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
Education is a devolved matter, and the response outlines the information for England only.
As the department for opportunity, we recognise the importance of school trips and the impact that this valuable learning experience can have on children and young people. The department also recognises the difficulties that schools have faced in recent years when it comes to organising trips between the UK and the EU. Departments across government are working to mitigate these challenges. The department is working with the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office and the Home Office to improve border processing and facilitate school trips between the UK and the EU. The UK has an agreement with France which permits the use of national identity cards for French schoolchildren (aged 18 and under) travelling on organised trips and waives UK visa requirements for their classmates who are visa nationals.
The Home Office has recently announced that children aged 18 and under travelling as part of a French school group will be temporarily exempt from the Electronic Travel Authorisation scheme requirement until a group solution is developed.
Asked by: Richard Baker (Labour - Glenrothes and Mid Fife)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to help support students to study in the EU.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The Turing Scheme is the UK government’s global programme to provide grants for students to study and work anywhere in the world, including in the EU. Students can develop new skills, gain international experience and boost their employability. For the 2024/25 academic year, education providers and other eligible organisations from across the UK have been allocated over £105 million to send more than 43,000 students on study and work placements across the globe.
Countries in the EU are popular destinations for UK students supported by the Turing Scheme, with EU countries making up five out of the top ten most popular destinations across both the 2022/23 and 2023/24 academic years.
The Turing Scheme breaks down barriers to opportunity by prioritising the most disadvantaged students, requiring education providers to demonstrate how their project will support them and provide additional grant funding for participants from disadvantaged backgrounds. In addition to travel and living costs, this funding covers items that students may need to be able to travel, including vaccinations, visa applications, passports and insurance costs.
Asked by: Richard Baker (Labour - Glenrothes and Mid Fife)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to support zoos in maintaining effective breeding programs with partners in Europe.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
For zoo animal transfers from Great Britain (GB) to the European Union (EU), export requirements vary and must be agreed on a case-by-case basis with the importing country. On receipt of the requirements, Defra collaborates with officials in the importing country to ensure these are practical before producing an official certificate ensuring safe, compliant trade while safeguarding animal and public health. This minimizes the risk of live animals being delayed or returned at borders due to non-compliance.
Border Control Points capacity at key locations within the EU can affect zoo animal movements, creating challenges for GB zoos participating in international conservation projects. The department engages with stakeholders, including the British and Irish Association of Zoos and Aquariums and French authorities, to advocate for new border control posts and streamline processes where possible.
Asked by: Richard Baker (Labour - Glenrothes and Mid Fife)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether he is taking steps with his international counterparts to help ensure that Commonwealth War Graves are protected in Gaza.
Answered by Al Carns - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans)
The Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) is aware that both Gaza and Deir el Belah War Cemeteries have been damaged, but the full extent is not yet clear. A more detailed assessment cannot be carried out until the current situation subsides.
The CWGC will, however, restore those sites to a befitting standard as and when circumstances allow.
Asked by: Richard Baker (Labour - Glenrothes and Mid Fife)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he is taking steps with Cabinet colleagues to support the maritime sector to develop clean maritime technologies.
Answered by Mike Kane - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department for Transport’s £206m UK Shipping Office for Reducing Emissions (UK SHORE) programme focuses on accelerating the technology necessary to decarbonise our domestic maritime sector.
UK SHORE interventions address maritime decarbonisation challenges over the full range of technology-readiness levels (TRL) and are being rolled out between 2022 and 2025.
The UK SHORE programme has allocated funding to more than 150 projects and aims to leverage over £100m private investment to support research and development in maritime decarbonisation. The funding benefits all 12 regions in the UK supporting over 350 organisations, including over 200 SMEs.
Asked by: Richard Baker (Labour - Glenrothes and Mid Fife)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she plans to take to ensure that charities lotteries and the charities they support are not negatively impacted by a statutory gambling levy.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Society lotteries are a vital fundraising tool for many charities, community groups, sports clubs and other non-commercial organisations. We want to see society lotteries continue to thrive, alongside the National Lottery.
We are committed to reviewing the best available evidence from a wide range of sources and to working with all stakeholders in order to support the industry and ensure there are robust protections in place to protect those at risk. We have commissioned independent research to look at the overall lotteries sector, to strengthen the evidence base for any further review of the limits.
We continue to keep society lottery sales and prize limits under review with the Gambling Commission. We will set out further information on gambling policy, including the statutory levy, to the House soon.