Asked by: Robert Halfon (Conservative - Harlow)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what the scientific basis is for the decision to prevent individuals who are over 18 years of age from participating in club swimming during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
As the Prime Minister said on 23 November, the national restrictions ended on Wednesday 2 December, and gyms and sport facilities can reopen across all tiers. This means that certain leisure and sporting facilities including swimming pools are able to open subject to relevant social contact rules in each tier.
As set out in the COVID Winter Plan the decision to allocate tiers is based on a range of factors and will be reviewed every 14 days. In Tier 3 areas we have taken further measures to limit social interactions and therefore opportunities for the virus to spread. For swimming pools specifically, the transmission concerns have always been around points of contact within facilities, such as changing rooms.
Asked by: Robert Halfon (Conservative - Harlow)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether the Government provides support to Parkrun.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
Initiatives such as parkrun have had an important impact in driving participation in physical activity and in helping people, particularly those from under-represented groups such as women, disabled people and people from some lower socio-economic groups, to be more physically active.
Sport England, the lead organisation with responsibility for grassroots sport in England, awarded parkrun £3 million in December 2018 over a three-year period (2018-21) to increase participation in sport and physical activity.
An additional £60,000 was provided in March this year, to encourage more women to take part in parkrun events as part of International Women’s Day. Sport England have also supported parkrun across the COVID-19 pandemic, providing a flexible use of funding to support them through the crisis and have worked with them on the safe return of grassroots sport.
Asked by: Robert Halfon (Conservative - Harlow)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps his Department is taking to support the recovery of the events sector from the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
The Secretary of State announced an unprecedented £1.57 billion support package for the cultural sector which will benefit the events sector by providing support to venues and many other cultural organisations to stay open and continue operating. So far, over £500m has been announced from the Culture Recovery Fund for over 2,000 organisations across England including venues, festivals and theatres.
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government announced that businesses will be protected from the threat of eviction until the end of year, providing commercial tenants with greater security and protecting vital jobs. This extension will protect businesses that are struggling to pay their rent due to the impact of COVID-19 from being evicted and help thousands of people working in the events sector to feel more secure about their jobs. The government will also extend the restriction on landlords using Commercial Rents Arrears Recovery to enforce unpaid rent on commercial leases, until the end of the year.
We recognise that the new national restrictions will have a significant impact on jobs and the economy, as well as on mental health and wellbeing. The Government has confirmed that there will be a full package of financial support in place, with the Job Retention Scheme extended until March. Businesses can continue to apply for government-backed loans, and self-employed individuals can access the Self-Employed Income Support Scheme.
We are continuing to meet with events stakeholders to provide support and guidance for the events sector during this time.
Asked by: Robert Halfon (Conservative - Harlow)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether snooker clubs are subject to the covid-19 10pm curfew restrictions.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
Sport facilities such as gyms, leisure centres and sport clubs including snooker clubs are not required to close, however, hospitality areas which sell food and drink (such as cafes and bars) must close at 10pm. This does not apply to dispensing machines such as vending or coffee machines. Delivery services and drive-through services can continue after 10pm, where applicable.
Where a sport facility sells food and drink to consume on site, customers must eat and drink at a table.
Asked by: Robert Halfon (Conservative - Harlow)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what plans he has to issue guidance on the conduct of (a) professional and (b) recreational darts during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
Sports and physical activity facilities play a crucial role in supporting adults and children to be active. The Government has made it clear that it will adopt a phased approach based on scientific and medical advice, and that the primary goal is to protect public health.
The Government has published guidance on GOV.UK allowing the phased return of sport and recreation activities in line with the latest medical guidance. The Government does not plan to publish sport-specific guidance. It is for the national governing bodies of sports to publish relevant guidance in accordance with the latest government guidance.
Asked by: Robert Halfon (Conservative - Harlow)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what progress his Department is making on meeting the 2.3 per cent public sector apprenticeship target; and when his Department will meet that target.
Answered by John Whittingdale
As of 31 March 2020, the Civil Service has achieved a total of 2.1% of its total workforce as apprentices against the legislative target for the public sector of 2.3% by March 2021. DCMS has achieved 1.9% apprentices of the total staff employed within the department. We are reviewing our departmental apprenticeship strategy and are working to achieve the target for 2020/21 through a mixture of new appointments and development opportunities for existing staff. Given this target is a percentage of the total workforce the percentage changes in line with workforce fluctuations over time therefore making it challenging to predict when a department will meet it. The data for 2018/19 can be found here. The data for 2019/20 will be released on gov.uk by the end of September 2020.
Departments are committed to increasing the number of apprentices across the Civil Service and continue to work towards the 2.3% target. The impact of the current pandemic has slowed recruitment due to priority work and logistics. With the current strategy and targets coming to an end in April 2021, the Civil Service is already focusing on how to continue to support the apprenticeship agenda and drive forward apprenticeship recruitment, pulling on the Plan for Jobs initiative and considering the current economic situation.
Asked by: Robert Halfon (Conservative - Harlow)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether darts games are exempted from the covid-19 social distancing rule of six.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
Organised sporting or licensed physical activity are allowed to continue in groups of more than six. This can be in any public place not under other public health restrictions
These activities either need to be organised by a national governing body, club, registered instructor/coach, business or charity; and/or involve someone who has received an official license to use equipment relevant to the activity. In all cases, the organiser must conduct a risk assessment and ensure compliance with COVID-19 Secure guidance.
Each darts club should follow Covid guidance developed by the National Governing Body, the England Darts Organisation to ensure a safe return to play.
Asked by: Robert Halfon (Conservative - Harlow)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps his Department is taking to further support the events industry during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
DCMS appreciates the important role that the events sector plays in the UK’s economy, and that the Covid-19 pandemic presents a significant challenge to many businesses operating in these sectors.
The Secretary of State provided a major £1.57 billion support package for key cultural organisations to help them through the coronavirus pandemic. This funding will provide targeted support to organisations across a range of cultural and creative sectors. This support package will benefit cultural sector services by providing support to cultural venues and many other organisations in the Creative Industries that host live events, to stay open and continue operating.
From 15th August, and as part of the Government’s 5 stage roadmap to get performing arts and live entertainment sectors back up and running as soon as possible, organisations can now put on live indoor performances in front of a socially-distanced audience. This is in addition to the earlier announcement that from 11 July we can all enjoy performances outdoors with social distancing.
We are committed to continuing to work with the events sector to understand the difficulties they face and help them access support through these challenging times and through recovery. We recognise that the events industry and its supply chain has been severely impacted by Covid-19.
We are continuing to meet with stakeholders, including through the Events & Entertainment and Visitor Economy working groups and the Events Industry Senior Leaders Advisory Panel, to discuss the specific issues facing the sector.
Asked by: Robert Halfon (Conservative - Harlow)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of introducing a tailored funding support package for the events sector during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
DCMS appreciates the important role that the events sector plays in the UK’s economy, and that the Covid-19 pandemic presents a significant challenge to many businesses operating in this sector.
The Secretary of State announced an unprecedented £1.57 billion support package for key cultural organisations to help them through the coronavirus pandemic. This funding will provide targeted support to organisations across a range of cultural and creative sectors which will benefit events professionals by helping music venues and many other organisations in the Creative Industries that host live events, to stay open and continue operating.
As part of this support package, the Emergency Grassroot Music Venues Fund is being shared among 135 venues across England who applied for support to survive the imminent risk of collapse caused by the coronavirus pandemic. In response to the demand for help from some of the hardest hit in the sector, and to ensure the support would be felt far and wide, an additional £1.1 million was also brought forward, increasing the fund from £2.25 million to £3.36 million to help as many venues as quickly as possible.
From 15th August and as part of the Government’s 5 stage roadmap to get performing arts and live entertainment sectors back up and running as soon as possible, venues and organisations have been able to put on live indoor performances in front of a socially-distanced audience. This is in addition to the earlier announcement that from 11 July we can all enjoy performances outdoors with social distanced audiences.
We are committed to continuing to work with the events sector to understand the difficulties they face and help them access support through these challenging times and through recovery.
Asked by: Robert Halfon (Conservative - Harlow)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of reopening ice skating rinks for training purposes as covid-19 lockdowns are eased.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
Sports and physical activity facilities play a crucial role in supporting adults and children to be active.The Government has made it clear that it will adopt a phased approach based on scientific and medical advice, and that the primary goal is to protect public health.
Ice-skating rinks were able to reopen from 15 August. These facilities are able to offer on-site services to customers, provided they are COVID-secure and follow Government guidance. Elite athletes have been able to access specialist sports facilities for training purposes since mid-April.