Asked by: Royston Smith (Conservative - Southampton, Itchen)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will hold discussions with on demand television providers on extending the provision of subtitles.
Answered by Matt Hancock
Yes. Furthermore, Ofcom, as the regulator for video on demand services, is currently consulting on the accessibility of on demand programme services and proposed steps to ensure their services are progressively made more accessible.
We have requested an update from broadcasters, content providers and platform operators in Spring 2017 setting out their progress in increasing the provision of access services on video on demand services.
Asked by: Royston Smith (Conservative - Southampton, Itchen)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps his Department is taking to increase participation in the arts by people from low income backgrounds.
Answered by Lord Vaizey of Didcot
The Government is committed to ensuring that everyone has the opportunity to experience and participate in culture and the arts whatever their background and the Prime Minister acknowledged the importance of this in a speech in January 2016 on life chances. Government is maintaining the same level of funding for Arts Council England throughout the next spending period which will include support for arts programmes in areas where participation is low.
Arts Council England funds a number of community arts organisations that look to engage disadvantaged people, such as Cinderford Artspace and Helix Arts which focus on encouraging unemployed adults and employed people on low incomes to participate in the arts. Arts Council England also places responsibility on every funded organisation to make their programme of work more reflective of the communities they serve.
Asked by: Royston Smith (Conservative - Southampton, Itchen)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps he is taking to increase access to sporting activities for children in low income households.
Answered by David Evennett
The Government’s recently published ‘Sport Strategy’ (https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/486622/Sporting_Future_ACCESSIBLE.pdf) sets out plans for all children to benefit from participating in sport - regardless of their background or socioeconomic status.
Through the new strategy, for the first time Sport England will invest in sporting provision for children aged five and over - previously the starting age was 14 years old.
Asked by: Royston Smith (Conservative - Southampton, Itchen)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 8 March 2016 to Question 29543, which areas of the BBC are exempt from the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
Answered by Lord Vaizey of Didcot
Schedule 1 of the Freedom of Information Act sets out that the BBC is subject to that act, in respect of information held for purposes other than those of journalism, art or literature. The BBC's website sets out how general exemptions to the Freedom of Information Act may apply to Freedom of Information requests to the BBC. You can find it here (http://www.bbc.co.uk/foi/).
Asked by: Royston Smith (Conservative - Southampton, Itchen)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, which areas of the BBC Charter he will seek to reform in upcoming negotiations with the BBC Trust.
Answered by Lord Vaizey of Didcot
The BBC Charter Review Consultation Paper, published in July 2015, set out the issues for consideration in Charter Review. The Government will set out its proposals in a White Paper in Spring.
Asked by: Royston Smith (Conservative - Southampton, Itchen)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 8 March 2016 to Question 29543, what steps he plans to take to reform the BBC's exposure to the Freedom of Information Act 2000 as part of the Charter Review.
Answered by Lord Vaizey of Didcot
The BBC Charter Review Consultation Paper, published in July 2015, set out the issues for consideration in Charter Review, including Freedom of Information. The Government will set out its proposals in a White Paper in Spring.
Asked by: Royston Smith (Conservative - Southampton, Itchen)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what information his Department holds on how the BBC defines talent for the purposes of non-disclosure of salaries and contractual payments.
Answered by Lord Vaizey of Didcot
Remuneration of talent is an issue for the BBC, which publishes information around its talent spend and definitions as part of its Annual Report and Accounts, which can be found here (http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/annualreport/pdf/2014-15/bbc-annualreport-201415.pdf) .
Asked by: Royston Smith (Conservative - Southampton, Itchen)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps he plans to take in the forthcoming Charter Review to include the BBC within the remit of Freedom of Information legislation.
Answered by Lord Vaizey of Didcot
The BBC is currently subject to the Freedom of Information Act, with some exceptions. This issue is one of many we are looking at as part of Charter Review.
Asked by: Royston Smith (Conservative - Southampton, Itchen)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps he plans to take in the forthcoming Charter Review to ensure that the BBC provides greater value for money.
Answered by Lord Vaizey of Didcot
Value for money is one of many issues we are looking at as part of Charter Review.