Asked by: Stephen Farry (Alliance - North Down)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will list Heritage Lottery Fund Northern Ireland grants in each of the last five years.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Information on grants are publicly available on the National Lottery Database, found at https://nationallottery.dcms.gov.uk/data.
Between 26 March 2019 and 21 February 2024, 215 grants were awarded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, totalling £25,962,712.
Of these awards, 7 were made in the North Down constituency, with awards ranging from £4,700 to £1,048,020.
Asked by: Stephen Farry (Alliance - North Down)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to help (a) continue the operation of the UK Youth Parliament and (b) ensure all regions receive adequate (i) financial and (ii) operational support to facilitate the Parliament.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
I was sorry to learn about the closure of the British Youth Council and want to express gratitude for its work over the years. Government is committed to the delivery of the UK Youth Parliament and intends to use funding allocated to the British Youth Council in 2024/25 to support the programme. We are working alongside previous UK Youth Parliament delivery partners from English regions and the devolved administrations, to understand the implications of the British Youth Council’s closure. We have been working at pace to identify a suitable organisation which can hold overall grant management responsibility for the UKYP 24/25. A preferred candidate has been identified and we are currently undertaking final due diligence checks and negotiating terms and I will update the house as soon as next steps have been formalised.
Asked by: Stephen Farry (Alliance - North Down)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of the Online Safety Bill on levels of abuse from anonymous unverified social media accounts.
Answered by Paul Scully
Under the Online Safety Bill, services that host user-generated content will need to remove or limit the spread of illegal content online, including illegal anonymous abuse. Companies will need to mitigate the risk arising from the use of anonymous profiles to facilitate illegal activity on their services.
In addition, adult users of the largest services will have the option to verify their identity, filter out unverified users, and prevent unverified users from interacting with any content which they upload, generate or share. Users will also be better able to report abuse and should expect to receive an appropriate response from the platform.
An assessment of the potential impacts of the Bill, including the mechanisms through which it is expected to result in reduced harm, was published in the Online Safety Bill impact assessment on 17 March 2022.
Asked by: Stephen Farry (Alliance - North Down)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if she will make an assessment of the impact of the dramatisation of true crime events in television and film on the privacy of victims' families.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government is committed to a free and independent media and does not intervene in what can and can not be broadcast, or in the regulation of how content is made.
Ofcom is required by legislation, and accountable to Parliament, to independently draw up and enforce a Broadcasting Code for television to ensure that audiences are adequately protected from harm. Within this, there are rules in place on fairness and privacy, which are designed to ensure that broadcasters avoid unfair or unjust treatment of individuals and avoid any unwarranted infringement of privacy in programmes.
Ofcom has responsibility for the Broadcasting Code, including for any amendments, and the Code is kept under continual review. In making any decision, Ofcom has to strike a balance between ensuring freedom of expression and protection from harm.
Under Ofcom’s Code, broadcasters should try to reduce the potential distress to victims and/or relatives when making or broadcasting programmes intended to examine past events that involve trauma to individuals, including crime, unless it is warranted to do otherwise. This applies to dramatic reconstructions and factual dramas, as well as factual programmes.
In particular, so far as is reasonably practicable, surviving victims and/or the immediate families of those whose experience is to feature in a programme, should be informed of the plans for the programme and its intended broadcast, even if the events or material to be broadcast have been in the public domain in the past.
Asked by: Stephen Farry (Alliance - North Down)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of introducing a requirement for production companies to (a) consult with and (b) gain the consent of a victim's family when dramatising true crime events for television and film.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government is committed to a free and independent media and does not intervene in what can and can not be broadcast, or in the regulation of how content is made.
Ofcom is required by legislation, and accountable to Parliament, to independently draw up and enforce a Broadcasting Code for television to ensure that audiences are adequately protected from harm. Within this, there are rules in place on fairness and privacy, which are designed to ensure that broadcasters avoid unfair or unjust treatment of individuals and avoid any unwarranted infringement of privacy in programmes.
Ofcom has responsibility for the Broadcasting Code, including for any amendments, and the Code is kept under continual review. In making any decision, Ofcom has to strike a balance between ensuring freedom of expression and protection from harm.
Under Ofcom’s Code, broadcasters should try to reduce the potential distress to victims and/or relatives when making or broadcasting programmes intended to examine past events that involve trauma to individuals, including crime, unless it is warranted to do otherwise. This applies to dramatic reconstructions and factual dramas, as well as factual programmes.
In particular, so far as is reasonably practicable, surviving victims and/or the immediate families of those whose experience is to feature in a programme, should be informed of the plans for the programme and its intended broadcast, even if the events or material to be broadcast have been in the public domain in the past.
Asked by: Stephen Farry (Alliance - North Down)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what plans her Department has to review the list of dates in its Union Flag flying guidance for UK government buildings.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
DCMS is responsible for informing UK Government Departments of the designated days for the flying of the Union Flag throughout the year. The designated days list is reviewed on an annual basis by the department in conjunction with the Royal Household before it is published on GOV.UK.
Individuals, local authorities and other organisations may fly flags whenever they wish, subject to compliance with any local planning requirement. UK government buildings are encouraged to fly the Union Flag all year round.
DCMS will publish any updates to the designated days list for Union flag flying in February 2022.
Asked by: Stephen Farry (Alliance - North Down)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if he will publish the Government’s response to the European Parliament’s resolution on the compatibility of the UK’s use of mass surveillance powers with the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation.
Answered by John Whittingdale
The European Union adopted adequacy decisions on 28 June 2021, confirming its independent assessment of the United Kingdom’s high data protection standards.
European Union adequacy decisions are adopted through a unilateral process controlled and managed by the European Commission. It is for the European Commission to decide how it responds to the European Parliament’s non-binding resolution on the matter.
United Kingdom intelligence agencies and law enforcement bodies neither conduct, nor seek to conduct, mass surveillance. We have discussed this issue in detail with the European Commission and they have rightly concluded that the UK’s national security framework meets the European Union’s adequacy test.
Asked by: Stephen Farry (Alliance - North Down)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what estimate he has made of the number of museums and galleries that provide virtual tours to better provide for people with accessibility challenges.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
This Government is deeply committed to ensuring that everyone, no matter their background or geographic location, can experience and enjoy the brilliant collections and benefits that our national and regional museums bring.
Museums operate independently from the Government, and the provision of virtual tours is an operational matter for museums, it is therefore up to each museum to determine whether this is something they wish to provide.
However, many choose to do so to increase access to their collections, particularly during recent lockdowns. We know that 61% of museums have digitised up to 50% of their collection, with half of those with a digitised collection having made some of it available online. The government provides support for such activities through project funding available through its arms length bodies such as Arts Council England as well as development initiatives to improve digital skills and capability of cultural organisations like the Digital Culture Network. The DCMS-Sponsored Museums increased their digital presence during the recent lockdown, offering online events and exhibitions, and many now offer virtual tours of their collections.
Asked by: Stephen Farry (Alliance - North Down)
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 encourage museums and galleries to provide virtual tours to better provide for people with accessibility challenges.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
This Government is deeply committed to ensuring that everyone, no matter their background or geographic location, can experience and enjoy the brilliant collections and benefits that our national and regional museums bring.
Museums operate independently from the Government, and the provision of virtual tours is an operational matter for museums, it is therefore up to each museum to determine whether this is something they wish to provide.
However, many choose to do so to increase access to their collections, particularly during recent lockdowns. We know that 61% of museums have digitised up to 50% of their collection, with half of those with a digitised collection having made some of it available online. The government provides support for such activities through project funding available through its arms length bodies such as Arts Council England as well as development initiatives to improve digital skills and capability of cultural organisations like the Digital Culture Network. The DCMS-Sponsored Museums increased their digital presence during the recent lockdown, offering online events and exhibitions, and many now offer virtual tours of their collections.
Asked by: Stephen Farry (Alliance - North Down)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, for what reason the Government has not ratified the UNESCO Convention on Intangible Cultural Heritage.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
The Government values the profound contribution of the UK’s craft workers, artisans and artists to the preservation of our unique intangible heritage. We are exploring the merits of ratifying the UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, as a potential addition to the broad range of support measures which already exist for this vital aspect of our nation’s life.