Asked by: Stephen Hammond (Conservative - Wimbledon)
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 to extend the Dormant Assets Scheme to include financial education causes.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
I refer the honourable Member to the answer I gave on 21 June 2023, in my capacity as a Department for Culture, Media and Sport Minister, to Question UIN 190569.
Asked by: Stephen Hammond (Conservative - Wimbledon)
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 merits of including financial education for primary school children in the allocation of the dormant assets identified by the Dormant Assets Act 2022.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
Asked by: Stephen Hammond (Conservative - Wimbledon)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what her planned timetable is for concluding her Department's assessment of the Dormant Assets Scheme.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
The consultation on the English portion of dormant assets funding closed on Sunday 9 October and received over 3,300 responses.
The consultation has enabled the public, civil society sector, and the Dormant Assets Scheme’s voluntary industry participants to have their say in how funds are spent in England.
The Government is considering all responses and plans to publish a response in early 2023 setting out the future social and/or environmental purposes of the English portion.
Asked by: Stephen Hammond (Conservative - Wimbledon)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to reduce instances of abuse in sport.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
The safety, wellbeing and welfare of everyone taking part in sport is absolutely paramount.
National Governing Bodies are responsible for the regulation of their sports and for ensuring that appropriate measures are in place to protect participants from harm. With that in mind, we expect sports to do all they can to protect their athletes.
Earlier this year the Government introduced legislation to extend the definition of a ‘position of trust’ within the Sexual Offences Act 2003 to include sports coaches, making a vital step in making our sports clubs more secure to young people. This came into force on 28 June 2022.
Sport England is expanding its safeguarding case management pilot service for grassroots sport, established to help sporting organisations access expert support in relation to safeguarding concerns and referrals.
UK Sport’s new Sport Integrity disclosure and complaints pilot launched in May 2022 to support athletes, coaches and support personnel within the Olympic and Paralympic high-performance community across the UK, helping National Governing Bodies to uphold the highest standards of conduct in their sports. UK Sport will also include consideration of whether further measures to strengthen the integrity of sport are needed.
All funded sports must meet a number of conditions in relation to safeguarding and duty of care. They must comply with the Code for Sports Governance, including the appointment of a lead director for welfare and safety. They must also have appropriate policies and procedures in place to ensure the safeguarding of children and adults at risk. They must comply with, maintain and embed the Standards for Safeguarding and Protecting Children in Sport for organisations working with children and young people and working towards and maintaining the Safeguarding Adults in Sport Framework for those organisations working with adults at risk.
We remain committed to working with the sports sector to help ensure the safety of all participants in sport.
Asked by: Stephen Hammond (Conservative - Wimbledon)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to promote UK sport.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
The Government is committed to building on the UK’s world-leading sporting reputation.
This year has seen us successfully host a number of major sporting events, including this year’s Birmingham Commonwealth Games, UEFA Women’s Euros and the Rugby League World Cup.
We aim to retain our world-leading hosting reputation in the years ahead, with a number of major sporting events due to be hosted in the UK between now and 2030.
Asked by: Stephen Hammond (Conservative - Wimbledon)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what recent discussions he has had with the BBC on holding a public consultation on (a) offering monthly license subscriptions and (b) other future funding proposals.
Answered by John Whittingdale - Shadow Minister (Health and Social Care)
It is already possible to pay for a TV licence in monthly instalments. More information is set out on the TV Licensing website: https://www.tvlicensing.co.uk/pay-for-your-tv-licence/ways-to-pay.
The government has no plans to offer a public consultation on TV licence payment plans at this time.
On future funding proposals, the government has committed to maintain the licence fee funding model for the duration of this 11 year Charter period, until 2027.
The Secretary of State has recently written to the BBC and S4C to begin the process of setting the licence fee for at least 5 years from April 2022.
Asked by: Stephen Hammond (Conservative - Wimbledon)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether an internationally recognised music artist would be exempt from the covid-19 quarantine rules when entering England for the purpose of filming a global pay per view livestream and DVD recording.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
At present there are no such exemptions available for musicians coming to the UK.
We continue to work with the cultural and creative sectors to explore all options to support them through this challenging period, including on proposals for exemptions from quarantine. We are continuing to work with the Department for Transport on proposals for an exemption for Performing Arts professionals.
All decisions about exemptions and other measures will need to be considered in light of the wider public health context and the bar for exemptions remains very high.
Asked by: Stephen Hammond (Conservative - Wimbledon)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, when he plans to publish bespoke covid-19 guidance for businesses providing activity classes for children under 5 years old.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston
On 13 August, the Government announced that indoor play and indoor soft play venues can open from 15 August. We have also been working with BALPPA, the trade body that represents the industry to develop guidance that lays out detailed measures that should be taken by indoor play and indoor soft play operators to make venues COVID-secure. These include closing ball pits and sensory areas, reducing capacity of venues and soft play frames, regular deep cleaning, pre-bookable timed sessions, increased sanitation, and a rigorous process to support track and trace. Sports and physical activity facilities play a crucial role in supporting adults and children to be active and the Government is committed to reopening facilities as soon as it is safe to do so. Since 4 July other indoor facilities, including some indoor games, recreation and entertainment venues have reopened.
As with all aspects of the Government’s response to COVID-19, we continue to be guided by public health considerations to ensure that as restrictions are eased people can return to activity safely.
Asked by: Stephen Hammond (Conservative - Wimbledon)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, when the Charity Commission plans to publish the report on its inquiry into Wimbledon And Putney Commons Conservators.
Answered by John Whittingdale - Shadow Minister (Health and Social Care)
As the independent regulator of charities in England and Wales, the Charity Commission always aims to conclude investigations as soon as is practicable, but the length of an inquiry can depend on many factors including the nature and complexity of the issues and any involvement with or representations from third parties.
The Charity Commission’s planned publication of its concluding report on its inquiry into Wimbledon and Putney Commons Conservators was delayed earlier this year as a result of a potential legal challenge. The Charity Commission is currently considering a large number of complex representations made in relation to the report. The report will be published on GOV.UK and shared with interested third parties as soon as possible once these representations have been fully considered.
Asked by: Stephen Hammond (Conservative - Wimbledon)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what the reasons are for the delay in publication of the Charity Commission’s report on its inquiry into Wimbledon And Putney Commons Conservators.
Answered by John Whittingdale - Shadow Minister (Health and Social Care)
As the independent regulator of charities in England and Wales, the Charity Commission always aims to conclude investigations as soon as is practicable, but the length of an inquiry can depend on many factors including the nature and complexity of the issues and any involvement with or representations from third parties.
The Charity Commission’s planned publication of its concluding report on its inquiry into Wimbledon and Putney Commons Conservators was delayed earlier this year as a result of a potential legal challenge. The Charity Commission is currently considering a large number of complex representations made in relation to the report. The report will be published on GOV.UK and shared with interested third parties as soon as possible once these representations have been fully considered.