Asked by: Steve Baker (Conservative - Wycombe)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to the report entitled Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee, Covid-Status Certification: Government Response to the Committee’s Second Report, published on 9 September 2021, and the statements that (a) the Events Research Programme concluded that, where possible, certification should be introduced rather than more economically restrictive measures and (b) published findings will be made available in due course, if she will make those findings from the Events Research Programme publicly available immediately.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Autumn/Winter plan published on 14 September sets out the potential next steps for certification. The analysis for the final phase of events, which finished at the end of July, is underway. DCMS continues to work closely with other government departments and expects to be able to publish the final Events Research Programme findings shortly.
Asked by: Steve Baker (Conservative - Wycombe)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps he is taking to support public service mutuals and co-operatives within the public sector; and if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of reestablishing the Mutuals Support Programme.
Answered by Matt Warman
In recent years we have made a significant investment in the development of public service mutuals. We delivered a number of targeted support programmes, such as the Government’s Mutual Support Programme 2. We have also commissioned external research projects on Mutuals, the findings of which will be published shortly.
We have published tools and resources which replicate a number of the technical and legal consultancy services provided through the Government’s Mutual Support Programme 2. These will enable organisations and departments to explore mutualisation independently, where it aligns with their public service reform agendas.
These targeted programmes were always intended to be time limited and came to an end as of March 2020, and at this time the Mutuals Team, which led these programmes, was also disbanded. While we no longer have a team focused specifically on mutuals, we continue to be supportive of this model and will maintain an interest as part of our wider social enterprise agenda.
Asked by: Steve Baker (Conservative - Wycombe)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, for what reason his Department has abolished the Mutuals Unit.
Answered by Matt Warman
In recent years we have made a significant investment in the development of public service mutuals. We delivered a number of targeted support programmes, such as the Government’s Mutual Support Programme 2. We have also commissioned external research projects on Mutuals, the findings of which will be published shortly.
We have published tools and resources which replicate a number of the technical and legal consultancy services provided through the Government’s Mutual Support Programme 2. These will enable organisations and departments to explore mutualisation independently, where it aligns with their public service reform agendas.
These targeted programmes were always intended to be time limited and came to an end as of March 2020, and at this time the Mutuals Team, which led these programmes, was also disbanded. While we no longer have a team focused specifically on mutuals, we continue to be supportive of this model and will maintain an interest as part of our wider social enterprise agenda.
Asked by: Steve Baker (Conservative - Wycombe)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, for what reason his Department's guidance on amateur choirs, orchestras and music groups was updated on 18 May 2021, limiting rehearsals to six people, one day after step 3 of the Government's Roadmap suggested that non-professional performing arts groups could return to practice in any number.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
The Performing Arts guidance was updated on 18 May to reflect the latest arrangements for Step 3. I know that the restrictions on singing are frustrating to large numbers of amateur choirs and performance groups across the country and that many people have made sacrifices in order to drive down infections and protect the NHS over the last year. I can assure you that everyone across Government wants to ease these restrictions as soon as possible.
However, it is important that we take a cautious approach in easing restrictions. We have followed the views of public health experts on singing. We are aware, through the NERVTAG and PERFORM studies that singing can increase the risk of COVID-19 transmission through the spread of aerosol droplets. This was backed up by a consensus statement from SAGE, resulting in the suggested principles of safer singing being published.
We will continue to keep guidance and restrictions under review, in line with the changing situation. Further detail on step 4 will be set out as soon as possible.
Asked by: Steve Baker (Conservative - Wycombe)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if he will review the current Gov.uk guidance, Working safely during coronavirus: 2.4 Non-professional performing arts, which restricts amateur choirs, orchestras and music groups to six people, to allow non-professional performing arts groups to meet in covid-secure venues, without a person limit, as in the autumn of 2020.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
The Performing Arts guidance was updated on 18 May to reflect the latest arrangements for Step 3. I know that the restrictions on singing are frustrating to large numbers of amateur choirs and performance groups across the country and that many people have made sacrifices in order to drive down infections and protect the NHS over the last year. I can assure you that everyone across Government wants to ease these restrictions as soon as possible.
However, it is important that we take a cautious approach in easing restrictions. We have followed the views of public health experts on singing. We are aware, through the NERVTAG and PERFORM studies that singing can increase the risk of COVID-19 transmission through the spread of aerosol droplets. This was backed up by a consensus statement from SAGE, resulting in the suggested principles of safer singing being published.
We will continue to keep guidance and restrictions under review, in line with the changing situation. Further detail on step 4 will be set out as soon as possible.
Asked by: Steve Baker (Conservative - Wycombe)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if his Department will publish revised guidance to allow amateur singing groups to resume rehearsing and performing in a covid-secure way.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
On 4 January the Prime Minister announced that new national restrictions would come into effect the following day in England to help stem the spread of coronavirus and the new variant strain of the virus. Guidance on the national restrictions advise that people should only leave home for a limited number of reasons and that people should travel to work only where it is unreasonable for you to do your job from home. We have updated the Performing Arts Guidance to be clear that during this period all amateur activity including amateur choirs and orchestras, cannot take place.
We are committed to moving to stage 5 of the performing arts roadmap, for both professional and amater activity, as soon as it is safe to do so. However we have always been clear that the activity permitted would be in line with the latest public health context.
Asked by: Steve Baker (Conservative - Wycombe)
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 support the erection of a memorial to remember the victims of the Transatlantic slave trade and slavery.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
It is not normal practice for central Government to fund new memorials and it has no current plans to establish a national memorial to the victims of the slave trade. Many organisations – public and private – are rightly able (subject to the relevant permissions) to freely propose, fund and deliver memorials marking a variety of incidents and historical moments in a way that they are best-placed to deem appropriate and sensitive.
Many successful memorials are created by a wide-range of authorities and organisations, allowing each one to respond sensitively to the particular circumstances that it seeks to commemorate.
Given the wide range of people and organisations interested in establishing memorials, it is as a general rule, for them to work with the relevant local planning authority to identify a suitable site and obtain the necessary planning permissions
Asked by: Steve Baker (Conservative - Wycombe)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to the report entitled Back on Track supporting young people out of lockdown, published by the YMCA in August 2020, if he will develop a strategy for children and young People’s recovery from covid-19 and the subsequent lockdown which targets (a) education, (b) reducing loneliness, (c) improving mental health, and (d) reducing family strain.
Answered by John Whittingdale
Ministers have received the YMCA report ‘Back On Track’ and will be carefully considering its contents.
The department is aware of the impact Covid-19 has had on young people. We have worked closely with both young people and the youth sector to understand the effects of the pandemic, and are considering how the £500 million Youth Investment Fund, alongside other government initiatives, can best support young people with the issues we know to have been exacerbated by the pandemic.
DCMS has also worked closely with departments across Whitehall to ensure rounded support for young people. The Department of Education has placed a particular focus on wellbeing support for children and young people during the pandemic and as young people return to school and college. This includes investing £8 million in the Wellbeing for Education Return training and advice programme, which will provide schools and colleges all over England with the knowledge and practical skills they need to support teachers, students and parents.
Asked by: Steve Baker (Conservative - Wycombe)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the proposals made by the Society of London Theatre and UK Theatres in their open letter to the Prime Minister, dated 17 June 2020.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
To support the sustainability of the arts sector, including theatres, DCMS has worked closely with Arts Council England (ACE) to provide a tailored package of financial support. In March, ACE announced a £160m emergency response package to complement the financial measures already announced by the Government and to ensure immediate resilience of this vital sector.
This includes £20 million of financial support for individuals, including self-employed theatre practitioners, and £140 million of support for organisations, including theatres, so they can better sustain themselves, and their work, in the coming months. To date over 9000 individuals and organisations have been successful in applying for this support.
DCMS has also established the Cultural Renewal Taskforce and the Entertainment and Events working group to ensure appropriate supporting guidance is given to the cultural sector. Theatres and stage-based entertainment organisations are represented on these groups, including via membership of UK Theatre/Society of London Theatre, which is on the Entertainment and Events working group.
Sector-specific expert input into the groups’ work, alongside DCMS’s wider extensive consultation with the Arts sector, is helping to ensure we fully understand the impacts of Covid-19 and remain well placed to respond as it develops.
Asked by: Steve Baker (Conservative - Wycombe)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what support his Department is providing for theatres in Wycombe.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
To support the sustainability of the arts sector, including theatres, DCMS has worked closely with Arts Council England (ACE) to provide a tailored package of financial support. In March, ACE announced a £160m emergency response package to complement the financial measures already announced by the Government and to ensure immediate resilience of this vital sector.
This includes £20 million of financial support for individuals, including self-employed theatre practitioners, and £140 million of support for organisations, including theatres, so they can better sustain themselves, and their work, in the coming months. To date over 9000 individuals and organisations have been successful in applying for this support.
DCMS has also established the Cultural Renewal Taskforce and the Entertainment and Events working group to ensure appropriate supporting guidance is given to the cultural sector. Theatres and stage-based entertainment organisations are represented on these groups, including via membership of UK Theatre/Society of London Theatre, which is on the Entertainment and Events working group.
Sector-specific expert input into the groups’ work, alongside DCMS’s wider extensive consultation with the Arts sector, is helping to ensure we fully understand the impacts of Covid-19 and remain well placed to respond as it develops.