Asked by: Stuart Anderson (Conservative - Wolverhampton South West)
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 enhance online safety.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
In May we published the Online Safety Bill in draft. This is a major milestone in the development of a new regulatory framework to keep users safe online. For the first time, tech companies are going to be accountable to an independent regulator to keep their users safe. The draft bill will be subject to pre-legislative scrutiny in this session, with the Joint Committee due to report by 10 December.
We are also taking steps to educate and empower users to make more informed and safer choices online. In July we published the first government Online Media Literacy Strategy, which sets out the government’s approach to improving media literacy capabilities among internet users in England. The Media Literacy Strategy will promote media literacy as a complementary tool to the new regulatory regime, providing coordination to the main organisations seeking to empower users with the skills and knowledge they need to stay safe online.
Asked by: Stuart Anderson (Conservative - Wolverhampton South West)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what support is available to assist with the upkeep of places of worship to prevent the need for major remedial works.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
We recognise the importance of carrying out routine repairs and maintenance in order to reduce the need for major remedial works in places of worship, and the great challenge to raise funding to carry out this work, particularly at the present time. Listed places of worship represent some of the nation's finest heritage, and we support them through the DCMS run Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme, which makes grants equal to the VAT paid on maintenance and repairs. The scheme will continue to benefit listed places of worship across the country, all of which have provided a much needed space for rest, contemplation and well-being during these difficult times, when they have been able to be open.
Listed places of worship may also benefit from the latest round of Cultural Recovery Funding with the £300 million package announced in June representing the latest and final tranche of funding for the CRF. The National Lottery Heritage Fund is distributing £40m in partnership with Historic England, based on criteria set by DCMS.
There are a number of sources of funding available for places of worship. The National Lottery Heritage Fund supports a broad range of projects that connect people and communities to the national, regional and local heritage of the UK. This includes historic buildings, monuments and the historic environment. This funding can be used for repairs and conservation.
Asked by: Stuart Anderson (Conservative - Wolverhampton South West)
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 adequacy of open-access youth services.
Answered by Matt Warman
As part of the Youth Review, announced in the 2020 Spending Review, we are assessing the level of provision of youth services across England. Findings from the Youth Review will be published at the time of the 2021 Spending Review.
The Youth Investment Fund remains a Manifesto commitment, designed to achieve levelling up across the country over the course of this parliament. In the 2020 Spending Review, £30 million of this was committed to the fund as capital investment for 2021-22. This will provide investment in new and refurbished safe spaces for young people in left behind places, so that they can access youth workers, and enjoy beneficial activities outside of school, including sporting and cultural pursuits. Plans for the remainder of the Youth Investment Fund will be announced at the 2021 Spending Review, based on findings from the Youth Review.
Asked by: Stuart Anderson (Conservative - Wolverhampton South West)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions he has had with representatives of the youth sector on ensuring that the Youth Investment Fund tackles local priorities.
Answered by Matt Warman
Ministers and officials are in regular contact with the youth sector during the development of the Youth Investment Fund. Officials are working with representatives from the youth sector and young people to shape the design and delivery of the fund. Feedback from the sector on previous funding programmes such as the Youth Covid Support Fund has also been key to development of the Youth Investment Fund. This will ensure a delivery model that is inherently placed based and locally led, achieving maximum impact for young people in left behind places.
Asked by: Stuart Anderson (Conservative - Wolverhampton South West)
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 the reform to the over 75's TV Licence concession.
Answered by John Whittingdale
The government regularly meets the BBC to discuss a wide range of issues, including the over 75s concession. The government remains deeply disappointed with the BBC’s decision to restrict the over 75 licence fee concession to only those in receipt of pension credit. We recognise the value of free TV licences for over-75s and believe they should be funded by the BBC.
However, the Digital Economy Act 2017 provides that the future of the concession is the responsibility of the BBC, not of the government. The BBC must ensure that it supports those affected by its decision, and it must look at how it uses its substantial licence fee income to support older people.
Asked by: Stuart Anderson (Conservative - Wolverhampton South West)
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 ensure that football supporters from (a) Wolverhampton and (b) the West Midlands are consulted as part of the review of football governance.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government has made it clear that fans will be at the heart of the governance review. Football begins and ends with fans, and the Chair of the review, the Honourable Member for Chatham and Aylesford, is committed to ensuring that their voices will be heard.
We are currently working on the next steps for the review, but rest assured, fans from all parts of the country will have a chance to input into the review.
Asked by: Stuart Anderson (Conservative - Wolverhampton South West)
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 support the tourism and wider visitor economy to reopen safely as covid-19 restrictions are eased in (a) Wolverhampton South West constituency and (b) throughout the West Midlands.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
My Department is taking a number of steps to encourage tourism across the country once restrictions are eased, including in Wolverhampton and the West Midlands.
The Global Travel Taskforce last year committed the Government to publish a Tourism Recovery Plan in support of the sector. The Government intends to set out proposals in the Spring, including plans for a marketing campaign to welcome visitors back to the UK as soon as it is safe to do so.
We are working with VisitBritain, VisitEngland and local partners to champion the UK’s diverse tourism offer through the Escape the Everyday campaign.
We will continue to work with industry to provide assurance regarding when people can safely visit attractions - as demonstrated through the We’re Good to Go industry standard, which has been used by over 45,000 businesses, including many in the West Midlands.
The March Budget included £700m of extra funding to support our world-leading arts, culture and sporting institutions - protecting the venues which make the UK an attractive destination to visit.
In total, over £25bn has been provided to the tourism, leisure and hospitality sectors in the form of grants, loans and tax breaks.
Asked by: Stuart Anderson (Conservative - Wolverhampton South West)
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 enhance local networks through which people are signposted to positive social action and volunteering opportunities.
Answered by Matt Warman
Volunteers have been critical to the ability of local communities to respond to the challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic. Local networks between councils, community groups, the voluntary sector and individual citizens have enabled an army of volunteers to step up and help during a time of national crisis.
Through the Covid-19 response, the government has funded the Voluntary and Community Sector Emergencies Partnership to help charities - large and small - to work together to identify and reach communities most in need, signposting volunteering needs and opportunities across a network of more than 200 organisations. Over £6million of funding for the Partnership has so far been committed up to 30th June 2021 with an option to extend should the need continue.
The government will continue to draw upon the lessons of volunteering, both from the Covid-19 period and more broadly, to develop current and future policy.
Asked by: Stuart Anderson (Conservative - Wolverhampton South West)
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 ensure that companies and regulators work more closely together to tackle online abuse and enhance online safety.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
Online abuse of any kind is unacceptable. In December we published the full government response to the Online Harms White Paper, which set out the new expectations on companies to keep their users safe online. Under the new laws, all companies will need to take swift and effective action against criminal online abuse.
My department is also working closely with the Digital Regulation Cooperation Forum established by the CMA, ICO and Ofcom to ensure effective coordination between regulators on cross-cutting digital issues.
Asked by: Stuart Anderson (Conservative - Wolverhampton South West)
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 potential merits of extending the timeframe in which successful applicants to the Culture Recovery Fund have to spend their funding; and whether he plans to make further rounds available to help people to safely recover and reopen after the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
Last year the government announced the unprecedented £1.57 billion support package for the culture sector, of which over £1 billion has now been allocated to over 3,000 arts and culture organisations across the country. This funding is supporting the arts and culture sector up and down the country to survive the pandemic.
In order to support organisations as they prepare to welcome back audiences and visitors between April and June of this year, a second round of the Culture Recovery Fund has been announced. Over £300m of grants and £100m in repayable finance are available during this second round to support the costs organisations face.
An assessment was made of the merits of extending the timeframe in which successful applicants to the Culture Recovery Fund can spend existing funding. Relevant Arms Length Bodies have now contacted all recipients from the first round of the Culture Recovery Fund to confirm that they can request permission to use unspent funds from their round one awards until June 2021 on any eligible costs set out in guidance for the first or second rounds of the fund. We continue to keep the situation under review in order to provide as much support as we can to the sector.