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Written Question
Youth Services: Slough
Monday 9th December 2024

Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to help improve the provision of youth services in Slough.

Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

This Government fully recognises the importance of youth services to help young people live safe and healthy lives, and we are committed to giving all young people the chance to reach their full potential. Over the past three years, Slough has received funding from the Million Hours Fund and via our support for the Duke of Edinburgh Award. These funds create new opportunities for young people to access regular activities, volunteering and adventures away from home.

Our government has also recently announced the co-production of an ambitious new National Youth Strategy, which will be produced together with young people and the youth sector. This Strategy will better coordinate youth services, as well as move away from national, one-size-fits all programmes from government, bringing power back to young people and their communities and rebuilding a thriving and sustainable sector.

The Strategy will be published next year.


Written Question
Department for Culture, Media and Sport: Policy
Friday 6th December 2024

Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how their Department defines strategy.

Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

The definition is detailed in the Functional Standards Common Glossary, which is published on the gov.uk website.


Written Question
Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme
Thursday 21st November 2024

Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what plans she has to extend the Listed Places of Worship Grants scheme beyond March 2025.

Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

Departmental settlements have been set following the Budget announcement on October 30. Individual programmes will now be assessed during the departmental Business Planning process.


Written Question
Department for Culture, Media and Sport: Data Processing
Thursday 14th November 2024

Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)

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 help increase productivity within his Department through the use of (a) artificial intelligence and (b) effective use of data.

Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

DCMS is committed to improving its productivity, including through artificial intelligence and more effective use of data, with projects across our science, analytical and digital functions.

We have a number of initial small-scale AI pilots taking place, to assess potential use cases across the organisation to identify benefits of scaling such tools in the future; for example developing a model to analyse free-text responses to public consultations.

We have also used data analytics to gain insights into spend and outcomes across our sectors and public bodies, helping to better evaluate the effectiveness of our interventions. We are building our data capability to enhance our evidence base, standardise our architecture and infrastructure to expand our ability to use data to generate efficiencies and achieve more impactful outcomes.

We draw on a range of resources, published on GOV.UK, to inform our AI and data usage.

For example, the Generative AI Framework, the Data Maturity Assessment, the government data quality framework, the Code of Practice for Statistics and the Algorithmic Transparency Recording Standard. The department also has access to the Central Digital and Data Office (CDDO), now based in the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, for expert advice.

We will continue to regularly review our usage of AI and data to maximise productivity benefits for staff and the public.




Written Question
Youth Services: Slough
Thursday 7th November 2024

Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to improve the provision of youth services in Slough.

Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

As set out in section 507B of the Education Act 1996, local authorities have a statutory duty to secure, so far as is reasonably practicable, sufficient provision of educational and recreational leisure-time activities for young people. At the Autumn Budget, we announced £1.3 billion of extra funding through the Local Government Finance Settlement for the next financial year.

This Government recognises the vital role that youth services play in improving young people’s life chances and wellbeing. That is why, on 17 October 2024, the Secretary of State committed to a new National Youth Strategy, co-produced with young people and the youth sector to support a generation to succeed.


Written Question
Youth Services: Slough
Monday 4th November 2024

Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of the provision of youth services in Slough constituency.

Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

As set out in section 507B of the Education Act 1996, local authorities have a statutory duty to secure, so far as is reasonably practicable, sufficient provision of educational and recreational leisure-time activities for young people. At the Autumn Budget, we announced £1.3 billion of extra funding through the Local Government Finance Settlement for the next financial year.

This Government recognises the vital role that youth services play in improving young people’s life chances and wellbeing. That is why, on 17 October 2024, the Secretary of State committed to a new National Youth Strategy, co-produced with young people and the youth sector to support a generation to succeed.


Written Question
Broadcasting: Political Impartiality
Friday 24th May 2024

Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to help ensure compliance of broadcasters with impartiality rules (a) in general and (b) in the run-up to a General Election.

Answered by Julia Lopez

It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.


Written Question
Broadcasting: Political Impartiality
Friday 24th May 2024

Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, on what date Ofcom last imposed statutory sanctions on a broadcaster for breaches of impartiality rules; and what the circumstances of that instance were.

Answered by Julia Lopez

It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.


Written Question
Video Games: Artificial Intelligence
Tuesday 14th May 2024

Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)

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 help support companies in the gaming industry that use artificial intelligence to innovate.

Answered by Julia Lopez

The UK Government has a clear plan to grow the creative industries by a further £50 billion and support another 1 million jobs by 2030. This was set out in June 2023 in the Creative Industries Sector Vision, which was accompanied by £77 million of new funding to support the sector’s growth. This is on top of a range of tax reliefs introduced or expanded since 2007 covering film, television, animation, video games, orchestras, theatres and more.

His Majesty’s Government is working across Departments to develop an approach on artificial intelligence and copyright which allows this technology and the creative industries - including video games - to grow in partnership.

The Sector Vision includes an objective to increase public and private investment in creative industries’ innovation, contributing to the UK increasing its research and development (R&D) expenditure to drive R&D-led innovation. In the 2023 Autumn Statement, Her Majesty’s Treasury also announced a DCMS-led review on public investment in R&D spending for the creative industries.

The Sector Vision is supported by £310 million in Government spending, including the following support for AI innovation across the creative industries, including video games:

  • £76.5 million CoSTAR programme - an infrastructure network for world-class R&D in screen and performance technology. The new national network of five CoSTAR Labs includes the Realtime Lab in Dundee which will bring together local video games development expertise with academic expertise in R&D and AI at Abertay University and the University of Edinburgh.

  • £50 million Creative Clusters programme - joining up academics with business in the creative sector to drive innovation and research to improve growth.

  • £30 million Creative Catalyst programme - delivering small scale innovation funding to creative businesses.

In the UK Innovation Strategy the creative industries, including video games, are identified as critical to the government’s ambition to make the UK a global hub for innovation, engaging in innovation at a higher rate than other sectors and more productive than the UK average. Innovate UK has funded £100m through the BridgeAI programme, helping businesses in priority sectors, including the creative industries, to harness the power of AI and unlock their full potential.


Written Question
Arts: Prizes
Wednesday 8th May 2024

Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether she is taking steps to use (a) the Turner Prize and (b) other high-profile art competitions to enhance the (i) visibility and (ii) understanding of multicultural arts (A) in the UK and (B) internationally.

Answered by Julia Lopez

The United Kingdom's arts and culture sector is recognised globally as a world leader. It promotes the UK’s diversity and dynamism, fosters international engagement, and contributes to global cultural exchange and understanding. In 2024, our creative and cultural sectors helped the UK once again to rank second globally in the Brand Directory Soft Power Index.

The Turner Prize is, as the Tate website explains, awarded to ‘an artist working primarily in Britain or an artist born in Britain working globally.’ As its winners over the past forty years – including Sir Anish Kapoor (1991), Chris Ofili CBE (1998), Sir Steve McQueen (1999), Susan Philipsz OBE (2010), Lubaina Himid CBE (2017), Lawrence Abu Hamdan, Helen Cammock, Tai Shani and Oscar Murillo (2019), and Veronica Ryan OBE (2022) – show, it has always been an opportunity to reflect and champion the diverse array of artists living and working in the UK. Similarly, the list of artists nominated over the past four decades have helped to give national and international attention to the strength and diversity of art in Britain.