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 she has made of the potential impact of holiday lets on levels of availability of housing stock; and what steps she (a) is taking and (b) plans to take to help mitigate that impact.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Traditional short-term lets have long provided visitor accommodation to rural and coastal locations, supporting jobs and the local economy. However, it has been highlighted that there is no single, definitive source of data on short-term lets in England with which to make a more detailed assessment on local economies and the impact on housing.
On February 19, the government announced a mandatory national registration scheme for short-term lets. This will help local authorities understand the size of the market and help identify the impact of high numbers of short-term lets. Further details on the scheme will be provided later this year, including our full response to the consultation and an impact assessment.
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, with reference to the Second Report of the Women and Equalities Committee of Session 2023-24 on Misogyny in music, what steps is her Department taking to tackle (a) misogyny and (b) sexual harassment in the music industry.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government welcomes the publication of the Women and Equalities Committee’s report on Misogyny in Music, and thanks the committee for their work. My department is carefully considering the recommendations made by the committee and will respond in full by the deadline provided.
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 plans to bring forward legislative proposals to ensure freelance workers in the music industry receive the same protections from discrimination as employees.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government recognises the essential contribution freelancers make to the creative industries, including music.
Freelancers are already entitled to a number of legal rights at work, including protection against discrimination in the workplace, and the right to a safe working environment.
Everyone, including freelance workers, should be able to work without fear of harassment, discrimination or violence. The Government recognises that allegations of bullying, harassment and discrimination have been made in creative sub-sectors, including from freelancers. As outlined in our Creative Industries Sector Vision, the Government welcomes industry's progress on promoting fair treatment and addressing bullying, harassment and discrimination across the creative industries. This includes the work led by Creative UK, and the formation of the Creative Industries Independent Standards Authority (CIISA), established by the industry to address BHD and provide trusted support and advice, particularly tailored to meet the needs of freelancers.
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 help establish partnerships with (a) private sector and (b) academic institutions to increase skills training in the creative industries.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Creative Industries Sector Vision sets out the Government’s ambition to maximise the potential of the creative industries. It details our plans to grow these industries by an extra £50bn and create a million extra jobs by 2030, and build a pipeline of talent and opportunity for young people through a Creative Careers Promise.
The Creative Industries Sector Vision sets out a range of interventions across education, skills and job quality to achieve this, working in partnership with the creative sector and those involved in education and training. The forthcoming joint Department for Education and Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) Cultural Education Plan will support the provision of high quality cultural education for all school-age children, including careers advice and skills development. This will provide young people with a window into the sector, and access to important foundational skills.
Strengthening talent pipelines for young people is also a priority. This will be delivered through our Creative Careers Programme,, two new creative T-Levels rolling out in September 2024, and multiple national and regional opportunities to participate in apprenticeships and digital and creative Skills Bootcamps. Many of these initiatives are delivered in partnership with the private sector and academic institutions such as Netflix, the BBC and University of Birmingham.
These interventions complement the investment the sector is already making on skills. For example, the BFI’s £9 million National Lottery funded ‘Skills Clusters’ which will support skills development and training across the UK; ScreenSkills’ £19 million Future Film Skills Programme which has helped over 119,000 people progress in screen careers since 2018; and the work of the world-leading National Film and Television School, which received funding from DCMS.
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 has had recent discussions with (a) the Premier League and (b) TV broadcasters on the proportion of Premier League games that are available to watch by (i) English and (ii) overseas audiences.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
I have not had any recent discussions with the Premier League or TV broadcasters on the proportion of Premier League games that are available to watch by English and overseas audiences. Domestic and international television broadcasting deals are a matter for the Premier League.
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, which Minister in their Department is responsible for overseeing work on long-term strategic challenges; and how many officials in their Department (a) undertake horizon scanning work and (b) focus on delivering long-term priorities.
Answered by John Whittingdale
The department is working hard to ensure that long term strategic challenges are considered in its day-to-day activity across policy, resources and legislation. Time and attention is dedicated to staying abreast of future issues in order to help the department and its sectors remain resilient to both short and long term impacts.
Horizon scanning is one of a number of means through which future trends and challenges are explored to ensure that the department is in the best position possible to adapt, respond and overcome the challenges of the day, as well as those for the longer term.
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 their Department has a Chief Risk Officer responsible for national security risks relating to the work of their Department.
Answered by John Whittingdale
The department is not a lead for any national security risks.
Where relevant the department is brought in by the Cabinet Office.
The department does not currently have a chief risk officer. Strategic executive risks, including any relevant national security risks published in August 2023, are managed through the department’s risk management processes in line with the Orange Book. The Executive Board leads the assessment and management of strategic risk within the organisation.
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 they are taking to help ensure that their Department (a) gives sufficient attention to long term strategic challenges, (b) does not allow current events to slow down work on long term strategic issues and (c) consistently undertakes horizon scanning.
Answered by John Whittingdale
The department is working hard to ensure that long term strategic challenges are considered in its day-to-day activity across policy, resources and legislation. Time and attention is dedicated to staying abreast of future issues in order to help the department and its sectors remain resilient to both short and long term impacts.
Horizon scanning is one of a number of means through which future trends and challenges are explored to ensure that the department is in the best position possible to adapt, respond and overcome the challenges of the day, as well as those for the longer term.
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 their Department has purchased products manufactured by (a) Hikvision and (b) Dahua in the last three years.
Answered by John Whittingdale
As has been the case under successive administrations, it is not government policy to comment on the government’s security arrangements. This includes any specific details regarding the make and model of security systems, which are withheld on national security grounds.
Whilst each Department is responsible for their own procurement decisions, I would refer the Hon. member to the Written Ministerial Statement made by the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, which noted that departments had been instructed to take a series of actions relating to surveillance equipment subject to the National Intelligence Law of the People’s Republic of China. The Department for Culture, Media and Sport has been implementing this policy along with other protective security controls.
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, with reference to the Written Ministerial Statement of 24 November 2022 on Security Update on Surveillance Equipment, WMS 386, whether they have (a) ceased deployment of visual surveillance systems produced by companies subject to the National Intelligence Law of the People’s Republic of China onto sensitive sites, (b) ensured no such equipment is connected to their departmental core network, (c) considered whether there are sites outside the definition of sensitive sites to which they would wish to extend risk mitigation and (d) put in place any additional controls or taken any further steps.
Answered by John Whittingdale
At Report Stage of the Procurement Bill, the Government committed that, within six months of Royal Assent, the Government will set out the timeline for the removal of surveillance equipment supplied by companies subject to the National Intelligence Law of China from sensitive sites. This Department will be providing information to the Cabinet Office to support this commitment. It is a longstanding Government policy that specific security arrangements regarding Government estates are withheld on security grounds.