Asked by: Tulip Siddiq (Labour - Hampstead and Kilburn)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions she has had with representatives of the film production industry on the standards of recruitment within the film industry.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
There is regular discussion between the government and film industry at both Ministerial and official level on a range of topics, including on workforce and skills issues.
The Creative Industries Sector Vision sets out this Government’s ambitions, shared with industry, to support this high-growth sector up to 2030. The second chapter of the Sector Vision focuses on the creative workforce and includes our 2030 job quality objective: that all parts of the creative industries are recognised for offering high quality jobs, ensuring a resilient and productive workforce that reflects the whole of the UK. It is vital therefore that we ensure the right recruitment practices are in place to support the sector.
The Good Work Review, published in February 2023 by the Creative Industries Policy and Evidence Centre, was co-funded by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and is the first sectoral deep dive of its kind into job quality and working practice in the creative industries. We have committed to, together with industry, set out an action plan to assess the recommendations of the review - including developing and reporting on recruitment practices.
To play their part in responding to the recommendations set out in the Good Work Review, the BFI has allocated £1,500,000 of National Lottery funds to a Good Work Programme for Screen. The programme aims to create a ‘one stop shop’ where businesses and individuals can access key resources, advice, support, and training to strengthen recruitment, management, and HR practices; build more inclusive workplaces; and aid workforce productivity.
Asked by: Tulip Siddiq (Labour - Hampstead and Kilburn)
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 support individuals employed in the film and television sector in the UK from being impacted by the Writers Guild of America strike.
Answered by John Whittingdale
Strike action by the Screen Actors Guild and The Writers Guild of America is a US industrial matter. However, the film industry is a global ecosystem and the Government understands that current strike action in the US is impacting our own productions and crew here in the UK. The UK benefits from a significant volume of US investment, with investors attracted not only by our competitive tax reliefs and state of the art studio infrastructure, but by our world-class, skilled crew.
We are engaging with industry to understand the impact of continued US strike action and continuing our support for the screen industries through competitive tax reliefs, investing in studio infrastructure, supporting innovation, and promoting independent content.
Additionally, HMRC has a ‘Time to Pay’ policy which may provide some support to affected crew. This policy allows businesses and individuals experiencing temporary financial difficulty to schedule their tax debts into affordable, sustainable, and tailored instalment arrangements with no maximum repayment period. These arrangements can be applied to any tax debt and are flexible, so they can be amended if circumstances change. More information about Time to Pay can be found by calling HMRC’s dedicated helpline on 0800 024 1222.
Asked by: Tulip Siddiq (Labour - Hampstead and Kilburn)
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 support people working in the heritage sector.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The workforce and volunteers in our cherished heritage sector are critical to preserving our rich heritage for the benefit of future generations, and sharing it with the widest audience.
In November 2022, Historic England convened a cross-sector Heritage Skills Forum to provide a collective view of the skills challenges facing the sector, and to prioritise action to tackle them. Focusing on the longer term, DCMS public bodies are nurturing a skills pipeline to help preserve vital skills in the sector through training and apprenticeships programmes. For instance, a £4.3 million grant from The Hamish Ogston Foundation is generously helping to fund a heritage apprenticeship programme across the North of England delivered by Historic England.
The COVID-19 pandemic created a unique challenge to the sector, with many heritage professionals unable to work. To support people and organisations in the face of this challenge, HM Government delivered the unprecedented £1.57 billion Cultural Recovery Fund. This included the Heritage Stimulus Fund, which supported over 700 historic sites, allowing them to restart vital construction and maintenance projects and to preserve heritage visitor attractions. The Heritage Stimulus Fund also helped to establish a pipeline for skilled craftspeople and heritage construction.
Recent and ongoing challenges such as the rising cost of living and energy prices have created additional pressures for many heritage organisations. The Government has provided support through the Energy Bills Discount Scheme and with additional support to Energy and Trade Intensive Industries. This support will ensure that various sector employers are protected from the impact of higher energy bills and are able to remain operational and financially resilient, providing greater security to the workers they employ.
Ministers regularly engage with people working across the sector to show our appreciation for the work they do, and to hear how else we can support them.
Asked by: Tulip Siddiq (Labour - Hampstead and Kilburn)
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 protect the public from media intrusion.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government is committed to a free and independent press, and does not intervene in what the press can and cannot publish. We are clear, however, that with this freedom, comes responsibility, which media organisations must take seriously.
It is important that there exists an independent self regulatory regime to ensure that the press adheres to a wide set of clear and appropriate standards, and to offer individuals a means of redress where these are not met.
Asked by: Tulip Siddiq (Labour - Hampstead and Kilburn)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if her Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of offering non-financial redress to people affected by the collapse of BetIndex, the operators of Football Index.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government appreciates the significant impact that the collapse of the novel gambling product Football Index had on former customers. We recognise the frustration and anger that this situation has caused and the hardship that some people have suffered as a result. However, there is no compensation scheme for losses caused by a gambling firm ceasing to operate and the government does not think it would be appropriate to use public funds for these purposes. We are not aware of requests for non-financial redress or what form that might take.
Asked by: Tulip Siddiq (Labour - Hampstead and Kilburn)
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 to provide redress for consumers that have experienced investment losses due to (a) the collapse of BetIndex, the operators of Football Index, and (b) other regulatory failures.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government appreciates the significant impact that the collapse of the novel gambling product Football Index had on former customers. We recognise the frustration and anger that this situation has caused and the hardship that some people have suffered as a result. However, there is no compensation scheme for losses caused by a gambling firm ceasing to operate and the government does not think it would be appropriate to use public funds for these purposes. We are not aware of requests for non-financial redress or what form that might take.
Asked by: Tulip Siddiq (Labour - Hampstead and Kilburn)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to increase public access to swimming pools.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
We recognise the importance of ensuring public access to indoor and outdoor pools and that swimming is a great way for people of all ages to stay fit and healthy.
The government has provided a range of support for swimming pools during the pandemic. The £100 million National Leisure Recovery Fund supported the reopening of local authority swimming pools throughout the country. In addition, Sport England have made 139 Covid support awards to the Swimming & Diving community (totalling £1,178,198).
Beyond Covid, Sport England have awarded £24,190,440 to swimming and diving projects since January 2017, which includes £15,724,500 of funding directly to Swim England.
Asked by: Tulip Siddiq (Labour - Hampstead and Kilburn)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if he will publish the scientific and medical evidence for the decision to restrict indoor amateur choirs to six people.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
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 the 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: Tulip Siddiq (Labour - Hampstead and Kilburn)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if he will publish the (a) scientific and (b) medical evidential basis for the decisions to (i) ease and (ii) not ease covid-19 restrictions for (A) commercial art galleries and (B) public art galleries on 12 April 2021.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
The government published the roadmap on 22 February 2021, which set out a step-by-step plan to ease restrictions in England cautiously. In advance of the publication of the roadmap, the Scientific Pandemic Influenza Group on Modelling, Operational sub-group (SPI-M-O) published an assessment of the evidence available on 17 February. The purpose of the report was to summarise modelling on easing restrictions for England. It can be found here:
The design of the roadmap has been informed by the latest scientific evidence and seeks a balance between our key social and economic priorities, whilst preserving the health and safety of the country. The scientific evidence shows that opening too early or too quickly risks a further lockdown.
Under the roadmap, non-essential retail, including commercial art galleries, and the outdoor elements of public art galleries in England were allowed to reopen in Step 2 on 12 April, and the indoor elements of public art galleries were allowed to reopen in Step 3 on 17 May. The distinction between the reopening dates for the outdoor elements of public art galleries and the indoor elements acknowledged the higher transmission risk posed by indoor settings.
Asked by: Tulip Siddiq (Labour - Hampstead and Kilburn)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment his Department has made of the potential effect of the Discover England Fund on the competitiveness of the booking management software industry.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
My Department and VisitEngland regularly assess the impact of Government funding for tourism product development in England on various aspects of the industry.
One of the core objectives of VisitEngland’s £45.5m Discover England Fund (DEF) was to ensure products were bookable online and therefore easier to access in domestic and international markets. With the number of online-bookable products in England increasing through DEF, there has been greater appreciation for the value in using a booking system to distribute and sell tourism products.
Tourism Exchange GB (TXGB) is the online digital platform created in partnership with VisitBritain/VisitEngland to help suppliers across the UK reach more consumers.
TXGB actively encourages any booking system to integrate itself within the platform, providing them with the opportunity to access new products. There are currently 83 booking systems integrated to TXGB and a pipeline of further activity to increase this number.