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

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the privatisation of Channel 4 on his policies on levelling up in the context of that station’s employment scheme for disadvantaged people living outside London and the relocation of its headquarters to Leeds.

The Government values Channel 4’s work in developing skills and talent pipelines, particularly in the nations and regions, through schemes like 4Skills. The Government would expect any new owner to have a business interest in continuing to support the development of talent and skills across the UK creative industries.

The Government will set out the future plan for Channel 4 in a White Paper shortly.