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

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, when her department plans to announce the UK Town of Culture.

We are delighted by the interest and excitement there has been in the UK Town of Culture competition. We have seen an incredible amount of support from across the whole country with hundreds of towns submitting their bid to become the UK Town of Culture 2028. The panel is carefully considering the applications and we expect to announce a shortlist later this summer. We will announce the category winners and overall winner in early 2027.