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

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, how much money her Department has spent on (a) staff activity, (b) external research and advice, (c) public consultation and (d) stakeholder engagement related to the proposed privatisation of Channel 4 since the start of the 2021-22 financial year.

In the 2021-22 financial year, the department's costs for policy development related to Channel 4, including staff activity, external research and advice, public consultation and stakeholder engagement, were approximately £600,000. For the 2022-2023 financial year to date, these activities are estimated to have costs of £1.4 million.

This work has supported the development of options to help address the challenges that Channel 4 is facing to its long term success and sustainability. The Secretary of State has said that she is reviewing the business case for a sale of Channel 4 and will set out more detail in due course.