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

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she (a) is taking and (b) plans to take to support the development of the broadcasting industry outside of London.

Our world-leading TV sector is too centralised in London and the South East. We need to spread the benefits of the sector into our towns and cities, so that more people can see themselves and their experiences reflected on screen as part of our national story. This is why my Right Honourable Friend the Secretary of State and I have already called on broadcasters to be more ambitious in growing the sector outside of London and the South East, and to commission more content from across the whole of the UK.

My Department is taking forward work in this area to understand the barriers to further development of the industry outside of London and we are committed to working with the sector to ensure the right framework, conditions and support are in place for this to happen.