Broadcasting Programmes: Young People
(asked on 3rd March 2022) - View Source
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they have taken to support the creation of programmes for young people since they stated that "the availability of new, engaging and relevant content for young audiences is of great societal importance", in their Contestable Fund Pilot: Supporting Young Audiences and Audio Content, published on 19 October 2018.
Answered by
Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
HM Government is committed to ensuring that young listeners and viewers benefit from a system of public service broadcasting which remains relevant and which can continue to meet the needs of UK audiences in the future. That is why we are conducting a strategic review of public service broadcasting – drawing on the work of Ofcom, Select Committees in both Houses of Parliament, and the Government’s own expert PSB Advisory Panel – to work out how best to achieve this in light of the challenges the sector is currently facing.
The three-year pilot Young Audiences Content Fund was designed to test a new way of financing public service TV content. A full evaluation of the pilot Fund will take place following its conclusion to determine its impact on the children’s television industry and the provision and plurality of public service content for young audiences across the UK. The potential for further investment of public funding will be assessed against the Fund evaluation and alongside future public service broadcasting needs.
The Government is committed to the success of our world-leading TV production sector. UK-wide tax reliefs continue to play a vital role in driving production across children’s, animation, and high-end television, supporting approximately £2.2 billion production spending in these sectors through tax reliefs in 2019 alone. The Government continues to act to support the industry in developing the physical infrastructure and skills pipelines it needs to sustain success - success which has seen 2021 being a record-setting year, with total high-end TV production spend reaching more than £4 billion.