Asked by: Lord Morrow (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government, following their announcement of the proposed ratification of the 2003 UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, what is their reason for not proposing a threshold of longevity for recognition of a cultural practice.
Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
HM Government has taken on board guidance from UNESCO which defines Intangible Cultural Heritage as ‘traditional, contemporary, and living at the same time’. In line with this, we want to ensure that newer practices of Intangible Cultural Heritage can be recognised as well as more long-standing ones.
Asked by: Andrew Bridgen (Independent - North West Leicestershire)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what discussions he has had with his counterpart in Azerbaijan on the (a) condition and (b) security of Armenian Christian (i) churches and (ii) other heritage sites in Nagorno-Karabakh.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
The UK Government is clear that the preservation of religious and cultural sites in the region is an important issue and we take seriously reports of the destruction of churches or other sites of religious significance. We are aware of allegations from both Armenia and Azerbaijan that cultural and religious sites have been deliberately damaged over the course of the conflict. UK Ministers and the British Embassy in Baku have raised the topic of religious and cultural destruction with the Azerbaijani government consistently and at the most senior levels.
Asked by: Lord Morrow (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the risk that ratification of the 2003 UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage will promote social fragmentation rather than social cohesion.
Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
HM Government aims to use the ratification of the 2003 UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage to create a discussion about the role that living heritage of all sorts plays in the identity, pride and cohesion of all parts of the UK. To support this, we are taking an inclusive approach to the ratification and seeking to ensure as many people and groups as possible can be involved, which has included launching a public consultation on details of the ratification.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, when she plans to accede to the UNESCO Convention for Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
His Majesty’s Government announced the UK’s intention to ratify the 2003 UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage on 23 December 2023. The treaty papers were laid before Parliament on Thursday 11 January 2024. Parliament must approve the UK’s accession, and HM Government must then deposit relevant papers at UNESCO before the Convention can come into force.
Asked by: Lord Morrow (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government, following their announcement of the proposed ratification of the 2003 UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, what steps they will take to ensure that they discharge their obligations under that convention in relation to the Ulster Scots community in a manner that is consistent with the recognition of Ulster Scots as a national minority of the United Kingdom under the Council of Europe Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities.
Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
HM Government is taking an inclusive approach to the ratification of the 2003 UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage across the whole UK. We want to engage with everyone, including the Ulster Scots community, and to provide the conditions to allow everyone to express, preserve, and develop their culture and identity within the UK’s implementation of the framework of the 2003 Convention.
Asked by: Stephen Timms (Labour - East Ham)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, when the terms of the tax exemption scheme for heritage assets were last reviewed.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
Land, buildings and objects of outstanding scenic, architectural, historic or artistic interest form an integral part of the cultural life of this country. The capital taxes conditional exemption encourages the nation’s heritage to be preserved and displayed for the enjoyment of the public.
Following a detailed review, these rules were updated in the Finance Act 1998. All elements of the tax system remain under continuous review.
The majority of objects that benefit from exemption are displayed in public museums or galleries. Owners of land and buildings report visitor numbers as part of the regular monitoring undertaken by HMRC in collaboration with heritage advisory bodies. HMRC does not collate these numbers and they could only be provided reliably at disproportionate cost.
Estimates of the cost of the conditional exemption are published as part of HMRC’s ‘non-structural tax reliefs’ publication: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/main-tax-expenditures-and-structural-reliefs.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she has taken to promote the cultural heritage of the Irish diaspora in England in (a) general and (b) Romford constituency.
Answered by John Whittingdale
His Majesty’s Government has supported a number of projects looking at the cultural heritage of the Irish diaspora through its arm’s-length bodies.
Arts Council England supported the Irish Arts Foundation on its 'Exploring the musical traditions of County Cork & County Kerry' project in Leeds, providing over £20,000 of public funding in 2021/22.
In 2022/23, The National Lottery Community Fund provided £7,950 of funding to Leeds Irish Arts Foundation’s ‘Neighbours!’ project, to help engage people from around West Yorkshire in Irish music and workshops to celebrate Irish culture, music and arts. In 2023/24, The National Lottery Community Fund provided £6,421 of funding to Cú Chulainn’s to deliver a family funday to bring young people and families from the local Irish community and the community more broadly together.
Since 1994, The National Lottery Heritage Fund has awarded almost £3 million to projects which have explored the history of the Irish diaspora in England, covering themes such as the World Wars, aspects of culture shared with others, and the experiences of those who have built their lives here in the UK.
‘Look Back to Look Forward: 50 Years of the Irish in Britain’ is an ambitious heritage project which captures the history of the Irish in Britain’s membership organisations and the communities they serve, and is currently touring. This exhibition was made possible with a £250,000 Lottery grant.
Asked by: Stephen Timms (Labour - East Ham)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of tax relief for national heritage assets as a contribution to public enjoyment of such assets.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
Land, buildings and objects of outstanding scenic, architectural, historic or artistic interest form an integral part of the cultural life of this country. The capital taxes conditional exemption encourages the nation’s heritage to be preserved and displayed for the enjoyment of the public.
Following a detailed review, these rules were updated in the Finance Act 1998. All elements of the tax system remain under continuous review.
The majority of objects that benefit from exemption are displayed in public museums or galleries. Owners of land and buildings report visitor numbers as part of the regular monitoring undertaken by HMRC in collaboration with heritage advisory bodies. HMRC does not collate these numbers and they could only be provided reliably at disproportionate cost.
Estimates of the cost of the conditional exemption are published as part of HMRC’s ‘non-structural tax reliefs’ publication: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/main-tax-expenditures-and-structural-reliefs.
Asked by: Stephen Timms (Labour - East Ham)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what information his Department holds on the number of people that visited tax exemption scheme heritage assets in each of the last 10 years.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
Land, buildings and objects of outstanding scenic, architectural, historic or artistic interest form an integral part of the cultural life of this country. The capital taxes conditional exemption encourages the nation’s heritage to be preserved and displayed for the enjoyment of the public.
Following a detailed review, these rules were updated in the Finance Act 1998. All elements of the tax system remain under continuous review.
The majority of objects that benefit from exemption are displayed in public museums or galleries. Owners of land and buildings report visitor numbers as part of the regular monitoring undertaken by HMRC in collaboration with heritage advisory bodies. HMRC does not collate these numbers and they could only be provided reliably at disproportionate cost.
Estimates of the cost of the conditional exemption are published as part of HMRC’s ‘non-structural tax reliefs’ publication: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/main-tax-expenditures-and-structural-reliefs.
Asked by: Stephen Timms (Labour - East Ham)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what his estimate he has made of the annual cost of offering tax relief for national heritage assets.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
Land, buildings and objects of outstanding scenic, architectural, historic or artistic interest form an integral part of the cultural life of this country. The capital taxes conditional exemption encourages the nation’s heritage to be preserved and displayed for the enjoyment of the public.
Following a detailed review, these rules were updated in the Finance Act 1998. All elements of the tax system remain under continuous review.
The majority of objects that benefit from exemption are displayed in public museums or galleries. Owners of land and buildings report visitor numbers as part of the regular monitoring undertaken by HMRC in collaboration with heritage advisory bodies. HMRC does not collate these numbers and they could only be provided reliably at disproportionate cost.
Estimates of the cost of the conditional exemption are published as part of HMRC’s ‘non-structural tax reliefs’ publication: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/main-tax-expenditures-and-structural-reliefs.