Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many cetaceans were caught in UK waters in 2022; and how that number compares to estimates of cetacean bycatch.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
All cetaceans are fully protected in UK waters under the Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations. In the UK, it is an offence to deliberately disturb, harm, capture or kill wild cetaceans. We are not aware of any cetaceans being caught illegally in UK waters in 2022.
The UK introduced new rules in 2021 making it mandatory under fishing vessel licence conditions for fishers to report any marine mammal bycatch to the Marine Management Organisation (MMO). On the introduction of this requirement, communications were sent out by Defra, the Devolved Administrations and the MMO to ensure that industry understood the new obligations.
This reporting is complemented by a range of other monitoring programmes.
The Government funds the UK Bycatch Monitoring Programme which uses onboard observers to estimate bycatch rates and high-risk gear types. The 2022 annual programme report will be completed and published, once fishing effort figures for 2022 are finalised and can be integrated into bycatch estimates.
In addition, both the UK Cetacean Strandings Investigation Programme (CSIP) and the Scottish Marine Animal Strandings Scheme investigate the causes of death of stranded cetaceans around the UK coast to improve our understanding of, and ability to tackle, key threats like bycatch. CSIP strandings data are published in annual reports. Due to unprecedented events, including the coronavirus pandemic and the UK’s largest ever outbreak of avian influenza, the delivery of project reports has been delayed. The 2022 annual report will be finalised shortly and released in due course, following publication assurance processes.
Since 2020, Defra has also funded Clean Catch UK, a research programme which is developing and trialling a range of bycatch monitoring and mitigation measures. This programme has developed a bycatch self-reporting mobile application and an online ‘Bycatch Mitigation Hub’ with information on different approaches to reduce bycatch.
We recognise that accidental bycatch in fisheries is one of the greatest threats faced by cetaceans, and we remain fully committed to tackling this and addressing monitoring gaps. In 2022, the UK Government and Devolved Administrations published the UK Bycatch Mitigation Initiative (BMI). This outlines how the UK will achieve its ambitions to minimise and, where possible, eliminate the bycatch of sensitive marine species. As a core objective of the BMI, the Government will continue to build on existing monitoring work to improve our understanding of bycatch and entanglement of sensitive marine species.
Asked by: Greg Knight (Conservative - East Yorkshire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment in this financial year of what impact the current level of VAT being levied on ticket sales for cultural events is having on that industry; if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of reducing the VAT level thereon; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
VAT has been designed as a broad-based tax on consumption and the twenty per cent standard rate applies to the vast majority of goods and services, including tickets for cultural events. While there are exceptions to the standard rate, these have always been strictly limited by both legal and fiscal considerations. The Government keeps all taxes under review, but there are no plans to change the current VAT treatment on ticket sales.
Tickets were within the scope of the temporary reduced rate of VAT for hospitality and tourism, which was introduced on 15 July 2020 to support the cash flow and viability of around 150,000 businesses and protect over 2.4 million jobs during the Coronavirus pandemic. This relief ended on 31 March 2022. It is right that as Coronavirus restrictions were lifted and demand for goods and services in these sectors increased, the temporary tax reliefs were first reduced and then removed in order to rebuild and strengthen the public finances.
Asked by: Steve Baker (Conservative - Wycombe)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, when she plans to publish the findings of Phase II and Phase III of the Events Research Programme.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The analysis for the final phase of events, which finished at the end of July, is underway. DCMS continues to work closely with other government departments and expects to be able to publish the final Events Research Programme findings shortly.
Asked by: Dan Jarvis (Labour - Barnsley Central)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to encourage people to return to live events following the lifting of covid-19 public health restrictions.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government recognises the important contribution that live events make to the UK’s culture and economy. It's important that as we welcome the return of large events such as music festivals, and fans back to our stadiums, we do so as carefully as possible. That’s why we have been working with event organisers to ensure that the lessons learned from the Events Research Programme are being put into practice.
The Government is committed to ensuring the safety of the public through minimising the risks of transmission of Covid-19 and by encouraging vaccination. The evidence from the Events Research Programme pilots was used to inform and shape Government policy and bring about the return of audiences to venues and events across England. The ERP showed that transmission is most likely when large crowds gather, and covid-status certification has been shown to be one method of mitigating this risk. Certification will help to improve confidence in those wishing to attend live events and encourage attendance.
From 19 July, the Government made the NHS COVID Pass available so that individuals can prove their vaccination status. The NHS Covid Pass has been designed to be quick and simple to use, so as not to place any significant burden on settings utilising the resource. Use of the NHS COVID Pass is voluntary for individual organisations. However, we encourage the use of the NHS COVID Pass in facilities or events where people are likely to be in close proximity to a large number of people from other households for a sustained period of time.
Asked by: Dan Jarvis (Labour - Barnsley Central)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether he plans to use Event Research Programmes (ERP) to avoid complete closures of (a) venues and (b) events in the future.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Events Research Programme (ERP) pilot events ran across a range of settings, venues, and activities, with findings informing the return of events in a structured, scientifically and ethically robust manner.
The pilot events gathered evidence associated with different settings, including approaches to managing and mitigating transmission risk. They explored how different approaches to social distancing, ventilation, and test-on-entry protocols could ease opening, and maximise participation.
The ERP has provided important evidence on the variety of settings and differences within venues such as ventilation systems, the organisation of events, venue design, and attendee behaviour.
This has provided an understanding of how different settings and mitigations impact specific risk factors. It also provided significant evidence of the operational, logistical and commercial implications for events of differing types and the heterogeneity found in events settings.
The findings from the Events Research Programme continue to inform government policy-making.
Asked by: Charles Walker (Conservative - Broxbourne)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if she will extend the support available to the events and exhibition industry due to the ongoing impact of the covid-19 outbreak on that sector.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The government recognises the important contribution that events and exhibitions make to the UK’s culture and economy, and the significant challenges the COVID-19 pandemic has presented. We have engaged closely with the sectors affected and listened to their concerns throughout the pandemic. We continue to engage with Her Majesty's Treasury to ensure that support for the events sector remains a focus.
This government has provided significant financial support throughout the pandemic including extending the £1.57 billion package of support for the Culture Recovery Fund with £300 million of additional funding for 21/22, the biggest arts funding package in history. To date, over £1.2 billion has been allocated from the £2 billion Fund, reaching over 5,000 individual organisations and sites.
We would encourage businesses in the events sector to review the initiatives in the government’s support package. Information on the government’s support for businesses and employees can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/coronavirus/business-support.
Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment he has made of the findings of the Events Research Programme.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
Our Phase I events successfully collected a large amount of data on a combination of testing, and non-pharmaceutical interventions (actions that people can take to mitigate the spread of coronavirus) across the nine pilot events.
Findings from the first phase of the Events Research Programme were published on 25 June, and show that:
Every event, both indoor and outdoor, carries levels of transmission risk.
Large unstructured gatherings indoors where there is significant mixing of people in close proximity typically pose a higher risk.
Mitigation options include: communications, crowd and audience management strategies, face coverings, ventilation, testing, restrictions on food and drink, social distancing and capacity caps.
Findings from ERP pilots continue to be shared with the Government for consideration as part of broader policy making. Key findings from Phases II and III will be published in due course.
Asked by: Kevin Brennan (Labour - Cardiff West)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what financial support his Department will make available to live events that are cancelled or postponed after 19 July 2021 as a result of the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
The Government recognises the important contribution that live events make to the UK’s culture and economy, and the significant challenges the COVID-19 pandemic has presented. We have engaged closely with the sectors affected and listened to their concerns throughout the pandemic.
As the Secretary of State made clear at the DCMS Select Committee in May, the government is aware of the wider concerns around securing cancellation insurance for live events. The government continues to assess options to provide further support to the sector within the public health context.
This Government has provided significant financial support throughout the pandemic including extending the £1.57 billion package of support for the Culture Recovery Fund with £300 million of additional funding for 21/22. We would encourage businesses in the events sector to review the initiatives in the Government’s support package. Information on the Government’s support for businesses and employees can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/coronavirus/business-support.
Asked by: Kevin Brennan (Labour - Cardiff West)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what recent assessment he has made of the potential merits of a Government-backed covid-19 cancellation insurance scheme for live events after 19 July 2021.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
The Government recognises the important contribution that live events make to the UK’s culture and economy, and the significant challenges the COVID-19 pandemic has presented. We have engaged closely with the sectors affected and listened to their concerns throughout the pandemic.
As the Secretary of State made clear at the DCMS Select Committee in May, the government is aware of the wider concerns around securing cancellation insurance for live events. The government continues to assess options to provide further support to the sector within the public health context.
This Government has provided significant financial support throughout the pandemic including extending the £1.57 billion package of support for the Culture Recovery Fund with £300 million of additional funding for 21/22. We would encourage businesses in the events sector to review the initiatives in the Government’s support package. Information on the Government’s support for businesses and employees can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/coronavirus/business-support.
Asked by: Taiwo Owatemi (Labour - Coventry North West)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if he will make it his policy to compensate music (a) festivals and (b) concerts if they have to be cancelled as a result of further covid-19 restrictions.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
As the Secretary of State made clear at the DCMS Select Committee in May, the government is aware of the wider concerns around securing indemnity for live events. Protecting public health is of vital importance to the government and we are working closely with the affected sectors and HMT on this issue to assess options to provide further support within the public health context.
Throughout the pandemic, the government’s Plan For Jobs has supported jobs and businesses with over £400 billion of economic support. As part of this package, last year the government announced the unprecedented Culture Recovery Fund - the biggest arts funding package in history. To date, over £1.2 billion has been allocated from the £2 billion Fund, reaching over 5,000 individual organisations and sites.
On 25 June we announced details of the third round of the Culture Recovery Fund and portals for the Emergency Resource Support element of this round are now open. This third and final round of funding will provide further support as the cultural, heritage and creative sectors move towards reopening at full capacity, underlining the government’s commitment to help them build back better as life returns to normal.
As you will be aware, from 19 July, following the success of the vaccine roll-out, outstanding legal restrictions on social contact and life events have been removed and all closed settings can reopen. The government will instead enable people to use personal judgement to manage the risk to themselves and others.