Asked by: Carla Lockhart (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what funding her Department has provided for events held in Northern Ireland, in each of the last three years.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport funded the £120 million UK-wide festival, UNBOXED: Creativity in the UK. This comprised 10 major creative projects across the United Kingdom which delivered physical events at 107 locations as well as digital, broadcast and learning activities. Funding was allocated to the devolved administrations, including the Northern Ireland Executive, via the Barnett formula. While this funding was awarded as a block grant via the Barnett formula, the National Audit Office reported that the Northern Ireland Executive allocated £3.5 million to its strategic delivery body, which, in turn, commissioned the project.
One of the 10 UNBOXED projects, ‘Our Place In Space’, was commissioned by Belfast City Council on behalf of the Northern Ireland Executive, with stagings in Londonderry and Belfast. In addition to the Barnett allocation, ‘Our Place In Space’ received £120,000 (including VAT) for research and development during the 2020/21 financial year and a further £351,000 for R&D in the 2021/22 financial year. Additional investment by the UNBOXED Company enabled the popular sculpture trail to be mounted in Cambridge and Liverpool: ~£391,000 in the 2021/22 financial year and ~£1.72 million in the 2022/23 financial year.
Four additional UK-wide UNBOXED projects took place in Northern Ireland throughout 2022, although the Department does not hold a breakdown of how much it cost to stage those commissions in each location.
During the 2021/22 financial year, DCMS also provided £40,000 to Armagh City, Banbridge & Craigavon Borough Council to support the development of its UK City of Culture 2025 bid, alongside seven other places across the UK longlisted for the competition.
Asked by: Julian Knight (Independent - Solihull)
Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to help build new grassroots football facilities.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The government has committed to delivering the facilities that every community needs and is investing over £300m across the UK between 2022 and 2025 as a step towards that ambition - a £230m uplift, on top of an existing £18m annual commitment in England.
In 2021/22, £43m has already improved grass and artificial pitches, changing rooms and floodlights at over 170 facilities - to make a real difference to communities in all four home nations. This includes the creation or resurfacing of over 80 artificial grass pitches, over 20 grass pitch improvements, 40 changing room/pavilions and over 30 smaller capital projects such as floodlights and equipment. Recipients of funding in 2022/23 will be announced soon. Our delivery partners - the Football Association in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland or the Football Foundation in England - deliver this funding on behalf of the Government, and engage directly with prospective projects.
Asked by: Carla Lockhart (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, which football clubs have benefited from the Multi-Sports Grassroots Facilities Investment Fund from the Irish Football Association and the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS), and how much each successful applicant has secured.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
In 2021/22, the Irish Football Association invested £700,000 of DCMS funding via the Multi-Sport Grassroots Facilities Programme. This went towards 26 projects across Northern Ireland, selected for their ability to drive increased participation, with a particular focus on improved facilities in deprived areas, supporting multi-sport use and facilitating use by currently under-represented groups. These are shown in the following table, as published on gov.uk on 25 March 2022.
Recipient | Local authority | Funding granted |
Ballyvea Football Club Ltd | Newry, Mourne and Down | £30,000.00 |
Dungiven Celtic Youth Football Club | Derry City and Strabane | £28,554.00 |
Newcastle Football Club | Newry, Mourne and Down | £30,000.00 |
Greenisland Football Club | Mid and East Antrim | £30,000.00 |
Abbey Villa Football Club | Ards and North Down | £25,000.00 |
Comber Rec FC | Ards and North Down | £29,978.00 |
NFC Kesh | Fermanagh and Omagh | £29,904.00 |
Belfast Celtic CIC | Belfast City | £25,936.00 |
Fivemiletown United Football Club | Mid Ulster | £27,950.00 |
Craigavon City Football Club | Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon | £21,840.00 |
Shorts Football Club | Belfast City | £29,250.00 |
Enniskillen Rangers Football Club | Fermanagh and Omagh | £20,486.28 |
Beragh Swifts Community Group | Fermanagh and Omagh | £28,296.00 |
Crewe United FC | Lisburn and Castlereagh | £30,000.00 |
Dromore Amateurs Football Club | Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon | £30,000.00 |
Lisburn Rangers Football Club | Lisburn and Castlereagh | £29,375.00 |
Dromara Village Football Club | Lisburn and Castlereagh | £19,270.00 |
Rathfriland Football Club | Newry, Mourne and Down | £30,000.00 |
Caledon Rovers Football Club | Mid Ulster | £17,527.00 |
Oxford Sunnyside FC | Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon | £30,000.00 |
Mountjoy United Football Club | Fermanagh and Omagh | £25,016.53 |
Crumlin United Football Club | Antrim and Newtownabbey | £24,150.00 |
Kilmore Rec. FC | Newry, Mourne and Down | £29,595.00 |
Saintfield United Football Club | Newry, Mourne and Down | £30,000.00 |
Orangefield Old Boys Football Club | Belfast City | £29,768.00 |
Ardstraw Football Club | Derry City and Strabane | £18,100.00 |
Projects receiving funding in 2022/23 under the programme will be confirmed in due course.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department is taking steps to ensure that (a) Newtownards Library and (b) other public libraries have sufficient funding to encourage more people to visit them.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Public libraries policy in Northern Ireland is a devolved matter. The funding of the public library service in Northern Ireland, including Newtownards library, is a matter for the Department for Communities, with provision and promotion of the service secured through Libraries Northern Ireland.
Asked by: Toby Perkins (Labour - Chesterfield)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if she will make an estimate of the (a) number of vacancies and (b) level of skill shortages in (i) broadcast and print media, (ii) theatres, (iii) graphic design, (iv) tourism and (v) sport and leisure.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
While DCMS does not have any estimates on the number of vacancies, the Department has published Experimental Official Statistics for skills shortages (%) in DCMS sectors and sub-sectors. These are for the year 2019, using data from the Employer Skills Survey, carried out by the Department for Education that covers England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The ESS is a biennial survey, which was delayed by a further year during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, with 2022-23 data expected to be published later this year (also currently scheduled to include Scotland).
Skills shortage vacancies are defined as vacancies unfilled because applicants did not have the necessary skills. Two measures for skills shortages are published:
Percentage of vacancies that are unfilled due to skills shortages
Percentage of businesses with at least one skills shortage vacancy
The “Percentage of businesses with at least one skills shortage vacancy” estimates are impacted by the fact that some businesses will not have had a vacancy. Therefore the “% of businesses with at least one vacancy” figure was also published to help provide context.
Sector/subsector | % of vacancies unfilled due to skills shortages | % of businesses with at least one skills shortage vacancy | % of businesses with at least one vacancy |
Audio Visual (i - Broadcast Media) | 19.2 | 2.1 | 12.0 |
Publishing (excluding translation & interpretation activities) (i - Print Media) | 10.9 | 3.2 | 11.4 |
Arts (ii) | 10.1 | 2.3 | 12.7 |
Design and designer fashion (iii) | 36.8 | 2.9 | 11.4 |
Tourism Industries (iv) | 21.2 | 6.0 | 21.9 |
Sport (v) | 30.1 | 4.4 | 17.2 |
Table 1 - Skills shortages in selected sectors. Estimates are not available directly measuring the areas requested. The sectors presented here have been provided as the closest to the requested sectors, for which DCMS have skills shortages data.
Source: DCMS Sectors Skills Shortages and Skills Gaps: 2019
Asked by: Chris Green (Conservative - Bolton West)
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 (a) support new and emerging talent performing at grassroots music venues and (b) improve funding opportunities.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government is committed to supporting emerging musical talent and our grassroots music venues, which are the lifeblood of our world-leading music sector.
The Government is supporting grassroots music through Arts Council England’s (ACE’s) Supporting Grassroots Live Music (SGLM) ring fenced fund of £1.5m. The fund is designed for organisations - including venues and promoters - with little or no prior experience of public funding applications.
DCMS supported culture, including grassroots music, during Covid-19 through the unprecedented £1.57bn Culture Recovery Fund (CRF). In England, the CRF provided immediate assistance to prevent 136 of our most loved and enduring grassroots music venues closing their doors for good.
In addition, the Energy Bill Relief Scheme has provided support to all businesses across Great Britain and Northern Ireland, including grassroots music venues, protecting all non-domestic consumers from soaring energy costs, cutting the cost of power bills and providing them with the certainty they needed to plan through the acute crisis this winter. We will continue to do so through the Energy Bills Discount Scheme until Spring 2024.
The Government also supports new and emerging talent through a range of export support programmes, including the successful Music Export Growth Scheme and the International Showcase Fund.
DCMS and the Department for Education jointly published the National Plan for Music Education in June 2022, which sets out the Government’s vision to enable all children and young people in England to have the opportunity to progress their musical interests and talents, including professionally.
Finally, DCMS is also developing a Creative Industries Sector Vision that will set out this Government’s ambitions, shared with industry, to support this high-growth sector to 2030.
Asked by: Claire Hanna (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Belfast South)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what data her Department holds on the number of broadband customers in (a) Northern Ireland, (b) England, (c) Scotland and (d) Wales who were on social tariffs for the period in which the latest figures are available and how this compares with other regions in the UK.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
My Department does not hold data relating to the number of broadband customers on social tariffs broken down across the nations of the UK. Ofcom has a statutory duty to monitor and report on customer affordability in the telecommunications sector across the UK. Social tariffs are available across 99% of the UK from a range of broadband, mobile and landline providers. Ofcom’s latest Affordability Report showed that 136,000 households across the UK were taking up a social tariff. We encourage anyone who is struggling to pay to contact their provider to see what support is available.
Asked by: Scott Benton (Independent - Blackpool South)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of (a) extending the Horserace Betting Levy to apply to bets on races taking place outside racing in Great Britain and (b) charging industry operators a levy based on their annual turnover.
Answered by Paul Scully
The Government recognises the significant contribution that racing makes to British sporting culture and its particular importance to the British rural economy.
In April 2017, we made significant reforms to the Horserace Betting Levy by fixing the Levy rate at 10% and extending the scope of the Horserace Betting Levy to include offshore online bookmakers for the first time. These reforms resulted in Levy income to support the racing industry totalling £83 million in 2018/19. In 2018/19 the Levy returned £83 million and in 2019/20 the Levy returned £97 million to racing. Even with the suspension of racing for a period due to covid the Levy returned £82 million in 2021/22 and then £97 million in 2021/22.
The Government is committed to review the Horserace Betting Levy by 2024. The department engages regularly with racing stakeholders including the British Horseracing Authority and we will consider carefully any information they provide. The Government will continue to work with the industry and the Levy Board to make sure the benefits of the Horserace Betting Levy are maximised.
The Sports Economy team within the Department for International Trade (DIT) are actively engaging with the British horse racing industry to discuss their target markets internationally and how they can be supported in these regions. DIT is also working closely with the industry on the best way of attracting international investors into the British thoroughbred market and opportunities in the form of trade missions surrounding major international meetings with a strong UK presence.
British horseracing and breeding is promoted as part of the GREAT Britain & Northern Ireland campaign, showcasing the best of the UK in over 164 countries across the globe. This recognises the cultural and economic importance of horse racing to the UK and the role it plays as a soft power asset for the country internationally.
Asked by: Scott Benton (Independent - Blackpool South)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if her Department will bring forward the date of its review into the Horserace Betting Levy.
Answered by Paul Scully
The Government recognises the significant contribution that racing makes to British sporting culture and its particular importance to the British rural economy.
In April 2017, we made significant reforms to the Horserace Betting Levy by fixing the Levy rate at 10% and extending the scope of the Horserace Betting Levy to include offshore online bookmakers for the first time. These reforms resulted in Levy income to support the racing industry totalling £83 million in 2018/19. In 2018/19 the Levy returned £83 million and in 2019/20 the Levy returned £97 million to racing. Even with the suspension of racing for a period due to covid the Levy returned £82 million in 2021/22 and then £97 million in 2021/22.
The Government is committed to review the Horserace Betting Levy by 2024. The department engages regularly with racing stakeholders including the British Horseracing Authority and we will consider carefully any information they provide. The Government will continue to work with the industry and the Levy Board to make sure the benefits of the Horserace Betting Levy are maximised.
The Sports Economy team within the Department for International Trade (DIT) are actively engaging with the British horse racing industry to discuss their target markets internationally and how they can be supported in these regions. DIT is also working closely with the industry on the best way of attracting international investors into the British thoroughbred market and opportunities in the form of trade missions surrounding major international meetings with a strong UK presence.
British horseracing and breeding is promoted as part of the GREAT Britain & Northern Ireland campaign, showcasing the best of the UK in over 164 countries across the globe. This recognises the cultural and economic importance of horse racing to the UK and the role it plays as a soft power asset for the country internationally.
Asked by: Scott Benton (Independent - Blackpool South)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to promote British thoroughbred horse (a) racing and (b) breeding internationally.
Answered by Paul Scully
The Government recognises the significant contribution that racing makes to British sporting culture and its particular importance to the British rural economy.
In April 2017, we made significant reforms to the Horserace Betting Levy by fixing the Levy rate at 10% and extending the scope of the Horserace Betting Levy to include offshore online bookmakers for the first time. These reforms resulted in Levy income to support the racing industry totalling £83 million in 2018/19. In 2018/19 the Levy returned £83 million and in 2019/20 the Levy returned £97 million to racing. Even with the suspension of racing for a period due to covid the Levy returned £82 million in 2021/22 and then £97 million in 2021/22.
The Government is committed to review the Horserace Betting Levy by 2024. The department engages regularly with racing stakeholders including the British Horseracing Authority and we will consider carefully any information they provide. The Government will continue to work with the industry and the Levy Board to make sure the benefits of the Horserace Betting Levy are maximised.
The Sports Economy team within the Department for International Trade (DIT) are actively engaging with the British horse racing industry to discuss their target markets internationally and how they can be supported in these regions. DIT is also working closely with the industry on the best way of attracting international investors into the British thoroughbred market and opportunities in the form of trade missions surrounding major international meetings with a strong UK presence.
British horseracing and breeding is promoted as part of the GREAT Britain & Northern Ireland campaign, showcasing the best of the UK in over 164 countries across the globe. This recognises the cultural and economic importance of horse racing to the UK and the role it plays as a soft power asset for the country internationally.