Asked by: Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether Baroness Shafik intends will remain as Chair of the Victoria and Albert Museum in the light of her appointment as Chief Economic Adviser to the Prime Minister
Answered by Baroness Twycross - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
Baroness Shafik has been appointed to be the Chief Economic Adviser to the Prime Minister as a Direct Ministerial Appointment. This role is therefore subject to the Code of Conduct for Board Members of Public Bodies, which sets out requirements on political activity.
The management of relevant outside interests for this role has been agreed in line with relevant guidance and processes. Baroness Shafik will continue in her role as Chair of the Victoria and Albert Museum.
Asked by: Sarah Owen (Labour - Luton North)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how much funding (a) her Department and (b) Sport England have allocated to support elite Deaf sportspeople in each of the last five years.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Our Arm's Length Body, Sport England, has committed £1.2 million between 2022 and 2027 to support deaf sport at the grassroots level, build wider participation, and develop strong governance within UK Deaf Sport.
Sport England are also exploring a series of small-scale talent pilots for d/Deaf athletes. These pilots will see Sport England, National Governing Bodies, and UK Deaf Sport working together to explore issues around accessibility and suggest potential solutions. Sport England has also awarded UK Deaf Sport £150,000 to fund a specialist Talent Inclusion post to further the work of the pilots.
Asked by: Sarah Owen (Labour - Luton North)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions she has had with UK Deaf Sport on funding for athletes competing in the Tokyo 25 Summer Deaflympics.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Our Arm's Length Body, Sport England, has committed £1.2 million between 2022 and 2027 to support deaf sport at the grassroots level, build wider participation, and develop strong governance within UK Deaf Sport.
Sport England are also exploring a series of small-scale talent pilots for d/Deaf athletes. These pilots will see Sport England, National Governing Bodies, and UK Deaf Sport working together to explore issues around accessibility and suggest potential solutions. Sport England has also awarded UK Deaf Sport £150,000 to fund a specialist Talent Inclusion post to further the work of the pilots.
Asked by: Neil Duncan-Jordan (Independent - Poole)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what her planned timetable is for publishing the outcome of the Arts Council England review.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Baroness Hodge will share her findings with the government in the Autumn of 2025, and the government will publish the conclusions of the review along with the government’s response in 2026.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the potential benefits of video games designed to support the mental health of young people.
Answered by Baroness Twycross - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The government recognises the potential mental health benefits for young people that can come from playing video games.
Independent studies from the University of Oxford, the United States National Library of Medicine and The Royal Society found positive health and wellbeing impacts from playing video games. The global video games industry also published the “Power of Play” report in 2023, providing insights into video games’ social and emotional benefit, showing 71% of players turning to video games to relieve stress.
In 2023, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport published a Video Games Research Framework which seeks to improve understanding of the impacts of video games. It sets out the Government’s research topics and priorities, including the mental health impacts on players interacting with video games and how the application of video games has health tools impacts on players.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will take steps to ensure that television documentaries that contain pornographic scenes are (a) censored and (b) blocked.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Broadcast regulation is a matter for the independent regulator Ofcom. The Broadcasting Code prohibits material equivalent to the British Board of Film Classification R18-rating. Adult sex material, as defined by Ofcom, must not be broadcast at any time other than between 10pm and 5.30am on channels with mandatory restricted access, such as requiring a PIN.
Broadcasters must ensure that material broadcast after the 9pm watershed, which contains images and/or language of a strong or explicit sexual nature, but is not ‘adult sex material’, is justified by the context. Representations of sexual intercourse must not occur before the watershed, unless there is a serious educational purpose.
Asked by: Lord Inglewood (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many people were employed by Historic England in (1) 2015, (2) 2020 and (3) 2025.
Answered by Baroness Twycross - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The average full time equivalent staff number employed by Historic England in (1) 2015/16 was 878, (2) 2019/20 was 828 and (3) 2024/25 was 982.
Asked by: Lord Bassam of Brighton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they will be participating in and engaging with the bid by the European Federation of Cluniac Sites for UNESCO World Heritage status of its sites, and whether they will ensure that relevant agencies are involved in the process.
Answered by Baroness Twycross - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
DCMS and Historic England, as our statutory advisers on heritage, regularly discuss sites and places we know to be interested in UNESCO World Heritage status, and have previously met and written to representatives from UK Cluniac sites.
With the large number of UK World Heritage Sites and our commitment to supporting UNESCO’s ambition for a more globally balanced and representative World Heritage List, the UK Government does not currently have plans to consider additional sites for nomination to UNESCO, beyond those already included on the UK’s Tentative List.
No recent formal assessments have been made by Historic England of sites for inclusion on the UK’s Tentative List. Applications to the 2022/23 Tentative List Review were assessed by an independent expert panel and the Government response was published in July 2023.
Asked by: Lord Bassam of Brighton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they have taken to meet representatives from UK Cluniac sites to discuss the progression of the European Federation of Cluniac Sites UNESCO World Heritage bid, and the inclusion of those sites on a UK tentative list.
Answered by Baroness Twycross - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
DCMS and Historic England, as our statutory advisers on heritage, regularly discuss sites and places we know to be interested in UNESCO World Heritage status, and have previously met and written to representatives from UK Cluniac sites.
With the large number of UK World Heritage Sites and our commitment to supporting UNESCO’s ambition for a more globally balanced and representative World Heritage List, the UK Government does not currently have plans to consider additional sites for nomination to UNESCO, beyond those already included on the UK’s Tentative List.
No recent formal assessments have been made by Historic England of sites for inclusion on the UK’s Tentative List. Applications to the 2022/23 Tentative List Review were assessed by an independent expert panel and the Government response was published in July 2023.
Asked by: Lord Bassam of Brighton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what meetings and discussions they have had with Historic England regarding the bid by the European Federation of Cluniac Sites for UNESCO World Heritage Status of their network of European sites.
Answered by Baroness Twycross - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
DCMS and Historic England, as our statutory advisers on heritage, regularly discuss sites and places we know to be interested in UNESCO World Heritage status, and have previously met and written to representatives from UK Cluniac sites.
With the large number of UK World Heritage Sites and our commitment to supporting UNESCO’s ambition for a more globally balanced and representative World Heritage List, the UK Government does not currently have plans to consider additional sites for nomination to UNESCO, beyond those already included on the UK’s Tentative List.
No recent formal assessments have been made by Historic England of sites for inclusion on the UK’s Tentative List. Applications to the 2022/23 Tentative List Review were assessed by an independent expert panel and the Government response was published in July 2023.