Asked by: Baroness Keeley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to the findings of the report Time Well Spent 2023 published by the National Council for Voluntary Organisations on 2 May 2023, whether she is taking steps to help improve satisfaction levels among volunteers.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
Volunteering is vital for society and the Government recognises this. It benefits volunteers and the organisations involving them and has transformational impacts on beneficiaries and their communities. Government aims to remove barriers to getting people involved.
Government sees the experience and satisfaction of volunteers as a key part of unlocking the benefits of volunteering. We are supporting the volunteering sector’s Vision for Volunteering initiative, which focuses on improving the volunteer experience, including an investment of £609,000.
We will consider the full findings of the Time Well Spent survey when the report is published in June 2023 by NCVO.
Asked by: Baroness Keeley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether she has had discussions with representatives of the Football Association on recognising all female England players with a legacy cap.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
I welcome the FA’s recent decision to award all players who have represented the Lionesses with a legacy cap and number. All Lionesses, past and present, should be recognised for the important role they have played in the history and development of the women’s game, and I am pleased that this will now be the case.
Asked by: Baroness Keeley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to paragraph 4.19 of the Spring Budget 2023, HC 1183, published on 15 March 2023, what plans her Department has to distribute this funding between charities and community organisations.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
As announced in the recent Spring Budget, the government will provide over £100 million of support for charities and community organisations in England. This will be targeted towards those organisations most at risk, due to increased demand from vulnerable groups and higher delivery costs, as well as providing investment in energy efficiency.
Funding has not yet been distributed. Work is underway to finalise eligibility criteria and the delivery time frame for distribution. Further details will be announced as soon as possible, and these will be published on gov.uk.
Asked by: Baroness Keeley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to paragraph 4.19 of the Spring Budget 2023, HC 1183, published on 15 March 2023, how much of the funding allocated to charities and community organisations has been distributed.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
As announced in the recent Spring Budget, the government will provide over £100 million of support for charities and community organisations in England. This will be targeted towards those organisations most at risk, due to increased demand from vulnerable groups and higher delivery costs, as well as providing investment in energy efficiency.
Funding has not yet been distributed. Work is underway to finalise eligibility criteria and the delivery time frame for distribution. Further details will be announced as soon as possible, and these will be published on gov.uk.
Asked by: Baroness Keeley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, how many public libraries there were in England in each year since 2010.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
This information is not collected by the Department. Arts Council England collects data from local authorities and publishes a basic dataset of information on public libraries in England. The libraries basic dataset 2021 shows the number of static libraries in England (statutory and non-statutory) as at 1 April 2010, 1 July 2016, 31 December 2019 and 31 December 2021. It can be found at: https://www.artscouncil.org.uk/search?query=basic+dataset&sort_by=titles
The libraries basic dataset 2022 will be published by Arts Council England later this year.
Annual library data are also collected by the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) from local authorities across Great Britain and include the number of libraries (statutory and non-statutory). Access to these annual library data is available through subscription to CIPFA. The House of Commons Library subscribes to the CIPFA ‘stats+ public libraries statistics dashboard’ which includes figures for library service points.
Asked by: Baroness Keeley (Labour - Life peer)
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 impact of the closing of the Libraries Taskforce in March 2020 on strategic planning for libraries.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
While the taskforce formally ended on 31 March 2020, the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport provided a further year of funding for the team based at Arts Council England to manage the ongoing work funded through it, to convene a core group of library stakeholders, and to assist in the delivery of in upcoming strategic development opportunities. (Arts Council England is the national development agency for public libraries in England.)
Local authorities have a statutory duty to provide a comprehensive and efficient library service and to think long-term and strategically as they plan and transform their library services. Libraries Deliver: Ambition for Public Libraries in England 2016 to 2021, together with other strategic planning toolkits previously published by the taskforce, remain relevant guidance documents to assist local authorities in delivering this duty.
In September 2022, the Government appointed Baroness Sanderson of Welton as chairman of a new advisory panel to help develop a new strategy to make sure that public libraries are providing the best possible service for their communities. More detail can be found here. To date she has had numerous meetings with organisations with an interest in public libraries work, and has led two roundtable sessions. The first, on 13 January in Nottinghamshire, focused on the contribution public libraries make to cultural and creative enrichment and the second, on 27 January in Suffolk, discussed their contribution to health and wellbeing. A further seven roundtables will be held between February and May, in libraries across England, each focusing on a specific theme, based on the seven Strategic Outcomes in Libraries Deliver: Ambition for Public Libraries in England 2016 to 2021, plus sessions on governance and innovation.
Asked by: Baroness Keeley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, how many public libraries have closed in England since (a) 2000 and (b) 2010.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
This information is not held by the Department. Arts Council England collects data from local authorities and publishes a basic dataset of information on public libraries in England. The libraries basic dataset 2021 shows the number of static libraries in England (statutory and non-statutory) from April 2010 to 31 December 2021 and also includes information on permanent library closures. It can be found at https://www.artscouncil.org.uk/search?query=basic+dataset&sort_by=titles
Based on this dataset, DCMS estimates that around 230 libraries have permanently closed in the period 1 April 2010 to 31 December 2021 and not been relocated or replaced.
The libraries basic dataset 2022 will be published by Arts Council England later this year.
Asked by: Baroness Keeley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department has provided funding for energy reduction measures in theatres for reducing energy costs in winter 2023.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
HM Government provided support through the winter to all non-domestic energy users via the £18 billion package for businesses through the Energy Bill Relief Scheme, which included theatres, arts venues, and related organisations. The scheme continues to provide valuable assistance to organisations until the end of March when the new Energy Bills Discount Scheme comes into effect for all non-domestic customers, which applies to energy usage from 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024. The new scheme strikes a balance between supporting businesses over the next 12 months and limiting taxpayers’ exposure to volatile energy markets.
The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, via its arm’s-length bodies the Theatres Trust and Arts Council England, is supporting theatres to identify ways to improve energy efficiencies via use of the ‘Theatre Green Book’.
Asked by: Baroness Keeley (Labour - Life peer)
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 extent to which average public library opening hours have changed in the last (a) three, (b) five and (c) 10 years.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
Local authorities have a statutory duty to provide a comprehensive and efficient library service which meets local needs. It is for each local authority to consider carefully how best to meet those needs, including consideration of library opening hours. Any assessment of library opening hours and their change over time is a matter for the local authority.
Asked by: Baroness Keeley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of creating a hub to provide expertise on touring for the UK music industry.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Shadow Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology
The Government supports creative businesses and professionals exporting to Europe - and the world - with a range of export support programmes, including the successful Music Export Growth Scheme (MEGS) and the International Showcase Fund (ISF).
The Department for International Trade also supports creative exporters through a range of export support programmes, including a global Export Support Service, music-focused trade missions in priority markets, and the new Creative Faculty of the Export Academy, which will ensure even more of the UK’s world-class music reaches audiences around the world.
In light of this wide range of support, the Government does not intend to establish a new music exports hub during this Spending Review period. The Government will set out its ambition for the creative sector to 2030, including boosting growth and exports, in the upcoming Creative Industries Sector Vision, which will be published in early 2023.