Asked by: Baroness Bonham-Carter of Yarnbury (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the closure of longwave radio on 31 March on people living in rural areas.
Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The BBC is not ending long-wave transmissions of BBC Radio 4 on 31 March 2024. The Corporation announced in 2022 that it would be ending the separate programming for Radio 4 on long wave only and moving to a single Radio 4 schedule.
The BBC has been communicating this change to ensure that listeners know how they can still hear Radio 4 programmes which are only broadcast on long wave on other BBC radio services or other platforms.
Under the BBC’s 2016 Royal Charter and Agreement, it is a matter for the BBC to determine how long to continue with its long-wave transmissions.
Asked by: Baroness Bonham-Carter of Yarnbury (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government when they plan to announce a third pathway under the Afghan Citizen Resettlement Scheme; and what that pathway will include both (1) journalists still resident in Afghanistan, and (2) exiled Afghan journalists in Pakistan and Iran, at risk of persecution for their professional activities.
Answered by Lord Murray of Blidworth
On 13 June 2022, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Home Office announced the launch Pathways 2 and 3 of the ACRS.
Under Pathway 3, in the first year, places are being offered to eligible at-risk British Council contractors, GardaWorld contractors, and Chevening alumni in Afghanistan or the region. We are pleased to have welcomed the first arrivals to the UK and look forward to welcoming all remaining individuals as soon as practicable.
Beyond this, we will work with international partners and NGOs to welcome wider groups of Afghans at risk under Pathway 3. This commitment still stands, and further details will be set out in due course.
However, it is important that we take into account the capacity of the UK to resettle people, and our immediate focus is ensuring the relocation of those already assessed as eligible.
Asked by: Baroness Bonham-Carter of Yarnbury (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many endangered Afghan journalists have been resettled in UK to date under (1) the Afghan Citizen Resettlement Scheme, or (2) the Afghan Relocation and Assistance Policy, since the withdrawal of British military forces from that country.
Answered by Lord Murray of Blidworth
Statistics on individuals resettled or relocated under the Afghan schemes have now also become available in the Immigration System Statistics, year ending December 2022 release.
They show that 21,387 people have now been resettled or relocated through the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme (ACRS) and the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP). This includes people identified as particularly at risk including journalists.
Whilst I am not able to provide a breakdown of this data by occupation, work continues to assure information relating to all the people resettled and relocated to the UK, under the ACRS and the ARAP, on case working systems. Once this work concludes, statistics on both schemes - including the number of people resettled under each - will be included in the published Immigration Statistics.
Asked by: Baroness Bonham-Carter of Yarnbury (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the numbers of Afghan journalists currently at risk of persecution in (1) Afghanistan, (2) Pakistan, and (3) Iran, for their professional activities.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK is a champion of media freedom and a proud member of the Media Freedom Coalition. Defending media freedom at home and abroad is a priority for the UK. In Afghanistan, we understand that around 40 per cent of media outlets have ceased to operate and that 60 per cent of journalists have lost their jobs since August 2021. We continue to address the issue of media freedom in our discussions with the Taliban. We regularly raise media freedom at a senior level with the Government of Pakistan, most recently in January 2023. We condemn the Iranian authorities' crackdown on journalists and continue to raise the Iranian peoples' right to access independent media. The UK regularly engages countries on the need to respect human rights, including on freedom of expression and media freedom.
Asked by: Baroness Bonham-Carter of Yarnbury (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will provide a breakdown of successful applicants to the Culture Recovery Fund seeking an emergency grant by (1) geographic location, and (2) size of organisation.
Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The first round of the Emergency Resource Support strand of the Culture Recovery Fund (CRF) ran in Summer and Autumn 2021 and was delivered by Arts Council England, Historic England, the National Heritage Memorial Fund, and the British Film Institute. The second round was launched in Winter 2021.
The first round of this funding supported 183 organisations, from a total of 259 full applications, giving a success rate of 70.66%. This excludes organisations which did not reach full application stage, and (for Arts Council England) applications ruled out for technical eligibility reasons. Further information on success rates will be published in due course, as set out below.
The CRF is delivered at arm’s length from the government by Arts Council England, the British Film Institute, the National Heritage Lottery Fund, and Heritage England. Data for successful grant offers that have been published can be found on their websites.
We acknowledge that there is public interest in aggregated all-CRF geographical breakdowns for this important investment, as well as the organisation size breakdowns for successful applicants. For this reason, later this year DCMS will publish sets of aggregated and anonymised management data to demonstrate the geography and characteristics of the CRF applicants and awardees - to the extent that our data-set allows. This will also include further up-to-date information on success rates.
We will deposit a copy of this information in the Libraries of both Houses.
Asked by: Baroness Bonham-Carter of Yarnbury (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what percentage of applications to the Culture Recovery Fund seeking an emergency grant were successful.
Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The first round of the Emergency Resource Support strand of the Culture Recovery Fund (CRF) ran in Summer and Autumn 2021 and was delivered by Arts Council England, Historic England, the National Heritage Memorial Fund, and the British Film Institute. The second round was launched in Winter 2021.
The first round of this funding supported 183 organisations, from a total of 259 full applications, giving a success rate of 70.66%. This excludes organisations which did not reach full application stage, and (for Arts Council England) applications ruled out for technical eligibility reasons. Further information on success rates will be published in due course, as set out below.
The CRF is delivered at arm’s length from the government by Arts Council England, the British Film Institute, the National Heritage Lottery Fund, and Heritage England. Data for successful grant offers that have been published can be found on their websites.
We acknowledge that there is public interest in aggregated all-CRF geographical breakdowns for this important investment, as well as the organisation size breakdowns for successful applicants. For this reason, later this year DCMS will publish sets of aggregated and anonymised management data to demonstrate the geography and characteristics of the CRF applicants and awardees - to the extent that our data-set allows. This will also include further up-to-date information on success rates.
We will deposit a copy of this information in the Libraries of both Houses.
Asked by: Baroness Bonham-Carter of Yarnbury (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government which organisations have benefited from the emergency funding increase to the Culture Recovery Fund.
Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The near £2 billion Culture Recovery Fund (CRF) has awarded around £1.5 billion to date, including funding for the DCMS-sponsored national cultural institutions. It has supported around 5,000 individual organisations and sites across the country ranging from local museums to West End theatres, grassroots music venues to festivals, and organisations in the cultural and heritage supply-chains.
The CRF also supports freelancers by ensuring the venues and organisations which support and employ them have survived the pandemic.
The boosted Emergency Resource Support strand of the programme will give eligible applicants, at imminent risk of financial failure, a further opportunity to bid for support, protecting even more organisations so that they can continue to create jobs and contribute to the economy.
We are still in the assessment process for the relaunched strand, so it is not yet possible to list all the organisations which will benefit from the most recent funding increase.
Asked by: Baroness Bonham-Carter of Yarnbury (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to prioritise the safe evacuation from Afghanistan of journalists (1) currently, and (2) formerly, employed by the BBC who are at risk as a result of their professional associations.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
It remains a top priority to help those British nationals and those Afghans eligible to come to the UK, to leave Afghanistan, including journalists. Since the end of the military evacuation, the Government has facilitated the departure of both Afghan and British nationals from Afghanistan. Although travel within Afghanistan remains dangerous, and many border crossings have been closed during this period, we have also helped both British nationals and eligible Afghans when they have crossed into third countries, from where our diplomatic missions have been able to support their onward travel to the UK. We will continue to work to take advantage of all opportunities to help those eligible to come to the UK to leave Afghanistan.
Asked by: Baroness Bonham-Carter of Yarnbury (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many meetings the (1) Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, and (2) Minister of State for Digital and Culture, have had with representatives from the Local Government Association or local Council representatives, since March 2020.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport met with the Local Government Association this month.
In addition, the Minister of State for Digital and Culture and the Local Government Association were among the attendees for a Museums Working Group in June.
The full list of Ministerial meetings are published on gov.uk on a quarterly basis.
Asked by: Baroness Bonham-Carter of Yarnbury (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many representatives from local councils are members of the (1) Cultural Renewal Taskforce, and (2) Cultural Recovery Board.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The Cultural Renewal Taskforce (CRT) and its Working Groups were set up to develop guidance for safe reopening of DCMS sectors following the latest coronavirus guidelines. The Culture Recovery Board was created to oversee the delivery of the Culture Recovery Fund.
The membership of the Cultural Renewal Taskforce and its Working Groups and the membership of the Culture Recovery Board can be found on the government’s website. The Local Government Association is a member of several of the CRT Working Groups.