Asked by: Baroness Royall of Blaisdon (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government on what basis there is a limit on non-professional singers of six people singing indoors in the context of restrictions in place to address the COVID-19 pandemic; and why this limit is more restrictive than the one that was in place in autumn 2020.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
We know that the restrictions on singing are frustrating to large numbers of amateur choirs and performance groups across the country and that many people have made sacrifices in order to drive down infections and protect the NHS over the last year.
However, it is important that we take a cautious approach in easing restrictions. We have followed the views of public health experts on singing. We are aware, through the NERVTAG and PERFORM studies that singing can increase the risk of COVID-19 transmission through the spread of aerosol droplets. This was backed up by a consensus statement from SAGE, resulting in the suggested principles of safer singing being published.
We will continue to keep guidance and restrictions under review, in line with the changing situation. Further detail on step 4 will be set out as soon as possible.
Asked by: Baroness Royall of Blaisdon (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to encourage young people to serve in their community through supporting full-time, long-term volunteering.
Answered by Lord Ashton of Hyde
Government is committed to ensuring young people, from all backgrounds, have the opportunity to engage in meaningful social action, creating a lifelong habit and developing skills for work. We support Step Up to Serve’s #iwill campaign which is backed by a wide coalition of organisations offering a range of opportunities including full-time volunteering. We have also committed to expanding National Citizen Service (NCS) to reach 360,000 places per year by 2020. Since 2011, over 200,000 have participated in NCS and delivered an estimated eight million volunteer hours. The Government’s pledge to the #iwill campaign is to continue to invest in youth social action and share evidence and best practice.
Asked by: Baroness Royall of Blaisdon (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how much funding has gone to national portfolio organisations exclusively involved in opera in the last 10 years.
Answered by Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth
Over the past 10 years, funding outlined in the attached table has been provided to national portfolio organisations exclusively involved in 'opera'. For the purpose of this response, 'Opera' has been defined as staged music theatre productions, often with continuous music, where the music is the main dramatic driver.