Asked by: Lord Storey (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the announcement of £60 million funding to support 20 museums of which 16 are based in London, what assessment they have made of the need to protect national heritage outside of London.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Regional sites will benefit considerably from this £60 million investment in our national cultural infrastructure, irrespective of where their headquarters happen to be located. Of the 100 projects this Fund will support, over a third are based wholly outside London and the South East. For historic reasons there is a cluster of older, more expansive estates in London that require particular care and attention, but this is not at the expense of other regions, with projects funded across the North West, South West, North East, Yorkshire, and others. In fact, every single one of the multi-site organisations has received funding for one or more of its regional sites.
Regional organisations have been further boosted by our Museums Estates and Development Fund (MEND) worth over £18 million, available exclusively to non-national accredited museums for maintenance projects. Throughout the pandemic, this Government has supported locally-accessible culture and heritage across the entire nation, with 70 per cent of awards from our £2 billion Culture Recovery Fund to date going to save thousands of organisations outside of London.
Asked by: Lord Storey (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will list all of the organisations in England that will benefit from the £60 million national heritage investment announced on 3 July; and how much funding each organisation will receive.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The DCMS Press Release published on 3 July lists the twenty organisations set to benefit from this latest investment, as well as the sums awarded, and can be found online: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/60-million-to-protect-our-national-heritage
Asked by: Lord Storey (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what representations they have made to UNESCO to ensure that Liverpool does not lose its UNESCO World Heritage status.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The UK is a world leader in cultural heritage protection and Liverpool's World Heritage Status reflects the important role the city has played in our nation's history. DCMS continues to work closely with UNESCO, Liverpool City Council and Historic England to ensure that Liverpool does not lose its UNESCO World Heritage status. Most recently, the Minister for Digital and Culture met senior UNESCO representatives on 10th June.
Asked by: Lord Storey (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of Liverpool’s UNESCO World Heritage status following the decision by the Secretary of State not to call in the planning application for the Everton Stadium.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The UK is a world leader in cultural heritage protection and Liverpool's World Heritage Status reflects the important role the city has played in our nation's history. We are working closely with UNESCO, Liverpool City Council and Historic England to ensure that Liverpool retains its World Heritage status.
Asked by: Lord Storey (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of Historic England’s view that (1) the Liverpool Docks are the largest and most complete system of docks anywhere in the world, and (2) the infill of the West Waterloo Docks would harm Liverpool’s UNESCO World Heritage status.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The Government recognises the importance of protecting Liverpool’s UNESCO World Heritage status, and the outstanding universal value for which the Liverpool Docks and the rest of the site were inscribed in 2004. We continue to value the advice of Historic England on all aspects of the United Kingdom’s implementation of the World Heritage Convention. We note Historic England’s opposition to the proposed development at West Waterloo Docks and will continue to work with all parties to protect the heritage of Liverpool.
Asked by: Lord Storey (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the economic benefits of Liverpool’s World Heritage status.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
We know from the excellent report prepared by the UK National Commission for UNESCO that UNESCO designations such as World Heritage status are worth over £150 million a year to communities across the UK and in its Overseas Territories, as well as contributing to sustainable development and other policy goals. We do not have a precise figure which can be attributed to the world heritage site of Liverpool Maritime Mercantile City, but we know that many international tourists are keen to visit the UK’s 32 world heritage sites, with concomitant economic benefits across the tourism and hospitality sector.
Asked by: Lord Storey (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the risk of the Liverpool waterfront losing its UNESCO World Heritage status due to Everton Football Club's waterfront stadium development.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The construction of a new football stadium at Bramley Moore Dock is likely to increase perceptions that the “outstanding universal value” on which Liverpool’s UNESCO world heritage status is predicated will be placed at risk. The Government continues to work with UNESCO, Liverpool City Council, Historic England and others to reconcile the needs of heritage conservation and economic development in and around the world heritage site.
Asked by: Lord Storey (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the work of the Black Swimming Association; and what steps they intend to take in response to the finding by Sport England’s Active Lives Survey, published in October 2020, that (1) 95 per cent of Black adults, (2) 80 percent of Black children, (3) 95 percent of Asian adults, and (4) 78 per cent of Asian Children, in England do not swim.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The Government supports the efforts of groups helping to promote diversity and inclusion in sport, including the Black Swimming Association who are working to address inequalities in swimming participation levels. We are committed to these efforts, and our sport and physical activity strategy ‘Sporting Future’ has diversity and inclusion at its heart.
In addition, Sport England have recently launched a new ten year strategy, “Uniting the Movement”, reinforcing their commitment to increasing diversity and inclusion in grassroots sport and physical activity, including swimming. They have invested £12.62 million in Swim England to support and promote participation in swimming, including support for people from ethnically diverse backgrounds. We welcome the recent partnership announcement between Swim England and the Black Swimming Association, to further increase numbers of participation in aquatic activity.
Asked by: Lord Storey (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what progress they have made towards establishing the £500 million Youth Investment Fund.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The Youth Investment Fund remains a manifesto commitment for levelling up across England over the course of the parliament. In the recent announced Spending Review £30m of this was committed as capital investment for 2021-22. This will provide investment in new and refurbished safe spaces for young people, so they can access support from youth workers, and positive activities out of school, including sport and culture. Further details of the timetable for allocation and how the funding will be distributed will be announced in due course.
Government recognises the significant impact of Covid-19 on young people, particularly the most vulnerable, and on the youth services that support them. A £16.5m Youth Covid-19 Support Fund has been announced which will protect the immediate future of grassroots and national youth organisations across the country.
Asked by: Lord Storey (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of allowing amateur musical groups the same outdoor and indoor rehearsal opportunities as professional musical groups.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The Government continues to advise that non-professional groups should not sing and play wind and brass instruments at this stage and should only do other activities in line with government guidance on social mixing. Singing and playing wind and brass instruments are considered higher risk activities because of the potential for aerosol production.
We understand that people are eager to play brass/wind instruments and sing together, which is why we have commissioned a study specifically looking at C-19 transmission risks associated with singing and playing wind instruments. The PERFORM study involves leading scientists and is working with musicians and representatives from the Royal Opera House and the BBC. Results of further research conducted will lead to updates of the performing arts guidance for both professionals and non-professionals.