Asked by: Lord Watson of Invergowrie (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure opportunities for artists are spread more evenly across the country.
Answered by Baroness Twycross - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The government prioritises making creative careers accessible for everyone and we are working closely with the arts sector to address barriers.
With regards to improving access to creative careers, the government has committed to delivering a refreshed UK-wide £9 million creative careers service. We will partner with industry to equip the next generation of young people with the ambition and knowledge to work in the creative industries and arts. We have also invested £500,000 to expand the King’s Trust Creative Futures programme, which is designed to break down barriers to jobs in the creative industries for young people across the country who are, or at risk of being, not in education, employment or training (NEET).
In February this year we announced a review of Arts Council England which will examine how the Arts Council can be best positioned to unlock creativity and cultural excellence in every corner of the country - making sure its structure and decision-making truly work for all communities.
Further, Arts Council England (ACE) is targeting 54 areas in England where cultural engagement and investment have been historically low through its Priority Places programme. In the 2024/25 financial year, ACE invested almost £27 million through National Lottery Project Grants (NLPG) into Priority Places.
In response to the Curriculum and Assessment Review, the government has committed to revitalising arts education through a reformed curriculum and through support for teachers. A new National Centre for Arts and Music Education will improve social mobility by ensuring high quality arts education is an essential part of the broad and rich curriculum every child deserves. It will achieve this through three key areas: supporting excellent arts teaching, developing sustainable partnerships and promoting arts education.
Asked by: Lord Watson of Invergowrie (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to improve access to careers and address socioeconomic divides in the arts.
Answered by Baroness Twycross - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The government prioritises making creative careers accessible for everyone and we are working closely with the arts sector to address barriers.
With regards to improving access to creative careers, the government has committed to delivering a refreshed UK-wide £9 million creative careers service. We will partner with industry to equip the next generation of young people with the ambition and knowledge to work in the creative industries and arts. We have also invested £500,000 to expand the King’s Trust Creative Futures programme, which is designed to break down barriers to jobs in the creative industries for young people across the country who are, or at risk of being, not in education, employment or training (NEET).
In February this year we announced a review of Arts Council England which will examine how the Arts Council can be best positioned to unlock creativity and cultural excellence in every corner of the country - making sure its structure and decision-making truly work for all communities.
Further, Arts Council England (ACE) is targeting 54 areas in England where cultural engagement and investment have been historically low through its Priority Places programme. In the 2024/25 financial year, ACE invested almost £27 million through National Lottery Project Grants (NLPG) into Priority Places.
In response to the Curriculum and Assessment Review, the government has committed to revitalising arts education through a reformed curriculum and through support for teachers. A new National Centre for Arts and Music Education will improve social mobility by ensuring high quality arts education is an essential part of the broad and rich curriculum every child deserves. It will achieve this through three key areas: supporting excellent arts teaching, developing sustainable partnerships and promoting arts education.
Asked by: Lord Watson of Invergowrie (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to tackle low pay for visual artists.
Answered by Baroness Twycross - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
Low pay and precarious work can deter people from less advantaged backgrounds from creative careers, including in the visual arts. We will continue to back the industry's Good Work Review action plan to improve job quality and support the self-employed. We have also committed to appointing a Creative Freelance Champion by the end of 2025, who will advocate for freelancers within Government and on the Creative Industries Council. Further information on support for freelancers can be found on the Arts Council England’s website.
Arts Council England has also taken steps to encourage fair pay in England’s cultural sector, including through terms and conditions on grants, and guidance documents such as the attached Fair Pay Guidance.
Asked by: Lord Watson of Invergowrie (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what support is available to those managing small music venues to enable them to acquire the freehold ownership of those venues in order to create protected leaseholds.
Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Shadow Minister (Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government is committed to supporting grassroots music venues, which are crucial to our world-leading music sector.
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport is in regular discussions with all parts of the music industry, including live venues of all sizes across the country. The Department works closely with industry representatives and across Government to ensure that the live music sector continues to thrive.
That is why we are helping the sector to develop the next generation of British talent by providing an additional £5 million to Arts Council England’s successful Supporting Grassroots Live Music fund, as announced in the Creative Industries Sector Vision on 14 June. This fund will enable venues to increase support for young, emerging, and diverse artists, improve equipment and physical infrastructure, and support venues to become more financially resilient and to develop new income streams.
This is in addition to other support the Government has provided to the live music sector, including over £3 million during the pandemic from the Emergency Grassroots Music Venues Fund, and through Arts Council England’s Supporting Grassroots Live Music fund since 2019.
Asked by: Lord Watson of Invergowrie (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to the potential merits of a ticket levy on large music events and arenas to increase funding for grassroots music.
Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Shadow Minister (Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government is committed to supporting grassroots music venues, which are crucial to our world-leading music sector.
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport is in regular discussions with all parts of the music industry, including live venues of all sizes across the country. The Department works closely with industry representatives and across Government to ensure that the live music sector continues to thrive.
That is why we are helping the sector to develop the next generation of British talent by providing an additional £5 million to Arts Council England’s successful Supporting Grassroots Live Music fund, as announced in the Creative Industries Sector Vision on 14 June. This fund will enable venues to increase support for young, emerging, and diverse artists, improve equipment and physical infrastructure, and support venues to become more financially resilient and to develop new income streams.
This is in addition to other support the Government has provided to the live music sector, including over £3 million during the pandemic from the Emergency Grassroots Music Venues Fund, and through Arts Council England’s Supporting Grassroots Live Music fund since 2019.
Asked by: Lord Watson of Invergowrie (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the benefits that would accrue from the extension of social investment tax relief to grassroots music venues.
Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Shadow Minister (Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government is committed to supporting grassroots music venues, which are crucial to our world-leading music sector.
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport is in regular discussions with all parts of the music industry, including live venues of all sizes across the country. The Department works closely with industry representatives and across Government to ensure that the live music sector continues to thrive.
That is why we are helping the sector to develop the next generation of British talent by providing an additional £5 million to Arts Council England’s successful Supporting Grassroots Live Music fund, as announced in the Creative Industries Sector Vision on 14 June. This fund will enable venues to increase support for young, emerging, and diverse artists, improve equipment and physical infrastructure, and support venues to become more financially resilient and to develop new income streams.
This is in addition to other support the Government has provided to the live music sector, including over £3 million during the pandemic from the Emergency Grassroots Music Venues Fund, and through Arts Council England’s Supporting Grassroots Live Music fund since 2019.
Asked by: Lord Watson of Invergowrie (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the effect of freezing the TV Licence fee until 2024 on the BBC’s educational output.
Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Shadow Minister (Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government recognises that the BBC’s educational output is an important element of its public purpose. The BBC’s educational offer over lockdown was a demonstration of public service broadcasting at its best and has made a big difference to millions of children across the UK while schools are closed.
The BBC will receive £23 billion over the rest of this Charter period, allowing it to deliver its mission and public purposes and to continue doing what it does best. The Royal Charter requires the BBC to provide specialist educational content to help support learning for children and teenagers across the United Kingdom.
As the BBC is operationally and editorially independent it is up to the BBC to decide how it spends its licence fee settlement. The Government wants to see it deliver the best quality services and output possible with the funding it receives from the public.
Asked by: Lord Watson of Invergowrie (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the effectiveness of the National Leisure Recovery Fund.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Shadow Minister (Education)
Sports and physical activity are incredibly important for our physical and mental health, and are a vital weapon against coronavirus.
The National Leisure Recovery Fund seeks to support eligible public sector leisure centres to reopen to the public, giving the sport and physical activity sector the best chance of recovery to a position of sustainable operation over the medium term.
A total of £100 million is available as a biddable fund to eligible local authorities in England, which will be allocated in a single funding round. Eligible local authorities include: those in England who hold responsibility for the provision of leisure services, those who have outsourced their leisure provision to an external body to and those whose outsourced leisure arrangements have ended since 20 March 2020 and services are now delivered as an in-house function.
Government has worked closely with the Sport England, Local Government Association (LGA), ukactive, the District Councils' Network, Community Leisure UK, Chief Cultural and Leisure Officers Association and others to make sure the application and funding process is as fast and simple as possible. We are currently in the process of assessing bids for the fund.
Asked by: Lord Watson of Invergowrie (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to their commitment in the Conservative and Unionist Party Manifesto 2019, published on 24 November 2019, what progress they have made in setting up a "fan-led review of football governance."
Answered by Baroness Barran - Shadow Minister (Education)
Football clubs are a vital part of their local communities and must be protected, as we work to recover from the coronavirus pandemic.
The Government continues to have regular discussions with the football authorities on the future direction of the sport, and how to ensure it is sustainable. We are currently deciding on the scope and structure of the fan-led review of football governance, and will announce details of this in due course.
Asked by: Lord Watson of Invergowrie (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Barran on 20 November (HL10315), what provisions that reduce digital exclusion have been implemented as a result of their continual assessment of varying approaches to promoting digital inclusion; and how the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport defines "vulnerable consumers" in that context.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Shadow Minister (Education)
In response to Covid-19, last year the Government agreed a set of commitments with the UK’s major broadband and mobile operators to support disadvantaged and vulnerable consumers. This included lifting data caps on all fixed broadband packages, and provision of new and generous landline and mobile offers, such as free or low cost mobile data boosts.
The majority of the UK’s leading mobile network operators have also agreed to provide free data uplifts to disadvantaged families with school-age children. Through it’s Get Help with Technology scheme, the Department for Education is also distributing devices to disadvantaged children. Furthemore, we are pleased that all four of the main mobile network operators have committed to working with Oak Academy to zero rate the website, and EE is also zero-rating BBC Bitesize.
In relation to identifying vulnerability in the telecoms sector, Ofcom, the telecoms regulator, requires communication providers to have in place policies and procedures to identify and support customers whose circumstances may make them vulnerable. Such circumstances can include, but not limited to, age, a physical or learning disability, health, income levels, etc.
Ofcom's vulnerability guide, which I attach, provides best practice to communication providers on supporting vulnerable consumers, including setting an expectation on providers that they take an inclusive approach to identifying vulnerable consumers, noting that circumstances that cause vulnerability can be sudden and dynamic, as demonstrated by Covid-19.
The Government has also introduced new essential digital skills qualifications (EDSQs) based on new national standards for essential digital skills. Adults with no or low digital skills can study essential digital skills qualifications for free.