Asked by: Alice Macdonald (Labour (Co-op) - Norwich North)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to (a) support and (b) promote UNESCO Cities of Literature in the UK.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
DCMS supports the UK’s UNESCO designations through its relationship with the UK National Commission for UNESCO (UKNC), which collaborates closely with the UK UNESCO Creative Cities across the UK, including Cities of Literature.
UKNC promotes the UK’s UNESCO Creative Cities through its public network platform, through accrediting new Cities of Literature, through its convening role and through wider programmes, including activity developed through the National Lottery Heritage Fund-supported Local to Global programme.
DCMS is also supporting a project between the National Library of Wales (in Aberystwyth - a UNESCO city of literature), the National Library of Scotland (in Edinburgh - also a UNESCO city of literature), the British Library, and the National Library of Ireland through the Cultural Cooperation Programme in partnership with the Irish Government.
Asked by: Alice Macdonald (Labour (Co-op) - Norwich North)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to support creative industries in Norwich.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Creative industries clusters across the UK, including in Norwich, are crucial to the delivery of our Growth Mission.
Our Creative Industries Sector Plan published last year includes a strong universal offer to drive growth in the creative industries in every place in the UK, including Norwich and the wider East of England region. It outlines new measures to break down barriers such as access to finance, supply of skills, and new support to kickstart innovation.
In addition, Arts Council England (ACE) focuses funding on the areas of the cultural sector most at risk, using both dedicated funds and wider investment. Its £1.5 billion Arts Everywhere Fund is focused on supporting organisations, particularly in underserved areas, to protect vulnerable cultural infrastructure and local venues, ensuring access nationwide. This includes a flagship Norwich investment in ‘Creative Arts East'.
Asked by: Alice Macdonald (Labour (Co-op) - Norwich North)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the provision of community accessible covered tennis courts in underserved communities.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government is committed to doing more to ensure that everyone from all backgrounds have access to and benefit from quality sport and physical activity opportunities. Sport and physical activity is central to achieving our health and opportunity manifesto missions, with the biggest gains coming from supporting those who are inactive to move more.
Sport England, the Government’s arm’s length body for grassroots sport, provides long term investment to the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA), the National Governing Body for tennis in Britain. The LTA is receiving up to £10.2 million for five years, to invest in community tennis and padel initiatives that will benefit everyone, including disabled people, women and girls and older people.