Asked by: Ben Bradley (Conservative - Mansfield)
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 help support people who have trained as youth workers to enter the youth workforce.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
DCMS funds a number of programmes that are stimulating demand for youth workers, including through our National Youth Guarantee, which is backed by over £500 million of investment into youth services.
In addition, the updated statutory guidance for local authorities’ youth provision puts an emphasis on the importance of youth work practice and on employing or encouraging the employment of individuals with youth work skills and qualifications.
To support the youth workforce, DCMS funds the National Youth Agency to set professional standards, qualifications and a curriculum for youth work, including a youth work apprenticeship and free-to-access training. DCMS also funds youth worker bursaries which allows youth workers and volunteers to gain qualifications in youth work. To date, DCMS has funded over 2,000 bursaries and we are providing £1,075,000 for over 700 adults who would otherwise be unable to undertake youth work qualifications due to cost.
Asked by: Ben Bradley (Conservative - Mansfield)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department plans to provide support to local press organisations affected by proposed reductions in BBC funding for local news and radio.
Answered by John Whittingdale
The Government is committed to supporting local and regional news outlets as vital pillars of communities and local democracy. They play an essential role in holding power to account, keeping the public informed of local issues and providing reliable, high-quality information.
To date the Government’s support for the sector has included:
Introducing legislation for a new, pro-competition regime for digital markets, which among many other things will help to rebalance the relationship between news publishers and dominant online platforms;
The delivery of a £2 million pilot innovation fund - the Future News Fund;
The zero rating of VAT on e-newspapers;
The extension of a 2017 business rates relief on local newspaper office space until 2025;
The publication of the Online Media Literacy Strategy.
The BBC is editorially and operationally independent of the Government, and decisions about how it delivers its services are ultimately a matter for the Corporation. However, the Government has been clear that the BBC must make sure it continues to provide distinctive and genuinely local content that reflects and represents people and communities from all corners of the UK. These services are a key part of the BBC’s public service remit and an example of how the BBC can use its licence fee funding to provide content that is directly relevant to audiences, particularly in areas that may be underserved by the market.
The Government expects Ofcom as the BBC’s independent regulator to ensure the BBC is robustly held to account in delivering its public service duties.
Asked by: Ben Bradley (Conservative - Mansfield)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if she will take steps to ensure that the White Paper on football reform (a) supports English Football League clubs and (b) protects the Premier League.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
The Government will publish a White Paper on Football Governance reforms imminently. The White Paper will set out how football should be reformed to improve the financial stability and governance of football clubs. This will balance allowing the game to thrive and remain a global success story, while effectively tackling harms where they exist.
Asked by: Ben Bradley (Conservative - Mansfield)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of withdrawing listed status from buildings that have been left derelict for long periods, in order to facilitate regeneration or development.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
The Secretary of State has a duty under Section1 of the Planning Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas Act 1990 to list buildings of special architectural and historic interest. Buildings that have been left derelict for long periods of time may still meet the statutory criteria for listing. Delisting just in circumstances where a building has been left to disrepair would not be appropriate.
Local Authorities have powers to take action where a designated heritage asset has deteriorated to the extent that its preservation may be at risk. This includes undertaking urgent works and recovering those costs, as well as compulsory acquisition, including provisions for minimum compensation where an owner has deliberately allowed a building to fall into disrepair in order to justify its demolition and secure permission for redevelopment of the site. Listed buildings represent some of our most significant heritage assets and should not be neglected by owners.