Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps the Arts Council is taking to support museums.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
This Government supports museums nationwide through Arts Council England (ACE), as the national development agency for museums, offering funding and professional advice to museums of all sizes in England.
ACE typically invests over £44 million in museums annually, through the National Portfolio, the Museum Development Network, and National Lottery Project Grants. In addition, DCMS is funding ACE to deliver an additional £45 million of support for museums this financial year, through the new £20 million Museum Renewal Fund, and a new £25 million investment in the Museum Estate and Development Fund (MEND).
ACE further supports (worth £70m a year), which provides an alternative to the cost of insurance for loans, without which many major exhibitions would not be possible. ACE also operates the Cultural Gifts and Acceptance in Lieu schemes, enabling important new acquisitions for museums (worth £45m in 2023/24), and other schemes such as the UK Museum Accreditation Standard, and Collection Designation.
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department has taken to help reduce the number of museums awaiting accreditation.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Arts Council England publishes detailed Accreditation data at regular intervals, including a schedule of museums awaiting review of their Accredited status, and the list of museums working towards Accreditation with support from ACE: https://www.artscouncil.org.uk/supporting-arts-museums-and-libraries/uk-museum-accreditation-scheme
The Accreditation scheme has been a mainstay of the museums sector for 35 years, inspiring similar models overseas. With support from the department, ACE has this year begun a redesign of Accreditation, to continue meeting diverse user needs in changing operating environments.
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what information her Department holds on the average waiting time for museums to receive a review of their national professional museums standard accreditation in the latest period for which data is available.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Arts Council England publishes detailed Accreditation data at regular intervals, including a schedule of museums awaiting review of their Accredited status, and the list of museums working towards Accreditation with support from ACE: https://www.artscouncil.org.uk/supporting-arts-museums-and-libraries/uk-museum-accreditation-scheme
The Accreditation scheme has been a mainstay of the museums sector for 35 years, inspiring similar models overseas. With support from the department, ACE has this year begun a redesign of Accreditation, to continue meeting diverse user needs in changing operating environments.
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 8 April 2025 to Question 43255 on Cycling: Training, what her plans are for the future of British Cycling’s BMX freestyle training facility located at RAF Shawbury.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government has committed to a multi-year investment of £344 million over the next cycle to support Olympic and Paralympic success, including over £38 million for cycling.
It is for National Governing Bodies such as British Cycling, to set out what it takes to win gold and how they target the investment they receive from the Government and National Lottery. British Cycling are working closely with RAF Shawbury to determine the parameters for this partnership going forward.
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
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 potential merits of categorising the Tour de France as a Category A sporting event.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government recognises the importance of ensuring access to sporting events, including the Tour de France (both men’s and women’s Tours), so that they can be enjoyed by a wide audience. However, this must also be balanced with the ability of sports national governing bodies, including British Cycling, to generate essential broadcast revenue to invest in their sports at all levels.
The Government believes that the current list of events works well and that it strikes an appropriate balance between access to sporting events and allowing sports to maximise broadcasting revenue.
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what elite-level training facilities are used by British Cycling to support mountain bike (a) cross-country and (b) downhill.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
British Cycling has a dedicated elite training facility at the National Cycling Centre in Manchester.
Whilst not all disciplines use centralised facilities, all riders on the Olympic and Paralympic world class programme are supported by world-class coaching and support staff according to their specific needs.
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what elite-level training facilities are used by British Cycling to support BMX (a) freestyle and (b) racing.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
British Cycling has a dedicated elite training facility at the National Cycling Centre in Manchester.
Whilst not all disciplines use centralised facilities, all riders on the Olympic and Paralympic world class programme are supported by world-class coaching and support staff according to their specific needs.
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what elite-level training facilities are used by British Cycling to support (a) road cycling and (b) cyclocross.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
British Cycling has a dedicated elite training facility at the National Cycling Centre in Manchester.
Whilst not all disciplines use centralised facilities, all riders on the Olympic and Paralympic world class programme are supported by world-class coaching and support staff according to their specific needs.
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether UK Sport has had discussions with the Amaury Sport Organisation on the UK hosting the 2027 Grand Départ of the Tour de France.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
We remain committed to delivering international events with pride, showcasing the UK’s expertise, generating significant socio-economic benefits and inspiring the next generation’s talent.
The UK Government would be honoured to bring the Tour de France and Tour de France Femmes ‘Grand Départ’ stages to the United Kingdom in the coming years. Future hosting decisions are rightly a sensitive matter and the responsibility of the Amaury Sport Organisation.
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will take steps to (a) ensure that organisations campaigning against free media are not publicly funded and (b) protect freedom of speech for media outlets.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
All funding decisions are carefully considered, and subject to DCMS spend controls and governance.
The Government is committed to protecting media freedom, which is essential to a strong and functioning democracy. The UK has an independent, self-regulatory system for the press, while broadcast news is regulated by the independent regulator Ofcom through the Broadcasting Code. The Government cannot interfere with Ofcom's regulatory or operational decisions, including how Ofcom chooses to regulate content.
To help ensure journalists operating within the UK can do so free from physical, legal and online threats, abuse and violence, I chair the National Committee for the Safety of Journalists, together with the Minister for Safeguarding and Violence against Women and Girls. The Committee facilitates collaboration between government, journalism, policing, prosecution services and civil society in support of this aim. I will continue to work with members on this important issue, including by delivering the National Action Plan for the Safety of Journalists.