Asked by: Cameron Thomas (Liberal Democrat - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what recent assessment has she made of the effectiveness of the Arts Council England’s Incentivising Touring scheme.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The government welcomes the continued success of this fund, which expands domestic touring into new areas. This investment will enrich our cultural landscape and boost local economies by bringing popular productions to communities nationwide, allowing more people to enjoy the arts locally.
The second round of this pilot makes £2.9 million available to enable more mid-to-large-scale theatre and dance productions to tour. The funding aims at giving venues and producers the capacity to create, tour, and programme a wider range of work, providing audiences with more opportunities to see a greater range of quality dance and theatre productions at scale.
It’s great to see such excellent productions as Dear England, Fiddler on the Roof and Pride and Prejudice* (*Sort Of) being enjoyed across the country in part thanks to this fund.
Arts Council England has commissioned AMION Consulting to undertake a process evaluation and an assessment of the impact of the scheme across the pilot rounds, including an assessment of the economic and social impact of the programme.
Asked by: Cameron Thomas (Liberal Democrat - Tewkesbury)
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 ensure that touring in Europe is viable for UK artists.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
We have reset our relationship with the European Union and are determined to improve the UK’s trade and investment relationship with the EU and help our touring artists. This is in full recognition of the challenges that creative and cultural professionals, and their support staff, face when touring in Europe.
On 19 May 2025, the first ever Summit between the UK and EU was held. At the Summit, the UK and European Commission recognised the value of cultural exchange, including the activities of touring artists.
We continue to engage with the European Commission, Members of the European Parliament and the sector, both in the UK and across Europe, with a view to addressing the challenges that touring artists and their support staff face. This is mutually beneficial - it will help our artists to contribute to Europe’s rich cultural landscape and support shared growth.
We are also working with the EU and Member States to promote wider cultural exchange to further the UK-EU strategic partnership.
Asked by: Cameron Thomas (Liberal Democrat - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment she has made of the rates of teacher retention in further education.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Having sufficient and skilled further education (FE) teachers is key to deliver on the government’s skills missions and help learners achieve good outcomes. The department continues to assess retention in the FE workforce based on available data and sector engagement.
The most recent published figures indicate that for FE teachers starting in 2016, 51% were still in post by 2019. For those starting in 2014, 39% were still in post by 2019. The department also collects workforce data through the annual Further Education Workforce Data Collection.
To improve retention, the department is delivering several programmes, including the targeted retention incentive for teachers in priority shortage subjects, reforms to initial teacher education and a strengthened professional development pathway with additional support for special educational needs and disabilities training.
We will also continue to work closely with the sector, including through the Improving Education Together group, to understand drivers of retention and support meaningful improvement in teacher experience.
Asked by: Cameron Thomas (Liberal Democrat - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what number of settlement visas have been issued in total for Gurkha veterans who retired prior to 1 July 1997.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The information requested is not currently available from published statistics, and the relevant data could only be collated and verified for the purpose of answering this question at disproportionate cost.
Official statistics published by the Home Office are kept under review in line with the code of practice for statistics, taking into account a number of factors including user needs, the resources required to compile the statistics, as well as quality and availability of data.
Asked by: Cameron Thomas (Liberal Democrat - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to ensure funding disbursed by Arts Council England is fairly distributed across the country.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The government’s full response to Baroness Hodge’s independent review of Arts Council England was published on 26 March and deposited in the House Library.