Asked by: Craig Whittaker (Conservative - Calder Valley)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how much funding his Department has allocated to arts groups in Calder Valley in each of the last three years.
Answered by Lord Vaizey of Didcot
Calder Valley has received the following Arts Council funding over the last three years – £378,238 in 2013/14; £355,900 in 2014/15; and £300,298 in 2015/16 (year to date 8 March).
This investment from Arts Council England has supported a number of projects, including the Lamplighter Festival, Mytholmroyd Arts Festival and the Routes into Theatre project.
Asked by: Craig Whittaker (Conservative - Calder Valley)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what recent representations he has made to (a) the Premier League, (b) the Football League and (c) the Football Association to encourage football clubs to offer affordable tickets to supporters.
Answered by David Evennett
Ticket prices are a matter for clubs, and we therefore welcome the recent announcement by those in the Premier League to cap the price of away tickets to £30 for the next three seasons. In my regular meetings with the football authorities, I will continue to ask that all clubs keep under review ticket prices, as well as ways to ensure greater engagement in clubs by supporters
Asked by: Craig Whittaker (Conservative - Calder Valley)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps his Department is taking to encourage tourism in Calder Valley since the recent flooding and severe weather in that area.
Answered by David Evennett
The Calder Valley is a beautiful part of the UK and tourism is an essential part of the local economy. We want to ensure that our tourism businesses have as much support as possible as they recover from the recent floods. That is why a new £1m PR campaign was announced by the Prime Minister in Cumbria, on the 28th January, to support businesses ready to receive visitors, and this is part of a wider package of immediate measures to help the area.
Asked by: Craig Whittaker (Conservative - Calder Valley)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if he will estimate the cost to the tourist industry in Calder Valley of recent flooding and severe weather in that area.
Answered by David Evennett
No assessment has been made by DCMS of the direct cost to Calder Valley's tourism industry following the recent flooding. However, some tourism businesses in flood affected areas have reported a drop in bookings of up to 60%. We want to ensure that our tourism businesses have as much support as possible as they recover from the recent floods and that is why a new £1m PR campaign was announced by the Prime Minister in Cumbria, on the 28th January, to support businesses ready to receive visitors, and this is part of a wider package of immediate measures to help the area.
Asked by: Craig Whittaker (Conservative - Calder Valley)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, by what date it is planned that 100 per cent of residents of (a) Calder Valley and (b) West Yorkshire will have access to superfast broadband.
Answered by Lord Vaizey of Didcot
Based on current delivery plans, it is estimated that 91% of premises in Calder Valley and 93% in West Yorkshire will have access to superfast broadband by the end of March 2018. Additional funding sources, including West Yorkshire’s share of the £129 million of early gainshare funding that BT will return in response to the high levels of take-up being achieved, will allow coverage to be extended further in Calder Valley and the rest of the area covered by the West Yorkshire broadband project.
In addition, the Government's intention to implement a new broadband Universal Service Obligation will give people the legal right to request at 10Mbps connection, no matter where they live, by the end of this Parliament.
Asked by: Craig Whittaker (Conservative - Calder Valley)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what recent progress he has made on the delivery of superfast broadband in the Yorkshire and Humber region.
Answered by Lord Vaizey of Didcot
According to Ofcom’s Communications Market Report published in August 2015, superfast broadband coverage was at 78% across the Yorkshire and the Humber region. The full report can be found here -http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/binaries/research/infrastructure/2015/downloads/connected_nations2015.pdf.
As a result of the Government's Superfast Broadband Programme, well over 250,000 Additional homes and businesses now have access to superfast broadband in the Yorkshire and the Humber region.
Asked by: Craig Whittaker (Conservative - Calder Valley)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps his Department is taking to work with sports clubs to discourage young people from taking performance enhancing drugs.
Answered by Tracey Crouch
Performance enhancing drugs remain a threat to the integrity of sport and the health and wellbeing of all our athletes. The Government supports the work of UK Anti-Doping which works tirelessly to ensure athletes and sport are clean. Through testing programmes, intelligence sharing with law-enforcement agencies on supplying and trafficking, and its excellent athlete education initiatives, UKAD is one of the world's most highly regarded national anti-doping organisations.
Asked by: Craig Whittaker (Conservative - Calder Valley)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment he has made of the prevalence of the use of performance drugs among young people in sport.
Answered by Tracey Crouch
Performance enhancing drugs remain a threat to the integrity of sport and the health and wellbeing of all our athletes. The Government supports the work of UK Anti-Doping which works tirelessly to ensure athletes and sport are clean. Through testing programmes, intelligence sharing with law-enforcement agencies on supplying and trafficking, and its excellent athlete education initiatives, UKAD is one of the world's most highly regarded national anti-doping organisations
Asked by: Craig Whittaker (Conservative - Calder Valley)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps he plans to take to support the provision of superfast broadband in rural communities in West Yorkshire where schemes for such provision are not planned.
Answered by Lord Vaizey of Didcot
The West Yorkshire broadband project has benefited from £16,264,980 of public funding to provide superfast broadband coverage to 85,767 additional premises in the project area. To date the project has delivered 55,369 of these additional superfast premises.
The Government has provided a postcode checker at http://gosuperfastchecker.culture.gov.uk/ for people to find out if they can currently get a superfast broadband service. More information about the local project can be found on the local authority website http://www.superfastwestyorkshire.co.uk/ and details of the planned coverage by the project can be found on the local coverage map at http://www.superfastwestyorkshire.co.uk/coverage
Asked by: Craig Whittaker (Conservative - Calder Valley)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what plans he has to promote cycling as a recreational activity in Calderdale.
Answered by Lord Vaizey of Didcot
Between 2014 and 2016, over £118,000 will have been invested by British Cycling and Calderdale council to get more people cycling in Calderdale. Calderdale is also part of the West Yorkshire Tour de France legacy, which is working with partners from sport, transport and health to get more people cycling in the local area. Further, in February 2015, the Government committed further funding to British Cycling to improve facilities in Yorkshire.