Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool Walton)
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 increase the accessibility of the national archives.
Answered by John Whittingdale
The National Archives is committed to increasing the accessibility of the records in its care.
This includes, over the next four years, expanding its collection through the absorption of the Parliamentary Archives and c.10 million Ministry of Defence service personnel records, increasing its visitor numbers by 50 per cent, doubling the number of participants in its learning programmes, and investing in the skills, capability and infrastructure needed to support its mission over the long term.
To increase accessibility to its collection, The National Archives has also been creating digital images of its records since the mid-1990s. The vast majority of these digital images, approximately 138 million, have been created in partnership with commercial companies through its licensing programme.
The National Archives also has a significant online engagement programme, with its content being available both nationally and internationally online.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool Walton)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of the announcement by Meta that it plans to discontinue funding for the Community News Project on (a) student journalists, (b) local communities and (c) the broader media landscape.
Answered by John Whittingdale
The government is disappointed to see that Meta is closing its Community News Project. We are working to support journalism and local newsrooms to ensure the sustainability of this vital industry, and our new digital markets regime will help rebalance the relationship between the most powerful platforms and those who rely on them – including press publishers.
Additionally, our support for the sector has included the delivery of the £2 million 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; and the BBC also supports the sector directly, through the £8m it spends each year on the Local News Partnership, including the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.
Ministers and officials regularly meet with stakeholders, including from the local press and from among the tech platforms, to discuss relevant policy interests and concerns.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool Walton)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of discontinuing of funding for the Community News Project on diversity and representation of local news teams across the UK.
Answered by John Whittingdale
The government is disappointed to see that Meta is closing its Community News Project. We are working to support journalism and local newsrooms to ensure the sustainability of this vital industry, and our new digital markets regime will help rebalance the relationship between the most powerful platforms and those who rely on them – including press publishers.
Additionally, our support for the sector has included the delivery of the £2 million 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; and the BBC also supports the sector directly, through the £8m it spends each year on the Local News Partnership, including the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.
Ministers and officials regularly meet with stakeholders, including from the local press and from among the tech platforms, to discuss relevant policy interests and concerns.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool Walton)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department has had recent discussions with Meta on funding for the Community News Project.
Answered by John Whittingdale
The government is disappointed to see that Meta is closing its Community News Project. We are working to support journalism and local newsrooms to ensure the sustainability of this vital industry, and our new digital markets regime will help rebalance the relationship between the most powerful platforms and those who rely on them – including press publishers.
Additionally, our support for the sector has included the delivery of the £2 million 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; and the BBC also supports the sector directly, through the £8m it spends each year on the Local News Partnership, including the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.
Ministers and officials regularly meet with stakeholders, including from the local press and from among the tech platforms, to discuss relevant policy interests and concerns.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool Walton)
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 take steps to help support community journalism projects.
Answered by John Whittingdale
The government is disappointed to see that Meta is closing its Community News Project. We are working to support journalism and local newsrooms to ensure the sustainability of this vital industry, and our new digital markets regime will help rebalance the relationship between the most powerful platforms and those who rely on them – including press publishers.
Additionally, our support for the sector has included the delivery of the £2 million 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; and the BBC also supports the sector directly, through the £8m it spends each year on the Local News Partnership, including the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.
Ministers and officials regularly meet with stakeholders, including from the local press and from among the tech platforms, to discuss relevant policy interests and concerns.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool Walton)
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 (a) introduce an Independent Regulator of English Football and (b) strengthen rules on ownership of football clubs.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
We will publish a White Paper in the next couple of weeks that sets out a detailed plan on how football will be reformed through regulation, including rules around football club ownership.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool Walton)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether she plans to encourage FIFA to (a) enhance and strictly implement its human rights criteria for future events and (b) strengthen its human rights due diligence processes.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
The Government has frank conversations at international level with our counterparts around the world on issues such as human rights, and we will continue to have those conversations.
Sport operates independently of government, therefore direct representations to FIFA on their criteria and due diligence processes for future events would be a matter for Home Nation football governing bodies to raise.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool Walton)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether it is her policy to introduce the ten recommendations of the Fan-Led Review of Football Governance.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
The Government published its response to the recommendations made by the Independent Fan Led Review of Football Governance in April 2022.
The Government recognises the need for football to be reformed to ensure the game’s sustainability in the long term. Therefore, the government is taking the time to consider the policy and consult the numerous stakeholders, but remains committed to publishing a White Paper setting out our detailed response to the Fan Led Review of Football Governance.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool Walton)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, how many people (a) have been (i) fined, (ii) arrested and (iii) imprisoned for non payment of their television licence in each of the last three years and (b) are subject to legal action for non payment of their television licence.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Shadow Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology
The maximum penalty for non-payment of the TV licence fee is a fine. A person cannot receive a custodial sentence for TV licence evasion but can be committed to prison for wilfully refusing to pay the fine or culpably neglecting to pay. Imprisonment is only pursued as a matter of last resort.
In 2019, 122,603 people were proceeded against for non-payment of the licence fee. Of these, 113,002 people were fined. The number of people admitted to prison for failing to pay fines in respect of the non-payment of a TV licence in England and Wales in 2019 was two or fewer (the actual number has not been released in order to protect against personal identification).
In 2020, 53,301 people were proceeded against, and 49,948 were fined. In 2021, 49,126 people were proceeded against, and 44,364 were fined. In 2020 and 2021, there were no admissions into prison associated with failing to pay a fine in respect of the non-payment of a TV licence in England and Wales.
We do not hold data on the number of people arrested for non-payment of a fine which relates to non-payment of their television licence.
The information on prosecutions, convictions and sentencing outcomes is published online in the Outcomes by Offence data tool, available here.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool Walton)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department is taking steps to help support public swimming pools transition to renewable energy.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
We recognise the importance of ensuring public access to leisure facilities, including swimming pools, which are great spaces for people of all ages to stay fit and healthy. We are committed to supporting these facilities to transition to renewable energy sources.
The Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme provides grants for public sector bodies to fund heat decarbonisation and energy efficiency measures. The scheme supports the aim of reducing emissions from public sector buildings by 75% by 2037, as set out in the Heat and Buildings Strategy and the Net Zero Strategy in October 2021.
Leisure centres are eligible for the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme. For example last year, during Phase 3a, Calderdale Metropolitan Borough Council was awarded £1,728,500 to decarbonise the swimming pool at Todmorden Sports Centre.
The next application window to the scheme, Phase 3b, is planned to open in September, with the guidance published beforehand.
Sport England are also able to provide guidance on sustainable design formats for leisure centres. The recent redevelopment of St Sidwell's Point Leisure Centre in Exeter provides one such example.