Asked by: Giles Watling (Conservative - Clacton)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of allocating additional funding to the Public Lending Right fund to assist authors with falling incomes during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
There are no current plans to increase the overall amount of the PLR central fund in response to the COVID -19 outbreak or more generally. The British Library administers the PLR Scheme on behalf of the Government and the funding level of the PLR would form part of the consideration of British Library’s overall funding at a future spending review.
Asked by: Giles Watling (Conservative - Clacton)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if he will allocate additional funding to the Public Lending Right fund.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
There are no current plans to increase the overall amount of the PLR central fund in response to the COVID -19 outbreak or more generally. The British Library administers the PLR Scheme on behalf of the Government and the funding level of the PLR would form part of the consideration of British Library’s overall funding at a future spending review.
Asked by: Giles Watling (Conservative - Clacton)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether his Department has undertaken research on the value added by scriptwriting to the UK creative industries.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
The Government supports scriptwriters as part of its broader sectoral support for the film sector, in particular through the approximately £70 million provided annually (including Lottery funding) to our lead agency for film the British Film Institute, and its funded partners. This funding supports screenwriting specific opportunities offered as part of the BFI Film Academy and BFI NETWORK, which invest in the next generation of screenwriting talent.
While the Department has not undertaken such specific research, the global box office performance of UK films and foreign productions which draw on UK source material is a good indicator of the value of scriptwriting. Of the top 200 grossing films released worldwide from 2010 to 2019, 26 are based on stories and characters created by UK writers, and collectively these films have earned $19 billion at the global box office,13% of the total.
Asked by: Giles Watling (Conservative - Clacton)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what the timeframe is for the reopening of soft play centres as the covid-19 outbreak restrictions are eased.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
On 13 August, the Government announced that indoor play and indoor soft play venues can open from 15 August. We have also been working with BALPPA, the trade body that represents the industry to develop guidance that lays out detailed measures that should be taken by indoor play and indoor soft play operators to make venues COVID-secure. These include closing ball pits and sensory areas, reducing capacity of venues and soft play frames, regular deep cleaning, pre-bookable timed sessions, increased sanitation, and a rigorous process to support track and trace. Sports and physical activity facilities play a crucial role in supporting adults and children to be active and the Government is committed to reopening facilities as soon as it is safe to do so. Since 4 July other indoor facilities, including some indoor games, recreation and entertainment venues have reopened.
As with all aspects of the Government’s response to COVID-19, we continue to be guided by public health considerations to ensure that as restrictions are eased people can return to activity safely.