Asked by: Greg Mulholland (Liberal Democrat - Leeds North West)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions her Department has had with sports governing bodies on tackling homophobia in sport.
Answered by Tracey Crouch
Government is determined to stamp out homophobia in sport and enable Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender people to engage in sport as players, officials and spectators, in line with the government’s strategy for sport and physical activity, Sporting Future. We are working with Sport England, National Governing Bodies and clubs, alongside organisations such as Pride Sports, Stonewall, and Football v Homophobia, to promote a number of anti-homophobia initiatives.
Asked by: Greg Mulholland (Liberal Democrat - Leeds North West)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, when she plans to respond to the letter of 15 November 2016 from the hon. Member for Leeds North West on the UK's participation in the 2023 European Capital of Culture award.
Answered by Matt Hancock
A response will be submitted to the hon. Member’s letter in due course.
Asked by: Greg Mulholland (Liberal Democrat - Leeds North West)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what recent steps she has taken to support local authorities which are preparing bids for the title of European Capital of Culture 2023.
Answered by Matt Hancock
Until exit negotiations are concluded, the UK remains a full member of the European Union and all the rights and obligations of EU membership remain in force.
Asked by: Greg Mulholland (Liberal Democrat - Leeds North West)
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 effect of the outcome of the EU referendum on the eligibility of UK cities applying for the title of 2023 European Capital of Culture.
Answered by Matt Hancock
Until exit negotiations are concluded, the UK remains a full member of the European Union and all the rights and obligations of EU membership remain in force.
Asked by: Greg Mulholland (Liberal Democrat - Leeds North West)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many businesses do not have access to high speed broadband in each region of England.
Answered by Matt Hancock
Superfast broadband with speeds of at least 24Mbps is now available to 90 per cent of UK premises and we are on track for this to reach 95 per cent by December 2017.
We do not hold data at regional level or specifically for businesses. We hold information for all premises at constituency level and this was deposited with the Parliamentary Library in January 2016. You can access the deposited papers database here:
http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/business-papers/commons/deposited-papers/?fd=2016-01-01&td=2016-01-31&search_term=Department+for+Culture%2c+Media+and+Sport&itemId=122028#toggle-56
The Deposit reference is: DEP2016-0056
Asked by: Greg Mulholland (Liberal Democrat - Leeds North West)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what the average hourly earnings were of his Department's (a) BME and (b) non-BME employees in (i) 2015 and (ii) 2016.
Answered by Lord Vaizey of Didcot
$24052016|5|W|26052016|Greg Mulholland|Leeds North West|To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what the average hourly earnings were of his Department's (a) BME and (b) non-BME employees in (i) 2015 and (ii) 2016. 38216 A: The tables below are the average hourly rates for all employees (Senior Civil Service and below) within the Department of Culture, Media and Sport for the following categories. However, I would note to the Hon. Member that such simple averages do not paint an accurate figure of our workforce and recruitment practices.
2015
Category | Average hourly rate |
BME | £17.06 |
Non-BME | £21.63 |
Unknown | £20.20 |
2016
Category | Average hourly rate |
BME | £16.50 |
Non-BME | £21.71 |
Unknown | £20.39 |
The Civil Service is changing, and our recruitment seeks to reflect the make-up and composition of our nation as a whole. Historically, BME staff were under-represented: both in terms of previous recruitment patterns and the number and proportion in higher grades, both of these factors have contributed to the differences in average salaries.
Additionally in DCMS a significant number of employees have not declared their ethnicity - less than 60% declared their ethnicity in 2015 and 2016 – which means that the data provided cannot be taken as a comparison of BME and non-BME wages across the Department. DCMS are actively encouraging employees to increase the declarations that will provide reliable data on protected characteristics. As a result between 31 March and 27 May 2016 the declarations have risen to almost 70%. There is also a clear decline in the pay gap between BME and non-BME employees over the two months that the declarations have increased.
The differential at Senior Civil Service (SCS) grades is a result of a low number of declared BME employees at this level.
We are making progress the proportion of BME staff in the Civil Service has risen from 9.2% in 2010 to 10.6% in 2015, but we recognise that there is still more to do.
In March, the Government published its 2016 Talent Action Plan for the Civil Service. It provides a progress update on initiatives to increase diversity in the Civil Service, including cross-Government talent programmes aimed at under-represented groups.
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/talent-action-plan-2016-removing-the-barriers-to-success
31 March 2015 Data
| 2015 | 2016 | ||||
Grade | BME | Non-BME | Unknown | BME | Non-BME | Unknown |
SCS | 34.42 | 35.68 | 40.51 | 35.26 | 37.24 | 41.17 |
A(U) | 32.62 | 28.54 | 29.49 | 28.37 | 29.89 | 29.61 |
A | 24.52 | 24.42 | 24.96 | 24.17 | 24.26 | 24.56 |
B | 17.07 | 17.06 | 16.61 | 17.09 | 16.74 | 16.10 |
C | 12.48 | 12.31 | 12.22 | 11.73 | 12.22 | 12.12 |
D | 9.92 | 10.50 | 9.94 | 9.93 | 9.68 | 10.03 |
Notes on the data
The data is sourced from the Staff in Post payroll reports for 31 March 2015 and 31 March 2016. ‘Employees’ include all employees paid through the organisation’s payroll, including any employees on maternity, paternity or shared parental leave, those on paid sick leave and employees on paid special leave. This excludes employees not paid through the payroll including agency and interim staff, those on unpaid leave or career breaks, Fee Paid staff, Non-Executive Board Members, political appointments where earnings are not determined by DCMS such as Ministers and Special Advisors.
‘Unknown’ includes individuals who have either elected to prefer not to declare their ethnicity or those who have not recorded a response against this protected characteristic. The average hourly earnings include basic salary and allowances.
Asked by: Greg Mulholland (Liberal Democrat - Leeds North West)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to paragraph 2.256 of Budget 2016, when he plans to take a decision on the details of the Government's support for the UK bid to host the 2021 Rugby League World Cup; and if he will do so in time for the Rugby Football League to meet the deadline of 30 June 2016.
Answered by David Evennett
Pursuant to my answer of 13 April 2016, my officials have been working closely with the Rugby Football League and the government is aware of the deadline for submitting the bid to the Rugby League International Federation. The government will make a decision in due course, ahead of this deadline.
Asked by: Greg Mulholland (Liberal Democrat - Leeds North West)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to paragraph 2.256 of Budget 2016, when he plans to announce further details of the Government's support for a bid to host the 2021 Rugby League World Cup.
Answered by David Evennett
My officials are holding regular discussions with the Rugby Football League (RFL) and UK Sport about establishing the support the RFL requires for a successful bid. The government will make a further announcement ahead of the bid deadline in June.
Asked by: Greg Mulholland (Liberal Democrat - Leeds North West)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what recent steps he has taken to support UK cities considering a bid for the title of European Capital of Culture 2023.
Answered by Lord Vaizey of Didcot
The UK's selection competition for the title of 2023 European Capital of Culture is due to be launched before the end of 2016. The DCMS will consider how best to support potential bidders over the coming months.
Asked by: Greg Mulholland (Liberal Democrat - Leeds North West)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how much per capita Arts Council England is spending in each region in 2015-16.
Answered by Lord Vaizey of Didcot
In May, Arts Council England (ACE) announced they will increase the percentage of Lottery funding distributed outside London from 70% to 75% by the end of 2018; and invest over £35 million in the Ambition for Excellence fund - over £31 million of which will be spent outside London. There continues to be a shift in spending on National Portfolio funding away from London. In London, £26.02 is spent per head in 2015/16 - compared with £29.74 in 2009/10, when the Hon Member's constituents in Yorkshire received £8.00 per head, compared with £10.93 this year.
The table outlines ACE investment by region, and spend per head in 2015/16:
2015-16 YTD | TOTAL | Spend per head |
East | £35,558,838 | £5.91 |
East Midlands | £28,393,349 | £6.12 |
London | £222,182,958 | £26.02 |
North East | £34,153,682 | £13.04 |
North West | £65,878,044 | £9.24 |
South East | £45,263,359 | £5.10 |
South West | £45,805,668 | £8.45 |
West Midlands | £70,442,158 | £12.33 |
Yorkshire | £58,586,846 | £10.93 |