Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if he will hold discussions with the National Citizen Service Trust on ensuring that young people across all parts of the UK receive the opportunity to participate in the UK Year of Service in 2024-2025.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
DCMS is providing £750,000 in 2024/25 to co-fund the next cohort of the UK Year of Service alongside the National Citizen Service Trust, providing work placements for young people who are furthest from the labour market, giving them a chance to be set on a positive path towards long-term employment, education or training. The placements for the next cohort will be targeted in the North East, North West and Yorkshire and Humber, and we will continue to look at how we can best support initiatives like this in the future.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what events will be held in Northern Ireland to launch the Big Help Out in 2024.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
My department is funding and supporting the launch of the 2024 Big Help Out, taking place 7 - 9 June this year, aiming to raise awareness of volunteering and to provide opportunities for people to support their communities.
The Government does not organise events itself, but we understand that plans are in development for the Big Help Out in Northern Ireland with Volunteer Now supporting Shaping the Future member organisations to host two events in Belfast and Enniskillen on 7 June 2024.
Millions of people took part in last year’s Big Help Out with a huge range of charities and voluntary organisations providing people with the opportunity to try out and experience volunteering. All 11 local government districts in Northern Ireland participated last year.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will hold discussions with the Director General of the BBC on the value for money of challenging freedom of information requests on Martin Bashir.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The BBC is operationally and editorially independent from the government and the Government cannot intervene in the BBC’s day-to-day operations or decision making.
The Charter sets out that the BBC must exercise rigorous stewardship of public money. The BBC Board is responsible for securing the effective and efficient management of the finances of the BBC.
As part of the most recent Charter Review the Government put in place arrangements for the National Audit Office to become the BBC’s independent auditor. The NAO is responsible for auditing the BBC accounts and ensuring value for money in the way the BBC uses its funds. This ensures that there is appropriate scrutiny of how the BBC spends its public funding.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will hold discussions with the BBC on taking steps to ensure that its commissioning processes are subject to independent scrutiny.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The BBC is operationally and editorially independent and BBC commissioning is rightly a matter for the BBC, not for the Government.
The Charter requires the BBC to commission programmes in a way that is fair and transparent, allowing non-BBC producers to compete for BBC projects. Due to measures introduced by this Government, by the end of this Charter (2027), 100% of BBC television and 60% of BBC radio will be fully open to competition to support a diverse range of stories and views on the BBC.
The BBC has set out a clear commissioning framework and code of practice, agreed with Ofcom, that governs the commissioning of TV content from independent producers.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will have discussions with the UK Year of Service on increasing work placement opportunities for young people.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
DCMS is providing £750,000 of funding in 2024/25 to co-fund the next cohort of the UK Year of Service alongside the National Citizen Service Trust, providing work placements for at least 100 young people who are furthest from the labour market, giving them a chance to be set on a positive path towards long-term employment, education or training.
The Government recognises the importance of providing young people with supportive, meaningful employment. DCMS will assess the effectiveness of the UK Year of Service to ensure a focus on what works for young people. Any future spending is a decision for future spending reviews.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how much funding her Department plans to allocate to the UK Year of Service programme for the next financial year.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
DCMS is providing £750,000 of funding in 2024/25 to co-fund the next cohort of the UK Year of Service alongside the National Citizen Service Trust, providing work placements for at least 100 young people who are furthest from the labour market, giving them a chance to be set on a positive path towards long-term employment, education or training.
The Government recognises the importance of providing young people with supportive, meaningful employment. DCMS will assess the effectiveness of the UK Year of Service to ensure a focus on what works for young people. Any future spending is a decision for future spending reviews.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
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 (a) support Girlguiding UK and (b) develop links overseas with similar ventures.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government recognises the vital role that youth services and activities play in improving the life chances and wellbeing of young people. We have committed to a National Youth Guarantee: that by 2025, every young person will have access to regular clubs and activities, adventures away from home and opportunities to volunteer. This is supported by a three year investment of over £500 million in youth services, reflecting young people's priorities and addressing the inconsistencies in national youth spending, with a firm focus on levelling up.
As part of the National Youth Guarantee, we are investing over £16 million in Uniformed Youth Organisations, including Girlguiding, to ensure all young people have access to these groups by establishing new groups in areas without existing provision, and tackling waiting lists.
Additionally, this Government is committed to protecting the United Kingdom’s core national interests, ensuring the prosperity of the British people across the Overseas Territories. The Department for Culture, Media and Sport, alongside colleagues in the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office, is engaging in ongoing discussions with representatives of the British Overseas Territories and Girlguiding UK on options for the continuation of Girlguiding in the Territories.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what estimate she has made of the number of people seeking help for online gambling in each of the last five years.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The department does not gather statistics on the number of people seeking help for gambling-related harms generally or online gambling in particular. However, the National Gambling Support Network (NGSN) provides support and treatment for the majority of people presenting for help for gambling-related harms, and their annual statistics (for 2018/19, 2019/20, 2020/21, 2021/22, 2022/23) can provide insight on those seeking help for online gambling in each of the last five years.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what conclusions her Department drew from the pilot survey for young people on cultural activities for children and young people with a disability carried out by her Department in 2023.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Data from a pilot survey of young people aged between 10 and 19 will be published later this year.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, when he plans to respond to Question 4924 on Arts and Culture: Disability tabled by the hon. Member for East Londonderry on 1 December 2023.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
A response to UIN 4924 was submitted to parliament on 19 December 2023.