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 many appointments have been made to the Boards of her Department's public bodies since 10 July 2024.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Since 10 July 2024, 114 regulated appointments and reappointments have been made to the Boards of the Department for Culture, Media & Sport’s public bodies.
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 make an assessment of the effectiveness of the Creative Industries Sector Plan in helping creative businesses in Northern Ireland.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Creative Industries Sector Plan was announced in June and contains ambitious proposals to bolster growth in the creative industries across the UK. The Sector Plan highlights Belfast & Derry/Londonderry as a high potential cluster for creative industries growth and recognises their unique investment offer.
UK wide activity outlined in the Sector Plan includes increased funding to the UKRI Creative Industries Clusters Programme, increased access to support from the British Business Bank and increased exporting support from UK Export Finance. DCMS is committed to working with the Northern Ireland Executive to ensure creative businesses benefit from this activity.
Northern Ireland has a thriving screen sector. DCMS will continue to work with the Northern Ireland Executive to support this sector, including continued annual funding from the UK Government, through the British Film Institute, to Northern Ireland Screen to support the Irish Language and Ulster-Scots Broadcast Funds.
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, for what reason the Natural History Museum informs potential customers in Northern Ireland that it is unable to ship to EU countries.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
This is a matter for the Natural History Museum which is operationally independent of the Government. I understand that the Natural History Museum is aiming to resume e-commerce sales to Northern Ireland in the near 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, if she will have discussions with the Director General of the BBC on increasing locally (a) produced and (b) sourced (i) radio and (ii) television output.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Under its current Charter, the BBC has an obligation to ‘reflect, represent and serve the diverse communities of all of the United Kingdom’s nations and regions’. Ofcom sets specific obligations for the BBC on programme making in the nations and regions including requiring that at least 50% of network TV programme hours and production spend must be made outside the M25, and 30% of relevant radio spend outside the M25. The BBC is operationally and editorially independent of the Government in determining how it meets its obligations, and it is subsequently for the independent regulator Ofcom to hold the BBC to account in meeting those obligations. BBC reporting shows it is consistently meeting or exceeding these quotas.
The Secretary of State does not have specific plans to discuss this issue with the Director General. However, as part of the next Charter Review, the Government will engage with the BBC and others to consider how to ensure the BBC truly represents and delivers for every person in this country including to be more ambitious in growing our world-leading TV sector outside of London and the South East, and to commission content in every part of the country.
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, whether her Department has approved a funding application for Basement Films Company in the last 12 months.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
No. DCMS does not directly approve individual funding applications for film and television content. Our partners, including the British Film Institute (BFI), are responsible for implementing specific funding programmes. The BFI has advised they have no record of funding being awarded to this production company.
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, pursuant to the Answer of 20 May 2025 to Question 52581 on Broadcasting, whether her Department is responsible for initiating changes to OFCOM's oversight role.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology has overall sponsorship responsibility for Ofcom. The Department for Culture, Media and Sport retains responsibility for broadcasting policy. This includes relevant legislation that sets out Ofcom’s duties regarding broadcasting regulation.
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 urgent discussions with the Director General of the BBC on recent reports that a journalist with links to Hamas was used by the BBC to report on events in Gaza.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Under its Royal Charter, the BBC has a duty to provide accurate and impartial news and information. As the BBC is independent the Government does not intervene in the BBC’s day-to-day operational or editorial decisions.
The Secretary of State meets regularly with the BBC to discuss a range of topics and when she met with the BBC Director General in February, they discussed the importance of the BBC in meeting its duty to provide accurate and impartial news and information. In taking forward that duty, the Government believes that it is absolutely fundamental that stories about the events in Gaza are told and heard, but are done so with the utmost care, transparency and sensitivity. It is essential that the BBC in particular maintains the highest standards of reporting.
In addition, it is for Ofcom, the independent regulator, to ensure the BBC is fulfilling its obligations to audiences as outlined in the Charter.
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, whether she plans to hold discussions with Ofcom on potential changes to its oversight role of the broadcast media.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Ofcom is the UK’s regulator for broadcasting and by law carries out its duties independently of the Government.
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 discussions she has had with the BBC Board on the airing of the documentary entitled Gaza - How to survive a warzone.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
It is essential that the BBC maintains the highest standards of reporting and governance that the public rightly expects. As set out her response to a recent Urgent Parliamentary Question, the Culture Secretary has spoken to the BBC Director General and expressed deep concern about the issues around their recent documentary on Gaza, and pressed for answers on the checks and due diligence that the BBC carried out. The Culture Secretary also subsequently discussed this matter with the BBC Chair where she sought assurances that no stone will be left unturned by the fact-finding review.
While she appreciates that the BBC apologised for its failings, and the BBC Board acknowledged that the mistakes were “significant and damaging”, it is vital that the BBC now takes action so that trust is restored and a serious error of this magnitude is not repeated.
Following requests, the BBC has provided the Secretary of State with further information on their approach to enhanced compliance procedures, and the Secretary of State will update Parliament in due course.
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, whether her Department has funded the BBC Media Action charity in each of the last five years.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The BBC Media Action charity has not received funding from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport in any of the last five years. Sources of funding for BBC Media Action can be found in their annual reports.