Asked by: Ian C. Lucas (Labour - Wrexham)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what her timescale is for responding to the Ofcom recommendations in the report entitled Making on-demand services accessible: What should regulations look like?, published in December 2018.
Answered by Nigel Adams
As part of a digitally inclusive society, television content should be accessible for all UK audiences. That is why in December 2017, DCMS asked Ofcom to provide recommendations on making on-demand services more accessible. This is part of the implementation of the new power given to the Secretary of State to impose accessibility requirements on on-demand service providers.
Ofcom published its report in December 2018 and my department has been considering the report and engaging with stakeholders to develop the future legislative framework. We will set out next steps in due course.
Asked by: Ian C. Lucas (Labour - Wrexham)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if he will place in the Library the correspondence between the BBC and his Department from the date of the 2017 General Election on the Conservative Party's Election Manifesto pledge to maintain pensioner benefits and the policy of transferring responsibility for free TV licences for over 75s to the BBC.
Answered by Nigel Adams
There is no plan to place such correspondence in the library but the Government is clear that the future of the over 75 licence fee concession is the responsibility of the BBC.
The Government is disappointed with the BBC’s decision. People across the country value television as a way to stay connected, and the Government has asked the BBC to look at further ways to support older people.
Asked by: Ian C. Lucas (Labour - Wrexham)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps he is taking to support UK museums that are not in receipt of grant-in-aid funding; and whether he has made a recent estimate of the number of those museums that are not in receipt of such funding.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
DCMS directly supports 15 museums and galleries, comprising 37 sites across the country, with grant-in-aid funding. The Ministry of Defence supports three service museums with grant-in-aid. In addition to this, there are around 2500 museums in England, 1,322 of which are accredited, which do not receive grant-in-aid but are supported by government by at least one of 16 different sources of public funding worth over £800 million per year, as outlined in the Mendoza Review: an independent review of museums in England published in November 2017. This includes the Arts Council England, an arm’s-length body of the department, which is the development agency for museums in England and supports museums in several ways including through its National Portfolio programme. Around half of the Accredited sector in England is independent museums with varied sources of income.
Asked by: Ian C. Lucas (Labour - Wrexham)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what (a) steps he is taking and (b) funds he is allocating to ensure that the UK remains a world leader in the design sector.
Answered by Margot James
Under its creative industries sector deal, the government has recently launched the £14million Creative Careers Programme, which is designed to raise awareness of the range of careers available across the creative industries, as well as launching the £4 million Creative Scale-Up investment readiness programme aimed at increasing the profitability, scalability and productivity of creative industries businesses. Design companies will be able to access both these programmes with obvious benefits for the wider sector in creating a pipeline of future talent.
Asked by: Ian C. Lucas (Labour - Wrexham)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if he will publish the (a) correspondence and (b) minutes of meetings between (a) himself, (b) Ministers of his Department and (c) officials in his Department and Sir Brian Leveson on (A) the commencement of Part 2 of the Leveson Inquiry and (B) Section 40 of the Crime and Courts Act 2013.
Answered by Margot James
The Government's correspondence with Sir Brian on the future of the Leveson Inquiry has been published here: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/consultation-on-the-leveson-inquiry-and-its-implementation. There is no correspondence relating to section 40 as it would not be appropriate for Sir Brian, as a serving judge, to express a view on the legislative proposals of government. DCMS and Home Office ministers have met with Sir Brian numerous times since the Inquiry was established to discuss a range of issues, and his views have been set out in the Government response to the consultation.
Asked by: Ian C. Lucas (Labour - Wrexham)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what information her Department holds on the number of public telephone boxes in each parliamentary constituency in the UK.
Answered by Matt Hancock
The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport does not hold information on the number of public telephone boxes in individual constituencies.
Asked by: Ian C. Lucas (Labour - Wrexham)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, how many staff appointed after 24 June 2016 in her Department hold a post that includes work on the UK leaving the EU.
Answered by Matt Hancock
Exit is an all-of-government operation. The Department for Exiting the European Union is doing detailed work with departments to prepared for the upcoming negotiations by understanding the risks and opportunities of leaving the EU and coordinating planning. Staff within the DCMS EU Team lead on providing advice to Ministers on EU Exit and exit-related issues. Members of staff across the Department also provide advice and analyses on EU Exit issues as required. Given the interactions between EU exit work and the Department's other priorities, it would not be possible to give an accurate figure.
Asked by: Ian C. Lucas (Labour - Wrexham)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if she will make an assessment of the equity of regional and national trends in the award of National Lottery grants over the last three years.
Answered by Tracey Crouch
National Lottery good cause money is allocated by expert bodies at arm's length from Government, taking account of their own priorities and the need for equitable distribution.
Policy directions are set by DCMS or the devolved administrations as relevant. The Big Lottery Fund, Heritage Lottery Fund, Arts Council England, Sport England and British Film Institute are all required to take equality of access into account in developing programmes and considering grant allocations. This requirement does not apply to UK Sport's as their funding targets elite athletes.
Each distributor takes account of a variety of considerations including geographical spread of funding, deprivation data and participation rates when determining priorities and allocating budget. Distributors run specific programmes designed to encourage applications from less well-represented areas.
Information on projects in receipt of a Lottery award can be found on the National Lottery Grants Database at the following link: http://www.lottery.culture.gov.uk and from Lottery Distributors' own websites. The grants database can be sorted on a national, regional, local authority and constituency level.
Asked by: Ian C. Lucas (Labour - Wrexham)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, when she plans to publish the recommendations on fixed-odds betting terminals of the Responsible Gambling Strategy Board and the Gambling Commission.
Answered by Tracey Crouch
We hope to make an announcement on the Government’s Review of Gaming Machines and Social Responsibility Measures shortly.
Asked by: Ian C. Lucas (Labour - Wrexham)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, how many applications for National Lottery funding have been made by parliamentary constituency in each of the last three years.
Answered by Tracey Crouch
The department does not hold information on applications for funding from National Lottery distributing bodies. The department does maintain a database for all grants that have been awarded, which can be searched by constituency level. This database can be found at: www.lottery.culture.gov.uk.