Asked by: Imran Hussain (Labour - Bradford East)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that legacy funding from the Government for the Great Exhibition of the North is spent effectively.
Answered by Lord Vaizey of Didcot
I refer the Honourable member to my response to PQ 39132, answered on the 9th June.Asked by: Imran Hussain (Labour - Bradford East)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, in what ways the £15 million legacy fund of the Great Exhibition of the North will continue to attract cultural investment in the North.
Answered by Lord Vaizey of Didcot
The Great Exhibition of the North is a fantastic opportunity to celebrate the very best of northern art, culture and design. Not only will it showcase the innovation and imagination of the region but also give a real boost to local tourism and provide an important creative legacy. The Government is committing £5 million towards the exhibition itself, and a further £15 million into a legacy fund to attract further cultural investment in the Northern Powerhouse - we will announce our plans for the fund shortly.
Asked by: Imran Hussain (Labour - Bradford East)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment his Department has made of the potential effect of the Great Exhibition of the North on tourism.
Answered by Lord Vaizey of Didcot
The Great Exhibition of the North is a fantastic opportunity to celebrate the very best of northern art, culture and design. Not only will it showcase the innovation and imagination of the region but also give a real boost to local tourism and provide an important creative legacy. The Government is committing £5 million towards the exhibition itself, and a further £15 million into a legacy fund to attract further cultural investment in the Northern Powerhouse - we will announce our plans for the fund shortly.
Asked by: Imran Hussain (Labour - Bradford East)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how the £15 million legacy fund for the Great Exhibition of the North will be distributed.
Answered by Lord Vaizey of Didcot
The Great Exhibition of the North is a fantastic opportunity to celebrate the very best of northern art, culture and design. Not only will it showcase the innovation and imagination of the region but also give a real boost to local tourism and provide an important creative legacy. The Government is committing £5 million towards the exhibition itself, and a further £15 million into a legacy fund to attract further cultural investment in the Northern Powerhouse - we will announce our plans for the fund shortly.
Asked by: Imran Hussain (Labour - Bradford East)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps he is taking to increase broadband coverage and speed in Bradford.
Answered by Lord Vaizey of Didcot
The West Yorkshire superfast broadband project, which covers Bradford, will provide superfast broadband coverage to nearly 59,000 homes and businesses. As of March 2015, the project had already provided superfast broadband coverage to over 46,000 premises.
Asked by: Imran Hussain (Labour - Bradford East)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment he has made of the contribution to Bradford's economy made by the (a) digital sector, (b) animation industry, (c) fashion and textiles industry and (d) games industry.
Answered by Lord Vaizey of Didcot
While there are little economic statistics available on individual cities such as Bradford broken down by detailed industries there are estimates of employment from the ONS Business Registers and Employment Survey (BRES). This survey reports that in 2013 there were around 6,200 jobs in Bradford the digital sector (which incorporates ICT and Media) and 1,400 in the manufacture of textiles, clothing and footwear. Employment figures for animation and the computer games industry in Bradford are not available.
Bradford has a rich textiles history, particularly for the production of fine wool fabric. The textiles sector is still important to Bradford today with companies engaged in a wide range of activities – from spinning and weaving to the production of high performance and high value added goods. I am pleased Government has been able, through the Regional Growth Fund (RGF) programme, to support the creation and safeguarding of jobs in textile businesses through the national Textiles Growth Programme. 11 Bradford-based businesses have been assisted to date, with investment in capital projects, skills training and research and development. The Textiles Growth Programme was granted a further tranche of RGF funding earlier this year – bringing total Government investment to £32.3m – giving more Bradford companies the opportunity to secure support for innovation and growth.