Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if the Government will support Ukraine's joint bid to host the men's football World Cup in 2030.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
As reported earlier this month, Ukraine is now part of the joint bid with Spain and Portugal for the hosting of the 2030 FIFA World Cup. The choice of host for international sporting events such as the FIFA World Cup is at the discretion of the international federation, and its member associations.
The Government has been clear in its support of the Ukrainian people - and we have helped to build and lead the international response in this area, including building consensus for two collective statements from like-minded nations on the actions we believe should be taken within sport in response to Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine. The Football Associations across the UK have also worked closely with the Ukrainian FA - directly, and through European football’s governing body, to provide support.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions she has had with the Information Commissioner's Office on the reported breach of data protection law by Tiktok in respect of the processing the data of children; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The ICO is an independent regulator and we cannot comment on ongoing enforcement action. The Information Commissioner is accountable to Parliament in how it exercises its functions.
The Secretary of State will meet with the Information Commissioner in the coming months.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if she will have discussions with the BBC on reports of its plans to reduce the budget for Songs of Praise.
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. It would therefore be inappropriate for the government to intervene in BBC spending decisions, including any BBC proposals to alter its budget for Songs of Praise.
Ofcom, as the independent regulator of the BBC, is responsible for ensuring that the BBC continues to meet the public service obligations set out in the BBC Charter, Agreement, and Operating Licence. The BBC is required to deliver its remit, reflecting, representing and serving the diverse communities of all the United Kingdom’s nations, regions and communities. This requirement includes the obligation on the BBC to provide religious programming.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if she will take steps to help ensure that people born male who are transitioning their gender cannot participate in female competitive sports.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
As the UK sports councils concluded when they published transgender inclusion guidance for domestic sports last year, balancing transgender inclusion, safety and fairness at all times is not possible in every sport. When it comes to competitive sport, the government believes that fairness has to be the primary consideration. That is why in June 2022 the Culture Secretary convened a meeting of our domestic governing bodies to urge them to follow a policy that competitive women’s sport must be reserved for people born of the female sex. Sports governing bodies each have their own rules on transgender issues and it is appropriate that they can determine the right position for their own sport.
The Government is clear that a way forward is needed that protects and shows compassion to all athletes, whilst being clear that the integrity of competition must be maintained. We want to ensure that everybody in this country has the opportunity to play and enjoy sport.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact of the cost of hiring a car on holiday makers in the UK.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government does not generally intervene in how businesses choose to conduct their activities or offer their products and services, which is essentially a commercial matter. Business should be free to compete on matters such as quality, service and product pricing.
Provided consumers are not misled and able to make informed decisions, companies offering goods and services are free to offer their products and services under conditions of their choosing and consumers are able to choose those products and services or shop elsewhere for products and services which meet their requirements.
The Government is committed to supporting the tourism industry which is why we published the Tourism Recovery Plan in June 2021. It sets out the role of the government in assisting and accelerating the tourism sector’s recovery from COVID-19. The TRP sets out our ambitious and stretching targets to recover inbound visitor numbers and spend, and recover domestic overnight trip volume and spend, to 2019 levels at least a year faster than independent forecasts predict.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps the Government takes to help preserve and protect historical artefacts around the world.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The UK is a world leader in international cultural heritage protection and has taken concrete steps to protect cultural heritage around the world, including launching the Cultural Protection Fund, a partnership between the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport and the British Council, in 2016, ratifying the 1954 Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict and its two Protocols in 2017, and establishing the Ministry of Defence’s Cultural Property Protection Unit in 2017. The Government continues to fund protection efforts through the Cultural Protection Fund and works closely with domestic and international partners to protect cultural heritage at risk from conflict, instability and climate change around the world.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions she has had with representatives of the BBC on provision for staff to continue working past State Pension age.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Secretary of State meets regularly with the BBC to discuss a variety of issues.
The BBC is editorially and operationally independent of the government. The Government has no say over the BBC's day-to-day decisions, including its decisions on recruitment and staffing.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether he has had discussions with representatives of Channel 4 on whether its higher education partnerships in (a) Belfast and (b) Newry will remain open after privatisation.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government values Channel 4’s work in developing skills and talent pipelines, particularly in the nations and regions.
The Government would expect any new owner to have a business interest in supporting the development of talent and skills across the UK creative industries, as many of our public service and other broadcasters already do.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to the Government's contribution to Project Stratum and the rollout of broadband to rural areas of Northern Ireland, what recent assessment he has made of the progress of that project; and if he will take steps to help ensure that residents in the most rural areas of Strangford constituency benefit from that project.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Northern Ireland currently has the most gigabit-capable coverage of all the nations with 85% of premises already covered. This is in part due to the UK Government’s £172 million investment in Project Stratum, which has delivered connections to over 29,000 premises, the UK Government’s funding of projects to deliver full-fibre to public sector sites, and measures to bust barriers to commercial rollout.
Within the Strangford constituency, 93% of premises can access a superfast connection (>30Mbps) and 86% of premises are able to access a gigabit-capable connection. More than 4,700 premises are eligible to benefit from Project Stratum in the constituency. Current deployment plans confirm that more than 1,000 premises have been upgraded so far, with a further 1,700 premises scheduled to be completed this year and the remainder by the end of 2024.
Residents in the most rural areas of the Strangford constituency may also be eligible for support via the Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme, which supports rural communities with the cost of installing new gigabit-capable connections. The scheme provides a micro-grant of up to £1,500 for residents and up to £3,500 for businesses towards the cost of installing gigabit-capable broadband.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether he has had recent discussions with council leaders in Northern Ireland on community arts projects for the Platinum Jubilee; and if he will provide additional funding to the devolved nations for this purpose.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
I have not held any recent discussions with Council leaders in Northern Ireland in relation to Community Arts projects for the Platinum Jubilee.
I am however pleased that £11.5m of UK-wide funding was made available through the National Lottery Community Fund and the National Lottery Heritage Fund to help communities mark the Jubilee.
Decisions on funding for community arts projects are devolved to each devolved nation.