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.