Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how much her Department spent on staff training related to diversity and inclusion in 2022.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
All staff were expected to complete Diversity and Inclusion e-learning on Civil Service Learning in 2022. All e-learning is free of charge to staff as it is covered by the department’s annual payment to access the Civil Service Learning platform.
There was no dedicated budget for Diversity and Inclusion training in 2022.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what financial support he is providing to the cultural and arts sector during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
Last year the government announced the unprecedented £1.57 billion support package for the culture sector, of which over £1 billion has now been allocated to almost 3,800 arts and culture organisations across the country and a further £500 million to enable the film and TV sector to restart production. This funding is supporting the arts and culture sector to survive the pandemic and continue operating. On 4 March, the Chancellor announced over £400 million in additional funding for arts, culture and heritage industries, including £300 million additional funding for the Culture Recovery Fund, to continue to support key cultural organisations as audiences begin to return.
The £300 million additional funding for the Culture Recovery Fund will continue to support key cultural organisations; bridge the sector as audiences begin to return; and continue to ensure a vibrant future for the culture sector as the nation recovers from the pandemic. The Fund covers charitable and private organisations of all sizes in the arts, museums, heritage sectors as well as music venues, festivals and independent cinemas.
The Government’s other unprecedented packages of support includes bespoke support schemes for those who are self employed. SEISS has so far helped c.2.7 million self employed. Details on future SEISS support were announced by the Chancellor in his Budget Statement with an extension of the scheme to September 2021, with 600,000 more people who filed a tax return in 2019-20 now able to claim for the first time. The Government has extended the temporary reduced rate of VAT (5%) for hospitality, accommodation and attractions from 31 March to 30 September 2021. In addition, to help businesses manage the transition back to the standard rate, a 12.5% rate will then apply for a further six months, until 31 March 2022.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
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 is taking to support heritage crafts.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
The Government fully recognises the contribution that the UK’s heritage crafts make to the country’s cultural fabric and international reputation. We welcome programmes of support to help artisans and communities continue to practice those traditions which are important to them. For example, organisations such as Arts Council England and the National Lottery Heritage Fund provide grants for community organisations to support traditional craft skills.
The Heritage Stimulus Fund stream of the Culture Recovery Fund, co-ordinated by Historic England, provided £53m of funding to support construction and conservation projects at heritage sites across England. This included funding over 1000 projects directly, and also providing over £11m of funds through umbrella organisations including the Historic Houses Association and Church of England. These construction and conservation projects have sustained a pipeline of work for skilled craftspeople. I also recognise the contribution of philanthropy to this vital element of our shared heritage.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what funding the Government plans to make available to support the celebration of Her Majesty the Queen’s forthcoming platinum Jubilee.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
The UK Government expects funding for the Platinum Jubilee celebrations to come from a range of sources and every effort will be made to ensure that any activities and programmes for the Jubilee do not impose an unnecessary burden on the taxpayer.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
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 is taking to block websites which (a) promote misinformation on and (b) encourage suicide.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
In December 2020, we published the Full Government Response to the Online Harms White Paper consultation, which sets out new expectations on companies to keep their users safe online.
Under a new legal duty of care, in-scope companies will need to remove and limit the spread of illegal content and protect children from harmful content and activity online. This includes illegal content on websites which encourages or incites suicide online, with all companies expected to take swift and effective action against such content. Companies will also be required to tackle illegal disinformation, for example, where this contains direct incitement to violence, such as encouraging burning down phone masts on the false premise they spread coronavirus.
We also recognise that some users, including young adults, may be exposed to harmful content that relates to self-harm or suicide which does not breach a criminal threshold. The major companies will also have a duty to tackle legal but harmful content, including material which relates to self-harm or suicide, which can have a serious psychological and emotional impact. These companies will also need to set out what content, including misinformation and disinformation, is acceptable in their terms and conditions. If what is appearing on their services does not match up with the promises made to users, Ofcom will be able to take enforcement action.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
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 is taking to measure Intangible Cultural Heritage.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government fully recognises the contribution that the UK’s oral traditions, social practices and festive events make to the country’s cultural fabric. While it is not possible to measure all intangible heritage, as it is constantly evolving, there are many programmes to help communities continue to practice those traditions which are important to them. For example, organisations such as Arts Council England and the National Lottery Heritage Fund provide grants for community organisations to support such intangible customs as traditional craft skills, languages and artistic expressions.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, how many libraries have closed in the last five years.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
The Libraries Taskforce published the 'Public libraries in England: extended dataset' on 11 January 2018 (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/public-libraries-in-england-basic-dataset#history) provides details of static libraries (statutory and non-statutory) in England as at 1 April 2010 and 1 July 2016, and includes information on permanent library closures, as well as new libraries opening.
Details relating to static libraries as at 31 December 2019 has been collected by Arts Council England and will be published shortly.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, how many new libraries have been opened in the last five years.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
The Libraries Taskforce published the 'Public libraries in England: extended dataset' on 11 January 2018 (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/public-libraries-in-england-basic-dataset#history) provides details of static libraries (statutory and non-statutory) in England as at 1 April 2010 and 1 July 2016, and includes information on permanent library closures, as well as new libraries opening.
Details relating to static libraries as at 31 December 2019 has been collected by Arts Council England and will be published shortly.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what progress his Department has made on delivering support for the culture and heritage sector through the Culture Recovery Fund.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
We have now reached a critical milestone - £1 billion worth of funding from the Culture Recovery Fund has been allocated across all four nations of the UK. That includes:
Direct support to national institutions and the Devolved Administrations, who have received £188 million through the Barnett formula;
Over £500million in recovery grants to over 3000 arts and heritage organisations in England;
Over £100million in capital grants to arts and heritage organisations;
And over £160million in generous repayable finance to some of our most iconic national institutions
The £1 billion already committed has supported over 3000 organisations to weather this storm, supporting more than 75,000 jobs, with many more freelancers and jobs in vital supply chain industries also benefitting.
An additional £400m of grants and loan funding was announced on 11 December, which will support significant cultural organisations who now face financial distress as a result of closure, as well as helping them transition back to fuller opening in the spring.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what support his Department is providing to spectator sports during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government has been working closely with sport governing bodies and clubs across the country to fully assess what support is needed, as a result of the restrictions many sports have faced around the return of fans.
As a result of this work, on 19 November 2020 we announced a £300 million Sports Winter Survival Package to protect their immediate futures over the winter period.
These interventions were on top of the multi-billion pound package of business support from the Treasury that has enabled many sports clubs and leisure businesses to survive, including the furlough scheme and business interruption loan scheme. Sports have accessed many hundreds of millions of pounds of support through this.
We have also now enabled the return of fans to sports events in tiers one and two, which will provide a vital boost to the sector on the road to recovery.