Asked by: Jon Trickett (Labour - Hemsworth)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what the wage ratio was between the highest paid member of staff in her Department and the lowest in (a) 2020, (b) 2021 and (c) 2022.
Answered by Matt Warman
The DCMS Annual Report for 2020-2021 provides information on the highest and lowest remuneration for staff for the years 19/20 and 20/21:
Remuneration ranged from £22,375 to £185,000 (2019-20: £21,117 to £195,000).
| 2021-2022 | 2020-2021 | 2019-2020 |
Highest remuneration of any DCMS employee | Not yet published | £195,000 | £185,000 |
Lowest remuneration of any DCMS employee | £22,375 | £21,117 | |
Ratio | 8.72 | 8.76 |
This calculation is based on total remuneration, and therefore takes into account salary, allowances, non-consolidated performance related pay and benefits in kind. It does not include severance payments, employer pension contributions and the cash equivalent transfer value of pensions.
Information for 2021-22 is not yet available and will be published in the 21-22 DCMS Annual Report and Accounts (publication aimed for October 2022).
The figures provided are subject to audit.
Asked by: Jon Trickett (Labour - Hemsworth)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, how much her Department spent on hospitality in (a) 2020, (b) 2021 and (c) 2022.
Answered by Matt Warman
The Department spent the following amounts on hospitality between 2019-2022:
2019-20 - £18,040
2020-21 - £124
2021-22 - £102,073
*2021-22 figures are unaudited.
The expenditure for 2021-22 includes £92,000 in relation to the Future Tech Forum, a two day event in November 2021 where the Secretary of State for DCMS hosted leading figures from around the world, including Ministers.
Asked by: Jon Trickett (Labour - Hemsworth)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what estimate he has made of the number of (a) people and (b) households that are considered digitally excluded (i) in the UK and (ii) in each region of the UK in the latest period for which figures are available.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
According to the latest Lloyds Bank 2021 Consumer Index, over 9 million people in the UK are lacking in foundation digital skills and 5% (2.6 million) of the population have not been online in the last 3 months.
There has been a substantial decrease amongst the amount of households that do not have internet access. Between 2020 and 2021, the percentage of households without internet access has decreased from 7% to 4% in the UK.
The Lloyds Bank Consumer Index estimates that 13% of people in Wales, 8% of people in the North East and 8% of people in the South West have not been online in the past 3 months. These are the areas with the highest proportion of people offline. The East Midlands is estimated to have 6% of people offline, the North West, South East, and Yorkshire and the Humber have an estimated 4% offline. Both the West Midlands and London have 3% of their population offline.
Asked by: Jon Trickett (Labour - Hemsworth)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what estimate he has made of the average internet (a) download and upload speed and (b) monthly cost for households in each region of the UK in the latest period for which figures are available.
Answered by Matt Warman
Superfast broadband coverage is now available to over 97% of the UK, and Think Broadband reports that gigabit-capable networks now serve more than two in five (40%) premises in the UK.
Earlier this month, Ofcom published its UK Home Broadband Performance research which showed that the average download speed in the UK was 80.2 Mbps. This is an increase of 25% from 2019. The same report highlighted upload speeds of 21.6 Mbps which is equal to a 54% increase over the same period. Upload and download speeds will vary based on the type of connectivity installed within a property and the consumer’s individual retail package.
Ofcom published as part of its Connected Nations report in June 2020 the average speeds for each Nation. This showed the average download speeds as:
England: 74 Mbps
Wales: 58 Mbps
Scotland: 70Mbps
Northern Ireland: 64 Mbps
Regional data is produced on a quarterly basis by the website ThinkBroadband, and can be accessed at the following address: https://labs2.thinkbroadband.com/local/browse. Average speeds have been increasing each quarter as more premises have access to gigabit-capable broadband networks.
Different packages offered by suppliers may offer greater speeds, data allowances or other benefits, so it is difficult to assess the average cost. For example a number of broadband packages may include Pay TV subscriptions and other additional add-ons. However, to ensure decent broadband is affordable to everyone, a number of operators have brought in new nationwide affordable tariffs starting at £15 per month. For example, BT and Hyperoptic provide fibre social tariff products for households in receipt of Universal Credit and other means-tested benefits offering download speeds ranging from 40Mbps, up to 150Mbps.
Asked by: Jon Trickett (Labour - Hemsworth)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if spectators will be permitted to attend non-elite sport from 17 May 2021.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
As set out in the roadmap announced by the Prime Minister on Monday 22 February, spectators at some large events will return subject to capacity caps from step 3 (expected to take place no earlier than 17 May). Government is working to produce both overarching guidance for all outdoor events and guidance for different spectator environments such as non-elite sports which will be available as we progress along the roadmap.
Asked by: Jon Trickett (Labour - Hemsworth)
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 all meeting minutes from all meetings between his Department and the National League, in relation to funding support for National League football clubs.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
I am content to share copies of all my written correspondence with the National League with the Hon Member’s office which detail my discussions with them on this issue.
On 19 November 2020 I gave a statement to the House on the principles of the Sports Winter Survival Package, which was open to National League clubs.
Asked by: Jon Trickett (Labour - Hemsworth)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, how much each sport has received from the £50 million fund as part of Sport England's 10 year plan announced on 26 January 2021.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
Sports and physical activity are incredibly important for our physical and mental health, and are a vital weapon against coronavirus.
The Government has provided unprecedented support to businesses through tax reliefs, cash grants and employee wage support. On 22 October 2020, the Government also announced a £100million support fund for local authority leisure centres.
Sport England has also provided £220million directly to support community sport clubs and exercise centres through this pandemic, via a range of funds including their £35million Community Emergency Fund. This sector support was recently boosted by an extra £50million to help grassroots sports clubs and organisations as part of Sport England’s new strategy Uniting the Movement. This funding is yet to be allocated and Sport England will provide further information in due course.
We are continuing to work with organisations to understand what they need and how we may be able to support them.
Asked by: Jon Trickett (Labour - Hemsworth)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, which (a) sports and (b) institutions have received funding from Sport England's £50 million covid-19 grassroots sport support funding issued as part of Sport England's 10 year plan announced on 26 January 2021.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
Sports and physical activity are incredibly important for our physical and mental health, and are a vital weapon against coronavirus.
The Government has provided unprecedented support to businesses through tax reliefs, cash grants and employee wage support. On 22 October 2020, the Government also announced a £100million support fund for local authority leisure centres.
Sport England has also provided £220million directly to support community sport clubs and exercise centres through this pandemic, via a range of funds including their £35million Community Emergency Fund. This sector support was recently boosted by an extra £50million to help grassroots sports clubs and organisations as part of Sport England’s new strategy Uniting the Movement. This funding is yet to be allocated and Sport England will provide further information in due course.
We are continuing to work with organisations to understand what they need and how we may be able to support them.
Asked by: Jon Trickett (Labour - Hemsworth)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, which (a) sports and (b) institutions have received funding from Sport England's £220 million Covid-19 grassroots sport support fund; and how much each (i) sport and (ii) institution has received.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
Sports and physical activity are incredibly important for our physical and mental health, and are a vital weapon against coronavirus.
The Government has provided unprecedented support to businesses through tax reliefs, cash grants and employee wage support. The Treasury estimates that around £1.5 billion of public money has gone into sports.
As part of this, Sport England has committed £220m of National Lottery and Exchequer funding since March 2020 to support community sport clubs and exercise centres through this pandemic. Up to 27 January 2021, £162m of this funding has been distributed to a range of sports activities. This sector support was recently boosted by an extra £50million to help grassroots sports clubs and organisations as part of Sport England’s new strategy Uniting the Movement. Further details of Sport England funding including the organisations that have benefited can be found at: https://www.sportengland.org/why-were-here.
The £300m Sports Winter Survival Package also aims to protect the immediate futures of major spectator sports in England over the winter period. On 22 October 2020, the Government also announced a £100m support fund for local authority leisure centres.
We are continuing to work with organisations to understand what they need and how we may be able to support them. We will also continue to promote exercise throughout the pandemic and encourage the usage of sports facilities when they are able to open again.
Asked by: Jon Trickett (Labour - Hemsworth)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what funding he has provided to investigate the link between football and the risk of dementia.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
My department has not provided funding to football for the specific purpose of investigating the link between football and dementia. Sports have a responsibility to understand the potential risks to the health and wellbeing of their participants, and put in place measures to ensure their safety.