Asked by: Justin Tomlinson (Conservative - North Swindon)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, against what criteria she measures the compliance of local authorities with the Public Libraries and Museums Act 1964.
Answered by Rob Wilson
The Public Libraries and Museums Act 1964 requires local authorities in England to provide a comprehensive and efficient library service for their local communities. The 1964 Act requires the Secretary of State to superintend, and promote the improvement of, the public library service provided by local authorities in England, and to secure the proper discharge by local authorities of the duties conferred on local authorities under the Act.
The Secretary of State has the power to intervene by directing a local inquiry following a complaint that a local authority has failed to carry out its duties under the Act, or of her own motion. In taking that decision, the Secretary of State gives consideration to a number of factors, including:
Where a complaint is raised we will consider the available evidence in light of the above factors. If there is serious doubt that the library service provided by the local authority offers a comprehensive and efficient service, I will not hesitate to open an inquiry.
Asked by: Justin Tomlinson (Conservative - North Swindon)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what plans she has to support the library service in England.
Answered by Rob Wilson
I am responding as Minister with responsibility for Libraries policy.
The Public Libraries and Museums Act 1964 requires the Secretary of State to superintend, and promote the improvement of, the public library service provided by local authorities in England, and to secure the proper discharge by local authorities of the functions in relation to libraries as conferred on them as library authorities.
The Government invested £2.6m in 2015/16 to install and upgrade WiFi in over 1,000 libraries in England. This means that WiFi is now available in over 99% of public libraries in England.
In addition, the Government and the Local Government Association established the Libraries Taskforce in 2015. The Taskforce has already published Toolkits and case studies to assist local authorities and consulted on “Ambition”, a draft vision for public libraries. This will provide a range of practical and innovative options local authorities can deploy to maintain and transform our library services. I expect to see local authorities working with Government and their local communities to consider these options, and to ensure library services are sustainable for the long term.
Asked by: Justin Tomlinson (Conservative - North Swindon)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what further steps her Department plans to take to tackle unsolicited and nuisance telephone calls.
Answered by Matt Hancock
We are taking forward a range of legislative measures to tackle nuisance calls, which will increase consumer protection and choice by strengthening the Information Commissioner's Office's (ICO) ability to take enforcement action against organisations that break the law. Specific actions include; strengthening the ICO's direct marketing guidance by giving it statutory status; a proposal to extend the ICO’s powers of compulsory audit to more of the organisations that generate nuisance calls; and exploring the options for enabling the ICO to hold company directors to account for breaches of the direct marketing rules.
Asked by: Justin Tomlinson (Conservative - North Swindon)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what estimate she has made of the value of the video games industry to the UK economy.
Answered by Matt Hancock
Latest estimates from the DCMS Creative Industries Economic Estimates (https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/creative-industries-economic-estimates-january-2016 ) show that Gross Value Added for the computer games industry in the UK was £426m in 2014.
Research by Nesta and trade association Ukie (http://www.nesta.org.uk/publications/map-uk-games-industry ) seeks to include the contribution of micro-businesses together with official statistics and this suggested that the contribution of video games could be substantially higher. We look forward to seeing the next iteration of this research which is due to be revealed this month and aims to further reflect the fast growing nature of the UK’s digital businesses.
Asked by: Justin Tomlinson (Conservative - North Swindon)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the potential economic benefit to the UK of hosting the World Athletics Championship and the IPC World Championships in 2017.
Answered by Tracey Crouch
The potential economic benefit of hosting the 2017 IAAF World Athletics Championships and the IPC World Championships in London is currently expected to be in excess of £100m. This will build on the significant positive economic impact of the London Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2012.
Asked by: Justin Tomlinson (Conservative - North Swindon)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the effect of the success of the London 2012 Olympic Games on the success of the competitors at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.
Answered by Tracey Crouch
The London 2012 Olympic Games were a huge success with sold-out venues and the best British performance for over 100 years in winning 65 medals. The Games left a legacy of increased participation and world-class sporting venues which are now being used by our elite athletes as well as local communities.
The commitment from the Government immediately following the London 2012 Olympic Games to confirm and sustain Exchequer support for the UK Sport World Class Programme was a significant moment in underpinning the success of Rio, providing UK Sport, and the National Governing Bodies of sport, with the necessary financial support to invest in medal success across the Olympic and Paralympic sports.
I am confident that this success will continue at the Rio 2016 Paralympics, and through to Tokyo in 2020 and beyond. Since 2012, UK Sport funded athletes have given back over 18,000 days visiting schools and local projects as part of our commitment to inspire the next generation.
Asked by: Justin Tomlinson (Conservative - North Swindon)
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 disability sport in each year since 2010.
Answered by Tracey Crouch
Government is committed to increasing opportunities for disabled people to get involved in sport and physical activity, both at the grassroots and elite level.
For the period 2011 - 17, Sport England is investing over £170 million as part of its Whole Sport Plan Investment to encourage and support disabled people to play sport.
In the current 2013-17 Rio Olympic and Paralympic cycle, UK Sport are investing around £350 million in the Summer Olympic and Paralympic sports, and a further £31m in the Winter Olympic and Paralympic sports, targeting success in PyeongChang 2018 and Tokyo 2020. The Government, through UK Sport, is investing almost £73m into 18 summer Paralympic sports during the Rio 2016 cycle, an increase of 48% from London 2012, and £2.7m into winter Paralympic sport during the current cycle.
Asked by: Justin Tomlinson (Conservative - North Swindon)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many young people from (a) North Swindon and (b) England have participated in the National Citizen Service in each of the last five years.
Answered by Rob Wilson
The NCS Trust does not collect data at a constituency level. Therefore, the figures in the table below are for the local authority area of Swindon. Details of participation rates have been held at local authority level since 2012. The participation rates set out below also include a small number of participants from Northern Ireland.
There was considerable national growth in the programme in 2015 – exact figures on 2015 NCS participation will be published in the independent evaluation in due course.
Year | Swindon | England and Northern Ireland |
2011 | - | 8,434 |
2012 | 117 | 26,003 |
2013 | 110 | 39,994 |
2014 | 181 | 57,789 |
Asked by: Justin Tomlinson (Conservative - North Swindon)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how her Department plans to measure progress of the implementation of its sports strategy.
Answered by Tracey Crouch
Progress will be measured against the five outcomes set out in Sporting Future: A New Strategy for an Active Nation. Information will be collected about the key performance indicators the strategy sets out, drawing on data from a range of sources. We will submit an annual report to parliament on the progress.
Asked by: Justin Tomlinson (Conservative - North Swindon)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions he has had with the National Lottery about extending funding to the video games industry.
Answered by Lord Vaizey of Didcot
No specific discussions have taken place with the National Lottery about the use of Lottery funding in relation to the video games industry. This Government has restored the Lottery shares for heritage sports, and arts good causes to 20%, so contributing to a significant increase in Lottery funding for those areas since the beginning of this Parliament. It is for individual Distributing bodies to determine the beneficiaries of Lottery monies in making awards within their good cause sectors, taking account of their Policy Directions.