Asked by: Kate Osamor (Independent - Edmonton)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department has taken to consult the public on its decision to privatise Channel 4.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
As a self-financing public corporation, under its current ownership model, Channel 4 is publicly-owned but commercially run.
Following an extensive public consultation, the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport has come to a decision that although Channel 4 as a business is currently performing well, public ownership is holding it back in the face of a rapidly-changing and competitive media landscape.
The Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport has consulted with Cabinet colleagues on that decision. The Government will publish its consultation response shortly, and set out the future plan for Channel 4 in a White Paper.
Asked by: Kate Osamor (Independent - Edmonton)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if she will publish the results of her Department's consultation on a change of ownership of Channel 4 Television Corporation.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
As a self-financing public corporation, under its current ownership model, Channel 4 is publicly-owned but commercially run.
Following an extensive public consultation, the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport has come to a decision that although Channel 4 as a business is currently performing well, public ownership is holding it back in the face of a rapidly-changing and competitive media landscape.
The Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport has consulted with Cabinet colleagues on that decision. The Government will publish its consultation response shortly, and set out the future plan for Channel 4 in a White Paper.
Asked by: Kate Osamor (Independent - Edmonton)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to her oral evidence to the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee of November 2021 that Channel 4 is in receipt of public money, if she will confirm what public funding Channel 4 receives.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
As a self-financing public corporation, under its current ownership model, Channel 4 is publicly-owned but commercially run.
Following an extensive public consultation, the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport has come to a decision that although Channel 4 as a business is currently performing well, public ownership is holding it back in the face of a rapidly-changing and competitive media landscape.
The Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport has consulted with Cabinet colleagues on that decision. The Government will publish its consultation response shortly, and set out the future plan for Channel 4 in a White Paper.
Asked by: Kate Osamor (Independent - Edmonton)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether the additional £30 million allocated to the Cultural Recovery Fund will be accessible to freelance creatives and other workers in the creative sector who are economically impacted by the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
This £30m for the Culture Recovery Fund being made newly available for organisations will be used to increase the budget for the relaunched Emergency Resource Support strand of CRF in order to meet the demand from across the cultural sector.
Freelancers are supported through the Culture Recovery Fund by ensuring the venues and organisations which support them have survived the pandemic.
The Government announced on 23rd December that it has also provided an immediate £1.5 million to support freelancers affected by the pandemic, underpinning a further £1.35 million funding from the theatre sector. The Government, via Arts Council England, is providing grants of £650,000 each to charities Theatre Artists Fund and Help Musicians, and £200,000 to a-n, The Artist Information Company, a charity for visual artists, to give a much needed helping hand to freelancers over the coming weeks.
Asked by: Kate Osamor (Independent - Edmonton)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to her Department's Consultation on a change of ownership of Channel 4 Television Corporation, what steps she plans to take if there is public opposition to a change in Channel 4's current operating model.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The government is committed to the success and sustainability of public service broadcasting, including the continuing success of Channel 4, and preserving its unique and vital role in UK broadcasting.
We have publicly consulted on the best ownership model to support Channel 4 into the future and have welcomed responses from all stakeholders. We are carefully considering all the views and evidence received to inform the government’s policy-making and final decision.
Asked by: Kate Osamor (Independent - Edmonton)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department plans to publish the results of the consultation on a change of ownership of Channel 4 Television Corporation.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
We have consulted on the best ownership model to support Channel 4 into the future. We are carefully considering all the views and evidence we have received to inform the government’s policy-making and final decision.
The Government’s response will be published in due course.
Asked by: Kate Osamor (Independent - Edmonton)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what estimate his Department has made of the date and year by which Channel 4 will no longer potentially be a profitable broadcaster under its current model.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Linear TV broadcasting is facing increasing and unprecedented pressure from competition for viewers from high spending streaming giants, and there is growing pressure on TV advertising revenues too. Ofcom have recognised these challenges in their latest recommendations to the government on the future of public service media, published on 15 July.
Channel 4 is uniquely constrained in its ability to meet these challenges while it remains under public ownership. In comparison to other public service broadcasters, its access to capital is highly constrained. By virtue of the publisher-broadcaster restriction and borrowing restrictions placed upon it, its ability to diversify its income streams is also limited. These factors restrict Channel 4’s ability to respond to changing market dynamics now and into the future.
Recognising this challenge, we are looking at reform to protect Channel 4's long term future so it can continue to be a valued public service broadcaster, serving audiences with great public service content for years to come.
We have consulted on the best model to ensure Channel 4’s sustainability. We are analysing all the responses to ensure evidence feeds into the government’s policy-making and final decision.
Asked by: Kate Osamor (Independent - Edmonton)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department has made an assessment of the possibility of increasing the borrowing limits available to Channel 4 as an alternative to privatisation.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
As set out in our consultation document, we are seeking views on the best model to ensure Channel 4’s sustainability in an ever-changing and competitive landscape, and we continue to remain open to all options to address this. We are currently analysing the views and evidence we have received from a broad range of stakeholders to inform the government’s policy-making and final decision.
Asked by: Kate Osamor (Independent - Edmonton)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, in the context of the collapse of football gambling firm Football Index, what steps she is taking to help ensure that those persons (a) affected by the collapse are compensated and (b) responsible for that collapse are held to account.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The government appreciates the significant impact that the collapse of the novel gambling product Football Index had on former customers. Administration proceedings for BetIndex, the company which operated Football Index, are continuing. These are looking at the assets and liabilities of the operator and what is owed to customers. It is likely that this process will result in some amounts being reimbursed to creditors.
The Gambling Commission has revoked BetIndex’s operating licence and the Personal Management Licences held by senior members of the company have been surrendered. The Commission has also referred the company to the Insolvency Service to ask that they consider whether the actions of the directors prior to administration breached insolvency or fraud laws.
Asked by: Kate Osamor (Independent - Edmonton)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions his Department has had with the Home Office on including creative professionals on the list of self-employed workers benefiting from visa-free travel for work purposes.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
This Government recognises the importance of the UK’s thriving cultural industries, and that is why it pushed for ambitious arrangements to make it easier for performers and artists to perform across Europe as part of the negotiations on our future relationship with the EU.
This Government proposed to the EU that musicians, and their technical staff, be added to the list of permitted activities for short-term business visitors in the entry and temporary stay chapter of the Trade and Cooperation Agreement. This would have allowed musicians and their staff to travel and perform in the EU more easily, without needing work-permits. These proposals were rejected by the EU.
As with legal text shared in confidence with trading partners, elaborating on discussions between departments related to the development of legal text for trade agreements would not be appropriate as these discussions took place in confidence.