Asked by: Kevin Hollinrake (Conservative - Thirsk and Malton)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 25 April 2025 to Question 45800 on Press: Misconduct, what steps her Department is taking to help ensure that arbitration schemes operated by press regulators are available to provide timely and effective redress before the Government directs members of the public to them in guidance.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The UK has a self-regulatory system for the press, which is independent from Government. This is vital to ensure the public has access to accurate and trustworthy information from a range of different sources. The Government therefore does not intervene in or evaluate the work of independent press regulators.
However, under Section 179 of the Data Protection Act every three years the Secretary of State must lay before Parliament a report on the use and effectiveness of alternative dispute resolution procedures, such as arbitration, in cases involving a failure or alleged failure by relevant media organisations to comply with data protection legislation. The most recent report was presented to Parliament in May 2024 and was carried independently of DCMS by David Rossington, as the Independent Reviewer. The report is published on the Gov.uk website:
Asked by: Kevin Hollinrake (Conservative - Thirsk and Malton)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether the Prime Minister plans to recuse himself from the appointments process for non-executive board members of the independent football regulator.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Football Governance Act 2025 is clear that decisions regarding the appointment of Non-Executive Members of the Independent Football Regulator are made by the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport.
Asked by: Kevin Hollinrake (Conservative - Thirsk and Malton)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what her planned timetable is for the appointment of board members of the independent football regulator.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Three board members are already in place at the IFR. A robust, transparent process to recruit a further four appointees, to complement the existing talent, opened on 12 November. Applications are due on 10 December and the full details are on the public appointments pages of Gov.uk:
Asked by: Kevin Hollinrake (Conservative - Thirsk and Malton)
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 current operational status of the IPSO Arbitration Scheme, including whether arbitrators are presently being appointed to claims, and what evaluation she has made of the implications of any such delays for the public’s ability to access timely and effective redress.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The UK has a self-regulatory system for the press, which is independent from Government. This is vital to ensure the public has access to accurate and trustworthy information from a range of different sources. The Government therefore does not intervene in or evaluate the work of IPSO.
However, under Section 179 of the Data Protection Act every three years the Secretary of State must lay before Parliament a report on the use and effectiveness of alternative dispute resolution procedures, such as arbitration, in cases involving a failure or alleged failure by relevant media organisations to comply with data protection legislation. The most recent report was presented to Parliament in May 2024 and was carried independently of DCMS by David Rossington, as the Independent Reviewer. The report is published on the Gov.uk website: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/67d2ded5fb8db2176d5e97d0/Formatted_240312_SECOND_REPORT_UNDER_SECTION_179_OF_THE_DATA_PROTECTION_ACT_v3__FINAL__accessible.pdf.
Asked by: Kevin Hollinrake (Conservative - Thirsk and Malton)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, further to Foreign Affairs Committee, Oral evidence: Work of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, HC 385, 3 November 2025, Q282, if she will place the National Archives documentation on the meeting with Jeffery Epstein in the Library of the House.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The records cited in the Foreign Affairs Committee’s oral evidence session on the Work of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (HC 385, 3 November 2025, Q282) can be viewed at The National Archives under references PREM 49/3326 and PREM 49/2771.
Additionally, a copy of PREM 49/3326 is available digitally on The National Archives’ website.
Asked by: Kevin Hollinrake (Conservative - Thirsk and Malton)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether the Government has responded to the Commissioner for Public Appointment's decision notice on the Independent Football Regulator appointment of November 2025.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The department is committed to learning from this process and will work with the Cabinet Office to take forward the Commissioner’s recommendations.
Asked by: Kevin Hollinrake (Conservative - Thirsk and Malton)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 4 November 2025 to Question 85202 on Sports: Women, what guidance (a) her Department and (b) the Charity Commission have issued to (i) local authorities and (ii) charities on sporting events that ban the participation of women and provide no alternative single-sex provision; and whether they have received representations in relation to events in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport has not issued guidance to either local authorities or charities on sporting events, and it has not received representations in relation to events in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets.
I refer the Honourable Member/my Honourable to the answer I gave on 4 November 2025 to Question 85202: “The Charity Commission for England and Wales provides guidance for charities on compliance with the Equality Act 2010.”
The Charity Commission has received representations in relation to events in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets from three Members of Parliament,. David Holdsworth, CEO of the Charity Commission, sent a reply on 18 November 2025.
Asked by: Kevin Hollinrake (Conservative - Thirsk and Malton)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether the appointment of David Kogan as Independent Football Regulator Chair required the Prime Minister's approval.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
No. The Football Governance Act (2025) sets out in Schedule 2, Part 2, that in relation to the Board of the Independent Football Regulator “the non-executive members are to be appointed by the Secretary of State”. In this case the decision to appoint the Chair was delegated to the Minister for Sport.
Asked by: Kevin Hollinrake (Conservative - Thirsk and Malton)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department has issued guidance to charities on the (a) participation of and (b) provision of parallel provision for (i) older girls and (ii) women in sporting events.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Charity Commission for England and Wales provides guidance for charities on compliance with the Equality Act 2010.
The Government is committed to supporting every aspect of women’s sport and ensuring all women and girls, no matter their background, are able to participate in sport and physical activity.
The This Girl Can campaign, run by our Arm’s Length Body Sport England, has inspired millions of women and girls to get active. 1.6 million more women are expected to be active as a result of the campaign by 2028.
We’ve also launched the Women’s Sport Taskforce to tackle challenges and barriers facing women and girls in sport, from grassroots to elite.
More widely, the Government is also harnessing the power of hosting major sporting events, such as investing £6.7 million into the Impact 25’ programme for the Women’s Rugby World Cup, which has been used to make facilities more accessible for women, train new female coaches and match officials and provide sanitary packages to clubs nationwide. To honour the Lionesses recent European Championship triumph, the Government has announced new plans that are expected to more than double the share of slots dedicated to women’s and girls’ teams at Government-funded facilities across England over the next five years.
Asked by: Kevin Hollinrake (Conservative - Thirsk and Malton)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 28 April 2025 to Question 45662 on Universal Studios: Bedfordshire, what her planned timetable is for publishing this information.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government is following due process and will publish further information later this year.