Asked by: Liz Twist (Labour - Blaydon and Consett)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
What plans he has to provide additional financial support to the civil and voluntary sector during the national covid-19 lockdown announced in January 2021.
Answered by Matt Warman
The £750 million sector funding package offered unprecedented support to allow charities and social enterprises to continue their vital work and support our national response to the pandemic.
In addition, the Government continues to make a package of support available across the economy to enable organisations to get through the months ahead. This includes the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, which continues to be a lifeline to a multitude of organisations.
Asked by: Liz Twist (Labour - Blaydon and Consett)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of his Department working with the Department for Health and Social Care to improve voluntary sector provision for young people who self-harm, as recommended by the Samaritans in their October 2020 report entitled Pushed from pillar to post: Improving the availability and quality of support after self-harm in England.
Answered by John Whittingdale
The Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) has overall policy responsibility for children and young people’s mental health.
While DCMS has made no assessment on this specific issue, we are aware of the detrimental impact Covid-19 has had on young people’s mental health.
Officials and Ministers regularly engage with young people, including through our Youth Steering Group and events hosted by the youth sector. In recent conversations young people have highlighted the impact Covid-19 has had on mental wellbeing and loneliness.
A total of £4.7 million from the Government’s £750 million Charities package went to support mental health charities, including support for young people’s mental health.
In addition to this, the Department for Health and Social Care provided £6 million to the Coronavirus Mental Health Response Fund, which has supported over 130 charities to date.
Asked by: Liz Twist (Labour - Blaydon and Consett)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment the Government has made of the potential merits of fan representation on football club boards.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
Football clubs are the heart of local communities, they have unique social value and many with a great history. It is vital they are protected.
The Government’s Expert Working Group on football supporter ownership and engagement in 2016 set out a number of recommendations to encourage greater engagement between supporters and those that run their club, while also helping to remove barriers to supporter ownership.
Whilst the Group was broadly supportive of the idea of supporter directors on club boards in principle, it believed that strong, structured dialogue with a representative group of supporters is a more inclusive way of ensuring supporters are informed and able to hold club owners and senior executives to account. The Premier League and English Football League now require clubs to meet with supporters at least twice a year to discuss strategic issues, giving fans the opportunity to shape the direction of the club.