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Written Question
Internet: Safety
Monday 21st November 2022

Asked by: Lucy Powell (Labour (Co-op) - Manchester Central)

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, how much from the public purse her Department has spent on (a) staff activity, (b) external research and advice, (c) public consultation and (d) stakeholder engagement on activities related to the Online Safety Bill since May 2018.

Answered by Paul Scully

Figures on DCMS’s public spending can be found in DCMS’s Annual Report and Accounts, available on GOV.UK. Spending relating to the Online Safety Bill is a subset of the reported spend of the Security and Online Harms Directorate.


Written Question
Media: Expenditure
Monday 21st November 2022

Asked by: Lucy Powell (Labour (Co-op) - Manchester Central)

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 has spent on (a) staff activity, (b) external research and advice, (c) public consultation and (d) stakeholder engagement related to the (i) Broadcasting White Paper and the (ii) Media Bill since the start of the 2021-22 financial year.

Answered by Julia Lopez - Shadow Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology

Figures on DCMS’s public spending can be found in DCMS’s Annual Report and Accounts, available on GOV.UK. Spending relating to the Broadcasting White Paper and Media Bill is a subset of the reported spend of the Media and Creative Industries Directorate.


Written Question
Future of Women's Football Review: Civil Servants
Friday 18th November 2022

Asked by: Lucy Powell (Labour (Co-op) - Manchester Central)

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the answer of 18 October 2022 to Question 59875 on Future of Women's Football Review: Civil Servants, how many civil servants from the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport have been allocated to the Secretariat for the Women's Football Review.

Answered by Stuart Andrew - Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care

The Chair of the Independent Review of the Future of Women's Football is being supported by a Secretariat of officials from the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) and with some support from the Football Association and additional resources as appropriate.

While team level workforce data is not published, departmental level headcounts can be reviewed as part of national statistics on Civil Service employment numbers. These are published each quarter by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) as part of their Public Sector Employment statistical release. The latest figures were published 13 September 2022 and showed the position as at 30 June 2022. The next figures will be published 13 December for the end of September position.

More timely workforce information is also published by departments in the interests of transparency on GOV.UK each month. This monthly workforce management information (MWMI) includes additional breakdowns on department and agency employment numbers e.g. showing contingent labour, grade breakdowns and associated costs.


Written Question
Arts Council England: Investment
Monday 31st October 2022

Asked by: Lucy Powell (Labour (Co-op) - Manchester Central)

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, for what reason the announcement of the Arts Council England investment programme for 2023 to 2026 was delayed.

Answered by Stuart Andrew - Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care

After careful consideration of the potential impact, my Department agreed with ACE to delay the announcement of its 2023-26 investment programme. I can now confirm the new date for the announcement is Friday 4 November and that this has been agreed with ACE.

I recognise that this delay caused some uncertainty for organisations in the short term but I am confident that this will be minimal as the investment programme begins on 1 April 2023.


Written Question
Project Gigabit: Expenditure
Friday 28th October 2022

Asked by: Lucy Powell (Labour (Co-op) - Manchester Central)

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what proportion of the funding for Project Gigabit has been spent as of 25 October 2022.

Answered by Julia Lopez - Shadow Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology

Project Gigabit was launched in March 2021 and its spend for the financial year 2021-22 will be reported through DCMS’s Annual Report and Accounts, which will be published in due course.

In April 2022, Building Digital UK (BDUK) became an Executive Agency of DCMS, and will publish its own Annual Report and Accounts, including details of Project Gigabit spend, from next year.


Written Question
Project Gigabit: Voucher Schemes
Friday 28th October 2022

Asked by: Lucy Powell (Labour (Co-op) - Manchester Central)

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 19 October 2022 to Question 63206 on Project Gigabit: Voucher Schemes, what the value of vouchers issued as part of Project Gigabit has been in each (a) region and (b) nation of the UK; and what proportion of those vouchers were distributed to (i) homes and (ii) businesses in each of the last five years.

Answered by Julia Lopez - Shadow Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology

The following table shows the value of vouchers issued as part of Project Gigabit in each (a) region and (b) nation of the UK; and what proportion of those vouchers were distributed to (i) homes and (ii) businesses in each of the last five years.

Year

2017/18

2018/19

2019/20

2020/21

2021/22

TOTAL

England

North East

of which business

£0

£335,000

£1,456,000

£1,184,000

£1,310,000

£4,285,000

of which residential

£0

£0

£237,000

£935,000

£2,811,000

£3,983,000


North West

of which business

£0

£2,095,000

£3,890,000

£2,637,000

£3,715,000

£12,337,000

of which residential

£0

£39,000

£524,000

£1,495,000

£6,142,000

£8,200,000

Yorkshire and The Humber

of which business

£73,000

£2,117,000

£2,540,000

£1,215,000

£686,000

£6,631,000

of which residential

£0

£31,000

£164,000

£363,000

£1,205,000

£1,762,000

East Midlands

of which business

£0

£776,000

£1,946,000

£898,000

£1,131,000

£4,751,000

of which residential

£0

£4,000

£38,000

£310,000

£2,038,000

£2,389,000

West Midlands

of which business

£0

£1,051,000

£2,070,000

£1,888,000

£2,150,000

£7,160,000

of which residential

£0

£1,000

£109,000

£980,000

£4,380,000

£5,468,000

East of England

of which business

£0

£870,000

£1,822,000

£1,479,000

£1,566,000

£5,738,000

of which residential

£0

£0

£98,000

£1,402,000

£6,345,000

£7,845,000

London

of which business

£0

£2,543,000

£4,346,000

£1,968,000

£154,000

£9,011,000

of which residential

£0

£11,000

£170,000

£167,000

£87,000

£434,000

South East

of which business

£0

£2,421,000

£4,896,000

£2,947,000

£4,572,000

£14,836,000

of which residential

£0

£66,000

£255,000

£3,394,000

£19,430,000

£23,145,000

South West

of which business

£31,000

£1,632,000

£2,644,000

£1,862,000

£1,796,000

£7,965,000

of which residential

£0

£325,000

£991,000

£3,351,000

£5,245,000

£9,912,000

Northern Ireland

of which business

£0

£1,226,000

£2,538,000

£2,646,000

£442,000

£6,853,000

of which residential

£0

£1,000

£139,000

£2,856,000

£3,434,000

£6,431,000

Scotland

of which business

£12,000

£621,000

£1,496,000

£1,169,000

£380,000

£3,678,000

of which residential

£0

£0

£25,000

£929,000

£1,377,000

£2,330,000

Wales

of which business

£0

£165,000

£1,000,000

£1,428,000

£2,369,000

£4,960,000

of which residential

£0

£0

£106,000

£1,163,000

£3,837,000

£5,105,000

Source:

BDUK (as of Oct 2022)

Notes:

1. Rounded to the nearest £1000.

2. Includes Vouchers Connected and Vouchers Issued that are yet to be connected. Vouchers issued can subsequently be cancelled, meaning the figures above are the maximum number of vouchers that could be connected in each country/region.

3. The table above comprises two different measures of voucher value. For issued (but yet to be connected vouchers) we have used the value of the voucher which is theoretically the maximum amount that could be claimed. For vouchers connected, we have used the actual claimed amount.

4. Encompasses 3 different schemes: Gigabit Voucher Scheme (GBVS), Rural Gigabit Connectivity (RGC) and UKGV (UK Gigabit Voucher). Each scheme had a different set of eligibility criteria.

5. Business vouchers include sole traders, of which there were 31 vouchers issued and/or connected.


Written Question
Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport: Expenditure
Monday 24th October 2022

Asked by: Lucy Powell (Labour (Co-op) - Manchester Central)

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what the annual spend is for (a) Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games, (b) Natural History Museum at Harwell, (c) 4th National Lottery Licence Competition, (d) Local Full Fibre Networks, (e) Shared Rural Network, (f) UNBOXED: Creativity in the UK, (g) Blythe House Programme and (h) Project Gigabit in each of the financial years from 2022-23 until the end year of each project, providing resource and capital spending.

Answered by Julia Lopez - Shadow Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology

(£m)

Resource

Capital

22-23

23-24

24-25

22-23

23-24

24-25

Birmingham Commonwealth Games

396.4

Natural History Museum Harwell (Unlocked)

17.1

34.4

74.1

Total funding for the programme agreed at SR21 is £182m.

4th National Lottery Licence Competition

22.7

22.8

10.1

-

0.0

-

Does not include expected costs following legal challenge. Funding not scored at the Spending Review as costs relating to the 4th Licence are funded from the National Lottery Distribution Fund.

Local Full Fibre Networks

Programme closed in 2022 and therefore there is no funding in this Spending Review period.

Shared Rural Network

3.7

6.1

8.4

18.3

56.3

87.1

Total funding announced for the programme is £1bn, made up of £500m Government funding matched by the private sector.

UNBOXED: Creativity in the UK

58.0

Blythe House

16.0

2.7

10.0

4.0

Project Gigabit

39.1

40.6

41.3

157.3

381.7

437.8

Total funding for the programme agreed at SR21 is £5bn.

All figures relate to funding profiles, actual expenditure may vary and will be reported through the Department’s Annual Report and Accounts. Funding and expenditure profiles beyond 24-25 will be subject to the next Spending Review. The figures included are as agreed at Spending Review 2021.


Speech in Commons Chamber - Thu 20 Oct 2022
Oral Answers to Questions

"I welcome the new Secretary of State to her post. She and I have worked together before and I look forward to working with her again in future.

Molly Russell’s death was an avoidable tragedy and serves as a further call to action to regulate social media. We owe it …..."

Lucy Powell - View Speech

View all Lucy Powell (LAB - Manchester Central) contributions to the debate on: Oral Answers to Questions

Speech in Commons Chamber - Thu 20 Oct 2022
Oral Answers to Questions

"I very much welcome the Secretary of State’s commitment and look forward to working together. To be fair to the previous Secretary of State, the right hon. Member for Mid Bedfordshire (Ms Dorries), she committed to the very difficult task of getting the Bill through, with all the vested interests …..."
Lucy Powell - View Speech

View all Lucy Powell (LAB - Manchester Central) contributions to the debate on: Oral Answers to Questions

Written Question
Building Digital UK: Finance
Wednesday 19th October 2022

Asked by: Lucy Powell (Labour (Co-op) - Manchester Central)

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what the running costs of Building Digital UK are; and how many (a) permanent staff and (b) contractors work for Building Digital UK.

Answered by Julia Lopez - Shadow Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology

As of October 2022, Building Digital UK employed 256 people, including 12 contractors.

The running costs for Building Digital UK for the 2022-2023 Financial Year (April - March) are forecast to be £39.3 million.