Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what the outcome was of discussions she had with the Chief Executive of English National Opera, Stuart Murphy, on 10 November 2022; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
My Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport met Stuart Murphy, the Chief Executive of English National Opera on 10 November at his request. This meeting was to discuss the work of the organisation and its plans for its future.
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether she plans to make it her policy to bring forward legislative proposals that will enable the Elgin Marbles to be returned to Greece.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The British Museum, along with some other national museums, is prevented by law from deaccessioning objects in their collection.
We have no plans to change the law.
The Parthenon Sculptures in the British Museum are legally owned by the Trustees of the British Museum, which is operationally independent of Government. Decisions relating to the care and management of the museum's collections are a matter for the Trustees of the British Museum. The Government fully supports the position taken by the Trustees of the British Museum.
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what recent progress her Department has made on publication of the White Paper following its review of gambling legislation.
Answered by Damian Collins
The Gambling Act Review is wide-ranging and aims to ensure that the regulation of gambling is fit for the digital age. We will publish a White Paper setting out our conclusions and next steps in due course.
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what estimate her Department has made of the number of schools in England that will take part in her gigabit broadband initiative for schools.
Answered by Matt Warman
To support the delivery of gigabit-capable connectivity for public buildings, including schools, as part of Project Gigabit we are investing up to £110 million into our GigaHubs programme.
As part of this, DCMS has recently announced a joint £82 million investment with the Department for Education (DfE) to connect up to 3,000 eligible schools across England to gigabit-capable broadband. DCMS will connect up to 2,000 of these schools and the DfE will fund up to an additional 1,000 schools as part of their mission to enable every school in England to access high-speed internet by 2025.
Up to 35 primary schools in Dorset and Oxfordshire are also in line for delivery of a gigabit-capable connection through existing GigaHubs projects.
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment her Department has made of the financial impact of Channel 4 on the independent television production sector.
Answered by Matt Warman
The Government consulted extensively on the future of Channel 4, and the views and evidence gathered from a wide range of stakeholders has informed the Government’s assessment of any potential impact of a change of ownership. The Government published its sale impact analysis on 28 April.
Channel 4 has done an excellent job in supporting the UK production sector and thereby delivering on one of its founding purposes. Forty years on, independent production in the UK is now booming, with revenues having grown from £500 million in 1995 to £3 billion in 2019. Companies are increasingly less reliant on Channel 4 for commissions. According to Pact’s 2020 census, only 7 per cent of the UK’s independent production sector revenues come from Channel 4 commissions.
More broadly, the independent production sector is now a mature industry, driven principally by medium sized and larger companies. The majority of revenues flow to a relatively small group of large companies in the independent production sector. Pact’s figures suggest that 63 per cent of sector revenues were captured by companies with £25m+ revenues in 2020, and 34 per cent of revenues were captured by companies with £70m+ revenues.
Under new ownership, Channel 4 will still be required to commission a minimum volume of its programming from independent producers, in line with the quotas placed on other public service broadcasters, ensuring its continued contribution to the sector.
Channel 4 has excellent relationships with independent producers right across the UK and there is no reason this should change. The Government expects a new owner to want to build on and develop those relationships. Ultimately, the Government believes that in the long run the UK production ecosystem will benefit from a more sustainable Channel 4. A change of ownership that improves Channel 4’s access to capital could increase spending on production. For example, Channel 5’s overall content budget increased following its acquisition by Viacom in 2014, with first-run spending up by an average of 7% per year between 2014 and 2018.
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, how much Project Gigabit funding will be distributed to devolved authorities.
Answered by Matt Warman
Project Gigabit funding for the planned procurements in the devolved administrations will be determined following thorough market reviews and using a modelled estimate of the costs involved in providing gigabit coverage.
Eligible premises in hard-to-reach communities across the United Kingdom can also get support from Project Gigabit’s £210m UK Gigabit Voucher scheme, which can provide immediate help to communities right now in advance of the wider rollout.
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, how much funding his Department provides to primary schools in England for the installation of faster gigabit broadband.
Answered by Matt Warman
To support the delivery of gigabit-capable connectivity for public buildings, including schools, as part of Project Gigabit we are investing up to £110 million into our GigaHubs programme.
As part of this, DCMS has recently announced a joint £82 million investment with the Department for Education (DfE) to connect up to 3,000 eligible schools across England to gigabit-capable broadband. DCMS will connect up to 2,000 of these schools with a contribution of up to £57 million, and the DfE will be funding up to an additional 1,000 schools.
The majority of the delivery will be for primary schools, although some secondary schools may benefit from this funding, with the number of primary and secondary schools to be confirmed after procurement is complete.
We are also currently investing approximately £900,000 for primary schools in Dorset and Oxfordshire to receive gigabit-capable broadband through existing GigaHubs projects.
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what recent estimate his Department has made of the number of people over the age of 60 who are unable to access online services.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
Earlier this year, it was reported that Ofcom's Media Literacy Tracker Computer-assisted telephone Interviewing survey found that of the 3,143 respondents, 26% of the 75+ did not have internet access at home and 8% of those 65-74 also did not have access.
It is research like this that is behind the government's focus on building a world-leading digital economy that works for everyone. DCMS is responsible for coordinating HMG digital inclusion policy, and aims to ensure that as many people as possible, no matter their age, have internet access and a base level of digital skills.
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what plans his Department has to take steps to reform public service broadcasting.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government is determined to ensure that our public service broadcasters (PSBs) can maintain their position as the beating heart of the UK’s hugely successful creative economy.
On 28 April 2022 the government published its broadcasting White Paper – Up Next – which sets out our vision for the sector. Rapid changes in technology, viewing habits and the entrance of global players have introduced new challenges for British broadcasters. Against that backdrop of rapid change, we need to take action to support British broadcasters in meeting the most pressing of those challenges, to protect our mixed ecology, and ensure our PSBs remain at the heart of our plans.
The White Paper details how we will reform decades-old broadcasting laws to boost our PSBs, including by delivering a new public service remit for television and making sure public service content is always carried and easy to find for UK audiences on connected devices and major online platforms. This will support the sustainability of the PSB system, and ensure PSBs continue to provide audiences across the UK with universally available, high quality programming.
We will take forward these measures via a Media Bill when parliamentary time allows.
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
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 is taking to (a) reform the Information Commissioner’s Office and (b) create new data protection standards.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales announced in the Queen’s Speech that a data reform bill will be introduced in this parliamentary session.
DCMS consulted on a range of proposals on how to improve the UK’s data protection framework including reforms to the Information Commissioner’s Office. The consultation response will set out further details and will be published shortly.