Oral Answers to Questions

Sarah Jones Excerpts

Thursday 29th June 2017 Commons Chamber

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (Tracey Crouch)]

Mr Speaker, I know that you always encourage brevity in topical questions, so I apologise for giving a tediously processy response. Although we launched the review in October 2016, purdah interrupted the final stages of our consideration of the evidence received and the subsequent internal cross-Government process of approval and sign-off, so I am afraid we are back at the start of the process. As a consequence of that taking at least 12 weeks, I would not expect any further announcement until October at the earliest.

[Sarah Jones (Croydon Central) (Lab)]

T3. Croydon, with its vibrant Tech City, the redevelopment of Fairfield Halls and its unique street art scene, is fast becoming the new cultural hub of the south-east. Has the Minister lobbied for continued access to, or equivalent funding for, the £1.1 billion Creative Europe programme post-Brexit, which is such an important source of funding for the creative arts?

[The Minister for Digital (Matt Hancock)]

I have visited the tech scene and some of the creative hubs in Croydon, so I agree with the analysis that it is an extremely exciting place, and we are working on the question that the hon. Lady has raised.