Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)
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 findings of the Events Research Programme.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
Our Phase I events successfully collected a large amount of data on a combination of testing, and non-pharmaceutical interventions (actions that people can take to mitigate the spread of coronavirus) across the nine pilot events.
Findings from the first phase of the Events Research Programme were published on 25 June, and show that:
Every event, both indoor and outdoor, carries levels of transmission risk.
Large unstructured gatherings indoors where there is significant mixing of people in close proximity typically pose a higher risk.
Mitigation options include: communications, crowd and audience management strategies, face coverings, ventilation, testing, restrictions on food and drink, social distancing and capacity caps.
Findings from ERP pilots continue to be shared with the Government for consideration as part of broader policy making. Key findings from Phases II and III will be published in due course.
Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what support his Department is providing to freelancers in the culture sector who are unable to access the Culture Recovery Fund.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
The Government recognises the challenge the current pandemic poses to our arts and culture sectors and to the many freelancers working across these industries. As the sector reopens, we continue to keep our cultural recovery policy under constant review.
Freelancers have been supported through the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS). which has so far helped 2.8m self employed. Details on future SEISS support were announced by the Chancellor in his Budget Statement in March, with an extension of the scheme to September 2021. Around 500,000 additional people have been brought into scope who filed a tax return in 2019-20, or were previously ineligible, who now may be able to claim the fourth grant.
However, it is also the case that the Culture Recovery Fund (CRF) had significant indirect benefits for freelancers. In Round 2, organisations were asked to estimate how many FTEs and freelancers were protected by the fund until the end of June. Collectively, applicants reported that 52,000 full time staff and almost 100,000 freelancers would be supported until the end of June. And ALBs were able to complement SEISS with their own interventions i.e. over £51m from ACE to individuals.
Additionally, the third round of the Culture Recovery Fund was announced on 25 June. This third and final round of funding will provide further support as the cultural, heritage and creative sectors reopen at full capacity, underlining the government’s commitment to help them build back better as life returns to normal.
Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)
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 support the early return of park runs as covid-19 restrictions are eased.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
Government has prioritised the safe return of sport including team sports, contact combat sports and organised sports participation events. Organised outdoor sport, such as Parkrun, is exempt from legal gathering limits and can take place with any number of participants, as long as undertaken in line with published COVID-secure guidance. As such, Parkrun has been able to take place since 29 March as part of Step 1 of the government’s response to the Covid-19 Roadmap.
We are aware of issues at local levels around this, which is why I met with ParkRun on the 21 March to discuss the issues regarding their return. I am committed to supporting them to return as soon as possible.
Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on the findings of the Jack Petchey report entitled, Shaping our Future - The Covid-19 Youth Survey.
Answered by John Whittingdale
The Secretary of State has not had any discussions with Cabinet Colleagues on the findings of the Jack Petchey report, Shaping our Future - The Covid-19 Youth Survey.
The Government recognises the significant impact of Covid-19 on young people and the important role of youth services in supporting them. We have supported the development of specific Covid-19 guidance for the youth sector, which has helped tens of thousands of organisations feel confident in safely delivering vital services to young people.
We also recognise that young people have an important role to play in the nation’s recovery from the pandemic. Since the beginning of March, Government ministers have continued to engage directly with young people, through our youth engagement programme, on the impacts of Covid-19, from employment support to mental health and loneliness.
We are also engaging with young people as part of DCMS’ Youth Review, announced by HM Treasury as part of the 2020 Spending Review. Their views will help to set a clear direction for the out-of-school youth agenda.
Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on the findings of the Jack Petchey report entitled, Shaping our Future - The Covid-19 Youth Survey.
Answered by John Whittingdale
The Secretary of State has not had any discussions with Cabinet Colleagues on the findings of the Jack Petchey report, Shaping our Future - The Covid-19 Youth Survey.
The Government recognises the significant impact of Covid-19 on young people and the important role of youth services in supporting them. We have supported the development of specific Covid-19 guidance for the youth sector, which has helped tens of thousands of organisations feel confident in safely delivering vital services to young people.
We also recognise that young people have an important role to play in the nation’s recovery from the pandemic. Since the beginning of March, Government ministers have continued to engage directly with young people, through our youth engagement programme, on the impacts of Covid-19, from employment support to mental health and loneliness.
We are also engaging with young people as part of DCMS’ Youth Review, announced by HM Treasury as part of the 2020 Spending Review. Their views will help to set a clear direction for the out-of-school youth agenda.
Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what estimate he has made of the number of local youth clubs that have permanently closed since April 2020.
Answered by John Whittingdale
My department does not hold data around the number of youth clubs that have closed since April 2020.
Government recognises the important role that youth groups play in communities, which is why we recently announced the £16.5 million Youth Covid-19 Support Fund (YCSF) that will protect the immediate future of grassroots and national youth services across the country. The YCSF opened on Friday 15 January 2021 and will remain open until 19 February. It will help to mitigate the impact of lost income during the winter period due to the coronavirus pandemic, and ensure services providing vital support can remain viable.
This funding will be drawn from the unprecedented £750m package for the voluntary and community sector. More than £60m of this has already been directed towards organisations supporting children and young people.
Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether his Department allocated funding to the Fatima's Next Job Could be in Cyber advert.
Answered by Oliver Dowden - Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
The CyberFirst recruitment campaign is delivered by skills provider QA with funding allocated through the National Cyber Security Programme.
Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what plans he has to publish guidance to allow bowling alleys to safely reopen.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
Bowling alleys will be able to reopen from 1 August provided they have written a COVID-19 risk assessment.
We have worked closely with stakeholders to develop further Covid-19 Secure reopening guidance for venues such as bowling alleys. Specific guidance on bowling alleys has been published within UKHospitality’s ‘COVID-19 Secure Guidelines for Hospitality Businesses.’ We continue to meet regularly with the wider sector through the Cultural Renewal Taskforce’s Sport and Visitor Economy working groups.
As with all aspects of the Government’s response to Covid-19, our decisions have been and will continue to be based on scientific evidence and public health assessments.
To support businesses - including bowling alleys - through Covid-19, the Government has introduced a comprehensive support package, including business rates relief for eligible leisure businesses and the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme.
Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what support he is providing to (a) self-employed actors and (b) theatres who lost income as a result of the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
In order to support the sustainability of the arts sector, including self-employed actors and theatres, DCMS has worked closely with Arts Council England (ACE) to provide a tailored package of financial support. In March, ACE announced a £160m emergency response package to complement the financial measures already announced by the Government and to ensure immediate resilience of this vital sector.
This includes £20 million of financial support for individuals, including self-employed actors, and £140 million of support for organisations, including theatres, so they can better sustain themselves, and their work, in the coming months. To date over 9000 individuals and organisations have been successful in applying for this support.
Furthermore, self employed visual artists are among the millions of people (including self-employed actors) who can now benefit from the Self-Employed Income Support Scheme, which will provide those eligible with cash grants worth up to £2,500 per month. We expect that the Self-Employed Income Support scheme will cover 95% of people who receive the majority of their income from self-employment.
Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether VE Day celebrations will be (a) cancelled or (b) postponed as a result of the covid-19 outbreak; and if he will make statement.
Answered by John Whittingdale
The government announced on 20 March that the national commemorations to mark VE Day 75 are being scaled back due to the ongoing spread of coronavirus.
The UK Government and the Devolved Administrations are working on plans to ensure the nation can mark VE Day in May and provide a fitting tribute to the Second World War generation.