Asked by: Steve Baker (Conservative - Wycombe)
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 implications for his policies of the proposals made by the Society of London Theatre and UK Theatres in their open letter to the Prime Minister, dated 17 June 2020.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
To support the sustainability of the arts sector, including 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 theatre practitioners, 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.
DCMS has also established the Cultural Renewal Taskforce and the Entertainment and Events working group to ensure appropriate supporting guidance is given to the cultural sector. Theatres and stage-based entertainment organisations are represented on these groups, including via membership of UK Theatre/Society of London Theatre, which is on the Entertainment and Events working group.
Sector-specific expert input into the groups’ work, alongside DCMS’s wider extensive consultation with the Arts sector, is helping to ensure we fully understand the impacts of Covid-19 and remain well placed to respond as it develops.
Asked by: Steve Baker (Conservative - Wycombe)
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 for theatres in Wycombe.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
To support the sustainability of the arts sector, including 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 theatre practitioners, 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.
DCMS has also established the Cultural Renewal Taskforce and the Entertainment and Events working group to ensure appropriate supporting guidance is given to the cultural sector. Theatres and stage-based entertainment organisations are represented on these groups, including via membership of UK Theatre/Society of London Theatre, which is on the Entertainment and Events working group.
Sector-specific expert input into the groups’ work, alongside DCMS’s wider extensive consultation with the Arts sector, is helping to ensure we fully understand the impacts of Covid-19 and remain well placed to respond as it develops.
Asked by: Steve Baker (Conservative - Wycombe)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if he will take steps to support community radio stations through the covid-19 outbreak; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by John Whittingdale
The Government is strongly supportive of the community radio sector and recognises the great value that it offers to communities across the United Kingdom, in terms of providing quality local news, information and entertainment.
We recognise the challenges that some community stations are facing due to Covid-19 and are currently holding discussions with Ofcom and the Community Media Association (CMA) on possible options to provide urgent support for those stations in greatest need.
Asked by: Steve Baker (Conservative - Wycombe)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if he will take steps to arrange for licensing of the Wycombe Sound radio station to be expedited.
Answered by Lord Vaizey of Didcot
Ofcom is responsible for licensing community radio stations and has awarded over 270 licences to date.
Ofcom conducts licensing in rounds and invites applicants from each region of the UK in turn. Ofcom has published timetables for the latest round of community radio licensing and anticipate inviting applications from the South East of England outside the M25 in the first half of 2015.
For reasons of fairness, Ofcom assesses all the applications it receives in a region before awarding any licenses.
Asked by: Steve Baker (Conservative - Wycombe)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if he will take steps to ensure that the television licence fee is not deducted by Direct Debit from the accounts of those aged over 7l; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Lord Vaizey of Didcot
There are no such plans. |