Asked by: Steve Reed (Labour (Co-op) - Croydon North)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to the review his Department has launched into statutory guidance for local authorities on providing youth services, whether he plans to (a) allocate funding and (b) issue guidance as a result of that review.
Answered by Baroness Morgan of Cotes
Local authorities are responsible for allocating public funding to youth services in their area. We believe they are best placed to know what is required in their communities.
On 10th July this year, my department launched the review of the guidance which sets out the statutory duty placed on local authorities to provide appropriate local youth services. Preliminary roundtables were held with youth sector organisations and young people through the Government’s Youth Steering Group, focussing on the strengths and weaknesses of the current guidance. A public call for evidence as the next step of this process will be announced in due course.
Asked by: Steve Reed (Labour (Co-op) - Croydon North)
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 23 May 2019 to Question 255690 on OnSide Youth Zones, how much Government funding is being provided to the new Onside Youth Zone in Croydon.
Answered by Baroness Morgan of Cotes
DCMS does not currently provide funding to the new Onside Youth Zone in Croydon.
Some local programmes funded by DCMS run by local delivery partners are delivered in OnSide Youth Zones. For example a money management programme through the Savers Support Fund, programmes through the Sport for Development fund and National Citizen Service local delivery.
Asked by: Steve Reed (Labour (Co-op) - Croydon North)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of (a) funding and (b) other resources provided by (i) Government, (ii) local authorities and (iii) other sources to locally-based charities and voluntary organisations.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Locally based charities provide vital support and services for those in need in our communities. Government launched Local Charities Day in 2016 to recognise this contribution and grow support.
We understand that some have seen significant change in their funding environment in recent years. This is why government has supported the sector to become stronger and more sustainable. Most recently our Civil Society Strategy has reiterated our commitment to maintaining a thriving charity sector.
Asked by: Steve Reed (Labour (Co-op) - Croydon North)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether his Department plans to remove the construction and maintenance of bridges from the list of allowed charitable purposes for registered charities.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
There are no plans to change the legal test for charitable status as set out in the Charities Act 2011.
Asked by: Steve Reed (Labour (Co-op) - Croydon North)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of organisations set up by the Government to provide capital to (a) social entrepreneurs, (b) community businesses and (c) voluntary organisations.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Government has not set up any such organisation. Government does provide funding to a range of independent organisations that provide capital to social entrepreneurs, community businesses and voluntary organisations, including the Social Investment Business, Bridges, Key Fund, and the Social Tech Trust.
Government continues to monitor the performance of all of this funding on an ongoing basis.
Asked by: Steve Reed (Labour (Co-op) - Croydon North)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what recent assessment he has made of the geographical equity of funding provided by the National Lottery Community Fund.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The National Lottery Community Fund distributes funds to a wide geographical spread of projects, primarily delivered by the voluntary and community sector and social enterprises. Funds are distributed on the basis of need, taking into account relative population sizes and levels of economic and social deprivation.
Asked by: Steve Reed (Labour (Co-op) - Croydon North)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether his Department plans to undertake a loneliness policy test on the forthcoming 2019 Spending Review.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department remains committed to increasing awareness and embedding consideration for loneliness as part of the policy making process. Departments with commitments in the 2018 strategy, ‘A Connected Society: a strategy for tackling loneliness’, are required to include loneliness in their Single Departmental Plans. The Department for Work and Pension’s Family Test guidance will be updated in 2019 to include loneliness. The Government’s annual progress report on loneliness is due at the end of 2019.
Asked by: Steve Reed (Labour (Co-op) - Croydon North)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what progress his Department has made on devising a loneliness policy test to embed consideration of loneliness and relationships throughout the policy-making process as set out in the Government's tackling loneliness strategy published in 2018.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department remains committed to increasing awareness and embedding consideration for loneliness as part of the policy making process. Departments with commitments in the 2018 strategy, ‘A Connected Society: a strategy for tackling loneliness’, are required to include loneliness in their Single Departmental Plans. The Department for Work and Pension’s Family Test guidance will be updated in 2019 to include loneliness. The Government’s annual progress report on loneliness is due at the end of 2019.
Asked by: Steve Reed (Labour (Co-op) - Croydon North)
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 10 April 2019 to Question 241433, whether he plans to estimate the remaining dormant assets with the potential to be made available for the civil society sector.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Since the Dormant Assets Commission reported on the feasibility of expanding the dormant assets scheme in 2017, industry has been leading the preparations for scheme expansion. In their April 2019 report, industry leaders identified quantifying dormancy as an action for sectors.
Participation in the dormant assets scheme is and will remain voluntary. While HMT and DCMS will continue to play a supporting and convening role, the success of the scheme depends on firms’ commitment to channelling dormant assets to good causes.
Asked by: Steve Reed (Labour (Co-op) - Croydon North)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if he has made an estimate of funds that will be made available to the civil society sector under the Dormant Assets Scheme.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The dormant assets scheme has already distributed over £600m for the benefit of good causes. The Dormant Assets Commission, which reported on the feasibility of expanding the scheme in 2017, estimated that there may be up to £2bn of additional dormant assets that could be transferred into the scheme. This could significantly increase the quantity of funds available for good causes across the country.
Building on the work of the Commission, and supported by HMT and DCMS, four senior industry leaders published a blueprint in April 2019 for broadening the scheme to include assets from the insurance and pensions, investment and wealth management, and securities sectors. Quantifying dormancy was not within the scope of this work.