Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions she has had with HM Treasury on the potential impact of the introduction of an overnight visitor levy on (a) the levels of domestic tourism and (b) small and medium enterprises in the tourism industry.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
I am working closely with HM Treasury and the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government in relation to the potential impact of the introduction of a visitor levy and was pleased to join the Exchequer Secretary, Daniel Tomlinson, for a roundtable with industry leaders on this in March. My officials are also working closely with colleagues across government on this matter and have engaged with the tourism sector throughout the consultation process, including at a series of sector roundtables.
The power to introduce a visitor levy will be given to local leaders who best understand their region, allowing them to tailor investment towards growing the local economy, bearing in mind its needs, including those of the tourism industry. Mayors will need to decide whether to implement a levy and, if so, they will need to consult on specific proposals. I’m sure Mayors will engage constructively with businesses and their communities to hear any concerns throughout the consultation period and beyond.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to paragraph 88 of the policy paper entitled UK Government Resilience Action Plan, published on 14 July 2025, how many meetings have been attended by civil servants within their Department in relation to the Home Defence Programme; which directorate in the Department owns the Departmental contribution to the Home Defence Programme; and what the job title is of the civil servant leading and cohering the Departmental contribution to the Home Defence Programme.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
DCMS Ministers have regular discussions with officials, external experts and ministerial colleagues on a range of issues, including national security, defence and resilience.
The Resilience Action Plan sets out the Government’s strategic approach to how we will strengthen our domestic resilience and invest to protect the nation. DCMS officials regularly attend meetings to discuss the implementation of the Resilience Action Plan as well as matters of national security and defence.
The department is actively contributing to this work and regularly attends Cross-Whitehall fora on national resilience including meetings on the Home Defence Programme.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to page 92 of the Strategic Defence Review, how many meetings officials from their Department have attended on the national conversation on defence and security; which directorate in their Department is responsible for the departmental contribution to that national conversation; and what the job title is of the official responsible.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Officials from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport regularly attend meetings to discuss matters of national security, defence and resilience as well as the associated public communications required to deliver these lines of efforts. The conversation on National Defence was a recommendation in the 2025 Strategic Defence Review (SDR), which the Government accepted. The Ministry of Defence is the lead department for delivering the SDR, with support from the Cabinet Office, and particularly from the National Security Secretariat.
As set out in the Strategic Defence Review, the national conversation will be a multi-year, cross-departmental effort designed to deliver on the whole-of-society approach to national security and defence allowing Government, the private sector and public to play their part in strengthening the UK’s resilience to any potential future shocks. This work addresses the risks and threats the UK faces, including those below and above the threshold of an armed attack.
The department is actively supporting this work and regularly attends Cross-Whitehall fora on national resilience. The work is supported at official level through the Project Delivery and Major Events, and Media and International directorates, and the Permanent Secretary’s Office.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to paragraph 88 of the UK Government Resilience Action Plan, how many meetings Ministers in their Department have attended related to the Home Defence Programme.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
DCMS Ministers have regular discussions with officials, external experts and ministerial colleagues on a range of issues, including national security, defence and resilience.
The Home Defence Programme was established in August 2024 to build the UK’s resilience to any potential escalation to conflict. It is an evolving and enduring programme of work which provides defence, security and resilience planning, focused on aligning military and civil effort in the event of a period of crisis and international hostilities affecting the UK, informed by and reflecting the recommendations from government strategies, including the Strategic Defence Review, National Security Strategy and Resilience Action Plan.
DCMS is actively supporting this work.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to page 92 of the Strategic Defence Review, published on 2 June 2025, how many (a) public engagements and (b) private meetings Ministers in their Department have undertaken related to the national conversation on defence and security.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
DCMS Ministers have regular discussions with officials, external experts and ministerial colleagues on a range of issues, including national security, defence and resilience, and associated public communications.
As set out in the Strategic Defence Review, the national conversation will be a multi-year engagement designed to embed a whole-of-society approach, where Government, businesses, and the public all play a part in strengthening our resilience. This addresses the risks we face, including threats below and above the threshold of an armed attack.
DCMS is actively supporting this work.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, who is the Chief Risk Officer for national security risks relating to the work of their Department.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
At DCMS, the Chief Operating Officer is the Chief Risk Owner for National Security Risks.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether she plans to restrict the sale of computer games that (a) allow players to pretend to be the perpetrator in real-life school shootings and (b) create scenarios where players can commit mass school shootings; and whether she plans to restrict the promotion of such games to (i) children and (ii) all people.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Decisions regarding the classification of video games are made by the Games Rating Authority (GRA). The GRA’s decisions are made independently of the government, which is important to ensure impartiality. The GRA’s age ratings serve to protect the public and empower people to make informed gaming choices, whilst also recognising and respecting adult freedom of choice within the law.
The GRA is able to address issues of potential harm by awarding an appropriate age rating or suggesting changes to a developer’s content to make the game acceptable. Where this is not possible, a classification may be refused.
Even if material does not breach a specific UK law, the GRA may refuse to classify content on harm grounds when a game contains material that poses a significant risk of harm; either to viewers or, through their subsequent behaviour, to society. This may include content that contains:
Material that promotes criminal activity, including drugs;
Material that is illegal or has been created by the commission of a criminal offence;
Portrayals of children in a sexualised or abusive context;
Material which makes rape, or other non-consensual sexually violent behaviour, or sadistic violence look appealing.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many officials were investigated under their Department's disciplinary processes in each of the last five years.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
From 1st January 2021 until 16th October 2025 25 officials have been investigated under the department’s disciplinary processes.
We are unable to provide the yearly breakdown of disciplinary investigations because doing so would breach the Data Protection Act. This is due to the risk of identifying individuals in years where the case count is five or less, as the information relates to someone other than the data subjects and the risk of individuals becoming identifiable where case numbers for some years are 5 or less.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether she has had discussions with the English Football League on a potential increase in the number of teams promoted from National League into the English Football League.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
We recognise the strength of feeling within the National League regarding promotion arrangements to the EFL and understand the desire for greater opportunities for clubs to progress through the football pyramid. The competitiveness and sustainability of the league system are important considerations, and we appreciate the views of all stakeholders on this issue.
While promotion and relegation structures are ultimately a matter for the leagues themselves, we remain engaged with the football authorities on broader discussions about the future of the game.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what recent discussions she has had with Meta on generative artificial intelligence models.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Ministers from DCMS and DSIT have convened a series of roundtables with the tech sector and the cultural and creative industries regarding our consultation on Copyright and AI. All ministerial meetings are published quarterly.