Asked by: Tim Loughton (Conservative - East Worthing and Shoreham)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps he has taken to reduce the leaving package of the departing Chief Executive of the NCS Trust; and what provisions he has instituted for limits on remuneration of remaining employees.
Answered by Matt Warman
Earlier this month we were made aware of an unacceptable exit package proposed for the outgoing NCS Chief Executive.
We have taken swift action on this issue, and are investigating wider issues around governance. We have made clear that every element of the outgoing Chief Executive’s departure must comply with HM Treasury guidance on Managing Public Money.
A new CEO has joined the NCS Trust this week and we are clear that we expect the organisation going forward to be completely focussed on helping level up the country with strong opportunities for young people from all backgrounds.
Asked by: Tim Loughton (Conservative - East Worthing and Shoreham)
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 cost effectiveness of the (a) National Citizen Service and (b) NCS Trust.
Answered by Oliver Dowden
The most recent publicly available figure from the NCS 2016 evaluation report show that for every £1 of taxpayer money spent on the 2016 summer programme, £1.79 is provided back to society by the NCS programme in terms of the economic benefit. For the 2016 Autumn programme for every £1 spend, £2.21 is provided back in terms of the economic benefits. The economic benefits relate to the identified impact the NCS programme has in respect to volunteering and leadership.
The NCS Trust is the Royal Chartered Arms-Length Body overseeing and implementing the programme, in line with the NCS Act 2017. The NCS Trust’s budget is reviewed and approved by DCMS on an annual basis in line with Managing Public Money standards. The National Audit Office audits the NCS Trust’s accounts each year.
Asked by: Tim Loughton (Conservative - East Worthing and Shoreham)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Minister of State, Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what progress the Government has made on its review of youth work; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Helen Whately - Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
In July 2019 my department commenced a review of the statutory guidance which sets out the statutory duty placed on Local Authorities to provide local youth services. Since July 2019 officials have held roundtables with the youth sector, consultations with young people, and ran a public call for evidence, which closed in December 2019. DCMS officials are currently reviewing responses to inform the next stage of the review.
This government has announced it will be investing £500 million over five years through the Youth Investment Fund to increase the availability of youth services. The fund will be used to build new youth centres across the country, refurbish existing youth facilities, provide mobile facilities for harder to reach areas, and invest in the youth work profession and frontline services. Government is also funding up to £7 million through the Youth Accelerator Fund that will expand existing successful projects delivering positive activities, and address urgent needs in the youth sector by delivering extra sessions in youth clubs.
Asked by: Tim Loughton (Conservative - East Worthing and Shoreham)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Minister of State, Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what his policy is on the restitution of antiquities from national museums to their country of origin.
Answered by Helen Whately - Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
Our 15 national museums hold world-class collections in trust for the nation that are seen in their global context by over 40 million visitors each year. Decisions relating to museum collections are a matter for the trustees of each museum, who operate independently of government. UK law prevents some national museums from removing items from their collections. The two exceptions to this are human remains, under 1000 years old, and cultural property spoliated during the Nazi era.
We are committed to supporting our museums in dealing confidently with all aspects of restitution. Our national development agency for museums, Arts Council England, which is sponsored by my department, is currently working to refresh existing sector guidelines on restitution for UK museums.
Asked by: Tim Loughton (Conservative - East Worthing and Shoreham)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, how many qualified archaeologists are employed in her Department.
Answered by Helen Whately - Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
There are no roles in DCMS which require an employee to be a qualified archaeologist and we do not actively collect this information.
Asked by: Tim Loughton (Conservative - East Worthing and Shoreham)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, for what reasons there has been no review of the Treasure Act 1998 for thirteen years.
Answered by Michael Ellis
The Treasure Act 1996 (the Act) and the accompanying Codes of Practice were last fully reviewed in 2001. Many of the recommendations in that review, such as the creation of a Treasure Registry at the British Museum were implemented, and have contributed to the continuing success of the treasure process. The process is under constant review and this, along with outstanding recommendations from 2001, will be reflected in proposals to be set out in the forthcoming public consultation on the Act and the Codes of Practice.
Asked by: Tim Loughton (Conservative - East Worthing and Shoreham)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, when he plans to publish the reviewed Treasure Act Code of Practice; when that code was last reviewed; and what the timetable is for future such reviews.
Answered by Michael Ellis
The reviewed and revised Treasure Act Code of Practice will be published following a planned public consultation, in accordance with the Treasure Act 1996. The last revised code was published in 2007, and the code is currently under review. We plan to issue a public consultation containing proposals from the review in the coming months.
Asked by: Tim Loughton (Conservative - East Worthing and Shoreham)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, when he plans to publish details of the scheduled revision of the Treasure Act Code of Practice.
Answered by Michael Ellis
The scheduled revision of the Treasure Act Code of Practice will be published following a planned public consultation on the Code. The consultation will include proposals to reflect the expansion of the Portable Antiquities Scheme in England and Wales, and other measures intended to update and simplify the Treasure process. In addition, the consultation will include proposed measures to strengthen the capacity of the Act to preserve important treasure finds in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. We intend to publish the consultation in the next few months.
Asked by: Tim Loughton (Conservative - East Worthing and Shoreham)
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 the implementation of the 1954 Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the event of armed conflict.
Answered by Michael Ellis
The Convention and its Protocols came into force for the UK on 12th December 2017. In November 2017, we announced and published measures to ensure the effective implementation of the Convention, including a list of cultural property in the UK which we consider to be protected by the Convention and measures to regulate the use of the cultural emblem and protect its integrity.
Asked by: Tim Loughton (Conservative - East Worthing and Shoreham)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, how many cases under the Treasure Act 1996 have been reported (a) directly to the Coroner in the district in which they were found and (b) to the local Finds Liaison Officer; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by John Glen
The overwhelming majority of finds in England and Wales are reported directly to Finds Liaison Officers, though in a small number of cases they are reported directly to Coroners. The Coroner will normally direct the finder to the Finds Liaison Officer. In Northern Ireland, where the Portable Antiquities Scheme does not apply, finds are reported directly to the Coroner. Only individual Coroner’s officers will hold information on cases directly reported to them.
The Treasure Act, which defines what finds are treasure came into force in 1997, and since then the following finds have been reported as treasure in Wiltshire:
1997 – 6,1998 – 9,1999 – 10, 2000 – 4, 2001 – 7, 2002 – 9, 2003 – 8 (PAS first started in Wiltshire), 2004 – 11, 2005 – 18, 2006 – 18, 2007 – 25, 2008 – 26, 2009 – 20, 2010 – 36, 2011 – 41, 2012 – 35, 2013 – 30, 2014 – 30, 2015 – 35 (source Treasure Annual Report 2015) , 2016 – 46 (source Portable Antiquities Scheme Annual Report 2016)
Since the Portable Antiquities Scheme began in Wiltshire in 2003 the following finds have been reported in each year.
2003 - 107, 2004 - 1,234, 2005 - 878, 2006 - 1,533, 2007 - 1,555,
2008 - 896, 2009 - 1,213, 2010 - 1,144, 2011 - 1,601, 2012 - 1,769, 2013 - 2,684, 2014 - 3,392, 2015 - 3,913, 2016 - 4,266, 2017 - 2,695
In the last 12 months the Wiltshire Finds Liaison Officer has had discussions with the following museums and heritage organisations in Wiltshire:
In addition the Wiltshire Finds Liaison Officer has had discussions with two Wiltshire based archaeology projects, the PAStlands Project and the Teffont Archaeological Project.