Asked by: Virendra Sharma (Labour - Ealing, Southall)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department is taking steps to help reduce the risk of avian flu transmission to birds that are permanently resident in Royal Parks.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
Managing the risk of avian influenza transmission is an operational matter for The Royal Parks, which is following instructions issued by the Animal Plant and Health Agency.
The captive bird collection of pelicans in St James’s Park has been moved indoors and The Royal Parks’ staff and wildlife officers are carrying out enhanced monitoring of the park waterbodies to check for signs of illness and to ensure that, should there be any, carcasses are removed immediately.
Additional signs have been installed in all the parks in areas where public feeding of birds is popular, instructing visitors not to feed the birds as this causes populations of waterfowl to group together and increases the risk of transmission.
Asked by: Virendra Sharma (Labour - Ealing, Southall)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to support the arts and culture in London.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
Through the unprecedented Culture Recovery Fund (CRF), HM Government supported London's vibrant cultural sector against the impact of COVID-19. London-based groups and venues received just over a third of total CRF funding – £494 million in grants and loans – supporting over 1,200 organisations. That included 21 organisations in Ealing, such as Colour Sound Experiment Ltd (just under £500,000) and Marquee Entec Ltd (£524,000). The Southbank Centre, the Royal Opera House and Historic Royal Palaces were just a few of the many other acclaimed London institutions which received significant amounts of CRF funding, demonstrating our commitment to supporting our iconic cultural and heritage venues through the pandemic.
In addition to this, Arts Council England – the arm’s length body which is responsible for distributing public funding – is committed to supporting arts and culture in the capital. Around a third of its investment through the 2023–26 Investment Programme will be directed to organisations in London, amounting to £143.7 million. The new Investment Programme includes a wider spread of investment to outer London boroughs, meaning more Londoners will benefit from creative and cultural investment. Arts Council England will also continue to prioritise a number of London boroughs in its existing set of priority places (Barking & Dagenham, Brent, Croydon, Enfield, and Newham).
I am pleased that, through this Investment Programme, Arts Council England is supporting 56 cultural organisations in the capital for the first time. These organisations will sit alongside our acclaimed institutions such as the Royal Opera House, London Transport Museum, the National Theatre, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the Institute of Contemporary Arts, and Southbank Centre, which will continue to receive funding. Organisations leaving the portfolio are eligible to apply for support from Arts Council England’s £12.6 million Transition Programme. This fund will provide those leaving the portfolio with up to 12 months’ funding at the current levels from the point of notification. Both the amount of money available, and the length of transition, have been extended.
Asked by: Virendra Sharma (Labour - Ealing, Southall)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, when she plans to publish her Department's White Paper on the future of the Gambling Act; and whether that White Paper will include recommendations relating to the collapse of the Football Index.
Answered by Chris Philp - Shadow Home Secretary
The Government will publish a white paper setting out next steps regarding the Gambling Act Review in the coming months. We are considering all the evidence carefully, including the conclusions of the independent review of the regulation of BetIndex Ltd, the operator of Football Index, which we published in September.
Asked by: Virendra Sharma (Labour - Ealing, Southall)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department is taking steps to support the simplification of terms and conditions required by digital and technology companies when accessing their websites or applications.
Answered by Chris Philp - Shadow Home Secretary
Under upcoming Online Safety legislation, companies that enable sharing of user-generated content and search services will need to create clear and accessible terms of service for how they will protect users from harmful content on their platform, and enforce these consistently. The draft Online Safety Bill is currently undergoing pre-legislative scrutiny and the government will introduce it to Parliament as soon as parliamentary time allows.