Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment her Department has made of the contribution of the UK's programme making and special events sector to the economy.

We recognise the importance of the Programme Makers and Special Events industry to the entertainment sector and the wider UK economy. We will be providing Government funded support to the PMSE industry through the 700MHz spectrum clearance programme, aimed at mitigating the impacts on the industry and enabling them to continue to provide high quality services to the entertainment industry after spectrum clearance.

Following Ofcom advice to Government, Ofcom consulted on a Help Scheme to provide support to the industry. We are awaiting Ofcom’s assessment of responses to this consultation and a decision on the level of support will be made once this has been taken into account.

To further mitigate impacts on the industry, and provide the possibility for future growth, Ofcom has also decided to allocate frequencies in the 960-1164MHz band for PMSE.