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

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment his Department has made of the lasting economic benefits for Liverpool after that city's year as European Capital of Culture in 2008.

Research into the impact of​ Liverpool's European Capital of Culture year​ has found that it attracted 9.7 million extra visitors in 2008 which generated an economic impact of over £750 million ​across Liverpool, Merseyside and the wider North West region and led to higher levels of cultural engagement. ​Liverpool continues to have a thriving culture scene and regularly hosts several major events. The success of Liverpool 08 also led directly to the creation of the UK City of Culture programme; in December, Coventry was selected to be the next UK City of Culture 2021.