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

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether the Government plans to sign up to the UNESCO 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage.

It is necessary to carefully prioritise resources towards those Conventions that will have the most impact on the safeguarding of our heritage, such as the ratification of the 1954 Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property undertaken last year. However, the Government fully recognises the contribution that the UK’s oral traditions, social practices and festive events make to the country’s cultural fabric, and continues to encourage communities to celebrate these practices, keeping them alive for future generations.