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

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, who has been appointed to the Expert Advisory Panel for the UK Town of Culture 2028 competition.

The Expert Advisory Panel provides critical and objective assessment of bids against published criteria set by DCMS, and makes recommendations to the Secretary of State for Culture, Media, and Sport at each competition stage. The Panel is made up of a range of experts from various disciplines, and is chaired by Sir Phil Redmond. Panel members are listed below.

• Sir Phil Redmond (Chair)

• Ruth Hollis (Deputy Chair)

• Ian Bancroft (Welsh Representative)

• Kristel Miller (Northern Irish Representative)

• Jim Tough (Scottish Representative)

• Ian Warren (English Representative)

• Paula Williams

• Adipat Virdi

• Katy Shaw