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

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what professional development courses are made available to staff of his Department; and what the cost to the public purse is of each such course.

DCMS has interpreted ‘Professional Development courses' as formal training which relates directly to a professional specialism for which a qualification, specific training or membership is required.

Along with other government departments, DCMS has access to a range of professional development courses that are made available to staff through the Civil Service Learning portal, a centrally run service. These include courses relating to professions such as Finance, Procurement, Human Resources, Knowledge Management, policy and Project Delivery. Applications for professional development courses for DCMS staff are approved against the DCMS Learning & Development budget.