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

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if he will support the erection of memorials to miners who lost their lives whilst working in the pits during the First and Second World Wars.

There is a tradition of funding new memorials through public subscription. We support this and experience has shown that there are often other funders, including the private sector, happy and willing to fund new memorials.

The DCMS ​does additionally administer the DCMS Memorial Grant Scheme which makes grants towards the VAT incurred by charities and faith groups in the construction, repair and maintenance of public memorial structures. The scheme has a fixed budget of £0.5m per year.