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

To ask Her Majesty's Government why cuts were made to the final year of the Young Audiences Content Fund pilot; what assessment they made of (1) the effectiveness of that Fund, and (2) the need to provide notice of any changes to its funding.

Following a successful Spending Review, the Young Audiences Content Fund will continue into its third year and receive up to £10.7m for year 3 of the pilot scheme, totalling up to £44.2m for the three years.

As set out in the Contestable Fund scoping paper published in 2018, monitoring and evaluation of the Fund would inform the annual budget allocation over the course of the pilot. The 2021/22 funding awarded demonstrates a commitment to the value of children’s television programming in an exceptionally challenging fiscal climate, where some tough decisions have had to be made. DCMS has engaged continuously with the BFI, who administers the Fund, throughout the funding determination.

Although assessment of the funds is ongoing, the Year One review sets out a number of successes for the fund. As planned, a detailed evaluation of the scheme, against the criteria set out at launch, will take place this year before a decision is made on whether to close, continue or expand the Contestable Fund.