Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to her Department’s publication of government procurement card spending over £500 for October 2022, for what purpose her Communications Directorate purchased Panoramic Limestone Background Equipment on 31 October 2022.
Answered by Chris Philp - Shadow Home Secretary
The photography background was purchased to provide a professional multi-purpose backdrop to a broad range of video and photo communications for the Home Office including social media, departmental announcements, Ministerial pre-records, pool clips and other media moments.
Asked by: Baroness Taylor of Bolton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government when each of the Ministers in the Department for Education were last photographed either by, or on behalf of, the Department for Education.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Shadow Minister (Education)
Four digital photographs of my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, were taken since 7 September 2022. These were welcome photos featuring the department’s Permanent Secretary for use on the internal staff intranet. These were all taken in-house at no cost. Four photos were additionally taken for use on social media.
Since 15 September 2021, approximately 20 photos of those who have held the post of Secretary of State for Education are currently stored by the department’s social media team.
Regarding the most recent photography captured with the department’s ministers, the dates are as follows:
These photos were taken in-house at zero cost for use on our staff intranet and social media channels. Photos of the department’s ministerial team that are featured on gov.uk are provided by Parliament.
Asked by: Baroness Taylor of Bolton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many separate digital photographs are currently stored by the Department for Education of those individuals who have held the post of Secretary of State for Education since 15 September 2021.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Shadow Minister (Education)
Four digital photographs of my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, were taken since 7 September 2022. These were welcome photos featuring the department’s Permanent Secretary for use on the internal staff intranet. These were all taken in-house at no cost. Four photos were additionally taken for use on social media.
Since 15 September 2021, approximately 20 photos of those who have held the post of Secretary of State for Education are currently stored by the department’s social media team.
Regarding the most recent photography captured with the department’s ministers, the dates are as follows:
These photos were taken in-house at zero cost for use on our staff intranet and social media channels. Photos of the department’s ministerial team that are featured on gov.uk are provided by Parliament.
Asked by: Baroness Taylor of Bolton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many separate digital photographs have been taken at public expense of the Secretary of State for Education since 7 September this year.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Shadow Minister (Education)
Four digital photographs of my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, were taken since 7 September 2022. These were welcome photos featuring the department’s Permanent Secretary for use on the internal staff intranet. These were all taken in-house at no cost. Four photos were additionally taken for use on social media.
Since 15 September 2021, approximately 20 photos of those who have held the post of Secretary of State for Education are currently stored by the department’s social media team.
Regarding the most recent photography captured with the department’s ministers, the dates are as follows:
These photos were taken in-house at zero cost for use on our staff intranet and social media channels. Photos of the department’s ministerial team that are featured on gov.uk are provided by Parliament.
Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, how much financial support the Government has provided to support South Asia Heritage Month in each of the last five years; what proportion of that funding came from (a) his and (b) other Government departments; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport’s Arm's Length Body, Arts Council England (ACE), via its National Lottery Project Grants funding has supported a wide range of organisations and events focused on engaging with and celebrating South Asian Heritage, including supporting the South Asian Heritage Trust, which delivers their annual South Asian Heritage Month observance.
South Asian Heritage Month was established in 2020. Since then, ACE awarded a £20,175 National Lottery Project Grant to the South Asian Heritage Trust for their South Asian Heritage Month Online Programme in May 2022. Additionally, ACE awarded £41,700 to 'Tribe Arts' in July 2022 as part of a project to establish partnerships with South Asian Heritage Month.
Significant projects have also been funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund between 2003- 2021, in the London Borough of Harrow, with a total investment of £178,732 which explored and celebrated the South Asian community.
Current projects supported by Historic England are celebrating South Asian Places of Worship through thematic listing and research, and two projects have been awarded through their Everyday Heritage programme to the Bengali Photography Archive and the Sikh Development Academy.
Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, when her Department last funded celebrations, exhibitions and programmes related to (a) the contributions of the South Asian community to UK life and (b) the culture, history and religions of South Asian countries; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
My Department has funded many exhibitions and programmes related to the contribution of South Asian culture and history through the bodies it funds.
Significant projects have been funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund between 2003- 2021, in the London Borough of Harrow, with a total investment of £178,732 which explored and celebrated the South Asian community. Arts Council England’s National Lottery Project Grants has also supported a wide range of organisations and events including: the South Asian Heritage Trust, which delivers their annual South Asian Heritage Month observance; Luton Mela, a festival of South Asian arts and cultural heritage; and Croydon’s Beeja Dance Company who play a national role in developing the next generation of Indian dance leaders in the UK.
Current projects supported by Historic England are celebrating South Asian Places of Worship through thematic listing and research, and two projects have been awarded through their Everyday Heritage programme to the Bengali Photography Archive and the Sikh Development Academy.
There are also future events to look forward to. In 2023 the Manchester Museum will unveil a new South Asian gallery in partnership with the British Museum and which has been part-funded by a £5m grant from the government. The British Library also plays a part in celebrating South Asian culture and history through their partnership programmes and events such as the upcoming Lahore literature festival in 2023.
Asked by: Alistair Carmichael (Liberal Democrat - Orkney and Shetland)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much her Department spent on photography (a) in 2019, (b) in 2020, (c) in 2021 and (d) to date in 2022.
Answered by Tom Pursglove
In 2020 there were two occasions external photographers were employed by communications directorate with a total cost of £695 (excluding VAT).
In 2022 £5,520 (excluding VAT) was spent on photography for a Home Office recruitment campaign.
Spend for photography as part of social media, marketing and internal communications is not recorded separately.
Asked by: Lord Black of Brentwood (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the financial impact on the UK professional photography sector of the decision to expand the text and data mining copyright exception.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Shadow Minister (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Government asked specific questions about impact in the consultation on AI and IP, but received very limited quantitative evidence. An impact assessment will be published alongside the legislation when laid. The proposed exception will be targeted to limit negative impacts, and the government welcomes further evidence from rights holders on how to best achieve this.
Asked by: Angela Rayner (Labour - Ashton-under-Lyne)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many (a) photographers and (b) video producers were employed by his Department in (i) 2019, (ii) 2020 and (iii) 2021.
Answered by Jane Hunt
The Department has no one employed exclusively as a photographer or video producer. The content producers in the digital communications team are multi-skilled and work on many other aspects of creative production and digital delivery.
In July 2019, July 2020 and July 2021, the BEIS digital communications team had 3 full time content creators. Currently the BEIS digital communications team has 2 full time content creators.
There are a number of other employees who are not primarily content producers, but who sometimes support videos and photography – we do not have a record of how many members of staff this has included across the department in this time period.
Asked by: Rachel Hopkins (Labour - Luton South and South Bedfordshire)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how many photographers and video producers were employed by his Department in (a) 2019, (b) 2020 and (c) 2021.
Answered by Eddie Hughes
No dedicated photographers or videographers were employed in these years. All photography and videography was undertaken by communications staff who work across a range of disciplines and communication channels.