Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 2 February 2026 to Question 108796, where the portrait of William Shakespeare formerly displayed in the Pillared Room at 10 Downing Street is located.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government Art Collection (GAC) is a working collection, used across government buildings in the UK and the global estate, which means that artworks may change their display location from time to time. The GAC removed this portrait from the Pillared Drawing Room at No.10 to install a refreshed display of artworks celebrating 125 years of the Government Art Collection, planned prior to the General Election in July 2024. Locations of artworks in the collection can be found on the GAC’s website.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to improve the quality of (a) court buildings and (b) technology used in courts.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
Historical underfunding has resulted in challenges across the court estate, with an estimated £1.3 billion building maintenance backlog.
It is vital that court infrastructure does not prevent hearings from taking place, that is why we announced a boost in court capital maintenance and project funding from £120 million last year, to £148.5 million for 2025/26.
We are committed to enhancing the condition of our existing estate while also delivering new facilities. Examples include a purpose‑built modern court building under construction in the City of London, with further new facilities in Reading and Blackpool. A state-of-the-art Tribunals Centre in London, providing 30 hearings rooms, is scheduled to open in early March.
We also continue to invest in technology in courts as part of a providing a modern justice system. In 2025/26 HMCTS is investing over £20 million of capital funding in IT hardware to provide the courts with modern audio-visual capability - to improve digital evidence presentation and remote participation, replaced over a quarter of staff laptops and improved Wi-Fi coverage and capacity. In 2025, HMCTS replaced the contact centre solution used by the Courts and Tribunals Service Centres and modernised significant digital applications used in courts, moving old technology out of legacy data centres. As part of continual improvement, HMCTS is progressing with the adoption of Artificial Intelligence, to improve systems and services throughout the Justice system.
Asked by: Pippa Heylings (Liberal Democrat - South Cambridgeshire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, for what reason repairs and maintenance are treated differently for VAT purposes for (a) places of worship and (b) museums and art galleries.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
Construction repair and remedial works to all buildings are charged at the standard rate of VAT, this includes places of worship and museums/art galleries.
Previously major alterations to listed buildings were zero-rated, including places of worship. Since 2012, alteration works to a protected building are standard rated for VAT. Details are set out in HMRC guidance, available on GOV.UK: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/buildings-and-construction-vat-notice-708#section9
Some museums and galleries receive VAT refunds on the costs associated with providing free access to their permanent collections, under the museums and galleries VAT Refund Scheme. More information can be found at VAT Refund Scheme for museums and galleries (VAT Notice 998) - GOV.UK
The Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme provides grants for VAT paid by listed places of worship on their repair and maintenance costs, with the objective of helping to preserve UK heritage. From April 2026 the scheme will be replaced by a Places of Worship Renewal Fund, which will invest £92 million capital funding into listed places of worship. It is designed to ensure that taxpayer funding is targeted more effectively toward the preservation of our heritage assets.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how much funding (a) her Department and (b) the Arts Council has allocated to Decolonise Fest since July 2024.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport has not allocated any funding to Decolonise Fest.
The Arts Council England, which awards funding independently of the government, has awarded a grant of £18,808 in 2025.
In addition, the Decolonise Festival has also received £3,500 funding via the PRS Foundation, a charity funding new music and talent development that receives Art Council Funding.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Reform UK - Romford)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she has taken to promote classical education within the state education sector.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The government is committed to supporting a broad and balanced curriculum that is inclusive and accessible to all pupils. Classical education, including classical studies and the study of ancient languages, offers valuable insights into history, language development, politics and art, and can enrich pupils’ understanding of the world today. All schools are free to include Classics within their curriculum, and GCSEs and A levels are available in this subject.
The department continues to work with organisations such as Classics for All, The Classical Association and Hands Up Education to ensure schools are aware of the free resources and support available to teach this subject.
To further strengthen subject expertise, we provide bursaries for trainee language teachers, including those training to teach ancient languages. For the 2026/27 academic year, this will be £20,000.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, for what reason the portrait of William Shakespeare was removed from the Pillared Room in 10 Downing Street.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The Government Art Collection is a working collection, used across government buildings in the UK and the global estate, which means that artworks may change their display location from time to time. The portrait was pre-planned to be moved by the Government Art Collection prior to the General Election in July 2024.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 18 December 2025 to Question HL12794 on Government Art Collection, if she will list the (a) date received, (b) reference number, (c) date substantively answered, (d) substantive response, and (e) broad request, of each Freedom of information request received by his Department relating to the Government Art Collection across the last 12 months.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
DCMS has received 45 requests relating to the Government Art Collection since 4 July 2024. All Freedom of Information requests are considered on their individual merits in accordance with the relevant legislation.
Asked by: Earl of Clancarty (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the level of teaching of craft in schools; and whether the Curriculum and Assessment Review will impact the current arrangements for craft teaching.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The independent Curriculum and Assessment Review final report and the government response were both published on 5 November 2025.
The response included a commitment to revise the art and design programmes of study to exemplify the knowledge and skills that pupils should develop, including through their own creative practice, and to encourage teaching of a broader range of artists and media. This will include consideration of craft, which is covered in the existing national curriculum.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if the Government will declare a national emergency regarding the cross Channel small boat migration crisis.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
The number of small boat crossings is too high and this Government is taking action. The Home Secretary has announced the most sweeping reforms to tackle illegal migration in decades, removing the incentives that bring illegal migrants to the UK and scaling up the return of those with no right to be here.
The Border Security Command is central to this effort, bringing together law enforcement, intelligence sharing, and international cooperation to disrupt smuggling networks and bring perpetrators to justice. For the first time, we have mobilised the whole of government and all operational partners to deliver a coordinated and prioritised range of activities in the UK and with partners overseas. Our historic deal with the French means those who arrive on small boats are now being sent back.
The Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Act, which came into force on 5 January 2026, provides new powers to seize electronic devices from illegal migrants and introduces offences targeting small boat smuggling and concealment in vehicles. These measures strengthen our ability to disrupt organised immigration crime and reduce irregular migration.
Disruption of organised crime groups has intensified, increasing domestic action against organised immigration crime (OIC) via enhanced powers and intensified law enforcement operations, targeting upstream facilitators, disrupting OIC business models via targeting, the illicit financial flows, small boat equipment supply chains and online networks of organised crime groups (OCG)s.
We have boosted the National Crime Agency’s (NCA) capabilities through an extra £100 million funding which will pay for up to 300 extra NCA officers, state-of-the art detection technology and new equipment to smash the networks putting lives at risk in the Channel. This approach is working; the year ending September 2025, there were 3,162 OIC disruptions conducted by public bodies, 33% more than in the previous year (2,374). The number of OIC disruptions has steadily increased from an average of 392 disruptions per quarter in 2023, to 791 per quarter in the latest year.
Asked by: Pippa Heylings (Liberal Democrat - South Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, where saplings planted to meet EIP25 interim targets will be sourced from.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra’s Nature for Climate Fund continues to invest working to increase the availability of domestically grown saplings for woodland creation through its Sector Capacity project. Forestry Commission publish annually the Tree Supply Report and Tree Nursery Directories to bring visibility to the market and work closely with the nurseries to assess trends in the market. There is an increasingly strong supply of trees from across the UK and beyond, as highlighted in the Tree Supply Report.
Through the Tree Supply Report, we estimate that over 161 million trees were grown in Great Britain in 24/25, 1,000,000 more than the previous year. This has built up resilience in our seed and tree supply, improving ability to meet the interim target of reaching 16.5% tree canopy and woodland cover by 2050. The Nature for Climate Fund funded grants this financial year of up to £7.8 million capital investment in tree production through the Tree Production Capital Grant; £7.8 million supporting innovation in tree production through the Tree Production Innovation Fund and £871K supporting tree seed sourcing through the Seed Sourcing Grant. We have also invested in Forestry England developing a state-of-the-art new Seed processing unit at Delamere. As well as processing seed for use in the nation’s forests, this facility will continue to make surplus seed from a limited number of species available to the private sector.