Asked by: Adam Jogee (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to ensure that young people from a) Newcastle-under-Lyme and b) Staffordshire are able to see the Bayeux Tapestry.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Bayeux Tapestry will be on display at the British Museum from September 2026 to July 2027. The British Museum, which is operationally independent of the government, is eager to enable access to the exhibition for as many schoolchildren as possible, and as such is planning dedicated weekly entry slots for school visits. The Museum is also working closely with other organisations commemorating the millennium of the birth of William the Conqueror in 2027, including developing special resources for teachers and activities across the UK.
Entrance will be free for schoolchildren and for under 16s, as it is to all of the British Museum’s exhibitions. The Museum will also offer concessionary tickets for other relevant groups, including students, disabled visitors, seniors (over 60s), and jobseekers.
Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many visas a) the Department for Culture Media and Sport, b) the Arts Council, c) the National Archives, d) the British Library, e) the British Museum, f) Historic England, g) the Imperial War Museum, h) the National Gallery, i) the Science Museum Group, j) the Victoria and Albert Museum, k) the Wallace Collection, l) the BBC, m) Channel 4, n) Historic Royal Palaces and o) the Royal Parks have sponsored since 4 July 2024.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The requested data is not held centrally in a reportable format.
Asked by: Andrew Mitchell (Conservative - Sutton Coldfield)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to promote (a) Sutton Coldfield (b) the West Midlands as destinations for British holidaymakers.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
DCMS recognises the contribution of the West Midlands, and the constituency of Sutton Coldfield, to the visitor economy. The region's attractions, from Sutton Park to the Black Country Living Museum, and its reputation in hosting major events, including the upcoming 2026 European Athletics Championships, all contribute to local job creation and economic growth.
Screen tourism is also a powerful driver of the West Midlands' visitor economy, with major global hits such as Peaky Blinders providing invaluable global marketing for the destinations. To tap in to screen tourism, and drive more inbound visits across Britain, VisitBritain launched a global screen tourism campaign ‘’Starring Great Britain’’ in January 2025. The campaign uses the country's rich film and television history as a hook to inspire visitors to explore diverse and often rural destinations. The launch was supported by a wider advertising campaign across the UK’s largest and most valuable inbound visitor markets including Australia, the Gulf Co-operation Council countries, France, Germany and the USA.
The West Midlands is also represented in the joint industry and Government-led Visitor Economy Advisory Council, through membership of the Mayor of the West Midlands Combined Authority and the Chief Executive of the West Midlands Growth Company. In this way the views of the West Midlands help to inform and shape Government policy and the forthcoming sector growth plan which will set out a long term plan to increase visitor flows across the UK, boost value, and deliver sustainable growth. I work closely with the Mayor of the West Midlands and recently met with them to discuss tourism.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
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 13 October 2025 to Question 76809 on Department for Culture, Media and Sport: Public Bodies, how many appointments have been made to each of the respective Boards of her Department's public bodies since July 2024.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Since 10 July 2024, 121 regulated appointments and reappointments have been made to the Boards of the Department for Culture, Media & Sport’s public bodies. This data only includes regulated appointments made to relevant boards as listed in the Public Appointments Order in Council 2019.
Board Name | Number | Board Name | Number |
Advisory Council on National Records and Archives | 8 | National Citizenship Service | 2 |
Arts Council England | 4 | Royal Armouries | 1 |
British Museum | 12 | Royal Museums Greenwich | 3 |
British Tourist Authority | 4 | S4C | 6 |
Charity Commission | 4 | Sport England | 4 |
Departmental Non-Executive Directors | 2 | Sports Ground Safety Authority | 1 |
Historic England | 3 | Tate | 7 |
Historic Royal Palaces | 3 | The National Archives | 3 |
Horniman Museum and Gardens | 3 | The National Lottery Community Fund | 4 |
Horserace Betting Levy Board | 1 | The Royal Parks | 3 |
Imperial War Museum | 4 | Theatres Trust | 4 |
Independent Football Regulator | 3 | Treasure Valuation Committee | 5 |
Museum of the Home | 4 | UK Anti-Doping | 3 |
National Gallery | 4 | UK Sport | 2 |
National Museums Liverpool | 1 | Victoria & Albert Museum | 7 |
National Portrait Gallery | 1 | Visit England Advisory Board | 3 |
Natural History Museum | 2 |
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Asked by: Cameron Thomas (Liberal Democrat - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions she has had with Cabinet colleagues on integrating nature risks into broader security and risk planning.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Nature risks are recognised in the Government’s National Security Strategy 2025: Security for the British People in a Dangerous World. Its implementation will ensure these risks inform security and risk planning across Government.
Together with my Cabinet colleagues the Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy, and Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero Ed Miliband, I was pleased to attend the recent Countdown to COP30: mobilising action for climate and nature event hosted by the Natural History Museum. My ministerial team and I look forward to continuing cross- government discussions as we prepare for the 30th United Nations climate change conference in Bélem, Brazil.
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the proposed loan of the Parthenon Sculptures to Greece on trends in the number of visitors to the (a) British Museum and (b) UK in the next five years.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
No such assessment has been made.
Asked by: Adam Jogee (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent steps he has taken to ensure that the work of the National Army Museum is accessible to communities in (a) Newcastle-under-Lyme and (b) Staffordshire.
Answered by Al Carns - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans)
I will answer the hon. Member's Question on behalf of my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport as the National Army Museum (NAM) which is located in Chelsea, London is sponsored by the Ministry of Defence. The NAM works tirelessly to ensure the stories of soldiers and their service in the British Army throughout the centuries, here and around the world, are accessible to all, including the communities in Newcastle-under Lyme and Staffordshire.
To ensure the story of the British Army is accessible to as many as possible, the entry to and exhibits within the museum are free. It also has a large variety of free digital resources from dedicated pages for different Regiments on its website including those with Staffordshire connections, social media channels which communicate stories and research to global audiences and extensive online collections of information, objects, archives, and artwork in which work is being conducted for it to be further expanded.
The NAM also provides support to a network of Regimental and Corps museums around the country, including the Staffordshire Regiment Museum in Lichfield.
Asked by: Helena Dollimore (Labour (Co-op) - Hastings and Rye)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department plans to increase its grant in aid funding for the Bayeux Tapestry display at the British Museum.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The government will not be increasing grant in aid funding for the Bayeux Tapestry display at the British Museum.
The British Museum will use the ticketing revenue from the Bayeux Tapestry exhibition to support the costs of putting on this major exhibition for the visiting public, along with the accompanying public programmes. The British Museum offers concessionary tickets, including free entry for under 16s to all of its exhibitions.
Asked by: Helena Dollimore (Labour (Co-op) - Hastings and Rye)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether the British Museum will retain the ticketing revenue from the Bayeux Tapestry exhibition.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The government will not be increasing grant in aid funding for the Bayeux Tapestry display at the British Museum.
The British Museum will use the ticketing revenue from the Bayeux Tapestry exhibition to support the costs of putting on this major exhibition for the visiting public, along with the accompanying public programmes. The British Museum offers concessionary tickets, including free entry for under 16s to all of its exhibitions.
Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether she has had recent discussions with the Chair of the British Museum on the Parthenon Marbles.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
As the British Museum is a DCMS Arm’s Length Body, I regularly meet and talk with the Chair. The Parthenon Sculptures is one of a number of issues that we occasionally discuss.
Decisions relating to the care and management of the Parthenon Sculptures are a matter for the British Museum Trustees, acting within the law.
The Government has no plans to change the law that would permit a permanent move of the Parthenon Sculptures.