Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether she is taking steps to use (a) the Turner Prize and (b) other high-profile art competitions to enhance the (i) visibility and (ii) understanding of multicultural arts (A) in the UK and (B) internationally.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The United Kingdom's arts and culture sector is recognised globally as a world leader. It promotes the UK’s diversity and dynamism, fosters international engagement, and contributes to global cultural exchange and understanding. In 2024, our creative and cultural sectors helped the UK once again to rank second globally in the Brand Directory Soft Power Index.
The Turner Prize is, as the Tate website explains, awarded to ‘an artist working primarily in Britain or an artist born in Britain working globally.’ As its winners over the past forty years – including Sir Anish Kapoor (1991), Chris Ofili CBE (1998), Sir Steve McQueen (1999), Susan Philipsz OBE (2010), Lubaina Himid CBE (2017), Lawrence Abu Hamdan, Helen Cammock, Tai Shani and Oscar Murillo (2019), and Veronica Ryan OBE (2022) – show, it has always been an opportunity to reflect and champion the diverse array of artists living and working in the UK. Similarly, the list of artists nominated over the past four decades have helped to give national and international attention to the strength and diversity of art in Britain.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how he measuring is the level of synthetic drugs being (a) manufactured in the UK and (b) trafficked into the UK.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
Tackling illicit drugs, including potent synthetic opioids, is a priority for the Government and through our 10 year drugs strategy ‘From Harm to Hope’ we are taking action to tackle drug supply and reduce demand.
UK agencies are highly alert to the threat from synthetic drugs, including synthetic opioids like fentanyl and nitazenes, as well as synthetic cannabinoids and benzodiazepines. The Home Office, Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC), National Crime Agency (NCA), Border Force and the National Police Chiefs Council are working with local partners to proactively monitor and respond to synthetic opioid related deaths, tracking drug related deaths and other intelligence to ensure a quick response.
We assess that the scale of trafficking of synthetic opioids into the UK remains low. However, nitazenes, a type of synthetic opioid, have been linked to more than 100 deaths in the UK during the last year. The NCA assess that these substances are manufactured in illicit labs in China and have no evidence to suggest they are manufactured in the UK.
Through the cross-Government Synthetic Opioids Taskforce we are taking action and are working to enhance our drug harms surveillance and early warning system to provide monitoring information on the presence and impact of synthetic opioids or other drug threats to inform our response. It will also include data on lab-tested police seizures as well as state-of-the-art monitoring for the presence of synthetic drugs by analysing wastewater.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether he is investing in research into drug testing methodology to identify the presence of synthetic drugs.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
Tackling illicit drugs, including potent synthetic opioids, is a priority for the Government and through our 10-year drugs strategy ‘From Harm to Hope’ we are taking action to tackle drug supply and reduce demand.
Through the cross-Government Synthetic Opioids Taskforce, we are working to enhance our drug harms surveillance and early warning system to provide monitoring information on the presence and impact of synthetic opioids or other drug threats to inform our response. This will also include data on detections from drug-checking services as well as state-of-the-art monitoring for the presence of synthetic drugs by analysing wastewater.
The Home Office continues to investigate the market for new technologies that can be used to identify the presence of synthetic drugs.
Ministers are clear that drug testing services must not condone drug use and should only be delivered where licensed and operated responsibly, in line with Government policy to ensure that they discourage drug use and signpost potential users to treatment and support.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many (a) museums, (b) theatres, (c) art galleries, (d) sports venues and (e) other public buildings for which her Department is responsible have reported RAAC in their roofs; and what estimate she has made of the cost of remediation in each such area.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Individual building owners are responsible for health and safety, including responding to safety alerts such as the one relating to reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC).
The Department for Culture Media & Sport is in regular contact with our arm’s-length bodies about all aspects of building management, including RAAC. We are aware of one instance of RAAC in an arm’s-length body and have advised it, and other organisations in the cultural and sporting sector for which DCMS does not have direct responsibility, to follow the latest guidance from the Office of Government Property and Institution of Structural Engineers.
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will take steps to ensure every (a) primary and (b) secondary pupil in England can visit the theatre at least once in their school career.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
All state-funded schools should teach a broad and balanced curriculum that promotes pupils' cultural development. The best schools combine creative subjects with core subjects, and the department is committed to ensuring that all pupils have access to both.
Cultural education is therefore integral to a high-quality education. Alongside drama as part of the English curriculum and dance as part of the physical education curriculum, music and art and design, remain important pillars of the knowledge-rich National Curriculum.
Drama is not an individual subject within the English National Curriculum, but it is an important part of a pupil’s school experience. The main introduction of drama to the primary programmes of study details the type of drama opportunities pupils should be given and acknowledges the artistic practice of drama. Teachers will use their professional judgement as to how and when such opportunities are created.
On 10 February 2017, the department announced an update to the content for the GCSE in drama and the A level in drama and theatre studies to specify that all pupils will now have the entitlement to experience live theatre, reaffirming the government’s commitment to providing pupils with an enriching arts education.
A parent’s income should not be a barrier to a pupil participating in a school trip. Schools may not charge for school trips that take place during school hours, or which take place outside school hours but are part of the National Curriculum, part of religious education, or part of the syllabus for a public exam that the pupil is being prepared for at the school. Parents can be asked for contributions towards the cost of a trip, but schools must make clear that contributions are voluntary. The published advice, ‘Charging for School Activities’, is clear that no pupil should be excluded from an activity simply because their parents are unwilling or unable to pay. The advice can be found at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/706830/Charging_for_school_activities.pdf.
Finally, pupil premium funding will rise to over £2.9 billion in the 2024/25 academic year. The increase will ensure that this targeted funding continues to help schools to support the educational outcomes of disadvantaged pupils. As set out in the menu of approaches, schools are able to use pupil premium to fund extracurricular activities, including school trips to theatres.
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she plans to take steps to ensure that pupils from low income families are able to participate in school visits to theatres.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
All state-funded schools should teach a broad and balanced curriculum that promotes pupils' cultural development. The best schools combine creative subjects with core subjects, and the department is committed to ensuring that all pupils have access to both.
Cultural education is therefore integral to a high-quality education. Alongside drama as part of the English curriculum and dance as part of the physical education curriculum, music and art and design, remain important pillars of the knowledge-rich National Curriculum.
Drama is not an individual subject within the English National Curriculum, but it is an important part of a pupil’s school experience. The main introduction of drama to the primary programmes of study details the type of drama opportunities pupils should be given and acknowledges the artistic practice of drama. Teachers will use their professional judgement as to how and when such opportunities are created.
On 10 February 2017, the department announced an update to the content for the GCSE in drama and the A level in drama and theatre studies to specify that all pupils will now have the entitlement to experience live theatre, reaffirming the government’s commitment to providing pupils with an enriching arts education.
A parent’s income should not be a barrier to a pupil participating in a school trip. Schools may not charge for school trips that take place during school hours, or which take place outside school hours but are part of the National Curriculum, part of religious education, or part of the syllabus for a public exam that the pupil is being prepared for at the school. Parents can be asked for contributions towards the cost of a trip, but schools must make clear that contributions are voluntary. The published advice, ‘Charging for School Activities’, is clear that no pupil should be excluded from an activity simply because their parents are unwilling or unable to pay. The advice can be found at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/706830/Charging_for_school_activities.pdf.
Finally, pupil premium funding will rise to over £2.9 billion in the 2024/25 academic year. The increase will ensure that this targeted funding continues to help schools to support the educational outcomes of disadvantaged pupils. As set out in the menu of approaches, schools are able to use pupil premium to fund extracurricular activities, including school trips to theatres.
Asked by: Lord Lexden (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have issued guidance to public institutions and universities concerning security arrangements for the protection of historic portraits of past statesmen.
Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The vandalism against the portrait of A.J. Balfour at Trinity College, Cambridge, last month is rightly being investigated as a criminal act by Cambridgeshire Police. The shoddy sense of history by those who perpetrated and promoted it is also a reminder of the importance of historic portraits in improving our awareness and understanding of the past.
The famous declaration made by Balfour as Foreign Secretary in November 1917 made clear that ‘nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine, or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country’. At the time Balfour issued it, the man who had painted his portrait three years earlier, Philip de László, was (despite having become a British citizen, with the former Prime Minister as one of his sponsors) interned, having been arrested on suspicion of treason on account of letters he had written to family members in Austria. As the historian Giles MacDonogh has noted, it appears ‘the fact that de László was born of Jewish parents had some bearing on the case’; his interrogation by Special Branch dwelt on his Jewish ancestry, and an unsympathetic biography included in the recommendation from MI5 to the Home Secretary that he be interned noted that de László was the ‘son of a Jew tailor’. In May 1919, his case was raised in a debate in Your Lordships’ House; the following month, it was brought before the Certificates of Naturalisation (Revocation) Committee, which took just fifteen minutes to throw it out and exonerate him.
It is thanks to portraits like this that such fascinating insights into our past can be gleaned.
I have spoken to the Vice-Master of Trinity College following the attack, and hope that this magnificent portrait can be swiftly repaired and shared with students and visitors to the college for many years to come.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will extend the offer of a free portrait of King Charles to churches.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The Government does not currently have any plans to extend the offer of a free portrait of The King to churches or other places of worship.
The UK Government launched an Official Portrait scheme in November 2023 to enable certain Public Authorities across the UK to apply for a free, framed official portrait of His Majesty The King for display in their buildings.
The scheme is ongoing and is due for completion by mid year 2024. His Majesty’s accession has marked the beginning of a new reign and the UK Government considers it is right that public authorities, as part of the fabric of our nation, have the opportunity to commemorate this moment, strengthen civil pride and reflect the new era in our history.
A portrait will be available for purchase in due course for those not eligible for this scheme and details will be communicated at the time.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to (a) tackle disparities in access to the arts and (b) promote cultural engagement among underrepresented communities.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The arts are for everyone, and His Majesty’s Government is deeply committed to supporting access to high-quality arts and culture across the country.
At the last Spending Review, the Government increased the Grant in Aid available to Arts Council England, and asked it to spend that increased amount more equitably across the country. Through Arts Council England’s new (2023–26) National Portfolio, increased funding of £444.6 million per annum is now funding a record 985 organisations in more parts of the country than ever before. This is an increase from £410 million per annum going to 814 organisations under the previous portfolio. Of the 275 new organisations joining the funding portfolio, 214 are from outside London.
As well as the Arts Council’s existing Priority Places (one of which is Slough), DCMS and the Arts Council also agreed 109 Levelling Up for Culture Places, which partially overlap with the Priority Places, and which were identified as places of historically low investment and engagement in arts and culture. These places are targeted for additional engagement and investment. In Slough, our new joiners are:
Amina Khayyam Dance Co
Art classes group
Resource Productions
In February, DCMS launched the fourth round of the Government’s Cultural Development Fund, which is open to every part of England. In this round we are particularly keen to fund activity in areas of low cultural investment. To date, the Cultural Development Fund has provided £76 million of capital investment to 20 transformative, place-based creative and cultural initiatives across the country.
Tackling disparities in opportunity and outcome in cultural education is also one of the overarching objectives of DCMS and the Department for Education’s forthcoming Cultural Education Plan, which aims to give support for all children and young people (age 0–18) to access a broad range of high-quality cultural education subjects, activities and experiences in and out of school. This will promote access, participation and progression within the arts.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to help ensure equitable access to the arts across communities in the UK.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The arts are for everyone, and His Majesty’s Government is deeply committed to supporting access to high-quality arts and culture across the country.
At the last Spending Review, the Government increased the Grant in Aid available to Arts Council England, and asked it to spend that increased amount more equitably across the country. Through Arts Council England’s new (2023–26) National Portfolio, increased funding of £444.6 million per annum is now funding a record 985 organisations in more parts of the country than ever before. This is an increase from £410 million per annum going to 814 organisations under the previous portfolio. Of the 275 new organisations joining the funding portfolio, 214 are from outside London.
As well as the Arts Council’s existing Priority Places (one of which is Slough), DCMS and the Arts Council also agreed 109 Levelling Up for Culture Places, which partially overlap with the Priority Places, and which were identified as places of historically low investment and engagement in arts and culture. These places are targeted for additional engagement and investment. In Slough, our new joiners are:
Amina Khayyam Dance Co
Art classes group
Resource Productions
In February, DCMS launched the fourth round of the Government’s Cultural Development Fund, which is open to every part of England. In this round we are particularly keen to fund activity in areas of low cultural investment. To date, the Cultural Development Fund has provided £76 million of capital investment to 20 transformative, place-based creative and cultural initiatives across the country.
Tackling disparities in opportunity and outcome in cultural education is also one of the overarching objectives of DCMS and the Department for Education’s forthcoming Cultural Education Plan, which aims to give support for all children and young people (age 0–18) to access a broad range of high-quality cultural education subjects, activities and experiences in and out of school. This will promote access, participation and progression within the arts.