Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, with reference to Government transparency data entitled DIT: spending over £25,000 for November 2022, for what purpose her Department spent £31,206.16 on corporate event management and marketing with Bray Leino Limited on 8 November 2022.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The charges referenced all relate to event management services and third-party costs for Bray Leino, who deliver events on behalf of the Department for Business and Trade, which in 2022 included the Arab Health, Gulfood, Mobile World Congress, Web Summit, UK House at Commonwealth Games, NHS Trade Mission to Saudi Arabia, Green Trade, and Investment Summit, COP27, SMM Hamburg and NHS Trade Mission to World Hospital Congress.
Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, with reference to the Government transparency data entitled DIT: spending over £25,000 for November 2022, for what purpose that Department spent £415,000 on corporate event management and marketing at Bray Leino Limited on 8 November 2022.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The charges referenced all relate to event management services and third-party costs for Bray Leino, who deliver events on behalf of the Department for Business and Trade, which in 2022 included the Arab Health, Gulfood, Mobile World Congress, Web Summit, UK House at Commonwealth Games, NHS Trade Mission to Saudi Arabia, Green Trade, and Investment Summit, COP27, SMM Hamburg and NHS Trade Mission to World Hospital Congress.
Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, with reference to Government transparency data entitled DIT: spending over £25,000 for November 2022, for what purpose her Department spent £61,442.02 on corporate event management and marketing with Bray Leino Limited on 8 November 2022.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The charges referenced all relate to event management services and third-party costs for Bray Leino, who deliver events on behalf of the Department for Business and Trade, which in 2022 included the Arab Health, Gulfood, Mobile World Congress, Web Summit, UK House at Commonwealth Games, NHS Trade Mission to Saudi Arabia, Green Trade, and Investment Summit, COP27, SMM Hamburg and NHS Trade Mission to World Hospital Congress.
Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, with reference to Government transparency data entitled DIT: spending over £25,000 for November 2022, for what purpose her Department spent £35,250 on corporate event management and marketing at Bray Leino Limited on 9 November 2022.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The charges referenced all relate to event management services and third-party costs for Bray Leino, who deliver events on behalf of the Department for Business and Trade, which in 2022 included the Arab Health, Gulfood, Mobile World Congress, Web Summit, UK House at Commonwealth Games, NHS Trade Mission to Saudi Arabia, Green Trade, and Investment Summit, COP27, SMM Hamburg and NHS Trade Mission to World Hospital Congress.
Asked by: Nicola Richards (Conservative - West Bromwich East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what information his Department holds on whether (a) Diamond Bus, (b) Sandwell Council and (c) Transport for West Midlands received a (i) bus service operator and (ii) bus recovery grant in each of the last three years.
Answered by Richard Holden - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
Diamond Bus is a commercial bus operator and recovery funding provided to them by the Department for Transport through the Bus Recovery Grant is commercially sensitive. Diamond Bus Ltd received £1,600,478.60 in 19/20, £1,264,742.20 in 20/21 and £1,712,055.34 in 21/22 through the Bus Service Operator Grant.
Transport for West Midlands oversees transport in Sandwell Council and all funding provided to them under the Bus Service Operators Grant and Bus Recovery Grant is paid to West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA). WMCA has received £1,792,259 annually since 2013 through the Bus Service Operator Grant. WMCA have been allocated £7.3m from March 2020 to October 2022 to support services through the pandemic, of which they received £4.2 million via Covid-19 Bus Service Support Grant, £1.2 million via Bus Recovery Grant and £1.9 million from the Local Transport Fund.
The Department for Transport also provided funding to WMCA to support its bus network for the duration of the Commonwealth Games in 2022. WMCA therefore also received an additional £23.4m under the Network Stabilisation Fund and Network Planning Fund which can be used to maintain bus services.
Asked by: Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth (Conservative - Life peer)
Question
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to promote domestic holidays within the UK.
Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
His Majesty’s Government recognises the importance of tourism and the value, as well as enjoyment, brought by the promotion of domestic holidays. As set out in the Tourism Recovery Plan, the Government is committed to recovering the pre-pandemic volume and expenditure of domestic visitors, and to ensuring that the benefits of tourism are spread to every part of the UK.
Tourism is a devolved matter: VisitEngland, VisitWales and VisitScotland therefore have responsibility for supporting the domestic visitor economy in their respective parts of the country. VisitBritain promotes the United Kingdom as a whole, and the Government works alongside it to promote the UK as a tourist destination, both domestically and internationally.
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport funds the British Tourism Association, which comprises VisitEngland and VisitBritain, by around £27 million per annum, of which VisitEngland receives c. £7 million. VisitEngland helps promote the UK as a tourist destination domestically through marketing campaigns such as its £5 million, UK-wide ‘Escape the Everyday’ campaign, which ran in 2022. This highlighted the quality destinations, visitor attractions, and experiences on offer across the UK’s cities, countryside, and coast to boost domestic tourism.
VisitEngland promotes year-round tourism experiences, encouraging a regional and seasonal variety highlighting lesser-visited areas. The Government has supported tourism through a variety of nationwide events in recent months such as the Commonwealth Games, and will continue with events across the UK in 2023 such as the Coronation of His Majesty The King and Eurovision, and is planning for Bradford’s year as City of Culture in 2025.
Asked by: Julian Knight (Independent - Solihull)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether the Government has made an assessment of the economic benefits of the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
DCMS has recently published an independent interim evaluation report on the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games on gov.uk. This report estimates that the short-term impact of the Games contributed £870.7 million GVA (gross) to the UK economy, with even more positive impact to follow.
The report focuses on short-term economic impacts for Birmingham, the West Midlands and wider UK economy generated through the planning and delivery of the Games, as well as through visitor spend.
Findings show over half of the estimated gross GVA (£453.7 million) was generated in the West Midlands, with at least £214.6 million (gross) of this within Birmingham itself.
This is the second of three reports measuring the short- and medium-term benefits of hosting the Games. The first was published in November 2021, and the final report - which will include the full impact of the Games - will be published in early 2024.
Asked by: Navendu Mishra (Labour - Stockport)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 23 January 2023 To Question 124155 on Tourism: India, whether her Department has a strategy to promote Greater Manchester as a destination to Indian tourists.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The government promotes Britain as a holiday destination to tourists from India through VisitBritain, the national tourist board. India is one of VisitBritain's core markets and has staff based in Mumbai and New Delhi.
VisitBritain (India) works closely with UK inbound tourism businesses, with a particular focus on the North of England, including Greater Manchester, to inform them of the potential of the Indian market. This is done by encouraging UK inbound tourism businesses to tailor their offers and products to the Indian market, as well as educating them on the nuances of working with the local industry and how to provide a quality service to Indian visitors.
In January, VisitBritain hosted the ‘Showcase Britain’ event where they welcomed more than 120 international travel trade buyers for a series of educational visits across Britain including Greater Manchester.
As part of the wider Business and Tourism Programme (BATP), VisitBritain (India) has been utilising Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games to encourage longer stays across the UK.
VisitBritain has been building on the work delivered in 2019 during the Cricket World Cup to promote the north of England, positioning Manchester as the Gateway of the North. The exciting events of 2023 such as the King’s Coronation and Eurovision in Liverpool will further help to attract international visitors, including to Manchester as the UK’s third most visited city.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to help reduce the carbon emissions caused by large-scale sporting events in the UK.
Answered by Paul Scully
Major sporting events bring a wide range of benefits to this country and the Government remains committed to maintaining its world-leading track record in this area. As part of the Government’s ‘net zero’ pledge, we work closely with domestic event organisers and international federations to ensure they are delivered as sustainably as possible.
We demonstrated this, for example, through our delivery of the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games. The Games had a bold ambition to be the most sustainable Games to date and set out a clear action plan which successfully reduced the environmental impact of the Games and has helped create a lasting legacy.
For future events, the Gold Framework guidance on UK-level support available when bidding for and staging major sporting events includes guidance for organisers to focus on the sustainability of their event, and any associated legacy or social impact programme. This document is being refreshed with the intention of publishing an update in the coming months.
Asked by: Navendu Mishra (Labour - Stockport)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to promote British holiday destinations to tourists from India.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The government promotes Britain as a holiday destination to tourists from India through VisitBritain, the national tourist board. India is one of VisitBritain's core markets and has staff based in Mumbai and New Delhi.
VisitBritain (India) works closely with inbound UK tourism businesses to inform and educate them on the potential of the Indian market and encourage them to consider the Indian market in their offers and products.
In 2022, VisitBritain (India) undertook a paid content campaign with Jio, one of India’s largest telecom service providers and content creators, to showcase visitor experiences within Birmingham and the West Midlands in tandem with the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games.
As part of the wider Business and Tourism Programme (BATP), VisitBritain (India) engaged with over 1000 industry partners across India to promote Birmingham and the West Midlands using the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games to encourage longer stays.
In addition to this VisitBritain has been building on the work delivered in 2019 during the Cricket World Cup to promote the north of England, positioning Manchester as the Gateway of the North.
Later this month, VisitBritain will host educational trips for international trade buyers across Britain. The delegation of Indian buyers will visit the West Midlands.