Asked by: Damien Moore (Conservative - Southport)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department has taken to support (a) small and (b) independent theatres.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
His Majesty’s Government is committed to supporting the arts and cultural sector, including theatres. This is primarily through the Arts Council England whose funding for National Portfolio Organisations has increased to £444.6 million per annum, funding a record 985 organisations, including 214 new organisations outside of London.
Arts Council England invests in nearly 200 theatres or theatre companies that produce, commission, and present theatre, in addition to arts centres, festivals and outdoor theatre companies. These range from large theatres in cities - Liverpool Theatres, Manchester Royal Exchange, Sheffield Theatres - to smaller theatres and theatre companies often with a particular specialism, such as theatre for children, theatre with a disability focus, theatre companies that co-create with different communities or theatre companies that are designed to tour. Overall investment in theatre has increased through the current round of the Arts Council’s National Portfolio programme – both in terms of the number of organisations supported, and the volume of funding which is now more than £110 million per annum.
A number of theatres are also regularly supported through the Arts Council’s open access National Lottery Project Grants programme which has a budget of £116.8 million a year. This is a rolling programme and is open to artists and companies across the country.
Asked by: David Davis (Conservative - Haltemprice and Howden)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what data sets will flow into the Federated Data Platform; and what her planned timetable is for each of those data sets to be (a) visible and (b) in use on the Federated Data Platform by participating hospital trusts.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The NHS Federated Data Platform will deliver measurable improvements for patients. It will allow people to be discharged quicker, and for waiting lists to be shortened, through making better use of data.
It will securely bring together information already available to trusts, in hospital health records, waiting lists, and theatre and staff rosters, to better manage patient care. Each NHS organisation will be the data controller for their instance of the platform. Data will always remain under the full control and protection of the NHS and is only visible to approved users.
The NHS Federated Data Platform will provide trusts and integrated care boards, on behalf of local integrated care systems, with a set of core capabilities and nationally developed products, to support five key National Health Service priorities: elective recovery; care-co-ordination; vaccination and immunisation; population health management; and supply chain management.
A suite of products will sit under each of the use cases. A product is a software solution to address a particular NHS need, for example a patient discharge product which brings together data to help support discharge teams in hospitals in getting patients the right care in the right place. As each product is developed or transitioned to the NHS Federated Data Platform, a privacy notice will be published, setting out the data that will be utilised within the product. These are available at the following link:https://www.england.nhs.uk/contact-us/privacy-notice/how-we-use-your-information/nhs-federated-data-platform-privacy-notice/fdp-products-and-product-privacy-notices/
The NHS Federated Data Platform is being implemented in phases, with the first phase, from March to July 2024, being a transition of existing National Data Platform products to the national instance of the NHS Federated Data Platform, and the transition of 44 pilot sites to local instances. The second phase, from May 2024 to March 2027 and following the successful transition phase, is the rollout of instances of the platform to new trusts and integrated care boards. Once trusts and boards have their local instance of the platform, they can choose to use any of the nationally commissioned products, and develop new or additional products locally, to address local issues. This is when the data will become visible to approved users.
Asked by: Damien Moore (Conservative - Southport)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to expand support available through Jobcentres in Southport constituency.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The local Jobcentre team are collaborating with a range of partners to support people into work and help employers fill vacancies. In addition to hosting job fairs, delivering Sector-Based Work Academy Programmes (SWAPs), and hosting employer Group Information Sessions, Southport Jobcentre is working with Sefton Council, local colleges, care & childcare providers, manufacturing, retail, education, agriculture, and hospitality companies, to provide an employment and skills offer to help meet the recruitment needs of local employers.
Southport Jobcentre has been working closely with employers such as Sainsbury’s and McDonald’s to hosts SWAP’s for Southport residents to have direct access to live vacancies. The Jobcentre has also collaborated with Southport College to hosts job fairs to bring together national and local employers for job opportunities as well as providers to support customers with breaking down barriers to work. Additionally, the Jobcentre looks forward to supporting Southport’s future regeneration and exciting projects which includes the Southport Enterprise Arcade, the Garrick Theatre development and the Marine Lake Events Centre.
Disability Employment Advisers (DEA’s) offer advice and expertise on how to help disabled people and people with health conditions into work, alongside close working with Merseycare, The Peer Mentoring Service, Life Rooms, and Sefton Council. Southport Jobcentre colleagues also attend local events to highlight the support available, including Access to Work, Disability Confident and the Working Health Pioneer programme.
Asked by: David Davis (Conservative - Haltemprice and Howden)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what her planned timescale is for ambulance service data to be active on the Federated Data Platform for use by participating hospital trusts.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The NHS Federated Data Platform will securely bring together information from hospital health records, waiting lists, and theatre and staff rosters, to better manage patient care. There is no planned timescale for ambulance service data to be used by trusts participating in local instances of the NHS Federated Data Platform, although this may be possible in the future.
The ambulance data will be used by NHS England to monitor ambulance activity, including response and handover times, to support improvement of patient safety and operational delivery. Trusts may have access to some ambulance service data through the dashboard, made available to authorised users via the national instance of the NHS Federated Data Platform. More information on this dashboard is available at the following link:
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: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of making the Theatre Tax Relief permanent on the theatre industry.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
At Spring Budget 2024, the government announced that from 1 April 2025, the rate of theatre tax relief will be set permanently at 40% (for non-touring productions) and 45% (for touring productions).
This is a highly generous level of relief that will support theatre companies to continue to put on outstanding home-grown productions. 705 theatre companies benefitted from theatre tax relief in the last year of available statistics.
Further information can be found in HMRC’s Creative Industries Statistics, which can be accessed at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/creative-industries-statistics-august-2023
Asked by: Neil Coyle (Labour - Bermondsey and Old Southwark)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department plans to take to settle Access to Work payments owed to Icarus Theatre Collective in Southwark to support a disabled actor.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
We are unable to comment on individual cases.
Claims for Access to Work payments can be submitted via our online portal or through the post and this is clearly explained in customer letters. Approved claims submitted through the proper channels are typically processed within 10 days.
Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Wentworth and Dearne)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many UK Armed Forces Personnel have been deployed in Singapore in each year since 2010.
Answered by James Heappey
Number of UK Armed Forces Service personnel deployed in Singapore since 2010:
2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 |
0 | ~ | 0 | 80 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ~ | 10 | 0 | ~ | ~ | ~ |
The UK also has military personnel stationed in Singapore in the British High Commission as part of its Defence Section and the British Defence Staff Southeast Asia, as well as part of the British Defence Singapore Support Unit. Full details are in the table below.
Number of UK Regulars stationed in Singapore as at 1 January since 2010:
2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 |
10 | 10 | 10 | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | ~ | 10 |
Deployed personnel are defined here as military personnel who are deployed on operations. Navy personnel who have been deployed on a ship are not included in deployment figures for countries even if the operation that they are deployed on includes duties in the country or countries mentioned in the above figures. Deployment data are derived from the Joint Personnel Administration (JPA) `Move and Track` system, which records all personnel who enter a deployment theatre for over 24hrs. Figures of 5 or fewer are represented by ‘~’.
Asked by: Tobias Ellwood (Conservative - Bournemouth East)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the breakdown is of armed forces capabilities deployed to Poland as part of NATO exercise Steadfast Defender 24.
Answered by James Heappey
STEADFAST DEFENDER 24 will see the British Army deploy two brigade combat teams and a 3* corps headquarters to Poland, as part of Exercises BRILLANT JUMP, POLISH DRAGON, and IMMEDIATE RESPONSE. This equates to around 4,000 personnel and 2,000 pieces of equipment across the Allied Rapid Reaction Corps, 7th Light Mechanised Brigade Combat Team as the core of the Very High Readiness Joint Task Force (Land), and 12th Armoured Brigade Combat Team. Across Europe, an additional 3,500 theatre enablement personnel will deploy to enable port operations, cross continent force flow, and sustainment of UK forces for the duration of the exercises. There are no maritime or air capabilities deployed to Poland as part of STEADFAST DEFENDER 24.