Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to protect sites with cultural heritage in the London Borough of Havering.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
One site has been designated (Grade II status) in Romford within the past two years, and I can confirm that there are two Listing applications under review in the London Borough of Havering: Romford Brewery and Hornchurch War Memorial. Designation highlights a building, site or area's special interest and value to this and future generations and gives it protection under law or policy. A listed building may not be demolished, extended, or altered without special permission from the local planning authority. DCMS Arm’s Length Bodies have also provided funding and other support in the Borough:
Historic England continues to provide support to three at-risk sites in this borough, through statutory advice or funding via the Repair Grant and Management Agreement schemes.
Four cultural organisations receive regular funding from Arts Council England, two organisations have benefited from Culture Recovery Funding.
Since 1994, The National Lottery Heritage Fund has invested more than £12.5m in 66 projects in the London Borough of Havering. The Fund continues to work in partnership with Arts Council England to deliver project funding in Havering through the National Lottery Project Grants programme.
Asked by: Andrea Jenkyns (Conservative - Morley and Outwood)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps his Department plans to take to commemorate the anniversary of the Battle of Adwalton Moor.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
The Battle of Adwalton Moor occurred on 30 June 1643 at Adwalton. It marked an important moment in the First English Civil War in the North of England, where the royalists, led by Earl of Newcastle defeated the Parliamentarians under Lord Fairfax.
The present site is included on Historic England’s Battlefields Register
This country has a long and well-established tradition of commemorating historical events of national and local importance through memorials and celebratory events. It is not common practice however, for the Central Government to fund new memorials or events to mark significant events, instead we would urge the local community, both public sector and private individuals, to propose, fundraise, and develop commemorative events and monuments which best reflect the needs of their local community.
In terms of funding opportunities, I would urge the Hon Member to contact the National Lottery Heritage Fund. As the largest funder of heritage in the UK, The National Lottery Heritage Fund regularly supports projects focused on past people and events, and these are often timed to coincide with anniversaries.
Asked by: Luke Pollard (Labour (Co-op) - Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport)
Question
To ask the hon. Member for Broxbourne, representing the House of Commons Commission, what estimate the Commission has made of the number of ivory items owned by or collated in the Houses of Parliament.
Answered by Charles Walker
In total, there are 21 documented items made of ivory or containing ivory that are owned by the Houses of Parliament.
There are 18 accessioned objects documented within the Parliamentary Heritage Collections. Of these 12 are small objects from the Parliamentary Art Collection made between the 17th and 19th centuries. The remaining six are items of 19th century historic furniture or fabric which contain small amounts of ivory decoration.
There are two accessioned items documented in the Parliamentary Archives which contain ivory. These are a Book of Common Prayer containing decorative ivory crosses and a set of ink stamps with ivory handles. There are no accessioned items documented in either the House of Lords Library or House of Commons Library made of, or containing, ivory.
A non-accessioned First World War book of remembrance in the House of Lords includes an ivory Tudor rose in the binding. There may be other non-accessioned items containing ivory in the Houses that have not yet been identified.
Asked by: Tobias Ellwood (Conservative - Bournemouth East)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, to make a statement about the department's relationship with the War Grave's Commission.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Department does not currently have a direct relationship with the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, however Historic England and the Commission have recently published a Joint Policy Statement that establishes a shared understanding of how the Commission cares for and manages memorials in cemeteries and churchyards to servicemen and women who have lost their lives in service for this country. The statement also establishes a common understanding of the Commission’s on-going responsibilities towards this aspect of our heritage.
Asked by: Kate Green (Labour - Stretford and Urmston)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the hon. Member for South West Bedfordshire, representing the Church Commissioners, what progress has been made on (a) making Church land available for Gypsy and Traveller sites and (b) other plans to tackle racism and discrimination as agreed at the General Synod in February 2019.
Answered by Andrew Selous - Second Church Estates Commissioner
The Church Commissioners manage the charitable and historic endowments of the Church to support mission and ministry financially. The Commissioners seek to make provision for a range of housing types on their land but have not recently been made aware of any requirements for the direct provision of Gypsy and Traveller accommodation on that land. Other land at a parish and diocesan level is not under the ownership or management of the Church Commissioners.
The Church has an active network for Gypsy, Roma and Traveller people and is also running an annual training day for clergy that offers support and guidance, alongside a conference on 24th March 2020 which aims to give voice and visibility to minorities not traditionally heard, seen and represented in the Church of England.
The Church of England’s Ministry Division and clergy senior appointments team have developed a programme of work to support vocations from UKME communities and is working towards increasing representation in the senior leadership of the Church.
The Church will also be making an additional £20 million available over three years under its new Social Impact Investment Project, which incentivises positive investment in communities over the maximisation of financial return. One of the key areas for this project will be looking at the social impact of housing and consideration will be given to the housing needs of Gypsy, Roma and Traveller peoples.
At its February 2020 session the General Synod of the Church of England debated and passed the following motion:
“Windrush Commitment and Legacy
That this Synod, commemorating in 2018 the martyrdom of the Revd Dr Martin Luther King, Jr., noting with joy the 70th anniversary of the arrival of the Empire Windrush liner in the United Kingdom in June 1948 bringing nearly 500 Commonwealth citizens, mainly from the Caribbean, to mainland UK; and the eventual arrival of approximately half a million people from the West Indies, who were called to Britain as British subjects to help rebuild the post-war United Kingdom:
a. lament, on behalf of Christ's Church, and apologises for, the conscious and unconscious racism experienced by countless black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) Anglicans in 1948 and subsequent years, when seeking to find a spiritual home in their local Church of England parish churches, the memory of which is still painful to committed Anglicans who, in spite of this racism from clergy and others, have remained faithful to the Church of England and their Anglican heritage;
b. request the Archbishops’ Council to commission research to assess the impact of this on the Church of England in terms of church members lost, churches declining into closure, and vocations to ordained and licensed lay ministries missed, and to report back to this Synod and the wider Church.”
c. express gratitude to God for the indispensable contribution to the mission, ministry, prayer and worship of Christ's Church in this nation made by people of BAME descent in the Church of England;
d. acknowledge and give joyful thanks for the wider contribution of the 'Windrush generation' and their descendants to UK life and culture in every field of human activity, including service across the Armed Forces and other services during and after the Second World War; and
e. resolve to continue, with great effort and urgency, to stamp out all forms of conscious or unconscious racism, and to commit the Church of England to increase the participation and representation of lay and ordained BAME Anglicans throughout Church life;
f. request the Archbishop’s Council to appoint an independent person external to the Church to assess the current situation as regards race and ethnicity in the Church, in order to present a report to this Synod with recommendations for actions to achieve reconciliation and authentic belonging so that we can move towards truly being a Church for all people;
g. to the greater glory of the God in whose image every human being is made.
Asked by: David Simpson (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, how much Heritage Lottery funding has been allocated to First World War commemoration events in each of the last three years.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The National Lottery Heritage Fund invested £18,429,100 in 863 First World War Centenary projects over the last three financial years. National commemoration events to mark significant events during the First World War were delivered and funded by HM Government.
Financial Year | Projects Awarded | Grant Awarded |
2016-17 | 265 | £6,478,100 |
2017-18 | 248 | £8,174,200 |
2018-19 | 350 | £3,776,800 |
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps the Government is taking to ensure war memorials are protected from public vandalism.
Answered by Michael Ellis
Powers which may be used to tackle vandalism include the offence of criminal damage which carries a maximum sentence of up to ten years imprisonment and a Civil Injunction which can be imposed by the courts to place prohibitions or requirements on perpetrators of Anti social behaviour, which can include requiring them to stay away from a particular place or require them to repair damage to someone else’s property. For adults, breach is punishable by up to two years’ imprisonment and/or an unlimited fine.
The Government provides support for the repair of memorials through the Memorial Grant Scheme which makes grants towards the VAT incurred by charities and faith groups in the construction, repair and maintenance of public memorial structures, including war memorials. The scheme has a fixed budget of £0.5m per year for spending period.
To mark the centenary of the First World War, Government funded a four-year programme. One strand of this work was to ensure war memorials across the country are protected and the people they commemorate, remembered. The aim was to add 2,500 war memorials to the National Heritage List for England. The project finished at the end of September 2018, having added or amended a total of 2,645 war memorials to the list.
Asked by: Tracy Brabin (Labour (Co-op) - Batley and Spen)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent assessment he has made of the potential merits of introducing a medal for women who worked in munitions factories during the world wars.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
The Government recognises the hard work of the Munitions workers and is extremely grateful for their input and sacrifices made during both world wars often working in harsh conditions, to ensure that our soldiers were well equipped during the war effort.
There are no plans to introduce a medal for munitions workers who served during the world wars. A commemorative badge is available thanks to the support of the BAE Systems Heritage Department and the efforts of the Munitions Workers Association. This is similar to those badges given to those who worked in the mines during the second world war – the so-called Bevan Boys. Surviving munitions workers and their families can approach the Munitions Workers Association to receive this commemorative badge.
Asked by: Baroness Young of Old Scone (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to commemorate the centenary of the end of the First World War; and whether there are plans to dedicate any lasting natural memorials.
Answered by Lord Ashton of Hyde
The final year of the Government's four year programme to commemorate the centenary of the First World War will see a series of events to commemorate the end of the War, and the path to peace. On Monday 26 March an event was held to commemorate the centenary of the appointment of Marshal Foch as Supreme Allied Commander on the Western Front, at the statue of the Marshal in Lower Grosvenor Gardens. It was attended by the French Ambassador, and the French Minister of State for Veterans and Remembrance.
On 8 August we will commemorate the centenary of the the Battle of Amiens and the subsequent 'Hundred Days' Offensive with an event for 2,000 guests in Amiens Cathedral in Northern France. It is being delivered in partnership with the governments of Australia, Canada, France and the United States of America.
The government’s programme of centenary events will culminate on 11 November 2018 with a series of events across the UK to mark the centenary of the Armistice. The National Service of Remembrance at the Cenotaph will follow traditional lines, to respect its wider purpose in remembering the fallen of all conflicts. The traditional veterans’ parade will then be followed by a civilian procession made up of 10,000 members of the public who wish to show their thanks to a generation who gave so much for the freedoms we enjoy today. An announcement regarding the public ballot for tickets to participate in this procession will be made shortly. During the day, church and other bells will ring out as they did in 1918 to mark the end of the war.
The commemorations will conclude in the evening with a national service of thanksgiving at Westminster Abbey in London. Similar services will also take place in Glasgow, Cardiff and Belfast.
In addition to the national events, the other elements of government programme, such as the Schools' Battlefields Tours, the schools 'Great War Debates', the Victoria Cross Paving Stones, and funding for the repair and restoration of War Memorials will continue, to ensure that the final year of the War and the Armistice are commemorated appropriately. Historic England will also continue to research and conserve not only war memorials and historic buildings, but trenches and other fieldworks constructed during the war for training purposes, to make sure that our history can be enjoyed by present and future generations. Two of these, the practise trenches at Short Fell, Northumberland, and the earthwork model training trenches at Cannock Chase, Staffordshire, have been added to the National Heritage List for England. A range of information, including detailed research on various sites across the country, can be found on their website.
The Government has no plans to create any lasting natural memorials to the First World War, but I am aware of, and commend, the Woodland Trust’s First World War Centenary Woods initiative involving the planting of millions of trees in four Centenary Woods across the UK, creating beautiful places for the next generation to enjoy whilst providing a living legacy to all those affected by the conflict.
Asked by: Leo Docherty (Conservative - Aldershot)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment he has made of the level of the contribution of the heritage aviation sector to the UK economy.
Answered by Michael Ellis
Aviation heritage plays a valuable role in our tourism economy. Events such as the Farnborough Airshow attract hundreds of thousands of tourists, and support the local economy, as well as being good for our aerospace and defence industry. My Department sponsors the Imperial War Museum at Duxford, which is visited by almost 400,000 visitors every year, and houses everything from Spitfires to Concorde.
The Heritage Lottery Fund is also open to applications which celebrate our rich aviation history. Recent recipients include Brooklands Museum in Weybridge, an historic site for aviation manufacturing and a successful tourist attraction given £4.7million, and the Stow Maries First World War Aerodrome in Essex, recently granted £4.3million to turn it into a major visitor attraction.