Asked by: Ben Lake (Plaid Cymru - Ceredigion)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if she will make an assessment of the merits of allocating funding from the Government and Heritage Lottery Fund to commemorate Hedd Wynn in Ceredigion as part of the Government's First World War commemorations programme.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
I am delighted that Yr Ysgwrn, the home of Hedd Wyn has recently reopened to the public, thanks to £2,972,500 from the Heritage Lottery Fund to repair and develop the buildings, and following its purchase in 2012 with money from both the Welsh Government and the National Heritage Memorial Fund (NHMF). While funding decisions are made by the Heritage Lottery Fund independently of my Department, I am sure that Yr Ysgwrn will teach generations of visitors about Hedd Wyn’s experiences and the First World War and provide a suitable home for the related collections and archives, including Y Gadair Ddu, the 1917 National Eisteddfod chair awarded to him posthumously.
Asked by: Ben Lake (Plaid Cymru - Ceredigion)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, which projects are receiving funding from the Government and Heritage Lottery Fund to commemorate the centenary of the First World War.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
A wide range of projects are receiving funding from Government to commemorate the centenary of the First World War. Government has committed LIBOR funds to support the National Commemorative events delivered by my Department - to commemorate the Gallipoli Campaign, the battles of Jutland, the Somme and Passchendaele, and a variety of events to be delivered in 2018.
Government funding has also been committed to a range of other projects to commemorate the Centenary of the First World War, including £40 million for the First World War Centenary Cathedral repair fund, and £5.3 million of funding from DfE and DCLG for the First World War Battlefield Tour project. There are also many other projects receiving Government support, including a five-year Historic England project to add 2,500 war memorials to the National Heritage List for England, and the School Debates programme.
Since April 2010 the Heritage Lottery Fund has allocated over £90 million to more than 1,800 projects marking the Centenary. This includes grants of more than £15 million to The National Museum of the Royal Navy for HMS Caroline, £16.5 million to Imperial War Museums for the new First World War galleries and 14-18 NOW, and £2.8million to Yr Ysgrwn. This figure also includes £11million awarded to more than 1,300 community projects. A wide range of community organisations are receiving funding under this programme, including disability groups, resident’s associations, faith groups, refugee councils, and theatre groups.
Asked by: Lord Evans of Rainow (Conservative - Life peer)
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 ensure that the centenary of the First World War is commemorated in local communities.
Answered by Rob Wilson
We encourage communities to apply for Heritage Lottery Funding, to discover, learn and commemorate the First World War.
Since April 2010, HLF has awarded over £84 million to more than 1,680 First World War Centenary projects reaching more than 80% of constituencies across the United Kingdom.
Communities can also get involved in our war memorials programme, by attending workshops, applying for listing and carrying out condition surveys. War Memorials Trust have grants available for repair and conservation of local war memorials.
Asked by: Fiona Bruce (Conservative - Congleton)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of the increase in insurance premium tax announced in the Autumn Statement 2016 on charities which preserve heritage assets.
Answered by Jane Ellison
Insurance Premium Tax (IPT) is a tax on all general insurance paid by insurers, and it is therefore up to insurers to decide whether to pass on any tax paid.
Charities are a vital part of our society and the Government continues to support them and their donors, including through tax reliefs worth over £5 billion in 2015-16. The Government has also made up to £42 million per annum available for the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme and at Budget 2016, the Government announced a further £20 million to the First World War Centenary Cathedrals Repairs Fund.
While all tax policy is kept under review, it would be challenging to implement an exemption for insurance purchased by any specific group.
Treasury Ministers and officials meet with a wide range of companies and organisations, including charities and their representative bodies, to discuss relevant issues.
Details of ministerial meetings with external organisations on departmental business are published on a quarterly basis and are available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/hmt-ministers-meetings-hospitality-gifts-and-overseas-travel
Asked by: Andy Burnham (Labour - Leigh)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what the name is of each free museum or gallery sponsored by her Department in each region of England.
Answered by Matt Hancock
All 15 DCMS-sponsored museums and galleries, and the British Library, have free access to their permanent collections. They are:
In addition, free entry is available at museums funded by Arts Council England and the Heritage Lottery Fund. This information is not held centrally.
Asked by: Lord Field of Birkenhead (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what central government agencies are based in Merseyside.
Answered by Ben Gummer
Based on data published in Public Bodies Directory in December 2015, agencies with a principal office in Merseyside are:
a) Executive Agency: Crown Commercial Service, in Liverpool.
b) Non-Departmental Public Bodies (NDPBs): Charity Commission for England and Wales, Health and Safety Executive, both in Bootle; Disclosure and Barring Service and National Museums Liverpool, in Liverpool.
In addition, the Government Property Unit’s Electronic Property Information Mapping Service, published on data.gov.uk, shows the following public bodies have a presence in the North West of England as of June 2016:
Arts Council England
Big Lottery Fund
British Council
Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency
Education Funding Agency
Environment Agency
Equality and Human Rights Commission
Forestry Commission
Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service
High Speed 2
Historic England
HM Land Registry
HM Revenue and Customs
Homes and Communities Agency
Imperial War Museum
Information Commissioners Office
Insolvency Service
Maritime and Coastguard Agency
National Heritage Memorial Fund
National Institute for Health and Care Excellence
National Offender Management Service
Natural England
Natural Environment Research Council
Nuclear Decommissioning Authority
Office for National Statistics
Ordnance Survey
Public Health England
Science and Technology Facilities Council
Science Museum Group
The Met Office
Valuation Office Agency
Asked by: Dan Jarvis (Labour - Barnsley Central)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what plans he has to commemorate the First World War in 2016.
Answered by David Evennett
Since the Prime Minister set out plans for the Centenary in October 2012 the Government has delivered highly successful commemorative events for the start of the First World War and the Gallipoli Campaign.
In May 2016, commemorative events will be held for the Battle of Jutland, and in July 2016, we will mark the centenary of the Battle of the Somme by holding national events at the Thiepval Memorial in France, at Manchester Cathedral, and at Heaton Park. In addition, a national vigil will be held in June at Westminster Abbey, and there will also be vigils in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Season Two of the 14-18 NOW culture programme has been announced and this - together with Centenary Partnership events, Heritage Lottery funded projects and local commemorative activity - will ensure people right across the UK have the opportunity to participate in commemorative events.
Other centenary activities such as the UK Tour of the “poppies” and the national repair and conservation of War memorials also continue, more details can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/topical-events/first-world-war-centenary
Asked by: Danny Kinahan (Ulster Unionist Party - South Antrim)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how much of his Department's £13.9 million First World War commemoration funding will be provided to projects in Northern Ireland; and to which such projects that funding will be provided.
Answered by David Evennett
The Heritage Lottery fund have allocated £13.9m to 58 projects in Northern Ireland to commemorate the First World War. The projects are spread across Northern Ireland and two are in South Antrim. I have asked the HLF to write to you with details of all the projects.
Asked by: Danny Kinahan (Ulster Unionist Party - South Antrim)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how much of the £50 million fund established for First World War commemorations has been allocated to or spent in Northern Ireland.
Answered by David Evennett
The Heritage Lottery Fund has committed £13.9m of Lottery funding to 58 projects across Northern Ireland and continues to welcome applications for First World War projects of any size. One of these projects is the restoration and display of HMS Caroline - the only surviving ship from the 1916 Battle of Jutland – in Belfast's historic maritime quarter.
Asked by: David Mackintosh (Conservative - Northampton South)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what further steps his Department is taking to commemorate the First World War centenary leading up to 2018.
Answered by Tracey Crouch
A national commemorative event will be held on 31 May 2016 to mark the Battle of Jutland and the wider war at sea.
There will be a national commemorative event to mark the centenary of the Battle of the Somme at the Thiepval Memorial in Northern France on 1 July 2016. The Government is working with the Commonwealth War Graves Commission on a £1.6m refurbishment of the Monument to ensure that it endures for future generations and on a lighting installation that will see the Monument lit from 1 July 2016. In addition we are working with partners to encourage Somme commemorative activity across the UK.
There will also be national events to commemorate the Third Battle of Ypres (Passchendaele) in 2017 and the end of the conflict in 2018.
In addition Government will continue with established programmes for the conservation, repair and protection of War Memorials; the Cathedral Repairs Fund; Schools Battlefield Tours; and the laying of commemorative paving stones and the restoration of graves of Victoria Cross recipients buried in the UK.
The poppies sculptures 'Wave' and 'Weeping Window' will go to locations throughout the UK starting with the Yorkshire Sculpture Park, Woodhorn Museum and Northumberland Archives, and St George's Hall, Liverpool.
There will be a series of school debates beginning next year to look at the causes, conduct and consequences of the War.
We encourage local communities to get involved in commemorating First World War events. Heritage Lottery Fund has recently made available an extra £4m for communities to explore, conserve and share local heritage of the First World War to ensure that these projects can continue throughout the centenary period.