Asked by: David Amess (Conservative - Southend West)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps his Department has (a) taken in each of the last three years and (b) plans to take in the next two years to ensure that war memorials are properly maintained and kept in a good state of repair; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Helen Grant
DCMS has spent the following amounts maintaining national memorials in each of the last three years. The Memorials Grant Scheme is available to charities and faith groups, and can be used for works involving war memorials. The scheme will be available until 31 March 2015.
Year | Spend (£) |
2013/14 | 529,000 |
2012/13 | 269,000 |
2011/12 | 334,000 |
The Government has announced this week that it will give the War Memorials Trust up to £3 million over the First World War centenary period to boost the funds available to local communities for the repair and conservation of war memorials. English Heritage, Imperial War Museums and Civic Voice will together be given £1.5 million over the same period to deliver better protection through Listing, a greater pool of specialist skills, a national register of war memorials, and a network of trained volunteers.
Asked by: David Amess (Conservative - Southend West)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how much his Department (a) spent in each of the last 10 years and (b) plans to spend in each of the next three years on maintaining national memorials; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Helen Grant
DCMS has spent the following amounts in each of the last 10 years maintaining national memorials:
Year | Spend (£) |
2013/14 | 529,000 |
2012/13 | 269,000 |
2011/12 | 334,000 |
2010/11 | 229,000 |
2009/10 | 230,000 |
2008/09 | 391,000 |
2007/08 | 854,000 |
2006/07 | 714,000 |
2005/06 | 130,000 |
2004/05 | N/A |
The DCMS-run Memorial Grant Scheme has a budget of £543,000 for this financial year. Grants are available to charities and faith groups, and can be used to repair and maintain war memorials. The Government has today announced that it will give the War Memorials Trust up to £3 million over the First World War centenary period to boost the funds available to local communities for the repair and conservation of war memorials. English Heritage, Imperial War Museums and Civic Voice will together be given £1.5 million over the same period to deliver better protection through Listing, a greater pool of specialist skills, a national register of war memorials, and a network of trained volunteers.
Asked by: Priti Patel (Conservative - Witham)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how much public money from the Heritage Lottery Fund has been awarded to each local authority area for activities to commemorate the First World War.
Answered by Helen Grant
Since April 2010, across various programmes, the Heritage Lottery Fund has allocated over £56 million pounds to projects throughout the United Kingdom marking the First World War centenary. This includes awards from the First World War: Then and Now programme for smaller, community-led, projects. The breakdown of this funding by local authority area will be placed in the libraries of both Houses.
Asked by: Lord Kennedy of Southwark (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to ensure that war memorials around the United Kingdom are kept in good condition.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
There is a wide range of support available for the repair, conservation and protection of war memorials from the Memorials Grant Scheme run by DCMS, the Heritage Lottery Fund, the War Memorials Trust, English Heritage and others. In addition, the Government has announced an additional £5 million to ensure that war memorials and significant burial sites are in a good condition for the centenary. Further details will be announced in due course.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what plans the Government has to hold events in Northern Ireland to commemorate the centenary of the First World War.
Answered by Helen Grant
The Government is leading a wide-ranging programme of events and activities to mark the First World War centenary. HMS Caroline, moored in Belfast, has received £13.2 million from the Heritage Lottery Fund to enable this veteran of the Battle of Jutland to open as a floating museum for the battle's centenary in 2016. Commemorative paving stones will be laid in the hometowns of Victoria Cross recipients born in Northern Ireland. The 14-18NOW cultural programme summer 2014 season includes events in both Belfast and Derry/Londonderry. There will be other First World War related activity as part of the wider decade of centenary commemorations in Ireland and Northern Ireland. At the same time, the Northern Ireland Centenary Committee is developing plans for a cross-community commemorative event at St Anne's Cathedral, Belfast which will complement UK Government events in Glasgow, Belgium and London on 4 August 2014. Jeffrey Donaldson, as Chair of the Northern Ireland Centenary Committee, is a member of the UK Government Advisory Group.
Asked by: Lord Dodds of Duncairn (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what meetings her Department has had with the government of the Republic of Ireland about First World War commemorations.
Answered by Theresa Villiers
Ministers and officials from the Northern Ireland Office have been in regular contact with the Irish Government about our approach to the First World War centenary, particularly over the course of the last year. This includes planning for joint Ministerial attendance at a number of events which will take place in Belfast, Dublin and France over the course of the coming months.
These contacts have included discussions on how both Governments can work together to mark the wider decade of commemorations in Ireland in a manner which promotes reconciliation and contributes to a peaceful, shared future.
I recently joined the Irish Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht to lay the foundation stone for a Commonwealth War Graves Commission Cross of Sacrifice at Glasnevin in Dublin to commemorate men from the island of Ireland who gave their lives in both World Wars.
Asked by: Michael Fabricant (Conservative - Lichfield)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 13 March 2014 to the hon. Member for Crawley, Official Report, column 219W, on War Memorials: World War II, what the reasons are for the disparities between the income per visitor from grant-in-aid and LIBOR fines allocated to the (a) Royal Navy Museum, (b) National Army Museum, (c) Royal Air Force Museum and (d) National Memorial Arboretum; if he will take steps to reduce such disparities in future; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Philip Dunne
The Service museums and the National Memorial Arboretum play an important role in the heritage of the three Services and the nation, and it would be inappropriate for visitor numbers to determine the provision of funding.