theodi/ndl-core-corpus huggingface dataset:
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-03)

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Rachel Gilmour:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of including (a) ingress and (b) egress routes for water in new building developments. \p Matthew Pennycook: This government recognises the importance of development being resilient to flooding from all sources, including from surface water.

The revised National Planning Policy Framework published on 12 December 2024 makes clear that developments of all sizes should use sustainable drainage techniques where the development could have drainage impacts.

These are designed to control surface water runoff and provide benefits for water quantity, water quality, biodiversity and amenity by lowering flow rates and increasing water storage capacity.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-03)

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Andrew Rosindell:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps she is taking to tackle unsafe living conditions in privately rented properties. \p Matthew Pennycook: The government is committed to ensuring that privately rented properties are safe, decent and warm.

The Renters’ Rights Bill will apply ‘Awaab’s Law’ to the private rented sector, allowing us to set clear legal expectations about the timeframes within which landlords must take action to make homes safe where they contain significant hazards, such as damp and mould. This will ensure that all renters in England are empowered to challenge dangerous conditions.

The Bill will also allow us to apply a Decent Homes Standard - a technical standard setting out minimum decency requirements - to the private rented sector for the first time.

It provides local authorities with powers to enforce this standard, as well as strengthening their existing powers in relation to hazards. This includes introducing new financial penalties of up to £7,000 for landlords who have failed to take reasonably practicable steps to keep their properties free of serious hazards.
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Josh Babarinde:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps she is taking to provide funding for social rented housing. \p Matthew Pennycook: In October 2024, the government announced £500 million in new in-year funding for the Affordable Homes Programme. As a result of significant demand from housing providers across the country, that additional funding is already oversubscribed.

In February 2025, the government announced a further allocation of £300 million to the Affordable Homes Programme. This will support the near-term delivery of more social and affordable housing, delivering up to 2,800 new homes with more than half being Social Rent homes.

We have asked Homes England and the Greater London Authority to maximise Social Rent homes in allocating the remaining Affordable Homes Programme funding.

At the multi-year Spending Review later this year, the government will set out details of new investment to succeed the 2021-26 Affordable Homes Programme. This new investment will deliver a mix of homes for sub-market rent and homeownership, with a particular focus on delivering homes for Social Rent.
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Kevin Hollinrake:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 7 February 2025 to Question 26551 on Business Premises: Change of Use, how many additional dwellings were provided from the prior approval applications from October 2022 to September 2024. \p Matthew Pennycook: The office to residential permitted development right (Class O) was subsumed into the commercial, business and service uses to residential permitted development right (Class MA) in August 2022.

The Department publishes an annual release entitled ‘Housing supply: net additional dwellings, England’, which is the primary and most comprehensive measure of housing supply.

It includes estimates of new dwellings delivered from change of use through permitted development rights in England in each financial year, up to 2023-24, and can be found in Live Table 120 on gov.uk here.

The government continues to keep permitted development rights under review.
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Adam Dance:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether she plans to take steps to ensure (a) Wessex Water and (b) Environment Agency impact surveys are considered in new planning decisions in Somerset. \p Matthew Pennycook: The Environment Agency is a statutory consultee in the planning system, while water companies can comment on relevant planning applications.

By law, planning applications must be determined in accordance with the development plan for the area, unless material considerations indicate otherwise. This means that where relevant planning matters are raised, including as a result of surveys, the local planning authority should take them into account when making decisions.

The National Planning Policy Framework includes strict policies to prevent inappropriate development in areas at risk of flooding. Where these tests cannot be met, development should not be approved.
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Paul Davies:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps her Department is taking to help reduce (a) homelessness and (b) the number of children in temporary accommodation. \p Rushanara Ali: Homelessness levels are far too high. This can have a devastating impact on those affected. The Deputy Prime Minister is leading cross-government work to deliver the long-term solutions we need to get us back on track to ending all forms of homelessness. This includes chairing a dedicated Inter-Ministerial Group, bringing together ministers from across the key government departments with the greatest impact on homelessness to develop a long-term strategy, and an Expert Group bringing together representatives from across the homelessness and rough sleeping sector. We continue to engage with DEFRA on measures as part of the development of our long-term housing strategy. We are also delivering a number of lived experience forums to ensure that the voices of those with lived experience are reflected in the homelessness strategy.

We are already taking the first steps to get back on track to ending homelessness. As announced at the Budget, grant funding for homelessness services is increasing this year by £233 million compared to last year (2024/25). This increased spending will help to prevent rises in the number of families in temporary accommodation and help to prevent rough sleeping. This brings total funding to nearly £1 billion in 2025/26.

Further information on the allocations of homelessness grant funding in the 2025/26 financial year can be found in the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/homelessness-prevention-grant-allocations-2025-to-2026

The Government is also tackling the root causes of homelessness, including the delivery of the biggest increase in social and affordable housebuilding in a generation and building 1.5 million new homes over the next parliament. And the Renters’ Rights Bill will abolish Section 21 ‘no fault’ evictions, prevent private renters being exploited and discriminated against, and empower people to challenge unreasonable rent increases.
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Kevin Hollinrake:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 31 January 2025 to Question 26040 on Councillors and Mayors: Workplace Pensions, whether the Minister for Local Government and English Devolution has had discussions with representatives of local government on this issue since 5 July 2024. \p Jim McMahon: As the Responsible Authority for the Local Government Pension Scheme, MHCLG keeps access to the scheme under regular review. As part of this regular review, the Minister for Local Government has been approached by representatives of local government about this issue.
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Kevin Hollinrake:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to the debate during the National Security Bill of 4 July 2024, Official Report, House of Lords, Column 1125, whether she has had discussions with the Electoral Commission on increasing data sharing from public authorities to political parties. \p Rushanara Ali: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the Question UIN 23153 answered on 29 January 2025.
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Nick Timothy:To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether he plans to accept Research England’s proposed changes to the research excellence framework. \p Feryal Clark: Research England has notified the Department about their plans for developing the Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2029, which includes the People, Culture, and Environment pilot. This pilot aims to assess the feasibility and practicality of incorporating this element into the REF. The findings will guide future developments of the REF. Final decisions on the REF's structure will be made after the pilot concludes and further engagement with the sector.
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Ben Obese-Jecty:To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, pursuant to the Answer of 14 February 2025 to Question 29596 on Artificial Intelligence: Safety, under which new legislation he plans to criminalise possessing, creating or distributing AI tools designed to generate harmful content. \p Feryal Clark: We are committed to giving law enforcement agencies the powers needed to combat child sexual abuse. That is why we have introduced an offence in the Crime and Policing Bill to criminalise AI models which have been optimised to create child sexual abuse material.

UK law is clear – creating, possessing, or distributing child sexual abuse images, including those that are AI generated, is already illegal. This world leading offence makes it a crime to possess, adapt, supply or offer to supply an AI model that has been fine-tuned by offenders to create the most severe forms of child sexual abuse material.
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Sir Ashley Fox:To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether there are any requirements for civil servants to book a desk in advance in order to attend the office in person in each of (a) their Department's office workplaces and (b) the arm’s length bodies of their Department. \p Feryal Clark: Civil servants who work in the Department’s office locations are asked to book a space to work from the office. In 16 buildings this is a booking for a specific desk, and in 3 buildings it is for an unspecified working space on a particular floor within the building.

Desk booking services for arm’s-length bodies within the Department are not centrally held, and would come at disproportionate cost to the Department in producing this information.
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Tristan Osborne:To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that the public sector is adequately protected under the forthcoming Cyber Security and Resilience Bill, and whether he plans to extend regulatory requirements to public sector organisations. \p Feryal Clark: The forthcoming Cyber Security and Resilience Bill will strengthen the UK’s existing cyber regulatory framework (the Network and Information Systems (NIS) Regulations 2018) by protecting more digital and essential services, putting regulators on a stronger footing, and increasing reporting requirements.

The NIS Regulations covers five sectors (transport, energy, drinking water, health, digital infrastructure) and some digital services (online marketplaces, online search engines, cloud computing services). Where a public body delivers these services, such as NHS Trusts, they are in scope of the NIS Regulations.

The Bill will include powers that will enable more services and sectors to be brought into scope of regulation in the future, where this is considered necessary to address emerging risks.
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Clive Jones:To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, if he will make it his policy to conduct a lessons learned review following the negotiations with AstraZeneca for investment in Speke. \p Feryal Clark: AstraZeneca’s decision not to invest in Speke is deeply disappointing. The Government regularly reviews it’s grant process and routinely seeks applicant feedback. The Government also continues to engage positively with AstraZeneca, including on the new Industrial Strategy and Life Sciences Sector Plan, due to be published in late Spring. This will set out a comprehensive plan of how the Government intends to drive growth in the sector. Support includes the Life Sciences Innovative Manufacturing Fund, which will allocate up to £520 million to deliver economic growth and build health resilience.
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Tristan Osborne:To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether his Department plans to introduce (a) incentives and (b) funding mechanisms to encourage businesses and public sector organisations to comply with strengthened cybersecurity requirements under the forthcoming Cyber Security and Resilience Bill. \p Feryal Clark: The upcoming Cyber Security and Resilience Bill will strengthen our defences and ensure that more essential and digital services are protected than ever.

The Bill will require regulated entities to take proportionate steps to address vulnerabilities in our digital economy and protect our essential services against cyber attacks. We will work closely with industry, public sector organisations and regulators to support organisations in complying with their new obligations under the Bill.

By safeguarding our nation's essential services and digital infrastructure, we will create a stable environment in which investment and innovation can thrive.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-03)

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Julia Buckley:To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, pursuant to the Answer of 1 November 2024 to Question 11001 on Animal Experiments: Public Consultation, whether his Department plans to publish the names of the organisations it consults with. \p Feryal Clark: As part of the Labour Manifesto’s commitment to “partner with scientists, industry, and civil society as we work towards the phasing out of animal testing”, the government has been consulting civil society as this process unfolds. This includes attending meetings with and considering documentation sent by animal protection organisations. The government will publish a strategy to support the development, validation and uptake of alternative methods later this year which will consider these discussions. However, the strategy will not be publishing the specific names of the organisations it consults with.
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Marie Goldman:To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps the Government is taking to ensure AI training models are subject to existing copyright laws; and what assessment he has made of the impact of the proposed exemption for text and data mining on (a) artists, (b) small businesses and (c) other creative industries. \p Feryal Clark: Copying protected material in the UK will infringe copyright unless it is licensed, or an exception to copyright applies.

The Government published a consultation on Copyright and AI in December 2024 seeking views on proposals for a new regulatory model for text and data mining.

An initial assessment of the options under consideration and their impacts can be found in the summary assessment published alongside the consultation. The Government intends to update its assessment in light of evidence received through the consultation process.

The consultation closed on 25 February and the Government will respond in due course.
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Helen Hayes:To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, if he will take steps to standardise data security protocols for digital device donation, in the context of tackling digital exclusion and reducing e-waste. \p Chris Bryant: The Government announced a device donation pilot on the 26th February, running to August 2025. We will be working with Digital Poverty Alliance (DPA) to refurbish end-of-life laptops from DSIT, DESNZ and DBT and distribute them to those who need them most.

The Government uses an accredited partner with ADISA certification to sanitise devices, meaning each is wiped securely before being collected.

DPA conducts additional verification for recipients of devices, including offering Data Erasure and Data Destruction Reports for processed devices.

We are looking into solutions for standardising protocols for disposal of data to encourage device donation by industry.
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Helen Hayes:To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, if he will update the 2014 Digital Inclusion Strategy to promote the redistribution of digital devices, in the context of tackling exclusion and reducing e-waste. \p Chris Bryant: Government announced on 26 February in our Digital Inclusion Action Plan a device donation pilot. We are working with the Digital Poverty Alliance to refurbish end-of-life laptops from DSIT, DESNZ and DBT and distribute them to those who need them most. We are ensuring no unsuitable devices are donated but instead are stripped for parts and recycled according to Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) guidelines.

We are also working with industry on a device donation charter to encourage more organisations to set up device donation schemes. We hope to publish the charter in Spring 2025.
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Gregory Stafford:To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps his Department is taking to ensure adequate safeguards are in place for (a) older and (b) vulnerable people during the transition from the Public Switched Telephone Network to digital landlines. \p Chris Bryant: This is an issue that the new Government takes especially seriously. The Government is determined to ensure that any risks arising from the industry-led migration from the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) to Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) are mitigated, for all customers across the UK.

A definition of vulnerable customers who may require additional support in the context of the digital switchover was published in November 2024. It includes those who are telecare users and those dependent on their landline. Any customer, including the elderly, can also self-identify as requiring additional support.

Communication providers and network operators signed voluntary charters in December 2023 and March 2024, committing to protect vulnerable consumers during the PSTN migration. On 18 November 2024, the major communication providers agreed to adhere to further safeguards set out in the non-voluntary migrations checklist before restarting non-voluntary migration of customers.
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Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown:To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, if he will make an assessment of potential levels of (a) financial and (b) carbon savings from (i) estate and (ii) digital budgets through consolidation of disparate legacy IT systems located at (A) fewer, (B) more energy efficient and (C) AI-enabled data centres. \p Feryal Clark: Government is looking to understand what Legacy IT systems it currently has, and how to best prioritise and mitigate the risks they carry. By their nature, Legacy IT often underpins complex and critical services that have unique requirements, informing how they need to be treated.

The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) has recently published the AI Opportunities Action Plan and A blueprint for modern digital government. This describes how the Government will work across Government and the wider public sector to ensure digital services - including legacy IT - are delivered efficiently and take advantage of AI.
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Kanishka Narayan:To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps he is taking to support (a) AI development and (b) machine learning skills in the workforce. \p Feryal Clark: Lifelong learning and development are key to ensuring everyone can prosper in an increasingly technology-driven world.

The AI Opportunities Action Plan outlines the steps the UK will take to build a strong, diverse talent pipeline, realising AI benefits across the economy. Once established, Skills England will work with government, the Industrial Skills Council, businesses, training partners, and unions, to assess AI skills needs and map pathways to address them.
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Damian Hinds:To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of consumers being required to move to a VOIP connection for a new contract on market competition. \p Chris Bryant: The government is committed to supporting a pro-competition environment in the broadband sector.

The transition to VOIP is being led by industry. The Department is engaging with Ofcom to ensure that the long-term process does not have an adverse impact on wholesale competition.
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Kanishka Narayan:To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps he is taking to improve the commercialisation of (a) university research and (b) spinouts in the tech sector. \p Feryal Clark: Support for university commercialisation is at its highest level ever. The Higher Education Innovation Fund, which supports knowledge exchange between universities and the wider world, is set at £280 million for the 2024-25 academic year. To support spinouts, the Government is implementing the recommendations of the Independent Review of University Spin-outs. 52 universities have signed up to the review’s recommendations on improving licensing and equity stakes, including taking 10% or less equity for software spin-outs. UKRI has launched a £40m proof-of-concept fund to support researchers develop ideas ahead of spinning out. Over the last 2 years, Innovate UK has awarded £5.2bn funding to more than 7000 businesses, of which 86% were SMEs.
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Ben Obese-Jecty:To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, with reference to the policy paper entitled UK position on EU's Research and Innovation Framework Programme, published on 26 September 2024, what discussions he has had with businesses on the UK’s approach to the European Union’s Research and Innovation Framework Programme 10 since that paper was published, broken down by business. \p Feryal Clark: In advance of the publication of the UK’s Position Paper on the European Union’s 10th Research and Innovation Framework Programme (FP10), the Government undertook extensive engagement with a range of stakeholders across Government including UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) and its constituent councils, as well as with relevant representatives of business and university sectors. This engagement was used to inform the paper.

Since then, the Department has remained in regular contact with a wide range of stakeholders on our approach to EU Research and Innovation Programmes, including through regular stakeholder meetings and public-facing engagements such as the Horizon Europe roadshows in Belfast and Cardiff. Such engagement will continue as further detail on FP10 emerges from the EU.
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James MacCleary:To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of rolling out full-fibre broadband in Laughton, East Sussex; and what steps he is taking to support its delivery. \p Chris Bryant: Having the fastest, most reliable broadband means households no longer having to battle over bandwidth and gives people the freedom to live and work more flexibly. This is why we are committed to the rollout of fast, reliable broadband to all parts of the UK.

As part of Project Gigabit, CityFibre is delivering a contract to bring gigabit-capable broadband to premises across Sussex, including in Laughton, that would otherwise not be reached by suppliers’ commercial rollout.
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Clive Jones:To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, pursuant to the Answer of 14 February to Question 29747 on AstraZeneca, if he will place a copy of the requested letter in the House of Commons Library. \p Feryal Clark: Due to commercial confidentiality considerations, we are unable to place the requested letter in the House of Commons Library. As with any application for Government grant funding of this nature, all cases undergo rigorous due diligence, which assesses whether the investment represents good value for money for the taxpayer.

The Government remains committed to improving the business environment for Life Sciences companies. We continue to engage positively with AstraZeneca on the new Industrial Strategy and Life Sciences Sector Plan, due to be published in late Spring. This will set out a comprehensive plan of how the Government intends to drive growth in the sector.
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Julia Buckley:To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, pursuant to the Answer of 1 November 2024 to Question 11001 on Animal Experiments: Public Consultation, what progress his Department has made on consulting with civil society and animal protection organisations. \p Feryal Clark: The Labour Manifesto includes a commitment to “partner with scientists, industry, and civil society as we work towards the phasing out of animal testing”, which is a long-term goal. The government has been consulting civil society as this process unfolds. This includes attending meetings with animal protection organisations and considering documentation sent by such organisations to the Government. The government will publish a strategy to support the development, validation and uptake of alternative methods later this year.
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Damien Egan:To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps his Department is taking to mitigate the risks posed by space debris to UK (a) satellites and (b) other space assets. \p Chris Bryant: The government is committed to mitigating the risk from space debris through arange of actions, including regulatory reform, international collaboration on standards and best practice, and developing capabilities to prevent, track or remove space debris. The government recently awarded £4.7 million to Astroscale and ClearSpace to understand the risks and costs of an active debris removal mission. The UK also launched the National Space Operations Centre in May 2024, combining civil and military space domain awareness and protection capabilities. This includes uncontrolled re-entry early warning, fragmentation monitoring, in-space collision avoidance protection services and support to HMG and international partners.
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Kanishka Narayan:To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps he is taking to (a) help increase the UK's international role in AI innovation and (b) protect creative industries from the potential impacts of AI. \p Feryal Clark: We are already a global leader in AI. We are the third-largest AI market in the world, and we are home to world-renowned AI companies.   We are committed to building a thriving AI ecosystem that can scale and win globally. As outlined in the AI Opportunities Action Plan launched by the Prime Minister earlier this year, we will appoint AI sector champions in key industries, including the creative industries, to explore and encourage AI innovation.

The Government published a consultation on copyright and AI in December 2024, seeking views on a package of measures, which include a requirement for AI model developers to be more transparent about how they obtain their training material.

We welcome the significant engagement from across the creative and AI sectors on this important consultation and are carefully reviewing all responses to ensure any proposals taken forward properly support both – delivering a solution which will allow them to thrive.
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Damian Hinds:To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what data his Department holds on the numbers of (a) residential customers and (b) business customers that have moved from a PSTN telephone connection to a VOIP connection (i) when their contract expired (II) at the scheduled PSTN switch-off for their area (iii) for any reason in the last 12 months. \p Chris Bryant: The Department does not hold this specific information on the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) migration to Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP).

Ofcom’s Connected Nations (2024) report (published 5 December 2024) states: “In the year to July 2024, 1.8 million residential customers who previously had a PSTN line migrated to a VoIP service. 53% (970,000 lines) of these were as a result of a provider-led migration, while the remaining 47% (870,000 lines) were as a result of customer-led migrations.”

The Department separately holds some information on the number of remaining PSTN lines and the number of migrations per quarter for the larger communications providers. As of December 2024, there were circa 6.5 million active PSTN lines remaining.
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Sir Julian Smith:To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, with reference to his Department's press release entitled Government backs UK R&D with record £20.4 billion investment at Autumn Budget, published on 31 October 2024, when he plans to provide (a) charities, (b) businesses and (c) universities with further information on the availability of this funding. \p Feryal Clark: The Autumn Budget set out the government’s funding plans and departmental allocations for R&D in 2025/26, with an overall R&D budget of £20.4 billion. Of this, the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology was allocated £13.9 billion for 2025/26. Further details on how this funding will be allocated across DSIT priorities and partner organisations will be announced in due course, before the start of the financial year.
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Dr Simon Opher:To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department's proposed regulations on short-term lets will be extended to include static caravan holiday parks. \p Chris Bryant: Parliament legislated to deliver the legal framework for a registration scheme for short-term lets in the Levelling up and Regeneration Act 2023. The Government is now developing the scheme and actively considering the appropriate scope of the scheme, including which types of accommodation should be covered. We will provide further details on the scope of the scheme as soon as practicable.
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Chi Onwurah:To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department is taking steps to help ensure (a) the preservation and (b) contribute to celebrations of the Newcastle Swing Bridge as an industrial heritage asset. \p Chris Bryant: The importance of Newcastle Swing Bridge, spanning the River Tyne, is recognised through its designation as a Scheduled Monument and as a Grade II* listed structure. Historic England, DCMS Arms-Length Body and government’s statutory adviser on the historic environment, is involved in ongoing discussions on restoring movement to the bridge and is supporting relevant stakeholders in its repair.
wrans/answers2025-03-03 conversation_422
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-03)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-03-03 conversation_422

Alex Brewer:To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment her Department has made of the most effective steps to protect copyright and the creative industries against the increase of AI usage. \p Chris Bryant: The government recognises the importance of the UK’s copyright regime to the economic success of the creative industries, one of eight growth-driving sectors as identified in our Industrial Strategy. We are committed to supporting rights holders by ensuring they have control over and receive fair payment for their work, especially as technology advances to include AI. We are actively working with stakeholders to ensure copyright protections remain robust and fit for purpose.

Our 10-week consultation, which was published on Tuesday 17 December and closed on 25 February, engaged AI and creative industries stakeholders widely on the impact of AI on the copyright regime. The aims of the consultation were to seek views on how the copyright framework should apply in the context of AI. Key topics under review include text and data mining, transparency and labelling, computer generated works and digital replicas.

The consultation was published alongside an accompanying options assessment. The consultation sought to gather further evidence on the potential impact on the creative industries of any change to the copyright regime in the context of AI training. We will now consider the full range of responses we have received through our consultation to determine the most effective next steps. If legislative changes are needed, a full economic impact assessment will be undertaken.
wrans/answers2025-03-03 conversation_423
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-03)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-03-03 conversation_423

Dr Al Pinkerton:To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps his Department has taken to support the (a) upkeep and (b) preservation of culturally significant buildings in the Surrey Heath constituency. \p Chris Bryant: The government believes that a fit-for-purpose cultural infrastructure, which increases access for all, is part of this sector's success.

At the Autumn Spending Review government prioritised support for our cultural institutions so that they can continue to be world-leading. This settlement includes investment of over £270 million through the Arts Everywhere Fund for arts venues, museums, libraries and the heritage sector to boost growth and cement Britain’s place as a cultural powerhouse. £85 million will be available through the Creative Foundations Fund, which will support urgent capital works to keep cultural venues across the country up and running.

In addition, DCMS and the Department’s Arm’s-Length Bodies provide a range of financial support for culturally significant buildings. These include the Theatres Trust, who provide small grants to theatres for building work; the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme; the National Lottery Heritage Fund, who have committed to investing around £100m between 2023 and 2026 to support places of worship; the Churches Conservation Trust, which funds repairs and maintenance of over 350 churches in the CCT portfolio; and Historic England's Heritage At Risk grants, funding £9 million worth of repairs to buildings on Historic England’s Heritage at Risk register between April 2024 and March 2025.

All that being said, there has been no MEND or ACE Capital funding in Surrey Heath constituency in the last five years.
wrans/answers2025-03-03 conversation_424
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-03)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-03-03 conversation_424

James McMurdock:To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to support the tourism sector in Essex. \p Chris Bryant: The Government is implementing the most significant overhaul of regional destination management in a generation, creating a portfolio of nationally supported, strategic and high-performing Local Visitor Economy Partnerships (LVEPs) in partnership with VisitEngland. These LVEPs will provide strong local leadership and governance in tourism destinations all over the country, and Essex is included in this programme as part of the Visit Essex LVEP. Visit Essex works in partnership with private sector businesses to support economic growth, through promoting the county as a place to visit, live and do business, and to continue to grow tourism and ensure that Essex remains a leading visitor destination.
wrans/answers2025-03-03 conversation_425
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-03)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-03-03 conversation_425

Blake Stephenson:To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what recent discussions she has had with VisitEngland on the progress of the roll out of Local Visitor Economy Partnerships across England. \p Chris Bryant: The government has been working closely with VisitEngland to create a portfolio of nationally supported, strategic and high-performing Local Visitor Economy Partnerships (LVEPs). 38 LVEPs have now been accredited across England, and the new LVEPs work in collaboration locally, regionally and nationally on shared priorities and targets. Their mission is to transform England’s visitor economy landscape through a new and robust structure, and the LVEPs will provide strong local leadership in tourism destinations all over the country.
wrans/answers2025-03-03 conversation_426
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-03)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-03-03 conversation_426

Andrew Rosindell:To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to help promote tourism within the Channel Islands. \p Chris Bryant: DCMS is responsible for tourism within England, however the UK Government continues to consult and engage with the self-governing Crown Dependencies within the Channel Islands and their respective tourism boards (Visit Jersey and Visit Guernsey).

These tourism boards for the Channel Islands are accountable to their respective Governments and the UK works in collaboration with the Crown Dependencies on tourism policy issues as part of the Common Travel Area.
wrans/answers2025-03-03 conversation_427
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-03)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-03-03 conversation_427

Clive Lewis:To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions she has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on Spending Review funding for (a) grassroots music venues, (b) music education and innovation and (c) the night-time culture economy. \p Chris Bryant: My department talks to HM Treasury about a range of matters all the time, including support for the Creative Industries and music sector
wrans/answers2025-03-03 conversation_428
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-03)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-03-03 conversation_428

Sir Julian Lewis:To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what recent assessment she has made of the contribution made by the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme to the (a) repair and (b) conservation of such buildings for the use by (i) current communities and (ii) future generations; and if she will make it her policy to extend the Scheme beyond 31 March 2025. \p Chris Bryant: Since 2010, the grant scheme has returned nearly £350 million to listed places of worship across the UK. This has helped protect our listed places of worship and enabled them to continue their work as centres of worship and community assets.

The scheme will now run until the end of March 2026. As was the case with previous Governments, further spending commitments are a matter for the Spending Review.
wrans/answers2025-03-03 conversation_429
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-03)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-03-03 conversation_429

Mr Mark Francois:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the Prime Minister's Oral Statement of 25 February 2025 on Defence and Security, Official Report, what proportion of additional defence spending will be funded by transfers from the overseas aid budget. \p Darren Jones: Tuesday’s announcement is fully funded - we are reducing ODA to the equivalent of 0.3% of GNI to fund the additional spend required to ensure we spend 2.5% of GDP on defence spending in 2027-28.
wrans/answers2025-03-03 conversation_430
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-03)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-03-03 conversation_430

Mr Mark Francois:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the Prime Minister's Oral Statement of 25 February 2025 on Defence and Security, Official Report, on what percentage of economic growth in the economy is the increase in Defence spending based. \p Darren Jones: The increase in defence spending is based on OBR forecasts of GDP growth. Further detail will be made available on 26 March alongside the OBR’s next forecast in the usual way.
wrans/answers2025-03-03 conversation_431
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-03)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-03-03 conversation_431

Mr Mark Francois:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the Prime Minister's statement of 25 February 2025 on Defence and Security, Official Report, what steps the Government plans to take to fund the £13.4 billion annual uplift in defence funding beyond the £5.3 billion reallocated from the reduced aid budget. \p Darren Jones: £13.4bn represents the forecast increase in total NATO qualifying defence spending from 2024-25 to 2027-28. This increase comprises the reallocated ODA funding, as well as forecast increases to existing NATO qualifying spend over that timeframe.
wrans/answers2025-03-03 conversation_432
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-03)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-03-03 conversation_432

Gareth Davies:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to Q110 of the oral evidence given by the Second Permanent Secretary to the Treasury Select Committee on 12 February 2025, which financial instruments will be available to the National Wealth Fund which were not already available to the UK Infrastructure Bank. \p Emma Reynolds: The Chancellor announced at the International Investment Summit on 14th October 2024 that the UK Infrastructure Bank (UKIB) would be transformed into the National Wealth Fund (NWF), building on UKIB’s expertise and leadership. To empower the NWF to maximise mobilisation of private investment, the Chancellor committed to expanding the suite of financial instruments available to the NWF over time. Legislation enabling the NWF to issue the first of these new instruments, performance guarantees, will be laid for consideration by Parliament in this Financial Year.

The NWF is also collaborating with Government departments on new blended finance solutions which take on additional risk, crowd in private capital and support the most effective and catalytic use of public funds.
wrans/answers2025-03-03 conversation_433
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-03)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-03-03 conversation_433

Kanishka Narayan:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of reforms to UK listing rules, in the context of support for tech companies. \p Emma Reynolds: In July 2024, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) overhauled the UK’s Listing Rules to align our rulebook with leading international counterparts and provide greater flexibility to firms and founders raising capital on UK markets. The Government has also granted the FCA powers to rewrite the UK’s Prospectus Regime, with new rules expected later this year. This will benefit all firms looking to list on UK markets, including tech companies.

The Government is committed to reinvigorating our capital markets to deliver growth across the UK and is pursuing ambitious reforms to make our markets even more competitive.