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  • MiDavies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    MiDavies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by MiDavies on 2016-05-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of Sport England’s (a) implementation of the strategy to tackle inactivity and (b) use of funding for that purpose.

    David Evennett

    Government is determined to tackle physical inactivity. Around one in two women and a third of men in England are damaging their health through a lack of physical activity.

    In December 2015, Government published ‘Sporting Future: A New Strategy for an Active Nation", which set out a new vision for a successful and active sporting nation, with a strong focus on reaching inactive people and helping them to get moving in ways that suit them.

    Sport England’s new strategy ‘Towards an Active Nation’, published on 19 May, is consistent with, and takes forward, the Government’s vision and relevant recommendations from Sporting Future, including those on inactivity. It sets out the organisation’s plans for tackling inactivity, including by tripling its current investment to over £250m over 4 years, making it the largest single national investor in tackling inactivity. As part of that it will create a new, dedicated fund of £120 million to tackle inactivity over the next four years, building on the insight gained from pilots of their Get Healthy Get Active fund.

    Government will report annually on progress in implementing ‘Sporting Future’.

  • David Lammy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    David Lammy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Lammy on 2016-05-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what Tech North’s (a) operational and (b) communications budget was for (i) 2015 and (ii) 2016; and what Tech North’s total expenditure on third party communications consultancy and public relations agencies was in each of those two years.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    Tech City UK (including Tech North) total operations budget was £2,500,000 in 2014-15; £4,223,000 in 2015-16; and £4,100,000 in 2016-17. Tech City UK (including Tech North) communications costs were £173,091 in 2014-15; £279,355 in 2015-16; and £5,000 in 2016-17 (YTD). These costs were all expenditure on third party communications, consultancy and public relations agencies

    Tech North’s communication costs were nil in 2014-15 and 2016-17 (YTD), and £74,500 in 2015-16. These costs were all expenditure on third party communications, consultancy and public relations agencies.

  • Sharon Hodgson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Sharon Hodgson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sharon Hodgson on 2016-05-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, when he plans to publish the responses received by the review on secondary ticketing as required by section 94 of the Consumer Rights Act 2015.

    David Evennett

    The plan is to publish responses to the Call for Evidence in due course.

  • Sharon Hodgson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Sharon Hodgson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sharon Hodgson on 2016-05-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, when he plans to lay the report relating to secondary ticketing before Parliament as required by section 94 of the Consumer Rights Act 2015.

    David Evennett

    My Rt. Hon Friends, the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills and the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport intend to lay the report shortly.

  • Craig Whittaker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Craig Whittaker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Craig Whittaker on 2016-05-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many gambling licenses were issued for premises in (a) Calderdale and (b) West Yorkshire in each year between 2005 and 2016.

    David Evennett

    The requested information is not held centrally. Local authorities are responsible for the issuing of gambling premises licences in accordance with the Licensing Objectives and their own Statement of Licensing Policy. Local Authority license registers listing the number of licences in each borough are available to access by the public. More information from Calderdale Council can be found at http://www.calderdale.gov.uk/business/licences/gambling-act/index.html

  • Paul Monaghan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Paul Monaghan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Monaghan on 2016-05-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of the 10 Point Plan for a Better Openreach proposed by the industry coalition comprising Sky, TalkTalk, Vodafone, the Independent Networks Cooperative Association and the Federation of Communication Services in their letter to Ms Sharon White, Ofcom, dated 16 May 2016.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    I am pleased to see that the industry is engaging constructively with Ofcom on this issue. The Government’s ambition is to ensure that the UK has the right infrastructure to meet the needs of business and consumers and enable the UK to remain a leading digital nation. We welcome Ofcom’s determination to tackle these issues and agree with the Regulator’s view that the current relationship between BT and Openreach will not deliver the country’s needs for more competition, better innovation and better service. Our belief is that Ofcom should be firmly focused on taking whatever action is needed to correct the competition problems identified, however radical a change that might be.

  • Liz McInnes – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Liz McInnes – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Liz McInnes on 2016-05-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if he will make representations to the BBC on ensuring the Your Paintings archive is maintained as on online resource.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    As set out in the Government’s White Paper, A BBC for the future​: a Broadcaster of Distinction, the government encourages the BBC to do more to open up its archive and ensure that it can be used by the public and as wide a range of institutions and organisations as possible​. How the BBC presents its online content is matter for the BBC.​ Your Paintings is now available on artuk.org.

    “

  • Liz McInnes – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Liz McInnes – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Liz McInnes on 2016-05-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if he will make an assessment of the potential effect on students living away from home of the closure of the iPlayer loophole.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    The Government consulted on adding on-demand programme services to the TV licence framework as part of its Green Paper published in July last year. Under the new proposals, all individuals will need to be covered by a TV licence if they stream or download television programmes through on-demand services provided by the BBC (notably the iPlayer). If an individual has a licence already, then they are automatically covered to watch BBC on-demand services under the new proposals.

  • Neil Parish – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Neil Parish – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Neil Parish on 2016-05-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of making superfast broadband a planning obligation on all new build properties

    Brandon Lewis

    We have worked with BT Openreach and the Home Builders Federation on an agreement, announced earlier this year, which aims to deliver superfast broadband connectivity to new build properties in the UK. We have also recently introduced a requirement for all new buildings and major renovations to include in-building physical infrastructure to support connections to superfast broadband. In addition, the National Planning Policy Framework places the provision of superfast broadband alongside other strategic infrastructure and requires local planning authorities to consult providers as part of the Local Plan.

  • Steven Paterson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Steven Paterson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steven Paterson on 2016-05-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the oral contribution of the then Secretary of State for Defence of 6 November 2013, Official Report, column 291, whether the estimated build and commissioning costs of the two Queen Elizabeth Class aircraft carriers remains within the £6.2bn budget.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    The approved cost of the Queen Elizabeth Class aircraft carriers is £6.2 billion, as announced by the previous Defence Secretary on 6 November 2013 (Official Report, column 251). Whilst there are cost pressures, the Ministry of Defence continues to work closely with Industry to drive the programme to remain within the approved cost.

    We expect the First of Class, HMS QUEEN ELIZABETH, to be accepted from the Aircraft Carrier Alliance in 2017 and, as reported in the NAO’s Major Project Report 2015, the ship remains on schedule to enter service with the Royal Navy in February 2018. We remain on course to undertake Platform Sea Trials in 2017, commence Fixed Wing Flying Trials with the F35B Lightning II in 2018 and deliver Initial Operating Capability (Carrier Strike) in 2020.