Committee publication · Correspondence · 6 February 2025
Letter from the Chair to Rt Hon Lisa Nandy MP, Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, regarding the Spending Review and associated documents, dated 6 February 2025
From: Culture, Media and Sport Committee
Inquiry: The work of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport
Summary
The Culture, Media and Sport Committee Chair requests the Department for Culture, Media and Sport share its initial Spending Review 25 submission to Parliament, or alternatively provide detailed information on funding pressures, policy priorities, spending commitments, stakeholder engagement, interdepartmental collaboration, legislative impacts, capital investment plans, and efficiency measures. The request reflects Parliament's commitment to fiscal transparency and early-stage scrutiny of departmental spending decisions.
Key findings
- The committee welcomes the government's commitment to fiscal transparency and Parliament's involvement in the Spending Review process, but emphasises Parliament must engage at an early departmental level to conduct effective scrutiny.
- The committee is requesting the full SR25 submission from DCMS, acknowledging some redactions may be necessary for sensitive policy development material.
- If the department declines to release the submission, the committee has identified eight specific information requests covering Resource and Capital DEL figures, policy priorities, existing spending commitments, stakeholder engagement, interdepartmental collaboration, legislative impacts, capital investment plans, and efficiency measures.
- The committee will share departmental responses with the House of Commons Scrutiny Unit, Treasury Committee, and Liaison Committee to enable coordinated cross-government scrutiny.
Tone
ProceduralTopics
Key actors
Dame Caroline Dinenage MP, Lisa Nandy MP, Culture, Media and Sport Committee, Department for Culture, Media and Sport, Treasury Committee, House of Commons Scrutiny Unit, Liaison Committee
Notable line
“It is critical that Parliament can engage at an early stage to understand, scrutinise and inform the House of those spending decisions and their wider consequences.”
Key Quotes
“It is critical that Parliament can engage at an early stage to understand, scrutinise and inform the House of those spending decisions and their wider consequences.”
“To conduct scrutiny effectively – and hold the Accounting Officer to account - we need good information to understand the issues facing your department and the plans you have for spending public money in the future.”
Source · parliament.uk record ↗