Every parliamentary written question tabled by Andrew Snowden this session, with the full answer and department. See how every department answers, or back to the MP page.
Showing 21–40 of 109 · Department for Culture, Media and Sport
Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to ensure measures to reduce the number of High Street bookmakers does not lead to an increase in online gambling harms.
As part of the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Act, the Government has now introduced Gambling Impact Assessments (GIAs). While the introduction of GIAs will strengthen local authorities’ powers to shape their streets and neighbourhoods, incl...
Media and Sport, if she will assess the potential merits of a designated fund to help local groups help establish ParkRun events.
The Government is committed to ensuring that everyone should have access to and benefit from quality sport and physical activity opportunities. Local initiatives such as parkrun align with our commitment to place based working, enabling communities to co-...
Media and Sport, whether libraries in Fylde constituency will benefit from future allocations from the Libraries Improvement Fund.
The Libraries Improvement Fund is a competitive open-access capital fund for library services based in England, administered by Arts Council England. The Fund supports public libraries to upgrade their buildings and technology to meet changing needs to be...
Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to ensure that the outcomes of the Creative Foundations Fund are distributed equitably across the country.
The first round of the Creative Foundations Fund awarded £96 million to 74 arts and cultural organisations in England. Of these, 58 projects—accounting for 78% of the total projects awarded—were located outside of London. Arts Council England, the fund’s ...
Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to ensure beneficiaries of the Museum Estate and Development Fund provide information that is politically neutral.
The Museum Estate and Development Fund (MEND) supports non-national, accredited museums across England by providing funding to address urgent infrastructure and maintenance backlogs that exceed standard day-to-day budgets. The programme strictly finances ...
Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to support grassroots football clubs.
The Government is committed to ensuring that everyone, regardless of background, should have access to and benefit from quality sport and physical activity opportunities, which is why we are investing £85 million into new and upgraded grassroots facilitie...
Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to ensure that the potential benefits of a potential Olympic bid in the north of England are distributed equitably across the region.
London 2012 had a major socio-economic impact and left a lasting legacy for future generations, showing what hosting an Olympic and Paralympic Games can do for our country. The North of England deserves the same level of ambition. It is central to the UK’...
Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to increase general awareness of relative energy deficiency in sport.
The Government is committed to supporting women and girls in sport at every level by actively removing the barriers that prevent their full participation.Female athletes disproportionately experience a number of health conditions, including Relative Energ...
Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of licencing practices for charity fundraisers to effectively tackle the use of aggressive tactics to raise money in public areas.
The vast majority of charities carry out collections to support their vital work in a responsible way and in line with the law and the Code of Fundraising practice. However, DCMS supports local authorities in taking action against fraudulent collections and unlawful behaviour, and to make enforcement easier, simpler and more cost effective.In the recently announced action plan on social cohesion, we have announced that we will increase fines and strengthen local authorities’ enforcement powers to tackle unlicensed street fundraising.
Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to help ensure that people that do not use TV or radio services do not receive incorrect correspondence about TV licensing.
The BBC is responsible for collection and enforcement of the licence fee. The Government is therefore not involved in TV Licensing operations.However, the Government expects the BBC to collect the licence fee in an efficient and proportionate manner. Through the BBC Charter Review we are looking at how collection and enforcement of the licence fee can be made fairer.
Media and Sport, what assessment her Department has made of the national heritage significance of Blackpool’s heritage tram fleet.
Blackpool’s tramway, which opened in 1885, was the first permanent electric tramway in the UK. They are an important living link to the UK’s rich industrial heritage and one of the elements that makes Blackpool a jewel in the crown of England's visitor economy in the North West.There has been no formal assessment of the cultural and historical importance of the trams.
Media and Sport, what assessment has been made of the cultural and historical importance of Blackpool’s heritage trams as a nationally significant example of working transport heritage.
Blackpool’s tramway, which opened in 1885, was the first permanent electric tramway in the UK. They are an important living link to the UK’s rich industrial heritage and one of the elements that makes Blackpool a jewel in the crown of England's visitor economy in the North West.There has been no formal assessment of the cultural and historical importance of the trams.
Media and Sport, whether her Department has made an assessment of the adequacy of regulations on the broadcast or online circulation of footage from fatal accident scenes.
Ofcom is required by legislation to enforce a Broadcasting Code to protect television audiences from harmful material and against unwarranted infringements of privacy. Broadcasters should not take or broadcast footage of people caught up in emergencies, victims of accidents or those suffering a personal tragedy, even in a public place, where that results in an infringement of privacy, unless it is warranted or the people concerned have given consent. Where someone shares material via social media that is grossly offensive, indecent, or otherwise unlawful, this may constitute a criminal offence. Anybody who carries out this action could be liable to prosecution through the Courts. Under the Online Safety Act, services must establish adequate systems and processes to prevent illegal content, including material that is grossly offensive or indecent, from appearing and remove it if it does. The Government continues to monitor these issues closely and consider whether further interventions are necessary to protect victims and uphold public safety.
Media and Sport, what guidance the Government provides to membership-based charities to ensure compliance with charity law where benefits are restricted to members.
All charities in England and Wales must have wholly charitable purposes that are for the public benefit, in order to enjoy the advantages of charitable status. Unless the purpose is for the relief (and in some cases the prevention) of poverty, a charitable purpose cannot exist for the benefit of an organisation’s members only. The exception to this is if a sufficient section of the public can access those benefits by becoming members and the membership is a suitable way of carrying out the charity’s purpose for the public benefit.The Charity Commission has published guidance which explains the public benefit requirement.The honourable member may be aware that Membership-based Charity Organisations was debated on Wednesday 17th December in Westminster Hall.
Media and Sport, when she expects to announce whether the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme will be renewed beyond 31 March 2026.
Future funding beyond March 2026 will be considered as we work through the output of the Spending Review and Departmental business planning process. An announcement will be made once this decision is finalised.
Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 4 December to Question 95479, on Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme: VAT, how many applications to the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme in the last 12 months exceeded the new £25,000 cap.
Since 1 December 2024, the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme has received a total of 222 applications that exceeded a value of £25,000, with a combined requested value of £12,442,052. Of these, 162 claims totalling £8,793,024 were subsequently approved for payment. All approved claims relate to the 2024/25 financial year, before the new cap came into effect.A total of 38 applications with a value in excess of £25k have been submitted since 1st April 2025. However, the value of grant award approved for payment against these claims was capped at £25k. I can confirm that since the annual cap of £25,000 per listed place of worship came into effect from 1 April 2025, no applicant has received funding above this £25,000 limit.
Media and Sport, pursuant to the answer of 13 November 2025 to question 90762 on BBC: Royal Charters, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of perceived bias in the programme Question Time on the priorities of the new BBC Royal Charter.
The BBC is editorially and operationally independent from the Government and this is a crucial component of why people trust it. Under its Royal Charter, the BBC has a duty to deliver impartial and accurate news coverage and content, and the Government expects the BBC to uphold these standards.It is then for Ofcom, as the independent regulator, to ensure the BBC is fulfilling its obligations to audiences, including on impartiality and accuracy, as outlined in the Charter.The forthcoming Charter Review will provide an opportunity for the Government to consider a range of issues and to set the BBC up for success long into the future.
Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the VAT-recovery cap on the number of listed places of worship that are proceeding with planned repair or reordering works.
DCMS Ministers received advice on changes to the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme, including consideration of the potential impact on introducing an annual cap of £25,000 per place of worship for the 2025/26 financial year. The changes to the scheme were necessary given the level of fiscal challenges we inherited and the pressures on other parts of the heritage and cultural sectors. Based on the Department’s analysis of previous data, 94% of applications will be unaffected by the change, as most claims are under £5,000.
Media and Sport, whether she has had recent discussions with (a) UEFA and (b) FIFA on the participation of Israel in international football.
The Secretary of State has not had such discussions with UEFA and FIFA. The government fully respects the independence and autonomy of sports organisations. Decisions on participation in international sports events are a matter for the relevant international sport federations and their national representatives.
Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to ensure compliance with the Governance Code on Public Appointments, published on 16 December 2016.
My department remains absolutely committed to the highest standards for all public appointments campaigns; DCMS is responsible for over 400 public appointment roles and has handled 80 appointments so far this year. The Department has recently reviewed all DCMS public appointments processes and systems in order to ensure that they are as robust as possible. This included confirming compliance with the revised Governance Code of Public Appointments published on 30 October 2025.