Written questions by Frith.

Media and Sport, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of re-establishing the Cultural Renewal taskforce.

The Cultural Renewal Taskforce was set up to develop guidance for the safe reopening of DCMS sectors following the coronavirus pandemic. There are no plans at present to re-establish the Taskforce.

Whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of reviewing the curriculum framework for primary school science as part of her Department’s curriculum review.

The Curriculum and Assessment Review is being independently conducted by a group of education leaders (the review group) and chaired by Professor Becky Francis CBE. The terms of reference were published in July and can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/groups/curriculum-and-assessment-review.As part of its work, the review group is undertaking a review of the existing national curriculum, including primary science. The role of the review group is to consider the evidence, the responses to the call for evidence and widespread engagement, and then make recommendations for the government to consider.The review group will publish an interim report early in 2025 setting out its interim findings and confirming the key areas for further work and publish its final report with recommendations in autumn 2025.

Media and Sport, what recent discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for the Home Department on supporting non-UK (a) artists, (b) sponsors and (c) creative workers to work in the UK.

We have had no such recent meetings, but there are already several routes that provide opportunities for artists and creatives to come to the UK. The UK’s domestic rules allow musicians, entertainers, artists, and their technical staff, from non-visa national countries (such as EU/EEA nationals) to perform in the UK for up to 6 months without requiring a visa, as long as they are not receiving payment from a UK source other than prize money or expenses. Musicians, entertainers and artists from visa-national countries are likewise able to perform in the UK via the Standard Visitor route, and/or if performing at a festival detailed on the Permit Free Festivals list.Additionally, the Creative Worker visa allows a professional artist, model, entertainer or musician (applicable to all nationalities) to carry out activity directly relating to their profession, if they have a Sponsor who is licensed by the Home Office and has assigned a Certificate of Sponsorship to theindividual.We are committed to continuing to work closely with stakeholders to better understand their needs and challenges within the immigration system. This includes exploring ways to better streamline the processes within existing frameworks, to ensure the UK remains an attractive destination for global creative talent.

If she will make an assessment with Cabinet colleagues of the potential (a) economic and (b) cultural impact of UK border controls on (i) non-UK artists, (ii) sponsors and (iii) creative workers.

The Government is committed to ensuring workers in the creative industries have immigration routes that work for them. The United Kingdom has an excellent immigration offer for workers within the creative industries and we continually keep our policies under review.

Whether her Department is taking steps to (a) issue guidance to and (b) deliver training on temporary admission procedures for entry to the UK for creative workers to Border Force officers.

Border Force officers are trained to the highest of standards to be able to carry out their role to enforce immigration policy at the border. Officers undergo several weeks of training prior to taking up their role at the primary control point, within which they are trained on all manners of immigration law and policy, including entry to the UK for creative workers.Throughout that training, officers are continually tested to ensure they have the required skills and knowledge to carry out their role. Their skills and knowledge are then continually tested throughout their career on all aspects of immigration policy.To qualify for entry in this category, a passenger has to meet the following criteria:Having a valid Temporary Work - Creative Worker certificate of sponsorship (CoS).Coming to work in the UK for 3 months or less.Not normally needing a visa to enter the UK as a visitor.Further information on how individuals can qualify to enter the UK under this category can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/creative-worker-visa/creative-worker-concession.

Innovation and Technology, whether his Department has made an estimate of the potential value to the economy of licensing agreements between AI developers and the UK's creative industries for copyright protected works.

The Government recognises that licensing is an important tool to ensure rights holders are remunerated appropriately. We have made no specific estimate at this stage of the potential economic value of licensing agreements between AI developers and rights holders.The Government will launch a consultation soon to seek views and welcome evidence on a package of measures to address copyright and AI issues, including the value of licensing.

Innovation and Technology, whether his Department has made a recent assessment of the potential impact of the copyright regime for text and data mining on the (a) AI sector, (b) creative industries and (c) wider economy.

Greater certainty over copyright and AI would support growth in both the creative and AI sectors.The Government will launch a consultation soon on a package of measures to address copyright and AI issues. This will seek views and evidence of potential impacts on the AI sector, the creative industries, and the wider economy.

Innovation and Technology, whether his Department has made a comparative assessment of the potential impact of international text and data exceptions on (a) development of AI products and (b) creative industries.

We are engaging with international partners to better understand their approaches to copyright and AI issues.The Government will launch a consultation soon on a package of measures to address copyright and AI issues, and welcomes views and evidence of impacts, including international approaches.

What the re-offending rate is for prisoners serving sentences of Imprisonment for Public Protection who are released.

The Ministry of Justice routinely publishes data in the proven reoffending quarterly statistics on the proportion of offenders serving Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) sentences who reoffend. Figures can be found in Table C2a: proven-reoffending-oct22-dec22-3-monthly.ods.I have provided figures from the latest publication on the last four quarters of available data: Jan - Mar 2022Apr - Jun 2022Jul – Sep 2022Oct - Dec 2022Proportion of IPP offenders who reoffend (%)4.89.56.52.3

Innovation and Technology, with reference to his Department's Green Paper entitled Invest 2035: The UK’s Modern Industrial Strategy, published in October 2024, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of changes to the UK's copyright regime for text and data mining on the (a) Industrial Strategy and (b) eight growth-driving sectors.

The Government believes in both human-centred creativity and the potential of text and data mining and AI to open up new creative frontiers.This is requires a balanced solution – one that supports all the sectors listed in the Invest 2035 industrial strategy, including the creative industries and the digital and technologies sector.The Government will launch a consultation soon on a package of measures to address copyright and AI issues and support growth.

If she will make an assessment of the adequacy of the level of training for Border Force officers on temporary visas for creative workers.

Border Force officers are trained to the highest of standards to be able to carry out their role to enforce immigration policy at the border. Officers undergo several weeks of training prior to taking up their role at the primary control point, within which they are trained on all manners of immigration law and policy, including entry to the UK for creative workers.Throughout that training, officers are continually tested to ensure they have the required skills and knowledge to carry out their role. Their skills and knowledge are then continually tested throughout their career on all aspects of immigration policy.To qualify for entry in this category, a passenger has to meet the following criteria:Having a valid Temporary Work - Creative Worker certificate of sponsorship (CoS).Coming to work in the UK for 3 months or less.Not normally needing a visa to enter the UK as a visitor.Further information on how individuals can qualify to enter the UK under this category can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/creative-worker-visa/creative-worker-concession.

Whether the Child Poverty Strategy will include the Holiday Activities and Food Programme.

Tackling child poverty is at the heart the government’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity and improve the life chances for every child. For too many children, living in poverty robs them of the opportunity to learn and to prosper. The Child Poverty Taskforce will consider the range of policies which can boost household incomes and tackle essential costs: government-funded childcare support including during the school holidays can both tackle families’ essential costs and support parents to work boosting incomes. More detail on the approach and priorities for the Strategy is set out in the 23 October publication ‘Tackling Child Poverty: Developing our Strategy’, which is available at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/tackling-child-poverty-developing-our-strategy. The holiday activities and food programme provides free childcare places, enriching activities and healthy meals to children from low-income families, benefiting their health, wellbeing and learning throughout the school holidays.

What plans she has to develop a long-term strategy and funding settlement for local welfare after the Household Support Fund ends in March 2026; and whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of including provision for local welfare in the three-year funding settlements for local authorities.

We want to fix the fundamentals of the social security system so that people are not reliant on crisis support for the cost of essentials. To support the upcoming Child Poverty Strategy, we will continue to provide substantial funding to Local Authorities to support those most in need. That is why the Government is extending the Household Support Fund (HSF) by a further year, from 1 April 2025 until 31 March 2026. This will ensure low-income households can continue to access support towards the cost of essentials, such as food, energy and water. We recognise that certainty helps Local Authorities to design and deliver sustainable plans for local welfare assistance. Committing to funding the Household Support Fund until 31 March 2026 will allow them to plan their approach with greater confidence. As with all other government programmes, further funding will be considered in the round at Phase 2 of the Spending Review.

If her Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of setting out a roadmap for ending the two-child limit in the Child Poverty Strategy.

We published the framework ‘Tackling Child Poverty: Developing Our Strategy’ on 23 October and will explore all available levers to deliver an enduring reduction in child poverty in this parliament, as part of a 10-year strategy for lasting change. The Child Poverty Strategy will look at levers across four key themes of increasing incomes, which includes considering social security reforms, reducing essential costs, increasing financial resilience, and better local support especially in the early years. This will build on the reform plans underway across government and work underway in Devolved Governments. The Child Poverty Taskforce continues its urgent work to publish the Strategy in Spring 2025.

Media and Sport, if she will take steps to ensure that (a) the Independent Football Regulator plays an integral role in the process to settle the distribution deal and (b) the distribution deal must pass parameters set by the regulator.

The Independent Football Regulator will only have the power to intervene on distributions as a last resort. The backstop mechanism has been designed to give the industry the opportunity and incentives to reach a timely, industry-led solution to distributions and it is right that the Regulator only steps in as a last resort.If the relevant leagues cannot reach an agreement independently, they can apply to trigger the backstop. Then, if certain thresholds are met, the backstop can be triggered.First, the relevant leagues will enter into a period of mediation and, if there is still no agreement, they will move to a final proposal stage.At this point, the Regulator would convene an independent expert panel that will set out the relevant questions that need to be addressed through the arbitration and invite final proposals from both relevant leagues with accompanying analysis. The independent expert panel will then choose the proposal most consistent with the regulator’s objectives with consideration to potential burden on the commercial interests of the leagues. If neither proposal is consistent, the regulator will terminate the process without making a distribution order.

Whether she plans to reinstate the Music and Dance Scheme.

The Music and Dance Scheme (MDS) is a programme currently in operation, supporting exceptionally talented children and young people to access specialist education and training in music and dance.Funding of approximately £32 million is committed for the 2024/25 academic year for the MDS, giving opportunities for young people and allowing them access to specialist training and a pathway into the creative industries.

Media and Sport, whether she plans to re-introduce the Young Audience Content Fund.

The Government has no plans to re-introduce the Young Audiences Content Fund which concluded on 31 March 2022. However, the Government is committed to the success of our world-leading TV production sector. UK-wide television and film tax reliefs, including for children’s television programming, continue to play a vital role in driving production, with more than £4 billion of expenditure supported in 2023.

Whether she plans to reform Imprisonment for Public Protection sentences.

It is right that Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) sentences were abolished. We supported reforms to the IPP licence in the Victims and Prisoners Act 2024 in opposition. They commenced on 1 November, which terminated the licence for around 1,800 IPP offenders in the community. The remaining reforms will be implemented on 1 February 2025.The Government is determined to make further progress to support those serving the IPP sentence towards a safe and sustainable release, but not in a way that compromises public protection.

What steps her Department takes to ensure that recall decisions are (a) fair and (b) proportionate to public safety concerns.

The Government’s absolute focus is on public protection. Offenders on licence can be swiftly recalled to prison if they breach their licence conditions. The recall of an offender to custody is an important public protection measure, and successive thematic reviews conducted by HM Chief Inspector of Probation have found that the Probation Service is using recall appropriately.Additionally, HMPPS has issued guidance to probation practitioners, to ensure all safe alternatives to recall are considered before a decision is taken to recall an offender.

What steps her Department is taking to provide adequate mental health support for prisoners serving Imprisonment for Public Protection sentences.

It is right that Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) sentences were abolished. We are committed to working at pace to support the progression of all those serving the IPP sentence, but not in a way that undermines public protection.We are committed to improving outcomes for offenders with mental health needs, including IPP prisoners, and recognise the importance of providing the right interventions at the right time.This is reflected in the National Partnership Agreement on Health and Social Care in England which was published in 2023 and which sets out a shared priority workplan to deliver safe, decent and effective care for offenders in prison and the community.Health and justice partners have committed to providing an equivalent standard, range and quality of healthcare in prisons to that available in the community. If a prisoner has a severe mental health need to an extent that detention under the Mental Health Act 1983 may be appropriate, they will be referred and assessed by qualified clinicians to determine whether to transfer to a mental health hospital is warranted.