Written questions by Bailey.

Media and Sport, what external oversight mechanisms are in place to ensure that publicly owned broadcasters investigate whistleblowing concerns independently of senior management.

Our public service broadcasters are operationally independent of Government and so probationary periods rightfully remain a matter for them.Employees of public service broadcasters, like most employees in Great Britain, who blow the whistle on certain types of wrongdoing are protected from retaliatory unfair dismissal and detriment under the Employment Rights Act 1996 if legislative conditions are met. This is a day one right, meaning employees do not need to satisfy any qualifying period of service to seek remedies in employment tribunals.Employees of publicly owned broadcasters will be protected if they blow the whistle to Ofcom, the independent media regulator, if certain conditions in the legislation are met. Ofcom is a ‘prescribed person’ under the Public Interest Disclosure (Prescribed Person Order) 2014. The Government is also exploring the addition of the Creative Industries Independent Standards Authority (CIISA) to this list and the Secretary of State continues to call on the television sector and wider creative industries to support the work of CIISA to improve standards of behaviour across industry.

Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of trends in the use of extension of probationary periods in publicly owned broadcasters to detriment whistleblowing employees.

Our public service broadcasters are operationally independent of Government and so probationary periods rightfully remain a matter for them.Employees of public service broadcasters, like most employees in Great Britain, who blow the whistle on certain types of wrongdoing are protected from retaliatory unfair dismissal and detriment under the Employment Rights Act 1996 if legislative conditions are met. This is a day one right, meaning employees do not need to satisfy any qualifying period of service to seek remedies in employment tribunals.Employees of publicly owned broadcasters will be protected if they blow the whistle to Ofcom, the independent media regulator, if certain conditions in the legislation are met. Ofcom is a ‘prescribed person’ under the Public Interest Disclosure (Prescribed Person Order) 2014. The Government is also exploring the addition of the Creative Industries Independent Standards Authority (CIISA) to this list and the Secretary of State continues to call on the television sector and wider creative industries to support the work of CIISA to improve standards of behaviour across industry.

Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of whistleblowing protections for employees of publicly owned broadcasters under the Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998.

Our public service broadcasters, publicly owned or otherwise, rightfully remain independent of Government, but their employees like most in Great Britain are protected under the whistleblowing framework in the Employment Rights Act 1996 (as amended by the Public Interest and Disclosure Act 1998). This protects employees from detriment and dismissal if they blow the whistle on wrongdoing and certain conditions in the legislation are met.More broadly, the Government acknowledges concerns that the UK whistleblowing framework may not be operating as effectively as it should be and recently announced, through the Anti-Corruption Strategy 2025, that it will explore opportunities to reform that framework.

Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of ending the Strategic Priorities Grant funding for journalism courses in higher education on students from different social and economic backgrounds seeking employment in professional journalism.

The Government has had to make tough prioritisation decisions driven by the challenging fiscal context that we inherited. For the Department of Education, this has meant prioritising support for high-cost subjects that are essential to delivery of our industrial strategy and core funding to support access to higher education for disadvantaged groups. It is important that the targeted funding allocated through the Strategic Priorities Grant (SPG) supports courses that have higher costs of delivery and our Plan for Growth.The Government’s commitment that opportunity is available for all remains unwavering, and we will achieve this by addressing gaps in access and outcomes faced by disadvantaged groups. That is why we have asked that the Office for Students retain the per-student funding rates for the full-time, part-time, disabled premium and mental health Student Premiums at their current level.  We have also maintained funding for Uni Connect, which delivers targeted interventions and support aimed at increasing the number of young people from under-represented groups going into further and higher education.The Government also remains committed to supporting the invaluable role which journalism plays in the fabric of our society. We acknowledge journalism as an important and valued subject in higher education, alongside numerous other subjects that do not attract SPG high-cost subject funding, such as history, languages, economics, maths and law.DCMS officials are engaging with the Department for Education, as well as the press sector and the key journalism professional bodies, to better understand the impact this will have on the journalism industry. These discussions form part of our planning for the DCMS Local Media Strategy. It is important to maintain a healthy and diverse pipeline of talent into the industry through the provision of journalism education opportunities. With this in mind, we are exploring through the Strategy whether more can be done to promote journalism as a career amongst young people, including through the DCMS-funded Creative Careers Programme which is intended to promote careers in the creative industries among young people and recently added the National Council for the Training of Journalists to its steering group.

Media and Sport, what discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Education on the decision to end Strategic Priorities Grant funding for journalism courses in higher education.

The Government has had to make tough prioritisation decisions driven by the challenging fiscal context that we inherited. For the Department of Education, this has meant prioritising support for high-cost subjects that are essential to delivery of our industrial strategy and core funding to support access to higher education for disadvantaged groups. It is important that the targeted funding allocated through the Strategic Priorities Grant (SPG) supports courses that have higher costs of delivery and our Plan for Growth.The Government remains committed to supporting the invaluable role which journalism plays in the fabric of our society. We acknowledge journalism as an important and valued subject in higher education, alongside numerous other subjects that do not attract SPG high-cost subject funding, such as history, languages, economics, maths and law.DCMS officials are engaging with the Department for Education, as well as the press sector and the key journalism professional bodies, to better understand the impact this will have on the journalism industry, as part of the wider creative industries.