Written questions by Witherden.

Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to help increase access to arts and culture.

The Government is committed to making arts and culture accessible to everyone. We invest £600 million annually through Arts Council England to support access to arts and culture across the country. Our £1.5 billion Arts Everywhere investment will save over 1,000 local cultural venues, restoring pride in place and national renewal. This government’s Curriculum Review will ensure every child receives a rich arts education. We will soon respond to the Hodge Review, which offered recommendations to ensure that creativity is accessible to all.

Media and Sport, whether her Department has made a recent assessment of the potential merits of introducing a press regulator that is independent of (a) the media industry and (b) politicians.

This Government is committed to an independent and free media, one that is completely separate from the Government and politicians. An independent self-regulatory regime is important to ensure the press adheres to clear and high standards. We are also clear, however, that with this freedom comes responsibility, and newspapers must operate within the bounds of the law. This includes ensuring access to clear, timely and effective routes to redress. The Government currently has no plans to change the current system.

Media and Sport, how many newspapers have been (a) investigated and (b) fined by the Independent Press Standards Organisation since 2014.

The Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO), which is independent of Government, publishes annual reports on their website that include details on the number of complaints and enquiries received and their outcomes: https://www.ipso.co.uk/what-we-do/transparency-accountability/.

Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to prevent (a) phone hacking and (b) press intrusion.

The press have a responsibility to behave ethically and they must also operate within the bounds of the law. Any illegal conduct such as phone hacking would be a matter for the police.The Government does not intervene in or oversee the work of the UK’s independent press regulators. If a member of the public objects to practices of the press they can complain directly to the publication, or the relevant independent regulator, including Impress or the Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO).These regulators enforce codes of conduct which provide guidelines on a range of areas, including discrimination, accuracy, privacy, and harassment. If they find that a newspaper has broken the code of conduct, they can order corrections. Both regulators also offer arbitration schemes for legal claims relating to defamation, privacy and harassment.