Written questions by Bhatti.

What publications are available for Invest 2035.

“Invest 2035”, the Industrial Strategy Green Paper, was published 14 October 2024, setting out our vision for a modern Industrial Strategy. The Invest 2035 Prospectus was published alongside this, which sets out the UK’s pitch to investors and a roadmap detailing how the Industrial Strategy will help secure investment and kickstart growth across the country. The Industrial Strategy, alongside Sector Plans for the growth-driving sectors, will be published in Spring 2025, aligned with the multi-year Spending Review.

What assessment she has made of the adequacy of the (a) frequency and (b) capacity of services between Birmingham and (i) Nottingham and (ii) Leicester.

The scope for increased frequency is limited by current infrastructure which is being considered as part of the proposed Midlands Rail Hub project. In terms of capacity, CrossCountry has recently declassified First Class accommodation on services from Birmingham to Cardiff, Nottingham and Stansted Airport to provide a number of additional seats for all ticket holders. The Department has funded 12 cascaded Voyager trains for CrossCountry Inter-city routes to provide additional capacity for passengers, including on routes that overlap with Birmingham to Nottingham services, thereby spreading demand across more carriages. Three of these trains are already in service, the rest will start in May.

Whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact of the delivery of the Midlands Rail Hub on economic growth.

Midlands Rail Hub would kickstart economic growth by introducing additional trains and improving the performance of the railways, and in March £123m was committed to design the first stage.In December, the Chancellor launched the second stage of the Spending Review. This is a ‘zero-based’ review, to ensure every line of spending – including the transport infrastructure portfolio – delivers the Plan for Change and provides good value for taxpayers.

What discussions she has had with Chiltern Railways on increasing its capacity.

My officials and I continue to work with Chiltern Railways to improve passenger experience. Chiltern periodically adjusts its timetable in response to passenger demand.We are closely engaged with Chiltern’s fleet renewal programme. The option to procure additional trains to increase capacity is being investigated, whilst considering value for money.

Media and Sport, if she will make an assessment of the potential implications for her policies of the proposal by the Welsh government to enable local authorities to charge a visitor levy.

Tourism is a devolved policy matter and we work closely with the Devolved Administrations. My department will carefully monitor the proposal by the Welsh government. Tax policy is a matter for HM Treasury and there are currently no plans to introduce a similar tax in England.

Media and Sport, what discussions she has had with (a) the Guardian Media Group and (b) Tortoise Media on the proposed buyout of the Observer newspaper.

It would be inappropriate to comment on any live merger case. As is clear under the Enterprise Act, this is a quasi-judicial process for the DCMS Secretary of State alone to exercise the statutory powers based on the evidence and following the established regulatory process. If there are any updates to report, Parliament will be informed in the usual way.

Communities and Local Government, whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact of plans to redistribute council tax on councils with lower rates of tax.

The Government has no plans to redistribute council tax.

Communities and Local Government, whether she has carried out an impact assessment on plans to redistribute council tax.

The Government has no plans to redistribute council tax.

Media and Sport, when she plans to publish the National Youth Strategy.

We plan to publish the National Youth Strategy in the summer, with an interim report to come out in the spring.

If she will take steps to ensure that the risks of (a) cold water, (b) open water and (c) drowning are covered in the national curriculum.

Swimming and water safety is a vital life skill and that is why pupils are taught to swim and how to be safe in and around water at primary school. Swimming and water safety are compulsory elements of the primary physical education (PE) curriculum at key stages 1 and 2. It includes teaching on how to perform safe-self rescue in different water-based situations. The department also supports schools to provide swimming and water safety lessons through teacher training and resources and the PE and Sport Premium for top-up lessons. Schools also have the flexibility to include content on water safety as part of relationships, sex and health education (RSHE) or personal, social, health and economic education, to equip pupils with an understanding of the risks and enable them to make informed decisions. The department is currently reviewing the statutory RSHE curriculum, including looking at whether additional content on water safety should be added.

If she will make an assessment of the potential merits of permanently reducing business rates for grassroots music venues.

As set out at Autumn Budget 2024, the Government intends to introduce permanently lower tax rates for retail, hospitality, and leisure (RHL) properties from 2026-27 for properties with rateable values below £500,00. This permanent tax cut will ensure that they benefit from much-needed certainty and support. The Government intends to fund this by introducing a higher multiplier on all properties with a rateable value (RV) of £500,000 and above. In the interim period, for 2025-26, we have prevented the current RHL relief from ending in April 2025, extending it for one year at 40% up to a cash cap of £110,000 per business. The Culture, Media and Sport (CMS) Committee’s report on grassroots music venues recommended that RHL relief should not be wholly withdrawn in April 2025. The Committee’s report also highlighted the sector's desire for certainty and long-term stability. That is why the Government intends to introduce permanently lower tax rates for high street RHL properties from 2026-27. The Government’s full response to the CMS Committee’s report was published on 14 November 2024 and is available online: https://committees.parliament.uk/work/8227/grassroots-music-venues/publications/.

What assessment she has made of the potential impact of increased borrowing costs on the UK's debt repayments.

The government does not comment on specific financial market movements. Gilt yields are determined by a wide range of international and domestic factors, and it is normal for the price and yields of gilts to vary when there are wider movements in global financial markets. The Chancellor has commissioned the Office for Budget Responsibility for an updated economic and fiscal forecast for the 26th of March, which will incorporate the latest data.

Whether she plans to take steps with the Valuation Office Agency to introduce new valuation methods for business rates for grassroots music venues.

As set out at Autumn Budget 2024, the Government intends to introduce permanently lower tax rates for retail, hospitality, and leisure (RHL) properties, including those on the high street, from 2026-27. This permanent tax cut will ensure that they benefit from much-needed certainty and support. In the interim period, for 2025-26, we have prevented the current RHL relief from ending in April 2025, extending it for one year at 40% up to a cash cap of £110,000 per business. Music venues are valued in the same way as any other class of non-domestic property; through applying the statutory and common law principles that apply across non-domestic rating. The valuation approach adopted by the Valuation Office Agency follows one of the established three methods of valuation for rating - rentals, receipts and expenditure, or contractors (cost based). In most cases, the method adopted will be derived from rental evidence directly from the property, or from similar properties that share comparable physical characteristics.

What assessment she has made of the potential impact of increased borrowing costs on the UK's debt repayments.

The government does not comment on specific financial market movements. Gilt yields are determined by a wide range of international and domestic factors, and it is normal for the price and yields of gilts to vary when there are wider movements in global financial markets. The Chancellor has commissioned the Office for Budget Responsibility for an updated economic and fiscal forecast for the 26th of March, which will incorporate the latest data.

What assessment she has made of the potential impact of higher bond yields on mortgage repayments.

The government does not comment on specific financial market movements. Gilt yields are determined by a wide range of international and domestic factors, and it is normal for the price and yields of gilts to vary when there are wider movements in global financial markets. The Chancellor has commissioned the Office for Budget Responsibility for an updated economic and fiscal forecast for the 26th of March, which will incorporate the latest data. The pricing of mortgages, which is influenced by a number of factors, is a commercial decision for lenders in which the Government does not intervene. It is worth noting that, at present, average mortgage rates are well below the recent peaks seen in Summer 2023 and Autumn 2022.

Media and Sport, what discussions she has had with the (a) sports and (b) cultural sector on the repayment of Covid-19 loans by September 2025.

Loan financing was provided to organisations on favourable terms, tailored to meet the unique legal and financial circumstances of sporting and cultural organisations. The Government is clear that these loans must be repaid and, where necessary, steps wil...

Media and Sport, if she will take steps to ensure that Covid-19 loans to the (a) culture and (b) sports sectors are repaid in full.

Yes.

Whether the £264 million additional core grant funding for police will support police stations to remain open.

The 2025-26 provisional police funding settlement provides funding of up to £19.5 billion for the policing system in England and Wales. This is an overall increase of up to £1 billion when compared to the 2024-25 settlement, and equates to a 5.5% cash inc...

What assessment he has made of the potential implications for his policies of the report by (a) Baroness Cumberlege entitled Independent Medicines and Medical Devices Safety Review, published 8 Jul

The Independent Medicines and Medical Devices Safety Review’s overarching conclusion was that the system failed to listen to patients or put patients at the centre of their care. Subsequent work has focussed on improving how the system listens to and resp...

Media and Sport, whether she has had recent discussions with representatives of the British Museum on the Elgin Marbles.

As the British Museum is a DCMS Arm’s Length Body, both the Secretary of State and I have recently met its Chair and Director. The sculptures were one of a number of issuesdiscussed.Decisions relating to the care and management of its collection are a mat...