On Thursday, 10th May I participated in my third Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport’s (DCMS) question and answer session in the House of Commons. I was asked and I answered questions on historic landmarks, on UK tourism and on the museum sector. As the Heritage Minister I have responsibility for protecting hundreds of heritage sites across the country and I was asked about a few specific sites including the Bennerley Viaduct and was able to put on record my strong commitment to protecting the country’s heritage. I also spoke of how as Minister, the Government and I are supporting our world-leading tourism and museum sectors through hundreds of millions of pounds of funding.
You can watch the questions put to me and my responses by clicking on the following links:
https://parliamentlive.tv/event/index/d9580984-9af2-423d-9d67-b646b547fe9f?in=09:51:17&out=09:53:01,
https://parliamentlive.tv/event/index/d9580984-9af2-423d-9d67-b646b547fe9f?in=09:59:32&out=10:01:13
and
https://parliamentlive.tv/event/index/d9580984-9af2-423d-9d67-b646b547fe9f?in=10:05:26&out=10:06:09.
Later the same day I represented DCMS and the Government in a Westminster Hall debate on the relocation of Channel 4. Recently, Channel 4 announced that they would be moving their Headquarters and hundreds of their staff out of London and create a new “national HQ” in another city. In my role as Minister for Arts, Heritage and Tourism I have always championed investment to areas outside of London so this is certainly welcome news. I responded to a debate on where exactly Channel 4 should move to, outlining the Government’s views in the process. Many of my colleagues took the opportunity presented by this debate to encourage Channel 4 to move to their own local areas, but whilst Channel 4 is publicly funded, where they will be moving to is a decision for the broadcaster and not one for politicians – although they would surely be welcome here in Northampton!
You can watch my speech by clicking on the following link: https://parliamentlive.tv/event/index/082b6e02-f4ba-46dd-a581-48202804c19f?in=16:19:27&out=16:28:16.