To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, with reference
to Ofcom's report, children's content review: update, published on 24 July 2018, what
discussions he has had with Ofcom on consulting stakeholders and industry on plans
for the future provision of children's programmes on television and online.
<p>Ministers and officials hold regular discussions with Ofcom on a range of issues,
including on the provision of children’s content.</p><p> </p><p>With the Digital Economy
Act 2017, Ofcom was given new powers to publish criteria on commercial public service
broadcasters’ provision of children’s programming and, if appropriate, to set related
conditions. In response to this, in November 2017 Ofcom launched a review of children’s
content. Ofcom has asked the public service broadcasters to develop and share their
plans to address Ofcom’s concerns on children’s content and we look forward to Ofcom’s
assessment of these plans in due course.</p><p> </p><p>The government is also providing
direct support to the development of children’s content through the Contestable Fund
pilot, which will provide up to £60 million to help stimulate the provision and plurality
of UK-originated content for young audiences and radio.</p>
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the need to improve
plurality of funding routes for culturally specific UK children's content.
<p>HM Government is committed to ensuring that young listeners and viewers benefit
from a system of public service broadcasting which remains relevant and which can
continue to meet the needs of UK audiences in the future. That is why we are conducting
a strategic review of public service broadcasting – drawing on the work of Ofcom,
Select Committees in both Houses of Parliament, and the Government’s own expert PSB
Advisory Panel – to work out how best to achieve this in light of the challenges the
sector is currently facing.</p><p>The three-year pilot Young Audiences Content Fund
was designed to test a new way of financing public service TV content. A full evaluation
of the pilot Fund will take place following its conclusion to determine its impact
on the children’s television industry and the provision and plurality of public service
content for young audiences across the UK. The potential for further investment of
public funding will be assessed against the Fund evaluation and alongside future public
service broadcasting needs.</p><p>The Government is committed to the success of our
world-leading TV production sector. UK-wide tax reliefs continue to play a vital role
in driving production across children’s, animation, and high-end television, supporting
approximately £2.2 billion production spending in these sectors through tax reliefs
in 2019 alone. The Government continues to act to support the industry in developing
the physical infrastructure and skills pipelines it needs to sustain success - success
which has seen 2021 being a record-setting year, with total high-end TV production
spend reaching more than £4 billion.</p>
