Member News
Today ePolitix.com and our stakeholders examine the political parties' plans for culture, media and sport.
RNIB discusses the impact which the digital revolution, inaccessible digital radios and the internet are having on the lives of disabled people.
The British Humanist Association calls for an end to the privileged position of religion in broadcasting
Homeless Link discusses the importance of access to cultural and sporting activities for the homeless.
The department for culture, media and sport is responsible for government policy on the arts, sport, the National Lottery, tourism, libraries, museums and galleries, broadcasting, creative industries including film and the music industry, press freedom and regulation, licensing, gambling and the historic environment.
It is also responsible for the 2012 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games in London.
In March DCMS announced that it will deliver £60 million of efficiency savings, as their departmental contribution towards £11 billion of savings across government.
Further cuts are planned for future years, whoever forms the next government, and DCMS can expect reductions in its budget.
Yet the department oversees some of the fastest-growing sectors of the economy - video games alone generate £2 billion in retail sales in the UK, and contribute £1 billion to the country's GDP.
Labour's key policies on culture, media and sport include:
* Legislate to ensure the managerial and financial autonomy of major museums and galleries and maintain free admission policy.
* Every child to have lifetime library membership from birth.
* Review the oversight structures for English Heritage, putting mutual principles at the heart of its governance.
* Public institutions to be given new rights to borrow works of art from the national collection.
* Act to ensure a non-tie option is available for pub tenants if the industry does not provide this itself.
* Consult on putting the Compact Commission on a statutory footing.
Conservative key policies on culture, media and sport include:
* Require BT and other infrastructure providers to allow the use of their assets to deliver superfast broadband across the country.
* Shops and bars that persistently sell alcohol to children can be closed permanently or fined up to £30,000.
* Raise taxes on drinks linked to anti-social behaviour and prevent shops from selling alcohol below cost-price.
* Allow local newspapers to own other local media platforms and create a new network of local television stations.
Lib Dem key policies on culture, media and sport include:
* Ban below-cost alcohol sales and consider introduction of minimum pricing providing that this can be done in a way that only impacts on irresponsible drinkers.
* Simplify live music licensing, removing schools, hospitals and venues holding up to 200 people from the regime entirely.
* Use cash in dormant betting accounts to set up a capital fund for improving local sports facilities and supporting sports clubs.
DCMS also has responsibility for fashion design, advertising and the arts market , the listing of historic buildings and scheduling of ancient monuments, the export licensing of cultural goods, the management of the Government Art Collection and for the Royal Parks Agency.
Article Comments
Uniquely, radio is one of the few things blind and partially sighted people access on equal terms to their sighted peers. We're hugely concerned that the digital radio switchover will remove this entitlement forever.
RNIB
24th Jun 2010 at 4:29 pm
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