The LGA Public Affairs team bring us a handy sift of DCMS policies from the parties election manifestos:
The three major political parties all published their General Election Manifestos last week, and whilst the manifestos themselves contain fewer references to culture, media and sport issues than the state of the economy – the parties do have some notable differences.
Both the Labour Party and the Conservative Party have variations on keeping prominent pubs open in communities, with Labour favouring reforming rights for pub tenants and the Conservatives opting for a “right to buy scheme”. The Liberal Democrats and the Conservatives would both ban below-cost alcohol sales. The Liberal Democrats would support this by considering a minimum pricing policy, whilst the Conservatives promised a more targeted approach which would only raise taxes on drinks linked to anti-social behaviour.
All three of the big political parties pledge that “superfast broadband” will be rolled out across the country if they are elected – with Labour raising funds for this from a levy on fixed phone lines and the Conservatives saying they will start by requiring infrastructure providers to allow use of their assets to deliver faster connection speeds, and may consider using part of the BBC licence fee to fund broadband in areas where the market fails.
Lottery funding for the arts, sport and culture would continue under all three main parties, with the Conservatives pledging that “original allocations of 20 per cent of good cause money” would be restored. The Liberal Democrats also promise additional funding by using money held dormant in betting accounts to set up a capital fund for improving local sports facilities and supporting sports clubs.
Elsewhere, the manifestos of the smaller parties and independents are wide ranging and challenging, with a strong emphasis on cleaning up Parliament and on localism influencing debates in parliament. Understandably though, they are less focused on the world of culture, tourism and sport.
