-cites parliamentary practice
Citing parliamentary practice, the Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports Charles Ramson has declined to name those who received creative industry grants from his ministry.
At Monday’s sitting of the National Assembly, answers to questions submitted to Parliament were circulated.
APNU+AFC Member of Parliament, Nima Flue-Bess had asked Ramson for the list of applicants who received culture and creative industry grants in 2022, 2023 and 2024.
Ramson stated, “While the Ministry possesses the information requested, it has been the Parliamentary practice and policy that the names of persons are not shared and/or disclosed in Parliament.”
In any event, he said that when persons applied for the grants they did not consent to public disclosure in parliament and “it would be unethical to breach their confidence”.
Flue-Bess had also asked if there was a follow-up to determine how the grant was used by the successful applicants in 2022 and 2023.
Ramson’s response was that the ministry receives updates from applicant and some of the projects have had media coverage.
“Following the outstanding success of the programme, a media production will be commissioned shortly and the Honourable Minister will be pleased to know that this will be distributed widely in 2025”.
Flue-Bess also asked that if follow-ups were done whether the Minister could provide a report of the findings.
Ramson’s response was “While the Ministry will not be able to provide the full report on the grant for the reasons shared above, the overall finding of the programme is that the programme is successful and beneficial to persons in the Culture and Creative Industry sector”.