DCMS originates from the
Department of National Heritage (
DNH), which itself was created on 11 April 1992 out of various other departments, soon after the
Conservative election victory. The former ministers for the
Arts and for
Sport (both created in 1964) had previously been located in other departments. DNH was renamed as the
Department for Culture, Media and Sport (
DCMS) on 14 July 1997, under the
premiership of Tony Blair. It was renamed to
Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport on 3 July 2017, staying
DCMS under the
premiership of Theresa May to reflect the department's increased activity in the digital sector. The department was renamed back to the
Department for Culture, Media and Sport (
DCMS) in February 2023, with responsibility for digital moving to the new
Department for Science, Innovation and Technology.
2012 Olympics DCMS was the
co-ordinating department for the successful bid by
London to host the 2012 Olympics and appointed and oversees the agencies delivering the Games' infrastructure and programme, principally the
Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) and
LOCOG. The
June 2007 Cabinet reshuffle led to
Tessa Jowell MP taking on the role of
Paymaster General and then
Minister for the Cabinet Office while remaining
Minister for the Olympics. Ministerial responsibility for the Olympics was shared with Ms Jowell in the
Cabinet Office, but the staff of the
Government Olympic Executive (GOE) remained based in DCMS.
2010–2022 Following the
2010 general election, ministerial responsibility for the Olympics returned to the Secretary of State. Although
Jeremy Hunt's full title was
Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport, the department's name remained unchanged. On 4 September 2012, Hunt was appointed Health Secretary in a cabinet reshuffle and replaced by
Maria Miller. Maria Miller later resigned due to controversy over her expenses. Her replacement was announced later that day as
Sajid Javid. After the
2015 general election,
John Whittingdale was appointed as Secretary of State, tasked with initiating the
BBC Charter review process. DCMS received full responsibility for the digital economy policy, formerly jointly held with
BIS, and sponsorship of the
Information Commissioner's Office from the
Ministry of Justice. Whittingdale was replaced by
Karen Bradley after the
referendum on the UK's membership of the EU in July 2016. The
Office for Civil Society moved from the
Cabinet Office to DCMS as part of the same reshuffle. In January 2018,
Matt Hancock, previous Minister of State for Digital, was appointed Secretary of State as part of a Cabinet reshuffle. In the 9 July 2018 reshuffle,
Jeremy Wright became the Secretary of State.
Nicky Morgan became Secretary of State in July 2019; she stood down as an MP at the
2019 United Kingdom general election but was ennobled as Baroness Morgan of Cotes and retained her position from within the
House of Lords. As part of the 13 February 2020 reshuffle,
Oliver Dowden MP was appointed Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport.
Nadine Dorries succeeded on 15 September 2021. In July 2022, Dorries personally granted
Grade II-listed status to a plaque of
Cecil Rhodes which she believed is of "special historic interest". This decision attracted controversy. On 5 September 2022, in anticipation of the appointment of
Liz Truss as Prime Minister, Dorries tendered her resignation as culture secretary.
Policy areas It is responsible for
government policy in the following areas: • The
arts •
Broadcasting, including the
BBC and
Channel 4 •
Civil society •
Charities •
Creative industries •
Advertising •
Design •
Fashion •
Film •
Music industry •
Publishing •
Historic environment •
Architecture and
design •
Arts market •
Cultural property and heritage •
Entertainment licensing •
Gambling and
horse racing •
Press freedom and
regulation •
Libraries •
Museums and
galleries •
The National Lottery •
Tourism •
Sport •
Olympic legacy
Other responsibilities Other responsibilities of DCMS include
listing of historic buildings,
scheduling of ancient monuments, export licensing of
cultural goods, and management of the
Government Art Collection (GAC). The Secretary of State has responsibility for the maintenance of the land and buildings making up the historic Royal Estate under the
Crown Lands Act 1851. These inherited functions, which were once centralised in the
Office of Works, are now delivered as follows: • The
Royal Parks are maintained by an
executive agency within DCMS, the
Royal Parks Agency; • The
unoccupied royal palaces in England are managed by a contract with
Historic Royal Palaces; • Maintenance of the
occupied royal palaces in England was funded by an annual
grant-in-aid to the
Royal Household until 31 March 2012. The Secretary of State for Culture retains legal responsibility for these palaces, but from 1 April 2012 this funding was amalgamated with the
Civil List into a single
Sovereign Grant administered by HM Treasury. DCMS continues to make a separate small grant to the
Royal Household for the maintenance of
Marlborough House The department also has responsibility for state ceremonial occasions and royal funerals. However, responsibility for the
Civil List element of head-of-state expenditure and income from the separate
Crown Estate remains with the
Chancellor of the Exchequer. DCMS works jointly with the
Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) on
design issues, including sponsorship of the
Design Council, and on relations with the
computer games and
publishing industries. DCMS works with local community system providers in broadcasting service via TV and Internet channels. In September 2022, it managed to hold a home office visit activity for media and data security knowledge sharing across different government departments. DCMS organises the annual
Remembrance Day Ceremony at the
Cenotaph and has responsibility for providing
humanitarian assistance in the event of a
disaster. In the government's response to the
7 July 2005 London bombings the department coordinated humanitarian support to the relatives of victims and arranged the memorial events. DCMS has also supported cyber initiatives such as
Cyber Discovery and the UK Cyber Security Forum to support innovation in the cyber industry. ==Ministers and senior officials ==