Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to Written Statement HCWS1273, made on 27 January 2026, whether she plans to allocate some of the £400m grassroots sports funding to lidos.

Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

The Government recognises the importance of ensuring public access to swimming facilities, including lidos, which are great spaces for people of all ages to stay fit and healthy, and play an important role within communities. I was pleased to respond to the recent Westminster Hall debate on this issue.

In June last year, we committed £400 million to transform sports facilities, including public leisure, over the next four years. We are working closely with sporting bodies and local leaders to establish what communities need, before setting out further plans on how future funding will be allocated.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to support the museum sector in (a) Newcastle-under-Lyme and (b) Staffordshire.

Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

In January, the DCMS Secretary of State announced a historic £1.5 billion funding package for culture over this parliament, £160 million of which is earmarked for local museums around the country. This includes further rounds of the Museum Estate and Development Fund (MEND), which has funded essential infrastructure projects around the country, including a £1.7m grant for Tamworth council announced last year. We have also delivered a new £20 million Museum Renewal Fund, supporting 75 museum organisations in 2025 to maintain public access and programming. This included awards for Ford Green Hall and Tamworth Borough Council in Staffordshire. Guidance on our new Museum Transformation Fund and the next round of MEND funding, both delivered by Arts Council England (ACE), will be published in May.

This investment doubles the £44 million that Arts Council England (ACE) invests annually in museums through their core funding programmes, including core funding for over 200 National Portfolio museum sites. In total, ACE has awarded just over £10 million in government and lottery funding to Staffordshire since 2021, through the National Portfolio and other grants, with the number of National Portfolio Organisations funded in Staffordshire quadrupling since 2023. As a designated Priority Place, Stoke-on-Trent is an area of particular focus for ACE for continued development and investment to boost local cultural opportunities in Staffordshire.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to address the role of algorithmic recommendation systems in promoting harmful or addictive content, including gambling, to children.

Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

The Gambling Commission regulates gambling, including online gambling. Gambling operators advertising in the UK must comply with advertising codes, which ensure that gambling advertising is not targeted at children. When operators fall short, the ASA can take action or refer them to the Gambling Commission for possible enforcement action. We continue to work with a wide range of stakeholders to further strengthen protections.

Keeping children safe online is a priority for this government. As outlined in the Online Safety Act, in scope social media companies and search services are required to protect children from harmful content. Ofcom has robust enforcement powers to use should services not comply with their duties. Our children's wellbeing consultation seeks views on how we can go further, including exploring if age-restrictions should be applied to addictive features, such as algorithms.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to help tackle illegal online sport gambling sites that do not hold a licence to operate in the UK.

Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

Since April 2024, the Gambling Commission has significantly increased its disruption activity and has focused on finding innovative ways to tackle the illegal market. The Crime and Policing Bill, once passed, will give the Gambling Commission greater powers to more quickly take down illegal websites. At the budget the Gambling Commission received £26 million across three years to increase investment, resources and capacity to tackle the illegal market. We have also set up an Illegal Gambling Taskforce with key stakeholders, which considers how to tackle illegal payments, advertising, and maximising cross-agency collaboration.

We announced in February 2026, an intention to consult on cracking down on unlicensed sponsors in sport. This will ban unlicensed gambling operators from sponsoring sports in Great Britain.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether she has made an recent assessment of the effectiveness of the regulation of gambling advertising.

Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

All gambling operators in the UK must comply with robust advertising codes, which are enforced by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) independently of Government. These codes apply across all advertising platforms, including broadcast, online and social media. The codes are regularly reviewed and updated and include a wide range of provisions designed to protect children and vulnerable adults from harm.

In addition, the Gambling Commission has introduced a range of new advertising regulations. This includes a ban on cross-marketing multiple gambling products within one incentive, requirements for new and existing customers to “opt-in” to the specific types of marketing they receive, and a cap on wagering requirements.

Since the Budget, the Government has also renewed efforts to tackle illegal gambling advertising, which poses the most immediate risk to the young and vulnerable.

We will continue to monitor a wide range of evidence regarding gambling advertising when making future policy decisions.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the answer of 1 April 2026, to Question 123211, on Gambling Commission: Managers, how many members of Gambling Commission staff have left to take up employment in or related to the gambling industry in the last 12 months.

Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

Three members of Gambling Commission staff have left the Commission in the last twelve months (up to 31 March 2026) to take up employment in or related to the gambling industry.

All Gambling Commission employees are subject to strict rules of conduct when applying for or taking up roles in the gambling sector after leaving the Commission. The Commission’s Corporate Governance Framework requires former employees to maintain safeguards against conflicts of interest for six months after their departure. This Framework is publicly available on the Gambling Commission’s website: https://www.gamblingcommission.gov.uk/policy/corporate-governance-framework/code-of-conduct-for-employees.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what recent assessment she has made of trends in under-18 participation in gambling activities, including via online platforms and apps.

Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

The 2025 Young People in Gambling Survey demonstrated that gambling activity by under-18s increased from 27% to 30% compared with the previous year. This was driven by a 3% increase in unregulated gambling, such as private betting between friends and family, to 18%.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to (a) celebrate the heritage of and (b) support the arts and cultural sector in (i) Newcastle-under-Lyme and (ii) Staffordshire.

Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

This government recognises the importance of celebrating heritage and the arts all across the country, including the significant heritage of Newcastle-under-Lyme and Staffordshire. Funding is administered through the Department for Culture, Media and Sport’s (DCMS) Arms-Length Bodies.

Since 1994, the National Lottery Heritage Fund has awarded more than £101m to 771 projects in Staffordshire. Of this, more than £5.9m has been awarded to 92 projects in Newcastle-under-Lyme. This includes £99,900 awarded in September 2024 to support Brampton Museum to become more financially and environmentally sustainable, ensuring that Newcastle’s unique heritage will remain accessible, valued and in good condition for future generations.

Similarly, Historic England has provided funding and advice in Newcastle-under-Lyme and Staffordshire, including a grant of £39,946 for project development works to Tamworth Castle in 2025. This enabled the council to apply for a grant from DCMS’ Museum Estate and Development Fund. Historic England provided a project development grant of £1.7million.

Arts Council England invests in Staffordshire with regular funding through its National Portfolio Organisations (NPO) and Creative People and Places (CPP) programmes, as well as with one-off funding through programmes such as the Creative Foundations Fund (CFF) and National Lottery Project Grants (NLPG), an open access programme for arts, libraries and museums projects. Across Staffordshire, eight NPOs receive £2.3 million per year, with two CPPs receiving more than £839,000 per year to support creativity in communities across Stoke-on-Trent and the Staffordshire Moorlands.

In Newcastle-under-Lyme specifically, ACE supports the New Vic theatre and Partners in Creative Learning (PiCL) as part of their National Portfolio, and Appetite as part of the Creative People and Places programme. Earlier this year, the New Vic received £295,308 through our new Creative Foundations Fund to update essential control wiring throughout the auditorium and backstage areas. Since 2023, ACE has offered funding through nine NLPGs in the area, totalling more than £218,000.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to ensure that child protection frameworks keep pace with technological developments in digital platforms and online gambling.

Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

Keeping children safe online is a priority for this government. We continue to work with a wide range of stakeholders including social media platforms to further strengthen protections. As outlined in the Online Safety Act, in scope social media companies and search services are required to protect children from harmful content. Ofcom has robust enforcement powers to use should services not comply with their duties. Our children's wellbeing consultation seeks views on how we can go further, including exploring if age-restrictions should be applied to addictive features, such as algorithms.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the role of AI chatbots in promoting or directing children to illegal online gambling.

Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

We take the issue of children being directed to illegal gambling sites very seriously.

AI chatbots covered by the Online Safety Act must protect all users from illegal content. We continue to work with a wide range of stakeholders to ensure these rules keep pace with technology and will not hesitate to go further if there is evidence to do so.

More broadly, the Government is committed to tackling illegal gambling through the Illegal Gambling Taskforce. We will therefore consider examples of chatbots promoting illegal sites to children, in conjunction with other issues, when deciding on the best next steps to increase protections against illegal gambling.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of the (a) condition and (b) availability of outdoor basketball courts; and what steps her Department is taking to ensure adequate funding for the maintenance, repair and construction of such facilities.

Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

The Government is committed to ensuring that everyone, regardless of background, should have access to and benefit from quality sport and physical activity opportunities. This means delivering a range of facilities across the country based on what each local community needs.

On 17 September, the Government confirmed £5 million investment in 2026/27 towards both indoor and outdoor basketball and basketball-led multi-sport facilities in England in 2026/27. This dedicated funding for basketball will be matched by the NBA, who will invest £5 million in grassroots programmes through to 2028.

We provide the majority of support for grassroots sport through our Arm’s Length Body, Sport England, which annually invests over £250 million in Exchequer and Lottery funding. Sport England provides long term investment of £12.6 million to Basketball England between 2022 and 2029 to support grassroots basketball.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to support grassroots football in (a) Newcastle-under-Lyme and (b) Staffordshire.

Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

The Government is committed to ensuring that everyone, regardless of background, should have access to and benefit from quality sport and physical activity opportunities.

The constituency of Newcastle-under-Lyme has received a total of £1,194,497 through the Multi-Sport Grassroots Facilities Programme. Staffordshire has received a total of £4,508,388 through the Multi-Sport Grassroots Facilities Programme.

We are now working closely with the sport sector stakeholders, including the Football Foundation, and local leaders to develop plans for funding for a range of sports across the country based on what each community needs. We will keep stakeholders and the wider sport sector updated as this work progresses, and we will announce plans once they have been fully developed.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what correspondences her Department has had with Birmingham City Council regarding the Wood Lane Playing Fields in Handsworth Wood, Birmingham.

Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

The ongoing responsibility of providing access to public leisure facilities lies at local authority level, with funding levels set as part of the Local Government Finance Settlement. The Government encourages local authorities to make investments which offer the right opportunities and facilities for the communities they serve.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of appointing a Minister for Youth.

Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

I am the Minister for Youth.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether she has assessed the potential merits of establishing a Royal Commission on Youth on the challenges facing future generations.

Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

This government recognises the scale of the challenges facing young people and is fully committed to addressing them.

That is why we published the ‘Youth Matters: Your National Youth Strategy’ which sets out a 10-year plan to ensure every young person has somewhere to go, someone who cares for them and a community they feel part of. It is underpinned by extensive research and insights, including a national survey and The Big Ambition Analysis for the National Youth Strategy. We will hold yearly national hearings on the progress of the Strategy and publish an interim delivery report in 2027.

We recognise that some of the challenges impacting young people have a systemic nature and the government is conducting specific reviews and consultations on key cross-cutting challenges. This includes the independent Milburn review analysing drivers of youth inactivity, the consultation on children’s use of technology as well as the reforms to the SEND system.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to her Department’s press release entitled Future of news is local, says Culture Secretary, as she launches the first action plan to back local news in a generation, published on 17 March 2026, whether action plan funding will be linked to agreements to cover (a) Government policy, (b) public information campaigns or (c) civic messaging.

Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

As part of Amplify: The Local Media Action Plan, the Government is launching a Local News Fund worth £6m in 2026/27 and up to a further £6m in 2027/28, to help ensure the long term provision of local news. Local media faces a complex range of challenges, and funding represents just one aspect of our approach. It will help the industry adapt in the short-medium term, before longer term measures set out in the Plan begin to take effect in helping enable a free, plural and thriving online local media ecosystem.

Funding will be distributed to local media outlets in print, online, radio or television, according to the outcomes of a competitive bidding process. Prospective bidders will need to meet specific qualifying criteria, central to which will be that the provision of local news is a primary purpose of the organisation.

Funding decisions will be supported by an independent Steering Board of external industry experts, to ensure a degree of independence in government decisions about funding media outlets. In accordance with the Government’s wider support for freedom and plurality of local media, we will not be linking grant awards to the provision of certain types of coverage or political impartiality.

Further detail on the Fund will be announced in the coming weeks.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to her Department’s press release entitled Future of news is local, says Culture Secretary, as she launches the first action plan to back local news in a generation, published on 17 March 2026, whether recipients of action plan funding will be required to maintain political neutrality.

Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

As part of Amplify: The Local Media Action Plan, the Government is launching a Local News Fund worth £6m in 2026/27 and up to a further £6m in 2027/28, to help ensure the long term provision of local news. Local media faces a complex range of challenges, and funding represents just one aspect of our approach. It will help the industry adapt in the short-medium term, before longer term measures set out in the Plan begin to take effect in helping enable a free, plural and thriving online local media ecosystem.

Funding will be distributed to local media outlets in print, online, radio or television, according to the outcomes of a competitive bidding process. Prospective bidders will need to meet specific qualifying criteria, central to which will be that the provision of local news is a primary purpose of the organisation.

Funding decisions will be supported by an independent Steering Board of external industry experts, to ensure a degree of independence in government decisions about funding media outlets. In accordance with the Government’s wider support for freedom and plurality of local media, we will not be linking grant awards to the provision of certain types of coverage or political impartiality.

Further detail on the Fund will be announced in the coming weeks.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to her Department’s press release entitled Future of news is local, says Culture Secretary, as she launches the first action plan to back local news in a generation, published on 17 March 2026, what steps will be taken to ensure that participation in the initiative does not place additional workload burdens on teachers.

Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

The Government is committed to ensuring a healthy and plural local media for the benefit of communities and citizens across the UK, and recognises the vital role that local press plays in scrutinising local institutions, and reflecting communities’ views and perspectives.

Our recently published Local Media Action Plan will support local media organisations across the country to innovate and adapt their business models for the online world, while incentivising and encouraging the production of high quality, trustworthy news. Our overarching goal is to empower communities through a thriving local media which highlights the issues that matter to them, helping to drive community wellbeing, social cohesion and local growth.

In the Action Plan we have made a series of commitments which will help local media, including: investing up to £12m in a new Local News Fund, which will help local media outlets adapt to commercial and technological changes and revive a local news presence in areas where it has retreated; more than doubling community radio funding to £1m a year; launching a new campaign starting in the North West to encourage more young people into journalism careers; and creating a new Regional Media Forum in the West of England, to develop a framework for best practice in scrutiny of local decision-making and public services.

We are not planning any initiatives relating to the production of school newspapers. However, we do want to ensure that young people continue to have access to trustworthy and high quality news online from a range of sources. We are working with industry to promote and improve the ‘Newspapers for Schools’ News Library, an existing platform offering digital access to 150 local and national news titles for all state-funded primary and secondary schools in the country.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to her Department’s press release entitled Future of news is local, says Culture Secretary, as she launches the first action plan to back local news in a generation, published on 17 March 2026, whether she plans to publish an evaluation of the initiative, including participation rates and outcomes for pupils.

Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

The Government is committed to ensuring a healthy and plural local media for the benefit of communities and citizens across the UK, and recognises the vital role that local press plays in scrutinising local institutions, and reflecting communities’ views and perspectives.

Our recently published Local Media Action Plan will support local media organisations across the country to innovate and adapt their business models for the online world, while incentivising and encouraging the production of high quality, trustworthy news. Our overarching goal is to empower communities through a thriving local media which highlights the issues that matter to them, helping to drive community wellbeing, social cohesion and local growth.

In the Action Plan we have made a series of commitments which will help local media, including: investing up to £12m in a new Local News Fund, which will help local media outlets adapt to commercial and technological changes and revive a local news presence in areas where it has retreated; more than doubling community radio funding to £1m a year; launching a new campaign starting in the North West to encourage more young people into journalism careers; and creating a new Regional Media Forum in the West of England, to develop a framework for best practice in scrutiny of local decision-making and public services.

We are not planning any initiatives relating to the production of school newspapers. However, we do want to ensure that young people continue to have access to trustworthy and high quality news online from a range of sources. We are working with industry to promote and improve the ‘Newspapers for Schools’ News Library, an existing platform offering digital access to 150 local and national news titles for all state-funded primary and secondary schools in the country.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to her Department’s press release entitled Future of news is local, says Culture Secretary, as she launches the first action plan to back local news in a generation, published on 17 March 2026, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of safeguarding measures in schools with regard to whether they adequately protect pupils participating in the school newspaper initiative from potential consequences such as long-term social and reputational harm to the author.

Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

The Government is committed to ensuring a healthy and plural local media for the benefit of communities and citizens across the UK, and recognises the vital role that local press plays in scrutinising local institutions, and reflecting communities’ views and perspectives.

Our recently published Local Media Action Plan will support local media organisations across the country to innovate and adapt their business models for the online world, while incentivising and encouraging the production of high quality, trustworthy news. Our overarching goal is to empower communities through a thriving local media which highlights the issues that matter to them, helping to drive community wellbeing, social cohesion and local growth.

In the Action Plan we have made a series of commitments which will help local media, including: investing up to £12m in a new Local News Fund, which will help local media outlets adapt to commercial and technological changes and revive a local news presence in areas where it has retreated; more than doubling community radio funding to £1m a year; launching a new campaign starting in the North West to encourage more young people into journalism careers; and creating a new Regional Media Forum in the West of England, to develop a framework for best practice in scrutiny of local decision-making and public services.

We are not planning any initiatives relating to the production of school newspapers. However, we do want to ensure that young people continue to have access to trustworthy and high quality news online from a range of sources. We are working with industry to promote and improve the ‘Newspapers for Schools’ News Library, an existing platform offering digital access to 150 local and national news titles for all state-funded primary and secondary schools in the country.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to her Department’s press release entitled Future of news is local, says Culture Secretary, as she launches the first action plan to back local news in a generation, published on 17 March 2026, what role (a) teachers and (b) external partners will have in (i) approving and (ii) overseeing content produced by pupils participating in the school newspaper initiative.

Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

The Government is committed to ensuring a healthy and plural local media for the benefit of communities and citizens across the UK, and recognises the vital role that local press plays in scrutinising local institutions, and reflecting communities’ views and perspectives.

Our recently published Local Media Action Plan will support local media organisations across the country to innovate and adapt their business models for the online world, while incentivising and encouraging the production of high quality, trustworthy news. Our overarching goal is to empower communities through a thriving local media which highlights the issues that matter to them, helping to drive community wellbeing, social cohesion and local growth.

In the Action Plan we have made a series of commitments which will help local media, including: investing up to £12m in a new Local News Fund, which will help local media outlets adapt to commercial and technological changes and revive a local news presence in areas where it has retreated; more than doubling community radio funding to £1m a year; launching a new campaign starting in the North West to encourage more young people into journalism careers; and creating a new Regional Media Forum in the West of England, to develop a framework for best practice in scrutiny of local decision-making and public services.

We are not planning any initiatives relating to the production of school newspapers. However, we do want to ensure that young people continue to have access to trustworthy and high quality news online from a range of sources. We are working with industry to promote and improve the ‘Newspapers for Schools’ News Library, an existing platform offering digital access to 150 local and national news titles for all state-funded primary and secondary schools in the country.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to her Department’s press release entitled Future of news is local, says Culture Secretary, as she launches the first action plan to back local news in a generation, published on 17 March 2026, whether she plans to introduce safeguards to ensure that content produced through the school newspaper initiative is politically neutral.

Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

The Government is committed to ensuring a healthy and plural local media for the benefit of communities and citizens across the UK, and recognises the vital role that local press plays in scrutinising local institutions, and reflecting communities’ views and perspectives.

Our recently published Local Media Action Plan will support local media organisations across the country to innovate and adapt their business models for the online world, while incentivising and encouraging the production of high quality, trustworthy news. Our overarching goal is to empower communities through a thriving local media which highlights the issues that matter to them, helping to drive community wellbeing, social cohesion and local growth.

In the Action Plan we have made a series of commitments which will help local media, including: investing up to £12m in a new Local News Fund, which will help local media outlets adapt to commercial and technological changes and revive a local news presence in areas where it has retreated; more than doubling community radio funding to £1m a year; launching a new campaign starting in the North West to encourage more young people into journalism careers; and creating a new Regional Media Forum in the West of England, to develop a framework for best practice in scrutiny of local decision-making and public services.

We are not planning any initiatives relating to the production of school newspapers. However, we do want to ensure that young people continue to have access to trustworthy and high quality news online from a range of sources. We are working with industry to promote and improve the ‘Newspapers for Schools’ News Library, an existing platform offering digital access to 150 local and national news titles for all state-funded primary and secondary schools in the country.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to her Department’s press release entitled Future of news is local, says Culture Secretary, as she launches the first action plan to back local news in a generation, published on 17 March 2026, whether she plans to issue guidance to schools on the editorial content of school newspapers supported by the action plan.

Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

The Government is committed to ensuring a healthy and plural local media for the benefit of communities and citizens across the UK, and recognises the vital role that local press plays in scrutinising local institutions, and reflecting communities’ views and perspectives.

Our recently published Local Media Action Plan will support local media organisations across the country to innovate and adapt their business models for the online world, while incentivising and encouraging the production of high quality, trustworthy news. Our overarching goal is to empower communities through a thriving local media which highlights the issues that matter to them, helping to drive community wellbeing, social cohesion and local growth.

In the Action Plan we have made a series of commitments which will help local media, including: investing up to £12m in a new Local News Fund, which will help local media outlets adapt to commercial and technological changes and revive a local news presence in areas where it has retreated; more than doubling community radio funding to £1m a year; launching a new campaign starting in the North West to encourage more young people into journalism careers; and creating a new Regional Media Forum in the West of England, to develop a framework for best practice in scrutiny of local decision-making and public services.

We are not planning any initiatives relating to the production of school newspapers. However, we do want to ensure that young people continue to have access to trustworthy and high quality news online from a range of sources. We are working with industry to promote and improve the ‘Newspapers for Schools’ News Library, an existing platform offering digital access to 150 local and national news titles for all state-funded primary and secondary schools in the country.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to her Department’s press release entitled Future of news is local, says Culture Secretary, as she launches the first action plan to back local news in a generation, published on 17 March 2026, what estimate she has made of the cost to each participating school of delivering the school newspaper initiative.

Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

The Government is committed to ensuring a healthy and plural local media for the benefit of communities and citizens across the UK, and recognises the vital role that local press plays in scrutinising local institutions, and reflecting communities’ views and perspectives.

Our recently published Local Media Action Plan will support local media organisations across the country to innovate and adapt their business models for the online world, while incentivising and encouraging the production of high quality, trustworthy news. Our overarching goal is to empower communities through a thriving local media which highlights the issues that matter to them, helping to drive community wellbeing, social cohesion and local growth.

In the Action Plan we have made a series of commitments which will help local media, including: investing up to £12m in a new Local News Fund, which will help local media outlets adapt to commercial and technological changes and revive a local news presence in areas where it has retreated; more than doubling community radio funding to £1m a year; launching a new campaign starting in the North West to encourage more young people into journalism careers; and creating a new Regional Media Forum in the West of England, to develop a framework for best practice in scrutiny of local decision-making and public services.

We are not planning any initiatives relating to the production of school newspapers. However, we do want to ensure that young people continue to have access to trustworthy and high quality news online from a range of sources. We are working with industry to promote and improve the ‘Newspapers for Schools’ News Library, an existing platform offering digital access to 150 local and national news titles for all state-funded primary and secondary schools in the country.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to her Department’s press release entitled Future of news is local, says Culture Secretary, as she launches the first action plan to back local news in a generation, published on 17 March 2026, whether funding for the school newspaper initiative will be provided (a) directly to schools or (b) to external organisations.

Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

The Government is committed to ensuring a healthy and plural local media for the benefit of communities and citizens across the UK, and recognises the vital role that local press plays in scrutinising local institutions, and reflecting communities’ views and perspectives.

Our recently published Local Media Action Plan will support local media organisations across the country to innovate and adapt their business models for the online world, while incentivising and encouraging the production of high quality, trustworthy news. Our overarching goal is to empower communities through a thriving local media which highlights the issues that matter to them, helping to drive community wellbeing, social cohesion and local growth.

In the Action Plan we have made a series of commitments which will help local media, including: investing up to £12m in a new Local News Fund, which will help local media outlets adapt to commercial and technological changes and revive a local news presence in areas where it has retreated; more than doubling community radio funding to £1m a year; launching a new campaign starting in the North West to encourage more young people into journalism careers; and creating a new Regional Media Forum in the West of England, to develop a framework for best practice in scrutiny of local decision-making and public services.

We are not planning any initiatives relating to the production of school newspapers. However, we do want to ensure that young people continue to have access to trustworthy and high quality news online from a range of sources. We are working with industry to promote and improve the ‘Newspapers for Schools’ News Library, an existing platform offering digital access to 150 local and national news titles for all state-funded primary and secondary schools in the country.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to her Department’s press release entitled Future of news is local, says Culture Secretary, as she launches the first action plan to back local news in a generation, published on 17 March 2026, whether local media organisations will be involved in school newspaper projects.

Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

The Government is committed to ensuring a healthy and plural local media for the benefit of communities and citizens across the UK, and recognises the vital role that local press plays in scrutinising local institutions, and reflecting communities’ views and perspectives.

Our recently published Local Media Action Plan will support local media organisations across the country to innovate and adapt their business models for the online world, while incentivising and encouraging the production of high quality, trustworthy news. Our overarching goal is to empower communities through a thriving local media which highlights the issues that matter to them, helping to drive community wellbeing, social cohesion and local growth.

In the Action Plan we have made a series of commitments which will help local media, including: investing up to £12m in a new Local News Fund, which will help local media outlets adapt to commercial and technological changes and revive a local news presence in areas where it has retreated; more than doubling community radio funding to £1m a year; launching a new campaign starting in the North West to encourage more young people into journalism careers; and creating a new Regional Media Forum in the West of England, to develop a framework for best practice in scrutiny of local decision-making and public services.

We are not planning any initiatives relating to the production of school newspapers. However, we do want to ensure that young people continue to have access to trustworthy and high quality news online from a range of sources. We are working with industry to promote and improve the ‘Newspapers for Schools’ News Library, an existing platform offering digital access to 150 local and national news titles for all state-funded primary and secondary schools in the country.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to her Department’s press release entitled Future of news is local, says Culture Secretary, as she launches the first action plan to back local news in a generation, published on 17 March 2026, what funding has been allocated to support the school newspaper initiative.

Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

The Government is committed to ensuring a healthy and plural local media for the benefit of communities and citizens across the UK, and recognises the vital role that local press plays in scrutinising local institutions, and reflecting communities’ views and perspectives.

Our recently published Local Media Action Plan will support local media organisations across the country to innovate and adapt their business models for the online world, while incentivising and encouraging the production of high quality, trustworthy news. Our overarching goal is to empower communities through a thriving local media which highlights the issues that matter to them, helping to drive community wellbeing, social cohesion and local growth.

In the Action Plan we have made a series of commitments which will help local media, including: investing up to £12m in a new Local News Fund, which will help local media outlets adapt to commercial and technological changes and revive a local news presence in areas where it has retreated; more than doubling community radio funding to £1m a year; launching a new campaign starting in the North West to encourage more young people into journalism careers; and creating a new Regional Media Forum in the West of England, to develop a framework for best practice in scrutiny of local decision-making and public services.

We are not planning any initiatives relating to the production of school newspapers. However, we do want to ensure that young people continue to have access to trustworthy and high quality news online from a range of sources. We are working with industry to promote and improve the ‘Newspapers for Schools’ News Library, an existing platform offering digital access to 150 local and national news titles for all state-funded primary and secondary schools in the country.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to her Department’s press release entitled Future of news is local, says Culture Secretary, as she launches the first action plan to back local news in a generation, published on 17 March 2026, whether training will be provided to (a) pupils and (b) staff on (i) media law, (ii) online safety and (iii) responsible journalism.

Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

The Government is committed to ensuring a healthy and plural local media for the benefit of communities and citizens across the UK, and recognises the vital role that local press plays in scrutinising local institutions, and reflecting communities’ views and perspectives.

Our recently published Local Media Action Plan will support local media organisations across the country to innovate and adapt their business models for the online world, while incentivising and encouraging the production of high quality, trustworthy news. Our overarching goal is to empower communities through a thriving local media which highlights the issues that matter to them, helping to drive community wellbeing, social cohesion and local growth.

In the Action Plan we have made a series of commitments which will help local media, including: investing up to £12m in a new Local News Fund, which will help local media outlets adapt to commercial and technological changes and revive a local news presence in areas where it has retreated; more than doubling community radio funding to £1m a year; launching a new campaign starting in the North West to encourage more young people into journalism careers; and creating a new Regional Media Forum in the West of England, to develop a framework for best practice in scrutiny of local decision-making and public services.

We are not planning any initiatives relating to the production of school newspapers. However, we do want to ensure that young people continue to have access to trustworthy and high quality news online from a range of sources. We are working with industry to promote and improve the ‘Newspapers for Schools’ News Library, an existing platform offering digital access to 150 local and national news titles for all state-funded primary and secondary schools in the country.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to her Department’s press release entitled Future of news is local, says Culture Secretary, as she launches the first action plan to back local news in a generation, published on 17 March 2026, what assessment she has made of how the school newspaper initiative will complement existing media literacy and citizenship education in schools.

Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

The Government is committed to ensuring a healthy and plural local media for the benefit of communities and citizens across the UK, and recognises the vital role that local press plays in scrutinising local institutions, and reflecting communities’ views and perspectives.

Our recently published Local Media Action Plan will support local media organisations across the country to innovate and adapt their business models for the online world, while incentivising and encouraging the production of high quality, trustworthy news. Our overarching goal is to empower communities through a thriving local media which highlights the issues that matter to them, helping to drive community wellbeing, social cohesion and local growth.

In the Action Plan we have made a series of commitments which will help local media, including: investing up to £12m in a new Local News Fund, which will help local media outlets adapt to commercial and technological changes and revive a local news presence in areas where it has retreated; more than doubling community radio funding to £1m a year; launching a new campaign starting in the North West to encourage more young people into journalism careers; and creating a new Regional Media Forum in the West of England, to develop a framework for best practice in scrutiny of local decision-making and public services.

We are not planning any initiatives relating to the production of school newspapers. However, we do want to ensure that young people continue to have access to trustworthy and high quality news online from a range of sources. We are working with industry to promote and improve the ‘Newspapers for Schools’ News Library, an existing platform offering digital access to 150 local and national news titles for all state-funded primary and secondary schools in the country.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to her Department’s press release entitled Future of news is local, says Culture Secretary, as she launches the first action plan to back local news in a generation, published on 17 March 2026, what discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Education on the school newspaper initiative.

Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

The Government is committed to ensuring a healthy and plural local media for the benefit of communities and citizens across the UK, and recognises the vital role that local press plays in scrutinising local institutions, and reflecting communities’ views and perspectives.

Our recently published Local Media Action Plan will support local media organisations across the country to innovate and adapt their business models for the online world, while incentivising and encouraging the production of high quality, trustworthy news. Our overarching goal is to empower communities through a thriving local media which highlights the issues that matter to them, helping to drive community wellbeing, social cohesion and local growth.

In the Action Plan we have made a series of commitments which will help local media, including: investing up to £12m in a new Local News Fund, which will help local media outlets adapt to commercial and technological changes and revive a local news presence in areas where it has retreated; more than doubling community radio funding to £1m a year; launching a new campaign starting in the North West to encourage more young people into journalism careers; and creating a new Regional Media Forum in the West of England, to develop a framework for best practice in scrutiny of local decision-making and public services.

We are not planning any initiatives relating to the production of school newspapers. However, we do want to ensure that young people continue to have access to trustworthy and high quality news online from a range of sources. We are working with industry to promote and improve the ‘Newspapers for Schools’ News Library, an existing platform offering digital access to 150 local and national news titles for all state-funded primary and secondary schools in the country.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to her Department’s press release entitled Future of news is local, says Culture Secretary, as she launches the first action plan to back local news in a generation, published on 17 March 2026, what metrics she will use to assess the school newspaper initiative.

Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

The Government is committed to ensuring a healthy and plural local media for the benefit of communities and citizens across the UK, and recognises the vital role that local press plays in scrutinising local institutions, and reflecting communities’ views and perspectives.

Our recently published Local Media Action Plan will support local media organisations across the country to innovate and adapt their business models for the online world, while incentivising and encouraging the production of high quality, trustworthy news. Our overarching goal is to empower communities through a thriving local media which highlights the issues that matter to them, helping to drive community wellbeing, social cohesion and local growth.

In the Action Plan we have made a series of commitments which will help local media, including: investing up to £12m in a new Local News Fund, which will help local media outlets adapt to commercial and technological changes and revive a local news presence in areas where it has retreated; more than doubling community radio funding to £1m a year; launching a new campaign starting in the North West to encourage more young people into journalism careers; and creating a new Regional Media Forum in the West of England, to develop a framework for best practice in scrutiny of local decision-making and public services.

We are not planning any initiatives relating to the production of school newspapers. However, we do want to ensure that young people continue to have access to trustworthy and high quality news online from a range of sources. We are working with industry to promote and improve the ‘Newspapers for Schools’ News Library, an existing platform offering digital access to 150 local and national news titles for all state-funded primary and secondary schools in the country.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to her Department’s press release entitled Future of news is local, says Culture Secretary, as she launches the first action plan to back local news in a generation, published on 17 March 2026, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the £12 million allocated to the Local News Fund to address the long-term decline in local journalism in the UK.

Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

As part of Amplify: The Local Media Action Plan, the Government is launching a Local News Fund worth £6m in 2026/27 and up to a further £6m in 2027/28, to help ensure the long term provision of local news. Local media faces a complex range of challenges, and funding represents just one aspect of our approach. It will help the industry adapt in the short-medium term, before longer term measures set out in the Plan begin to take effect in helping enable a free, plural and thriving online local media ecosystem.

Funding will be distributed to local media outlets in print, online, radio or television, according to the outcomes of a competitive bidding process. Prospective bidders will need to meet specific qualifying criteria, central to which will be that the provision of local news is a primary purpose of the organisation.

Funding decisions will be supported by an independent Steering Board of external industry experts, to ensure a degree of independence in government decisions about funding media outlets. In accordance with the Government’s wider support for freedom and plurality of local media, we will not be linking grant awards to the provision of certain types of coverage or political impartiality.

Further detail on the Fund will be announced in the coming weeks.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to her Department’s press release entitled Future of news is local, says Culture Secretary, as she launches the first action plan to back local news in a generation, published on 17 March 2026, what proportion of the funding announced will be allocated to (a) Essex and (b) South Basildon and East Thurrock constituency.

Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

As part of Amplify: The Local Media Action Plan, the Government is launching a Local News Fund worth £6m in 2026/27 and up to a further £6m in 2027/28, to help ensure the long term provision of local news. Local media faces a complex range of challenges, and funding represents just one aspect of our approach. It will help the industry adapt in the short-medium term, before longer term measures set out in the Plan begin to take effect in helping enable a free, plural and thriving online local media ecosystem.

Funding will be distributed to local media outlets in print, online, radio or television, according to the outcomes of a competitive bidding process. Prospective bidders will need to meet specific qualifying criteria, central to which will be that the provision of local news is a primary purpose of the organisation.

Funding decisions will be supported by an independent Steering Board of external industry experts, to ensure a degree of independence in government decisions about funding media outlets. In accordance with the Government’s wider support for freedom and plurality of local media, we will not be linking grant awards to the provision of certain types of coverage or political impartiality.

Further detail on the Fund will be announced in the coming weeks.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to her Department’s press release entitled Future of news is local, says Culture Secretary, as she launches the first action plan to back local news in a generation, published on 17 March 2026, what proportion of funding she expects to be allocated to independent, hyperlocal or start-up news organisations.

Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

As part of Amplify: The Local Media Action Plan, the Government is launching a Local News Fund worth £6m in 2026/27 and up to a further £6m in 2027/28, to help ensure the long term provision of local news. Local media faces a complex range of challenges, and funding represents just one aspect of our approach. It will help the industry adapt in the short-medium term, before longer term measures set out in the Plan begin to take effect in helping enable a free, plural and thriving online local media ecosystem.

Funding will be distributed to local media outlets in print, online, radio or television, according to the outcomes of a competitive bidding process. Prospective bidders will need to meet specific qualifying criteria, central to which will be that the provision of local news is a primary purpose of the organisation.

Funding decisions will be supported by an independent Steering Board of external industry experts, to ensure a degree of independence in government decisions about funding media outlets. In accordance with the Government’s wider support for freedom and plurality of local media, we will not be linking grant awards to the provision of certain types of coverage or political impartiality.

Further detail on the Fund will be announced in the coming weeks.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to her Department’s press release entitled Future of news is local, says Culture Secretary, as she launches the first action plan to back local news in a generation, published on 17 March 2026, whether she plans to take steps to ensure that the Local News Fund is not disproportionately allocated to large media groups.

Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

As part of Amplify: The Local Media Action Plan, the Government is launching a Local News Fund worth £6m in 2026/27 and up to a further £6m in 2027/28, to help ensure the long term provision of local news. Local media faces a complex range of challenges, and funding represents just one aspect of our approach. It will help the industry adapt in the short-medium term, before longer term measures set out in the Plan begin to take effect in helping enable a free, plural and thriving online local media ecosystem.

Funding will be distributed to local media outlets in print, online, radio or television, according to the outcomes of a competitive bidding process. Prospective bidders will need to meet specific qualifying criteria, central to which will be that the provision of local news is a primary purpose of the organisation.

Funding decisions will be supported by an independent Steering Board of external industry experts, to ensure a degree of independence in government decisions about funding media outlets. In accordance with the Government’s wider support for freedom and plurality of local media, we will not be linking grant awards to the provision of certain types of coverage or political impartiality.

Further detail on the Fund will be announced in the coming weeks.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to her Department’s press release entitled Future of news is local, says Culture Secretary, as she launches the first action plan to back local news in a generation, published on 17 March 2026, whether she has assessed the risk that action plan funding could reinforce existing market concentration in the local media sector.

Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

As part of Amplify: The Local Media Action Plan, the Government is launching a Local News Fund worth £6m in 2026/27 and up to a further £6m in 2027/28, to help ensure the long term provision of local news. Local media faces a complex range of challenges, and funding represents just one aspect of our approach. It will help the industry adapt in the short-medium term, before longer term measures set out in the Plan begin to take effect in helping enable a free, plural and thriving online local media ecosystem.

Funding will be distributed to local media outlets in print, online, radio or television, according to the outcomes of a competitive bidding process. Prospective bidders will need to meet specific qualifying criteria, central to which will be that the provision of local news is a primary purpose of the organisation.

Funding decisions will be supported by an independent Steering Board of external industry experts, to ensure a degree of independence in government decisions about funding media outlets. In accordance with the Government’s wider support for freedom and plurality of local media, we will not be linking grant awards to the provision of certain types of coverage or political impartiality.

Further detail on the Fund will be announced in the coming weeks.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to her Department’s press release entitled Future of news is local, says Culture Secretary, as she launches the first action plan to back local news in a generation, published on 17 March 2026, what estimate she has made of the number of schools that will participate in the school newspaper initiative.

Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

The Government is committed to ensuring a healthy and plural local media for the benefit of communities and citizens across the UK, and recognises the vital role that local press plays in scrutinising local institutions, and reflecting communities’ views and perspectives.

Our recently published Local Media Action Plan will support local media organisations across the country to innovate and adapt their business models for the online world, while incentivising and encouraging the production of high quality, trustworthy news. Our overarching goal is to empower communities through a thriving local media which highlights the issues that matter to them, helping to drive community wellbeing, social cohesion and local growth.

In the Action Plan we have made a series of commitments which will help local media, including: investing up to £12m in a new Local News Fund, which will help local media outlets adapt to commercial and technological changes and revive a local news presence in areas where it has retreated; more than doubling community radio funding to £1m a year; launching a new campaign starting in the North West to encourage more young people into journalism careers; and creating a new Regional Media Forum in the West of England, to develop a framework for best practice in scrutiny of local decision-making and public services.

We are not planning any initiatives relating to the production of school newspapers. However, we do want to ensure that young people continue to have access to trustworthy and high quality news online from a range of sources. We are working with industry to promote and improve the ‘Newspapers for Schools’ News Library, an existing platform offering digital access to 150 local and national news titles for all state-funded primary and secondary schools in the country.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to her Department’s press release entitled Future of news is local, says Culture Secretary, as she launches the first action plan to back local news in a generation, published on 17 March 2026, whether participation in the school newspaper initiative will be mandatory or voluntary for schools.

Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

The Government is committed to ensuring a healthy and plural local media for the benefit of communities and citizens across the UK, and recognises the vital role that local press plays in scrutinising local institutions, and reflecting communities’ views and perspectives.

Our recently published Local Media Action Plan will support local media organisations across the country to innovate and adapt their business models for the online world, while incentivising and encouraging the production of high quality, trustworthy news. Our overarching goal is to empower communities through a thriving local media which highlights the issues that matter to them, helping to drive community wellbeing, social cohesion and local growth.

In the Action Plan we have made a series of commitments which will help local media, including: investing up to £12m in a new Local News Fund, which will help local media outlets adapt to commercial and technological changes and revive a local news presence in areas where it has retreated; more than doubling community radio funding to £1m a year; launching a new campaign starting in the North West to encourage more young people into journalism careers; and creating a new Regional Media Forum in the West of England, to develop a framework for best practice in scrutiny of local decision-making and public services.

We are not planning any initiatives relating to the production of school newspapers. However, we do want to ensure that young people continue to have access to trustworthy and high quality news online from a range of sources. We are working with industry to promote and improve the ‘Newspapers for Schools’ News Library, an existing platform offering digital access to 150 local and national news titles for all state-funded primary and secondary schools in the country.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to her Department’s press release entitled Future of news is local, says Culture Secretary, as she launches the first action plan to back local news in a generation, published on 17 March 2026, what estimate she has made of the proportion of local media organisations that will receive no support from the action plan.

Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

The Government is committed to ensuring a healthy and plural local media for the benefit of communities and citizens across the UK, and recognises the vital role that local press plays in scrutinising local institutions, and reflecting communities’ views and perspectives.

Our recently published Local Media Action Plan will support local media organisations across the country to innovate and adapt their business models for the online world, while incentivising and encouraging the production of high quality, trustworthy news. Our overarching goal is to empower communities through a thriving local media which highlights the issues that matter to them, helping to drive community wellbeing, social cohesion and local growth.

In the Action Plan we have made a series of commitments which will help local media, including: investing up to £12m in a new Local News Fund, which will help local media outlets adapt to commercial and technological changes and revive a local news presence in areas where it has retreated; more than doubling community radio funding to £1m a year; launching a new campaign starting in the North West to encourage more young people into journalism careers; and creating a new Regional Media Forum in the West of England, to develop a framework for best practice in scrutiny of local decision-making and public services.

We are not planning any initiatives relating to the production of school newspapers. However, we do want to ensure that young people continue to have access to trustworthy and high quality news online from a range of sources. We are working with industry to promote and improve the ‘Newspapers for Schools’ News Library, an existing platform offering digital access to 150 local and national news titles for all state-funded primary and secondary schools in the country.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to support employment opportunities in i) theatre, and ii) the television and film sector, in Leeds Central and Headingley constituency.

Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

We want to boost opportunities and support so that people from across the country, including those in Leeds Central and Headingley, feel like a creative career is an option for them.

In the Creative Industries Sector Plan, we committed to delivering a refreshed UK-wide £9 million creative careers service. The government will partner with industry to equip the next generation of young people with the ambition and knowledge to work in the Creative Industries, including theatre and the television and film sector. The programme is designed to raise young people’s awareness of creative careers and pathways into them by providing specialist advice and information, and is designed in collaboration with employers to support young people from all backgrounds. This year, this included funding for UK Music and Music Local to hold a Music Careers Day and activities engaging young people in schools in Leeds, focussing on careers in the creative industries.

We are also supporting young people in the Leeds Central and Headingley constituency through Arts Council England funding. This funding enables organisations such as Leeds Playhouse, Red Ladder Theatre Company and British Youth Music Theatre to offer training, placements and development opportunities, while Leeds Heritage Theatres and Transform Festival provide work experience and skills relevant to theatre, TV and film careers

Our Creative Places Growth Fund will devolve £150m in total over 3 years to 6 Mayoral Strategic Authorities for them to distribute, according to local barriers and opportunities, including West Yorkshire. This will allow areas to maximise the impact of national interventions, including providing business support for local creative businesses, supporting regional skills initiatives to support job creation, innovation capacity building programmes, or by providing sector specific support such as TV and film production funds.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what Government support is available to young people in Leeds Central and Headingley constituency seeking careers in i) theatre and ii) the television and film sector.

Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

We want to boost opportunities and support so that people from across the country, including those in Leeds Central and Headingley, feel like a creative career is an option for them.

In the Creative Industries Sector Plan, we committed to delivering a refreshed UK-wide £9 million creative careers service. The government will partner with industry to equip the next generation of young people with the ambition and knowledge to work in the Creative Industries, including theatre and the television and film sector. The programme is designed to raise young people’s awareness of creative careers and pathways into them by providing specialist advice and information, and is designed in collaboration with employers to support young people from all backgrounds. This year, this included funding for UK Music and Music Local to hold a Music Careers Day and activities engaging young people in schools in Leeds, focussing on careers in the creative industries.

We are also supporting young people in the Leeds Central and Headingley constituency through Arts Council England funding. This funding enables organisations such as Leeds Playhouse, Red Ladder Theatre Company and British Youth Music Theatre to offer training, placements and development opportunities, while Leeds Heritage Theatres and Transform Festival provide work experience and skills relevant to theatre, TV and film careers

Our Creative Places Growth Fund will devolve £150m in total over 3 years to 6 Mayoral Strategic Authorities for them to distribute, according to local barriers and opportunities, including West Yorkshire. This will allow areas to maximise the impact of national interventions, including providing business support for local creative businesses, supporting regional skills initiatives to support job creation, innovation capacity building programmes, or by providing sector specific support such as TV and film production funds.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the allocation of public funding exclusively to National Portfolio Organisations on non-national portfolio organisations.

Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

The government’s support for culture is not exclusively for National Portfolio Organisations (NPO). In particular, Arts Council England (ACE) capital funding in the current Spending Review period is not limited to NPOs. For example, the Government launched the £425 million Creative Foundations Fund, an open-access capital programme supporting arts and cultural organisations across England to address urgent estate and infrastructure needs. The first £85 million round was open to any eligible organisations, with a further £340 million to be allocated by ACE in due course.

The government has also decided to invest additional funding in ACE to support the NPO Programme within the wider context of large-scale open-access funds. As this programme is periodically open to competition, it allows opportunities for new entrants while supporting around 1,000 key cultural institutions across England. The extra funding will help address cost pressures and provide greater stability.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of PEGI’s self-regulatory framework in enforcing age ratings for video games containing loot boxes.

Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

The government engages with the Games Rating Authority (GRA), who are designated to ensure all games are appropriately rated using the Pan European Games Information (PEGI) age ratings. These ratings provide clear and detailed information on the content that can be found in a game such as violence, bad language, or the presence of paid random items (i.e. loot boxes).

In partnership with the GRA and other European regulators, PEGI has recently reviewed how their age ratings can better protect young players. As a result, four new risk categories have been developed, one of which directly addresses loot boxes, setting a minimum age rating of 16 for games which contain them.

The government supports the GRA’s strict enforcement of these new PEGI ratings, which come into force in June 2026. We will closely follow the implementation and expect that the new ratings will provide players, parents and video game developers with clear information on how loot boxes can be used in an age-appropriate way.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions she has had with the Games Rating Authority on their proposals for monitoring compliance with the minimum age requirement for games featuring loot boxes.

Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

The government engages with the Games Rating Authority (GRA), who are designated to ensure all games are appropriately rated using the Pan European Games Information (PEGI) age ratings. These ratings provide clear and detailed information on the content that can be found in a game such as violence, bad language, or the presence of paid random items (i.e. loot boxes).

In partnership with the GRA and other European regulators, PEGI has recently reviewed how their age ratings can better protect young players. As a result, four new risk categories have been developed, one of which directly addresses loot boxes, setting a minimum age rating of 16 for games which contain them.

The government supports the GRA’s strict enforcement of these new PEGI ratings, which come into force in June 2026. We will closely follow the implementation and expect that the new ratings will provide players, parents and video game developers with clear information on how loot boxes can be used in an age-appropriate way.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what capital funds are open to independent cinemas.

Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

Independent cinemas are vital anchors for local communities, offering cultural access for people across the UK and helping to sustain our high streets. Cinemas based in not-for-profit mixed arts venues in England may meet the eligibility criteria for Arts Council England's Creative Foundations Fund; we estimate this applies to approximately 13% of the 218 full-time independent cinemas in the UK. Independent cinemas can also apply for various public funding schemes through the Department for Culture, Media and Sport's Arm's Length Bodies if they meet the eligibility criteria. For example, through the British Film Institute, cinemas can access support for audience-facing projects through the BFI National Lottery Audience Projects Fund; and can join the BFI Film Audience Network and apply for funding to support projects that bring audiences together for screenings of UK independent and international films. This sector will also benefit from permanently lower business rates multipliers for Retail, Hospitality and Leisure venues, starting this year.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department is taking steps to help prevent noise-induced hearing damage and tinnitus at live music events; and whether he is considering (a) guidance and (b) regulation to promote safe listening standards.

Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

There is no specific legislation setting limits for the audience exposure to noise and the Government has no plans to legislate further in this area at present. However, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) provides advice for when noise levels are expected to exceed certain levels and recommends that audiences are advised of this in advance of the event either on tickets, advertising for the event, or on notices at entry points. HSE is in the process of updating its operational guidance for Local Authority health and safety enforcement teams for noise in music and entertainment venues.

Local authorities have responsibility for enforcing noise levels to ensure events are appropriately managed and have minimal adverse impact on the community and those attending. Large scale events such as festivals will often present an Event Safety Management Plan that is reviewed by the local authority as part of the licensing process. The local authority will also place conditions on an event’s Premises Licence in relation to maximum noise levels, timings and durations. Complaints about specific events or venues can be raised with the organiser directly and/or raised with the relevant local authority.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what plans she has to ensure that public funding supports the parts of the cultural ecosystem most at risk, including the grassroots music sector.

Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

DCMS and Arts Council England (ACE) are already focusing funding on the areas of the cultural sector most at risk, using both dedicated funds and wider investment. We have been clear that significant government investment, such as the £1.5 billion Arts Everywhere Fund, is focused on supporting organisations, particularly in underserved areas, to protect vulnerable cultural infrastructure and local venues, ensuring access nationwide. Arts Council England also directs National Lottery and National Portfolio funding toward underserved areas, prioritising inclusivity, community access and long-term sustainability across the sector.

In addition, in response to Baroness Hodge’s review of ACE, we have highlighted the importance of ensuring that support is directed towards the places that need it most.

We will also soon publish a Music Plan, drawing together all that the Government is doing to support the music industry. This includes the Government's Music Growth Package of up to £30m over three years, which aims to strengthen the talent pipeline, sustain vital music infrastructure and remove barriers to touring, supporting live performance and providing export opportunities to keep UK music globally competitive.

Our Creative Places Growth Fund will provide £150m in total over 3 years to 6 Mayoral Strategic Authorities for them to distribute, according to local barriers and opportunities. This will allow areas to maximise the impact of national interventions, including the grassroots music sector.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of whether there are potential racial disparities in Arts Council England's Post Event Assurance withdrawal recommendations; and whether she will request that Arts Council England publish disaggregated data on these outcomes by demographic group and region.

Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

DCMS has not carried out an assessment specifically of any racial disparities in Arts Council England’s (ACE) Post Event Assurance grant-withdrawal recommendations. Arts Council England publishes data on counter-fraud grant withdrawals in its annual report (see p. 108 in its 2025-26 Annual Report https://www.artscouncil.org.uk/arts-council-england-grant-aid-and-lottery-distribution-annual-report-and-accounts-202425 ).

We will raise the possibility of this being published in a more granular breakdown with Arts Council England, but it is likely that due to small numbers of withdrawals (16 in 2024-25), this may not provide meaningful insights, or may prove disclosive.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to her Department’s press release entitled Future of news is local, says Culture Secretary, as she launches the first action plan to back local news in a generation, published on 17 March 2026, whether she is taking steps to ensure that Government advertising is allocated in an (a) equitable and (b) transparent manner.

Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

The Government understands that many news publishers, particularly at the local level, are operating in a challenging advertising environment. In our recently published Local Media Action Plan, we announced plans to support local media outlets across the UK. This included our commitment to make the best use of local media in government advertising campaigns, where this helps us reach our target audience and is a good fit for each campaign.

We are planning a package of measures to fulfil this commitment, including supporting independent local radio and smaller online news publishers to develop standards to better measure their audiences, so they can compete more effectively in the advertising market and carry government advertising, and championing local media as a high quality channel for commercial advertising, by demonstrating its value to the government marketing community through case studies and allowing these to be shared more widely. Government Communications takes an audience first approach and carefully considers which platforms can help us reach those we need to speak to. It may be the case that these audiences are reachable through existing channels. We keep our approach to reaching audiences under regular review, and undertake assessments of platforms as needed.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to her Department’s press release entitled Future of news is local, says Culture Secretary, as she launches the first action plan to back local news in a generation, published on 17 March 2026, what proportion of overall central Government advertising expenditure will be redirected to local media by the Local Media Action Plan.

Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

The Government understands that many news publishers, particularly at the local level, are operating in a challenging advertising environment. In our recently published Local Media Action Plan, we announced plans to support local media outlets across the UK. This included our commitment to make the best use of local media in government advertising campaigns, where this helps us reach our target audience and is a good fit for each campaign.

We are planning a package of measures to fulfil this commitment, including supporting independent local radio and smaller online news publishers to develop standards to better measure their audiences, so they can compete more effectively in the advertising market and carry government advertising, and championing local media as a high quality channel for commercial advertising, by demonstrating its value to the government marketing community through case studies and allowing these to be shared more widely. Government Communications takes an audience first approach and carefully considers which platforms can help us reach those we need to speak to. It may be the case that these audiences are reachable through existing channels. We keep our approach to reaching audiences under regular review, and undertake assessments of platforms as needed.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to her Department’s press release entitled Future of news is local, says Culture Secretary, as she launches the first action plan to back local news in a generation, published on 17 March 2026, what estimate her Department has made of the cost of supporting Regional Media Forums.

Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

As part of Amplify: The Local Media Action Plan, the Government is launching a Regional Media Forum, to establish a framework for best practice in engagement between local journalists and the local public services which they scrutinise, identifying any areas for improvement and amplifying existing good practice. Other participants will include local media outlets in the region, together with representatives from local councils, emergency services, health services and the courts.

We are working in partnership with the West of England Combined Authority (WECA) and want this to be a collaborative exercise, as with the rest of the Local Media Action Plan, calling on the expertise and resources of the Combined Authority, as well as of other participants. We do not anticipate substantial costs arising from supporting the Forum.

DCMS will then work with the National Police Chiefs’ Council, HM Courts & Tribunals Service and other national partners to roll out lessons learned from the West of England nationwide, encouraging voluntary adoption of this framework in other strategic authority areas across the country, or otherwise consider whether there is any need to legislate.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to her Department’s press release entitled Future of news is local, says Culture Secretary, as she launches the first action plan to back local news in a generation, published on 17 March 2026, what criteria will be used to determine which outlets receive Government advertising under the action plan.

Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

The Government understands that many news publishers, particularly at the local level, are operating in a challenging advertising environment. In our recently published Local Media Action Plan, we announced plans to support local media outlets across the UK. This included our commitment to make the best use of local media in government advertising campaigns, where this helps us reach our target audience and is a good fit for each campaign.

We are planning a package of measures to fulfil this commitment, including supporting independent local radio and smaller online news publishers to develop standards to better measure their audiences, so they can compete more effectively in the advertising market and carry government advertising, and championing local media as a high quality channel for commercial advertising, by demonstrating its value to the government marketing community through case studies and allowing these to be shared more widely. Government Communications takes an audience first approach and carefully considers which platforms can help us reach those we need to speak to. It may be the case that these audiences are reachable through existing channels. We keep our approach to reaching audiences under regular review, and undertake assessments of platforms as needed.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether she plans to implement the recommendations of the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee on reducing VAT for grassroots music venues.

Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

The Government keeps all tax policy under review, however we have no current plans to introduce a temporary cut to Value Added Tax (VAT) on tickets based on venue capacity. VAT is a broad-based tax on consumption, and the 20% standard rate applies to most goods and services. Any request for new reliefs must be considered within the context of the Government receiving numerous requests for VAT relief from different sectors every year.

The Government recognises the economic and cultural importance of grassroots music venues and the wider music sector to the UK. We will soon publish a Music Plan, drawing together all that the Government is doing to support the music industry, including grassroots music venues. This includes a Music Growth Package of up to £30 million, which will provide further government support to grassroots venues, by fostering domestic growth, talent development, and music exports. To further support grassroots venues, the Government has announced that in 2026-27, all live music venues will benefit from a 15% business rates relief on top of the support announced at Budget 2025. Their bills will then be frozen in real terms for a further two years to allow the vital infrastructure that showcases our vibrant music industry to continue to thrive.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to her Department’s press release entitled Future of news is local, says Culture Secretary, as she launches the first action plan to back local news in a generation, published on 17 March 2026, whether plans to open Regional Media Forums in any areas in addition to the West of England.

Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

As part of Amplify: The Local Media Action Plan, the Government is launching a Regional Media Forum, to establish a framework for best practice in engagement between local journalists and the local public services which they scrutinise, identifying any areas for improvement and amplifying existing good practice. Other participants will include local media outlets in the region, together with representatives from local councils, emergency services, health services and the courts.

We are working in partnership with the West of England Combined Authority (WECA) and want this to be a collaborative exercise, as with the rest of the Local Media Action Plan, calling on the expertise and resources of the Combined Authority, as well as of other participants. We do not anticipate substantial costs arising from supporting the Forum.

DCMS will then work with the National Police Chiefs’ Council, HM Courts & Tribunals Service and other national partners to roll out lessons learned from the West of England nationwide, encouraging voluntary adoption of this framework in other strategic authority areas across the country, or otherwise consider whether there is any need to legislate.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what recent discussions her Department has had with Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council on the condition of Reddish library.

Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

The Public Libraries and Museums Act 1964 requires all local authorities in England to provide a comprehensive and efficient library service. Each local authority is responsible for assessing the needs of their local communities and designing and maintaining a library service to meet those needs within their available resources.

DCMS has held no specific discussions with Stockport Council regarding Reddish library's condition. Building maintenance is an operational matter for the local authority. DCMS only engages with local authorities on this kind of matter where representations allege that the condition of the library building is impacting delivery of library services, meaning the local authority is not delivering its statutory duty.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to the Gambling Commission's Corporate Governance Framework, paragraph 45, whether the prior approval process applies to staff members who join (a) law firms or (b) consultancies that advise the gambling industry.

Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

Paragraph 45 of the Corporate Governance Framework refers to full, part time or fee-paid employment with a gambling licensee or an applicant for a licence, and may relate to consultancies that advise the gambling industry. It is one of a number of provisions of relevant codes of conduct and employment terms which may govern post-employment activity.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of gambling-related harms associated with greyhound racing on public health.

Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

We are committed to strengthening protections through a range of safer gambling measures to protect those at-risk of or experiencing gambling-related harm. No recent assessment has been made by the department in relation to greyhound racing.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will take steps to require promotions of paid-entry prize competition, including (a) phone-in competitions and (b) subscription prize draws, to disclose the (i) number of entries and (ii) odds of winning each advertised prize.

Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

Prize draws are a significant and growing market. This Government has made it clear that we want people who participate in prize draws to be confident that proportionate protections are in place. In November 2025, we introduced a Voluntary Code for prize draw operators. This Code sets a clear and uniform approach across the sector to strengthen player protections, increase transparency and improve accountability. Signatories have until 20 May 2026 to comply with the Code.

Clause 2.3 of the Code states that where possible, before entering a draw, operators should provide players with clear and easily accessible information regarding the likelihood of winning a prize and how prizes will be allocated. Whilst the exact likelihood of winning a prize will depend on the number of tickets sold, information of that nature could include, but is not limited to, the maximum number of tickets available (where applicable) or data from previous comparable prize draws. The success of this Code will dictate whether greater regulation may be required, including legislation.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 31 March 2026 to Question 123457 on Local Government and Voluntary Organisations: Social Impact Bonds, whether her Department has any plans to consult areas due to become Mayoral Strategic Authorities in 2028 upon their creation for participating in the delivery of Better Futures Fund-based projects.

Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

DCMS remains in the design stages of the Better Futures Fund (BFF). We are aware of the need to consider the views of areas that will become Mayoral Strategic Authorities over the lifetime of the Fund, and will determine how best to do this in due course.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions she has had with HM Treasury on the potential impact of the introduction of an overnight visitor levy on (a) the levels of domestic tourism and (b) small and medium enterprises in the tourism industry.

Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

I am working closely with HM Treasury and the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government in relation to the potential impact of the introduction of a visitor levy and was pleased to join the Exchequer Secretary, Daniel Tomlinson, for a roundtable with industry leaders on this in March. My officials are also working closely with colleagues across government on this matter and have engaged with the tourism sector throughout the consultation process, including at a series of sector roundtables.

The power to introduce a visitor levy will be given to local leaders who best understand their region, allowing them to tailor investment towards growing the local economy, bearing in mind its needs, including those of the tourism industry. Mayors will need to decide whether to implement a levy and, if so, they will need to consult on specific proposals. I’m sure Mayors will engage constructively with businesses and their communities to hear any concerns throughout the consultation period and beyond.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what estimate she has made of the contribution of inbound international visitors to the UK economy in the five most recent years for which data are available.

Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

VisitBritain publishes International Passenger Survey data which contains estimates of the number of inbound visitors to Great Britain and their spend. This data reveals that inbound visitors to Great Britain spent: £28.448 million in 2019; £4.344 million in 2020; £5.646 million in 2021; £26.497 million in 2022; £31.075 million in 2023; and £31.912 million in 2024.

The Economic Value of Tourism Report, published by VisitBritain in January 2026, estimates that in total, direct and indirect tax impacts of UK tourism reached £52 billion in 2024. This figure excludes induced impacts, driven largely by consumption taxes. Out of the total £52 billion in taxes, VisitBritain estimated £14 billion came as a result of inbound travel, or 27%.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what estimate she has made of the contribution of inbound international visitors to Exchequer receipts in the five most recent years for which data are available.

Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

VisitBritain publishes International Passenger Survey data which contains estimates of the number of inbound visitors to Great Britain and their spend. This data reveals that inbound visitors to Great Britain spent: £28.448 million in 2019; £4.344 million in 2020; £5.646 million in 2021; £26.497 million in 2022; £31.075 million in 2023; and £31.912 million in 2024.

The Economic Value of Tourism Report, published by VisitBritain in January 2026, estimates that in total, direct and indirect tax impacts of UK tourism reached £52 billion in 2024. This figure excludes induced impacts, driven largely by consumption taxes. Out of the total £52 billion in taxes, VisitBritain estimated £14 billion came as a result of inbound travel, or 27%.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 31 March 2026 to Question 123457, on Local Government and Voluntary Organisations: Social Impact Bonds, whether local authorities which are not currently covered by Mayoral Strategic Authorities will be invited to bid for Better Futures Fund funding.

Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

DCMS remains in the design stages of the Better Futures Fund (BFF), therefore, the amount of funding allocated to different delivery partners across England remains subject to development. However, the BFF will be place-based and the Government is committed to ensuring the Fund provides adequate coverage across England. This should include providing appropriate opportunities for local authorities not currently covered by a Mayoral Strategic Authority to apply for BFF funding.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether she has had discussions with the England and Wales Cricket Board on the potential exclusion of players on the grounds of nationality.

Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

We were concerned to hear of the reports on potential exclusion of players on the grounds of nationality and have discussed with the ECB directly who have put out a clear position confirming that nationality should not be a factor in the selection of players.

More generally, we are clear that cricket must be a sport that is inclusive and open to all. Last March, I attended the launch of the Chance to Shine 2025 Impact Report at the House of Lords. This highlighted how the power of cricket can play a significant role in transforming young people’s lives and its ability to reach into underserved communities.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if her Department will discuss with Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council the future of the 50m Grand Central Swimming Pool in Stockport.

Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

The Government recognises the importance of ensuring public access to swimming facilities, which are great spaces for people of all ages to stay fit and healthy, and play an important role within communities.

The ongoing responsibility of providing access to public leisure facilities lies at local authority level, with funding levels set as part of the Local Government Finance Settlement. The Government encourages local authorities to make investments which offer the right opportunities and facilities for the communities they serve.

In June last year, we committed £400 million to transform sports facilities, including public leisure, over the next four years. We are working closely with sporting bodies and local leaders to establish what communities need, before setting out further plans on how future funding will be allocated.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to Lord Walney’s March 2026 report entitled Undue Influence: The Iranian Regime’s Abuse of the UK Charity System, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the Charity Commission's powers to respond to concerns relating to hostile foreign state influence, including the Islamic Human Rights Commission Trust and the Islamic Centre of England; and whether she plans to increase those powers.

Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

The Charity Commission is alive to the threat of hostile foreign state influence in charities and works with other agencies to protect the sector from the risks of being exploited. Any allegation or evidence of criminal offences, including terrorism, is referred to the police to investigate.

As part of the Government’s action plan for social cohesion we have announced that the Charity Commission’s powers to tackle extremist abuse of charities will be extended. This includes automatically disqualifying individuals with a criminal conviction for hate crimes from serving as charity trustees or senior managers, and helping the Charity Commission to disqualify charity trustees who have been excluded from the UK, deprived of British citizenship or are engaged in conduct which promotes violence or hatred.

HMRC require that for a charity to qualify for an exemption from tax, their income and gains should be applied solely to charitable purposes. Charities may use Gift Aid funds for purposes that align with their charitable objectives and comply with UK charity law. Misuse would breach the Charity Commission rules and could result in regulatory action and tax charges.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to Lord Walney’s March 2026 report entitled Undue Influence: The Iranian Regime’s Abuse of the UK Charity System, if she will ensure that charities subject to live Charity Commission investigations relating to hostile foreign state influence and extremism do not receive public support mechanisms, including Gift Aid.

Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

The Charity Commission is alive to the threat of hostile foreign state influence in charities and works with other agencies to protect the sector from the risks of being exploited. Any allegation or evidence of criminal offences, including terrorism, is referred to the police to investigate.

As part of the Government’s action plan for social cohesion we have announced that the Charity Commission’s powers to tackle extremist abuse of charities will be extended. This includes automatically disqualifying individuals with a criminal conviction for hate crimes from serving as charity trustees or senior managers, and helping the Charity Commission to disqualify charity trustees who have been excluded from the UK, deprived of British citizenship or are engaged in conduct which promotes violence or hatred.

HMRC require that for a charity to qualify for an exemption from tax, their income and gains should be applied solely to charitable purposes. Charities may use Gift Aid funds for purposes that align with their charitable objectives and comply with UK charity law. Misuse would breach the Charity Commission rules and could result in regulatory action and tax charges.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what support her Department provides for faith-based social enterprises.

Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

The Ministry for Housing, Communities, and Local Government supports grassroots programmes, such as Near Neighbours, which promotes dialogue, relationship building and civic engagement across religiously and ethnically diverse communities. In the previous financial year, MHCLG provided £587,000 of grant funding to the Near Neighbours programme. MHCLG also supported Inter Faith Week 2025, ensuring it remains a key part of the national calendar for dialogue, learning, and connection between people of different faiths and beliefs.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to her Department’s press release entitled Government to unlock philanthropic investment into England’s most disadvantaged communities, published on 13 April 2026, what assessment she has made of regional disparities in philanthropic giving across England.

Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

The 'Our Place to Give' plan, published on 13 April 2026, sets out actions the Government will take to increase philanthropic investment across England. It specifically targets regional disparities, as data indicates London currently receives over a third of all funding from the largest philanthropic foundations and four times the value of Gift Aid donations compared to the UK average.

Departmental assessments identified several barriers preventing high-net-worth individuals from increasing their charitable giving. These include:

• difficulty in identifying and developing relationships with local organisations, particularly in deprived areas;

• limited access to information regarding the specific impact of donations;

• lack of integration of philanthropy into wealth planning; and

• challenges effectively partnering with the Government.

The plan responds to these barriers. We will convene a network of regional philanthropic ambassadors to broker better links between donors and communities, establish a working group to improve philanthropic wealth advice and have developed a toolkit for Members of Parliament to help them convene local giving opportunities.

Regarding Essex, the Essex Community Foundation remains a vital partner, having awarded over £3.8 million to local causes last year. While specific trends for Essex show a strong foundation of local giving, the Department is taking steps to ensure all high-deprivation areas in the county benefit from the new national framework. Our £1 million Community of Practice support programme will be open to organisations across Essex. This funding aims to help local organisations share expertise, attract new investment, and create sustainable growth.

The Department plans to monitor the outcomes of 'Our Place to Give' as part of its wider work through the Office for the Impact Economy. We will provide initial updates on the progress of the plan and the allocation of the Community of Practice funding by Summer 2026.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to her Department’s press release entitled Government to unlock philanthropic investment into England’s most disadvantaged communities, published on 13 April 2026, what assessment she has made of trends in the level of philanthropic funding received by communities in Essex.

Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

The 'Our Place to Give' plan, published on 13 April 2026, sets out actions the Government will take to increase philanthropic investment across England. It specifically targets regional disparities, as data indicates London currently receives over a third of all funding from the largest philanthropic foundations and four times the value of Gift Aid donations compared to the UK average.

Departmental assessments identified several barriers preventing high-net-worth individuals from increasing their charitable giving. These include:

• difficulty in identifying and developing relationships with local organisations, particularly in deprived areas;

• limited access to information regarding the specific impact of donations;

• lack of integration of philanthropy into wealth planning; and

• challenges effectively partnering with the Government.

The plan responds to these barriers. We will convene a network of regional philanthropic ambassadors to broker better links between donors and communities, establish a working group to improve philanthropic wealth advice and have developed a toolkit for Members of Parliament to help them convene local giving opportunities.

Regarding Essex, the Essex Community Foundation remains a vital partner, having awarded over £3.8 million to local causes last year. While specific trends for Essex show a strong foundation of local giving, the Department is taking steps to ensure all high-deprivation areas in the county benefit from the new national framework. Our £1 million Community of Practice support programme will be open to organisations across Essex. This funding aims to help local organisations share expertise, attract new investment, and create sustainable growth.

The Department plans to monitor the outcomes of 'Our Place to Give' as part of its wider work through the Office for the Impact Economy. We will provide initial updates on the progress of the plan and the allocation of the Community of Practice funding by Summer 2026.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to her Department’s press release entitled Government to unlock philanthropic investment into England’s most disadvantaged communities, published on 13 April 2026, what steps she is taking to help support local authorities in Essex to engage with the Our Place to Give initiative.

Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

The 'Our Place to Give' plan, published on 13 April 2026, sets out actions the Government will take to increase philanthropic investment across England. It specifically targets regional disparities, as data indicates London currently receives over a third of all funding from the largest philanthropic foundations and four times the value of Gift Aid donations compared to the UK average.

Departmental assessments identified several barriers preventing high-net-worth individuals from increasing their charitable giving. These include:

• difficulty in identifying and developing relationships with local organisations, particularly in deprived areas;

• limited access to information regarding the specific impact of donations;

• lack of integration of philanthropy into wealth planning; and

• challenges effectively partnering with the Government.

The plan responds to these barriers. We will convene a network of regional philanthropic ambassadors to broker better links between donors and communities, establish a working group to improve philanthropic wealth advice and have developed a toolkit for Members of Parliament to help them convene local giving opportunities.

Regarding Essex, the Essex Community Foundation remains a vital partner, having awarded over £3.8 million to local causes last year. While specific trends for Essex show a strong foundation of local giving, the Department is taking steps to ensure all high-deprivation areas in the county benefit from the new national framework. Our £1 million Community of Practice support programme will be open to organisations across Essex. This funding aims to help local organisations share expertise, attract new investment, and create sustainable growth.

The Department plans to monitor the outcomes of 'Our Place to Give' as part of its wider work through the Office for the Impact Economy. We will provide initial updates on the progress of the plan and the allocation of the Community of Practice funding by Summer 2026.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to her Department’s press release entitled Government to unlock philanthropic investment into England’s most disadvantaged communities, published on 13 April 2026, what steps her Department is taking to help ensure that areas of high deprivation in Essex are supported.

Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

The 'Our Place to Give' plan, published on 13 April 2026, sets out actions the Government will take to increase philanthropic investment across England. It specifically targets regional disparities, as data indicates London currently receives over a third of all funding from the largest philanthropic foundations and four times the value of Gift Aid donations compared to the UK average.

Departmental assessments identified several barriers preventing high-net-worth individuals from increasing their charitable giving. These include:

• difficulty in identifying and developing relationships with local organisations, particularly in deprived areas;

• limited access to information regarding the specific impact of donations;

• lack of integration of philanthropy into wealth planning; and

• challenges effectively partnering with the Government.

The plan responds to these barriers. We will convene a network of regional philanthropic ambassadors to broker better links between donors and communities, establish a working group to improve philanthropic wealth advice and have developed a toolkit for Members of Parliament to help them convene local giving opportunities.

Regarding Essex, the Essex Community Foundation remains a vital partner, having awarded over £3.8 million to local causes last year. While specific trends for Essex show a strong foundation of local giving, the Department is taking steps to ensure all high-deprivation areas in the county benefit from the new national framework. Our £1 million Community of Practice support programme will be open to organisations across Essex. This funding aims to help local organisations share expertise, attract new investment, and create sustainable growth.

The Department plans to monitor the outcomes of 'Our Place to Give' as part of its wider work through the Office for the Impact Economy. We will provide initial updates on the progress of the plan and the allocation of the Community of Practice funding by Summer 2026.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to her Department’s press release entitled Government to unlock philanthropic investment into England’s most disadvantaged communities, published on 13 April 2026, whether her Department plans to publish regular reports on the outcomes of the initiative.

Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

The 'Our Place to Give' plan, published on 13 April 2026, sets out actions the Government will take to increase philanthropic investment across England. It specifically targets regional disparities, as data indicates London currently receives over a third of all funding from the largest philanthropic foundations and four times the value of Gift Aid donations compared to the UK average.

Departmental assessments identified several barriers preventing high-net-worth individuals from increasing their charitable giving. These include:

• difficulty in identifying and developing relationships with local organisations, particularly in deprived areas;

• limited access to information regarding the specific impact of donations;

• lack of integration of philanthropy into wealth planning; and

• challenges effectively partnering with the Government.

The plan responds to these barriers. We will convene a network of regional philanthropic ambassadors to broker better links between donors and communities, establish a working group to improve philanthropic wealth advice and have developed a toolkit for Members of Parliament to help them convene local giving opportunities.

Regarding Essex, the Essex Community Foundation remains a vital partner, having awarded over £3.8 million to local causes last year. While specific trends for Essex show a strong foundation of local giving, the Department is taking steps to ensure all high-deprivation areas in the county benefit from the new national framework. Our £1 million Community of Practice support programme will be open to organisations across Essex. This funding aims to help local organisations share expertise, attract new investment, and create sustainable growth.

The Department plans to monitor the outcomes of 'Our Place to Give' as part of its wider work through the Office for the Impact Economy. We will provide initial updates on the progress of the plan and the allocation of the Community of Practice funding by Summer 2026.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what support is being provided to regional creative‑industry organisations in the North East, including writing and publishing bodies, as part of the Government’s Creative Industries Sector Vision.

Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

Unleashing the potential of our regions is a core objective of the Creative Industries Sector Plan. The Plan commits £25 million to the North East Combined Authority (NECA) as a high-potential Mayoral Strategic Authority, via our new Creative Places Growth Fund (CPGF). The CPGF will drive growth, innovation, and support greater access to growth capital for regional creative-industry organisations. Local Mayors can use it to drive the growth of their creative sectors, including those in the publishing sector. Additionally, the Sector Plan includes a universal offer to drive UK-wide growth with cross-cutting measures like IP protection and export support that will benefit regional writing and publishing bodies.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to her Department’s press release entitled Government to unlock philanthropic investment into England’s most disadvantaged communities, published on 13 April 2026, what assessment she has made of the barriers preventing high net worth individuals from increasing their charitable giving.

Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

The 'Our Place to Give' plan, published on 13 April 2026, sets out actions the Government will take to increase philanthropic investment across England. It specifically targets regional disparities, as data indicates London currently receives over a third of all funding from the largest philanthropic foundations and four times the value of Gift Aid donations compared to the UK average.

Departmental assessments identified several barriers preventing high-net-worth individuals from increasing their charitable giving. These include:

• difficulty in identifying and developing relationships with local organisations, particularly in deprived areas;

• limited access to information regarding the specific impact of donations;

• lack of integration of philanthropy into wealth planning; and

• challenges effectively partnering with the Government.

The plan responds to these barriers. We will convene a network of regional philanthropic ambassadors to broker better links between donors and communities, establish a working group to improve philanthropic wealth advice and have developed a toolkit for Members of Parliament to help them convene local giving opportunities.

Regarding Essex, the Essex Community Foundation remains a vital partner, having awarded over £3.8 million to local causes last year. While specific trends for Essex show a strong foundation of local giving, the Department is taking steps to ensure all high-deprivation areas in the county benefit from the new national framework. Our £1 million Community of Practice support programme will be open to organisations across Essex. This funding aims to help local organisations share expertise, attract new investment, and create sustainable growth.

The Department plans to monitor the outcomes of 'Our Place to Give' as part of its wider work through the Office for the Impact Economy. We will provide initial updates on the progress of the plan and the allocation of the Community of Practice funding by Summer 2026.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to support rural sports clubs.

Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

The Government is committed to supporting grassroots sport clubs, including those in rural areas, which play an important role within communities across the country.

The Government provides the majority of support for grassroots sport clubs through our Arm’s Length Body, Sport England, which annually invests over £250 million in Exchequer and Lottery Funding. They invest in over 90 Place Partnerships in various locations across the country, including in rural areas, to promote sport and physical activity.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will make a comparative assessment of trends in the level of participation in physical activity for people with intellectual disabilities with the national average.

Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

The Government believes that opportunities to play sport and get physically active should be available to everyone. We are committed to breaking down the barriers that contribute to the persisting inequalities in participation and want to ensure that everyone can experience the physical, mental and social benefits that come with being active.

Our Arm’s Length Body Sport England engages with Special Olympics Great Britain and other sector partners to understand participation rates amongst underrepresented groups including people with intellectual disabilities, and how access for all can be improved. The most recent statistics from Special Olympics Great Britain outline that as many as 59% of people with a learning disability do not participate in sport. Sport England recognises these challenges, and has invested £1.5 million across 4 years into Special Olympics Great Britain as part of its Uniting the Movement strategy.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether she has had discussions with Special Olympics Great Britain on the difference in participation in physical activity between people with intellectual disabilities and the national average.

Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

The Government believes that opportunities to play sport and get physically active should be available to everyone. We are committed to breaking down the barriers that contribute to the persisting inequalities in participation and want to ensure that everyone can experience the physical, mental and social benefits that come with being active.

Our Arm’s Length Body Sport England engages with Special Olympics Great Britain and other sector partners to understand participation rates amongst underrepresented groups including people with intellectual disabilities, and how access for all can be improved. The most recent statistics from Special Olympics Great Britain outline that as many as 59% of people with a learning disability do not participate in sport. Sport England recognises these challenges, and has invested £1.5 million across 4 years into Special Olympics Great Britain as part of its Uniting the Movement strategy.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how her Department plans to ensure that public funding for sports facilities supports a balanced range of sports, including court-based activities such as tennis and padel, to maximise participation among women, disabled people, and inactive communities.

Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

The Government is investing at least £400 million in new and upgraded grassroots sport facilities over the next four years, promoting health, wellbeing and community cohesion, while removing the barriers to physical activity for under-represented groups, such as women and girls, and people with disabilities.

At least £15 million is being invested into new delivery models across England in 2026/27, to allow more people to participate in sports they wish to. At least £2.5 million will be invested through the LTA for covered courts in England for tennis, padel and other activities, with additional funding will also enable a wider range of sporting bodies to trial innovative funding pathways.

We are also investing £85 million across the UK via the Multi-Sport Grassroots Facilities Programme in 2026/27, funding projects such as new artificial grass pitches, changing rooms and pavilions, and floodlights which provide communities with access to the facilities they need.

A key objective of the programme is to increase access and participation levels for women and girls, disabled players and communities most in need across the UK. We will ensure these communities are prioritised using deprivation and inactivity data. Projects are also required to generate partner funding, ensuring we achieve value for money on Government investment.

We are now working closely with the sports sector and local leaders to develop plans for funding for a range of sports across the country based on what each community needs. Although a decision has yet to be made regarding future funding year allocations, we understand the value of multi-year commitments to our delivery partners and will aim to confirm allocations as soon as possible.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether she has considered providing multi-year capital funding settlements for community sports facilities, in order to enable national governing bodies and local partners to plan, deliver matched funding and achieve value for money at scale.

Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

The Government is investing at least £400 million in new and upgraded grassroots sport facilities over the next four years, promoting health, wellbeing and community cohesion, while removing the barriers to physical activity for under-represented groups, such as women and girls, and people with disabilities.

At least £15 million is being invested into new delivery models across England in 2026/27, to allow more people to participate in sports they wish to. At least £2.5 million will be invested through the LTA for covered courts in England for tennis, padel and other activities, with additional funding will also enable a wider range of sporting bodies to trial innovative funding pathways.

We are also investing £85 million across the UK via the Multi-Sport Grassroots Facilities Programme in 2026/27, funding projects such as new artificial grass pitches, changing rooms and pavilions, and floodlights which provide communities with access to the facilities they need.

A key objective of the programme is to increase access and participation levels for women and girls, disabled players and communities most in need across the UK. We will ensure these communities are prioritised using deprivation and inactivity data. Projects are also required to generate partner funding, ensuring we achieve value for money on Government investment.

We are now working closely with the sports sector and local leaders to develop plans for funding for a range of sports across the country based on what each community needs. Although a decision has yet to be made regarding future funding year allocations, we understand the value of multi-year commitments to our delivery partners and will aim to confirm allocations as soon as possible.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what estimate her Department has made of the amount of funding needed to meet the level of demand for covered and indoor sports tennis courts.

Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

The Government is investing at least £400 million in new and upgraded grassroots sport facilities over the next four years, promoting health, wellbeing and community cohesion, while removing the barriers to physical activity for under-represented groups, such as women and girls, and people with disabilities.

At least £15 million is being invested into new delivery models across England in 2026/27, to allow more people to participate in sports they wish to. At least £2.5 million will be invested through the LTA for covered courts in England for tennis, padel and other activities, with additional funding will also enable a wider range of sporting bodies to trial innovative funding pathways.

We are also investing £85 million across the UK via the Multi-Sport Grassroots Facilities Programme in 2026/27, funding projects such as new artificial grass pitches, changing rooms and pavilions, and floodlights which provide communities with access to the facilities they need.

A key objective of the programme is to increase access and participation levels for women and girls, disabled players and communities most in need across the UK. We will ensure these communities are prioritised using deprivation and inactivity data. Projects are also required to generate partner funding, ensuring we achieve value for money on Government investment.

We are now working closely with the sports sector and local leaders to develop plans for funding for a range of sports across the country based on what each community needs. Although a decision has yet to be made regarding future funding year allocations, we understand the value of multi-year commitments to our delivery partners and will aim to confirm allocations as soon as possible.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they will take to ensure that the Civil Society Council will maximise opportunities for civil society to contribute across government in relation to the environment and climate change.

Answered by Baroness Twycross - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

The Civil Society Council has been established by the Prime Minister to build a new partnership between civil society and the Government, driving the implementation of the Civil Society Covenant. It will have its inaugural meeting at No10 this month, bringing leading voices from across the voluntary, community and social enterprise sectors into the heart of Government decision-making. Through its work to strengthen the partnership between government and civil society, the Council will support more meaningful interactions and unlock opportunities for different civil society organisations to contribute across government, including on the environment and climate change. This marks a renewed commitment to working together in tackling the country’s most complex challenges in partnership.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what consideration has she given to providing multi-year funding to support investment in covered tennis courts, and what assessment has she made of the potential impacts of such funding on increasing the availability of such facilities.

Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

The Government will invest £15 million into new delivery models across England in 2026/27, to allow more people to participate in sports they wish to. At least £2.5 million will be invested through the LTA for covered courts in England for tennis, padel and other activities, with additional funding will also enable a wider range of sporting bodies to trial innovative funding pathways. We are working closely with the sport sector, including the Lawn Tennis Association, to learn from these pathways to develop plans for future grassroots sport funding.

We are also investing £85 million across the UK via the Multi-Sport Grassroots Facilities Programme in 2026/27, funding projects such as multi-sport hubs which provide communities with access to the facilities they need.

We recognise the need for funding to target a range of sports across the country based on what types of facilities each community needs, ensuring that our investment in community grassroots sports facilities reaches as many people as possible.

We provide the majority of support for grassroots sport through Sport England - which annually invests over £250 million in Exchequer and Lottery funding into grassroots sport across England, including providing £10.2 million in funding for the Lawn Tennis Association between 2022-27.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department has made a recent assessment of the adequacy of levels of provision of (a) covered and (b) indoor sports tennis courts in Britain.

Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

The Government will invest £15 million into new delivery models across England in 2026/27, to allow more people to participate in sports they wish to. At least £2.5 million will be invested through the LTA for covered courts in England for tennis, padel and other activities, with additional funding will also enable a wider range of sporting bodies to trial innovative funding pathways. We are working closely with the sport sector, including the Lawn Tennis Association, to learn from these pathways to develop plans for future grassroots sport funding.

We are also investing £85 million across the UK via the Multi-Sport Grassroots Facilities Programme in 2026/27, funding projects such as multi-sport hubs which provide communities with access to the facilities they need.

We recognise the need for funding to target a range of sports across the country based on what types of facilities each community needs, ensuring that our investment in community grassroots sports facilities reaches as many people as possible.

We provide the majority of support for grassroots sport through Sport England - which annually invests over £250 million in Exchequer and Lottery funding into grassroots sport across England, including providing £10.2 million in funding for the Lawn Tennis Association between 2022-27.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether she plans to re-join Creative Europe.

Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

This Government does not have any plans to rejoin Creative Europe, though we are committed to finding constructive ways to work with the EU and deliver for the British people on shared priorities and global challenges.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 31 March 2025 to Question 122861 on Business Rates, Gyms and Leisure Centres, whether she hold discussions with the leisure centre and gym sector on the impact of business rate costs on levels of service provision to promote health and wellbeing in communities.

Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

The Government recognises the importance of ensuring public access to gyms and leisure facilities, which are great spaces for people of all ages to stay fit and healthy, and play an important role within communities.

We regularly engage with the leisure sector on a broad range of issues, including the impact of business rates.

DCMS engaged extensively with HM Treasury in the run up to the Autumn Budget 2025 and provided evidence to HM Treasury on the anticipated impact to the sport and leisure sector. The Government has announced a support package worth £4.3 billion to protect against ratepayers seeing large overnight increases in their business rates bills because of the revaluation. As a result, over half of ratepayers will see no bill increases, including 23% seeing their bills go down, next year. This also means most properties seeing increases will see them capped at 15% or less next year, or £800 for the smallest.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the effect of access to (a) accessible, (b) covered and (c) indoor sports facilities to levels of participation by disabled people in sport.

Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

The Government recognises that high-quality, inclusive facilities help people get active. Accessible, covered and indoor sports facilities are essential to increasing participation by disabled people.

In June last year, we committed £400 million to transform sports and leisure facilities over the next four years. We will ensure that this funding promotes health, wellbeing and community cohesion and helps remove the barriers to physical activity for under-represented groups. We are working closely with sporting bodies and local leaders to establish what communities need, before setting out further plans on how future funding will be allocated.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the British Council’s restructuring plans, including changes to its global network, on the level of opportunities for cultural organisations in northern England to engage internationally.

Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

The British Council plays a vital role in promoting the UK’s values, language, and culture around the world, and is central to projecting the UK's soft power. My Department values the British Council’s work supporting the UK’s cultural and creative industries, helping organisations and artists to build networks, collaborate and develop markets across the world.

As the international partner for Bradford UK City of Culture 2025, the British Council elevated the city’s global profile by spotlighting its vibrant cultural diversity, creative energy and warm, welcoming spirit. This included facilitating collaboration with partners from 11 countries and delegations from 23 nations across four continents.

British Council funding and structure are a matter for the FCDO as the British Council’s sponsoring Department. On 19 March 2026, as part of the FCDO’s allocation of Official Development Assistance (ODA) funding for the next three years, it was announced that ODA funding for the British Council would be protected at its current levels up to the end of 2028/29, while non-ODA funding will be increased by £40 million over the same period.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what guidance her Department is providing to local authorities implementing Young Futures Hubs on (a) ensuring that they are safe spaces for children, (b) provision for girls and young women to access mixed-gender and gender-specific spaces where appropriate, and (c) appropriate responses to disclosures of violence against women and girls.

Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

Early adopter local authorities were provided with guidance on core requirements for Young Futures Hubs. Local areas co-design their hubs with young people to ensure provision meets their needs, including mixed-gender and gender-specific spaces where appropriate. While facilities may vary, every hub should offer a consistent, safe, inclusive and welcoming experience, with governance structures that support risk and safeguarding management. Learning from the early adopters will inform future guidance.

We are passionate about the safety of girls and young women in all youth provision. We committed in the cross government strategy on Freedom from Violence and abuse that frontline professionals, such as GPs, teachers, youth workers and social workers, will spot the signs of abuse and connect individuals to specialist help.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of access to community spaces in Surrey Heath constituency.

Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

As I emphasised during a recent Westminster Hall debate, the Government recognises and celebrates the contribution that community spaces make to local people and we have taken steps to support more communities to have access to shared environments.

The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), published in December 2024, sets out that planning policies and decisions should plan positively for the provision and use of shared spaces, community facilities (such as local shops, meeting places, sports venues, open space, cultural buildings, public houses and places of worship) and other local services to enhance the sustainability of communities and residential environments.

Libraries form a key example of these community spaces, Surrey County Council has 52 static libraries. The library service previously received £75,000 from the Libraries Improvement Fund to introduce flexible shelving within eight of its libraries (Ashtead, Chertsey, Dittons, Farnham, Godalming, Haslemere, Oxted, and Reigate). This allows libraries to move furniture around to reconfigure spaces and accommodate more events, services, and visitors.

Between 16 December 2025 and 10 March 2026, we consulted on changes to the NPPF. That consultation, which can be found on gov.uk here, includes proposals relating to community facilities. We are currently analysing the feedback received and will publish our response in due course.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, when she plans to meet with the new Director General of the BBC.

Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

The Secretary of State had an introductory meeting with Matt Brittin on 15th April 2026. The BBC is a vital national institution, and as such, Ministers and Senior Officials regularly meet with BBC leadership to discuss a range of issues.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what support is provided, including through the British Council, to UK theatre companies touring Shakespeare productions internationally; and what assessment she has made of the potential impact of those productions on the UK’s creative exports.

Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

The government provides support for international touring theatre, including Shakespeare productions, primarily through strategic funding delivered by Arts Council England (ACE).

ACE's core investment strengthens theatre resilience across England via the National Portfolio Investment Programme. In 2025/26, ACE provided over £112 million to nearly 200 theatres, while total funding to theatre organisations across all programmes reached £276.9 million, helping organisations such as the Royal Shakespeare Company remain globally competitive.

Recent sector analysis shows that theatre contributes around £2.39 billion in GVA and supports over 200,000 jobs, with international activity forming a key part of this footprint. Evidence from Arts Council England’s State of Touring demonstrates that while domestic touring is often loss-making, international touring can generate surplus income, supported by higher fees and guarantees overseas, which helps subsidise UK-based work.

Additional touring support includes the Incentivising Touring programme, which offers repayable grants, as well as National Lottery Project Grants for international partnerships.

My Department also seeks to address practical barriers for touring professionals through ongoing engagement with international partners.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking with the British Council to expand access to Shakespeare for young people in the UK and overseas, particularly through digital and outreach initiatives.

Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

Shakespeare has no equal for global recognition and influence in English literature and continues to be a source of inspiration for new productions and creations across all artforms and media which the British Council supports and champions globally.

The UK Government provides support to the British Council through the grant-in-aid for its arts and culture work, supporting organisations such as the Royal Shakespeare Company and National Theatre. In addition, many Shakespeare organisations receive support through Arts Council England (ACE).

The British Council has a number of digital resources available on their website following the major year-long global programme of events on the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death in 2016, where more than 140 countries took part in the festivities, with people experiencing Shakespeare through film screenings, exhibitions, performances and in schools, alongside a programme of unique online collaborations.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will keep the hon. Member for Birmingham Perry Barr informed of any development proposal relating to the Wood Lane Playing Fields in Handsworth Wood, Birmingham.

Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

The ongoing responsibility of providing access to public leisure facilities lies at local authority level, with funding levels set as part of the Local Government Finance Settlement. The Government encourages local authorities to make investments which offer the right opportunities and facilities for the communities they serve.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, when her Department plans to publish further details of the Places of Worship Renewal Fund.

Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

Comprehensive guidance on eligibility and how to apply to the Places of Worship Renewal Fund will be made available in the coming weeks.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of community covered (a) tennis, (b) padel and (c) multisport hubs.

Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

The Government will invest £15 million into new delivery models across England in 2026/27, to allow more people to participate in sports they wish to. At least £2.5 million will be invested through the LTA for covered courts in England for tennis, padel and other activities, with additional funding will also enable a wider range of sporting bodies to trial innovative funding pathways. We are working closely with the sport sector, including the Lawn Tennis Association, to learn from these pathways to develop plans for future grassroots sport funding.

We are also investing £85 million across the UK via the Multi-Sport Grassroots Facilities Programme in 2026/27, funding projects such as multi-sport hubs which provide communities with access to the facilities they need.

We recognise the need for funding to target a range of sports across the country based on what types of facilities each community needs, ensuring that our investment in community grassroots sports facilities reaches as many people as possible.

We provide the majority of support for grassroots sport through Sport England - which annually invests over £250 million in Exchequer and Lottery funding into grassroots sport across England, including providing £10.2 million in funding for the Lawn Tennis Association between 2022-27.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether she has had discussions with (a) Birmingham City Council, (b) the West Midlands Combined Authority, and (c) any other public body on development proposals on the Wood Lane Playing Fields in Handsworth Wood, Birmingham.

Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

The ongoing responsibility of providing access to public leisure facilities lies at local authority level, with funding levels set as part of the Local Government Finance Settlement. The Government encourages local authorities to make investments which offer the right opportunities and facilities for the communities they serve.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how much funding has been provided to Telford constituency in each of the last 6 financial years by a) her department b) the Arts Council.

Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport and its Arms Length Bodies record Exchequer funded grants data on the Government Grant Information System. The Government Grant Information System does not record grants by constituency or local authority level, however we have conducted a search based on postcodes and have identified the attached list of grants awarded to organisations within Telford since 2020 when central recording commenced. Information on grant giving can also be found at 360Giving (https://www.360giving.org/).

There will be instances where a grant has been given to an organisation with a postcode based outside of Telford but where the grant recipient will have spent some or all the grant within projects that included Telford. This analysis is not included as this information is not recorded on the Government Grant Information System.

Please note, information where a grant has been made to a voluntary sector organisation and that organisation has made onward grants in its own right is not included.

Funding provided by Arts Council England (ACE) to projects and organisations in the Telford constituency over the same period, is set out in the table.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department has conducted a privacy impact assessment of proposed financial risk checks.

Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

The Government remains committed to supporting the Gambling Commission in their implementation of key measures in the 2023 white paper, including the introduction of Financial Risk Assessments (FRAs), which have been piloted by the Gambling Commission. The white paper recognised the “chilling effect” that asking customers for bank documents can have. This is why it set out an alternative approach to assessing financial risk which would be considerably more frictionless. The vast majority of customers will not experience friction or be asked to provide documents, should FRAs be implemented as intended by the Gambling Commission.

The Gambling Commission has recently published an updated blog on its pilot findings and plans to publish the pilot data results upon its decision on implementation, as is standard practice. The pilot adheres to General Data Protection Rules with approval from the Steering Committee on Reciprocity, a cross industry forum made up of credit industry representatives.

The threat posed by illegal gambling does not mean we should avoid sensible controls on licensed operators. However as stated in the White Paper, the threat of movement to the illegal market does exist. This is why we have launched the Illegal Gambling Taskforce; are working to give the Gambling Commission increased powers to support disruption and enforcement activity; and are providing £26 million of funding to the Gambling Commission over 3 years to increase their disruption activity.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what plans she has to publish the results of any pilot schemes relating to gambling financial risk assessments.

Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

The Government remains committed to supporting the Gambling Commission in their implementation of key measures in the 2023 white paper, including the introduction of Financial Risk Assessments (FRAs), which have been piloted by the Gambling Commission. The white paper recognised the “chilling effect” that asking customers for bank documents can have. This is why it set out an alternative approach to assessing financial risk which would be considerably more frictionless. The vast majority of customers will not experience friction or be asked to provide documents, should FRAs be implemented as intended by the Gambling Commission.

The Gambling Commission has recently published an updated blog on its pilot findings and plans to publish the pilot data results upon its decision on implementation, as is standard practice. The pilot adheres to General Data Protection Rules with approval from the Steering Committee on Reciprocity, a cross industry forum made up of credit industry representatives.

The threat posed by illegal gambling does not mean we should avoid sensible controls on licensed operators. However as stated in the White Paper, the threat of movement to the illegal market does exist. This is why we have launched the Illegal Gambling Taskforce; are working to give the Gambling Commission increased powers to support disruption and enforcement activity; and are providing £26 million of funding to the Gambling Commission over 3 years to increase their disruption activity.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department are taking to address the deteriorating condition and poor maintenance of national heritage buildings in and around Stoke-on-Trent North and Kidsgrove.

Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

This government recognises the impact that the deterioration of heritage buildings can have on local communities, including those in Stoke-on-Trent. I am aware the Minister for Heritage, Baroness Twycross will be meeting with you in the coming weeks to discuss Stoke-on-Trent’s heritage in more detail.

The recently announced £1.5 billion funding allocation for the Arts Everywhere Package includes nearly £200 million new spend, across multiple years, for protecting and preserving heritage buildings across the country and giving funding certainty to the end of the parliament, including £60 million for at risk heritage which provides grants towards repairs and conservation of historic buildings and £42 million for the Heritage Revival Fund, which helps communities to take control of and look after local heritage and bring buildings back into public use.

Funding is administered through the Department for Culture, Media and Sport’s Arms-Length Bodies. Since 2006, Historic England has invested more than £7 million in 36 projects in the Stoke-on-Trent area and actively engages with Stoke-on-Trent with advice to support the local authority and heritage owners.

Similarly, since 1994, the National Lottery Heritage Fund has awarded more than £11m to 53 projects in the constituency of Stoke-on-Trent North, and more than £34m in 161 projects in Stoke-on-Trent as a whole. This includes the September 2024 grant of £249,954 in support of Re-Form Heritage, an organisation that transforms historic buildings at risk for the benefit of the local and wider community. Focused on organisational resilience, this award builds on past Lottery investment, which has supported the organisation to redevelop the Grade II* listed Middleport Pottery and the neighbouring Harper Street, which was once home to pottery workers.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the risk that increased regulatory checks will drive consumers to unregulated gambling markets.

Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

The Government remains committed to supporting the Gambling Commission in their implementation of key measures in the 2023 white paper, including the introduction of Financial Risk Assessments (FRAs), which have been piloted by the Gambling Commission. The white paper recognised the “chilling effect” that asking customers for bank documents can have. This is why it set out an alternative approach to assessing financial risk which would be considerably more frictionless. The vast majority of customers will not experience friction or be asked to provide documents, should FRAs be implemented as intended by the Gambling Commission.

The Gambling Commission has recently published an updated blog on its pilot findings and plans to publish the pilot data results upon its decision on implementation, as is standard practice. The pilot adheres to General Data Protection Rules with approval from the Steering Committee on Reciprocity, a cross industry forum made up of credit industry representatives.

The threat posed by illegal gambling does not mean we should avoid sensible controls on licensed operators. However as stated in the White Paper, the threat of movement to the illegal market does exist. This is why we have launched the Illegal Gambling Taskforce; are working to give the Gambling Commission increased powers to support disruption and enforcement activity; and are providing £26 million of funding to the Gambling Commission over 3 years to increase their disruption activity.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the impact of financial risk assessments on participation in regulated gambling markets.

Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

The Government remains committed to supporting the Gambling Commission in their implementation of key measures in the 2023 white paper, including the introduction of Financial Risk Assessments (FRAs), which have been piloted by the Gambling Commission. The white paper recognised the “chilling effect” that asking customers for bank documents can have. This is why it set out an alternative approach to assessing financial risk which would be considerably more frictionless. The vast majority of customers will not experience friction or be asked to provide documents, should FRAs be implemented as intended by the Gambling Commission.

The Gambling Commission has recently published an updated blog on its pilot findings and plans to publish the pilot data results upon its decision on implementation, as is standard practice. The pilot adheres to General Data Protection Rules with approval from the Steering Committee on Reciprocity, a cross industry forum made up of credit industry representatives.

The threat posed by illegal gambling does not mean we should avoid sensible controls on licensed operators. However as stated in the White Paper, the threat of movement to the illegal market does exist. This is why we have launched the Illegal Gambling Taskforce; are working to give the Gambling Commission increased powers to support disruption and enforcement activity; and are providing £26 million of funding to the Gambling Commission over 3 years to increase their disruption activity.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will make a comparative assessment of the effectiveness of allocating £22.5 million under the Enrichment Expansion Programme (a) across up to 400 schools and (b) via a single national delivery partner.

Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

The Enrichment Expansion Programme (EEP) will invest £22.5 million across 3 years to support up to 400 schools to provide a youth-voice led, tailored enrichment offer.

Through the EEP, DCMS is providing £16.8m grant funding to a delivery partner to enhance the coordination of enrichment provision and to support secondary schools to improve their offer.

£2.8 million will be allocated separately to school grants to cover staff costs associated with improving their enrichment offer.

The funding requirement has been benchmarked against related enrichment programmes.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will publish the modelling that informed the funding split for the Enrichment Expansion Programme.

Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

The Enrichment Expansion Programme (EEP) will invest £22.5 million across 3 years to support up to 400 schools to provide a youth-voice led, tailored enrichment offer.

Through the EEP, DCMS is providing £16.8m grant funding to a delivery partner to enhance the coordination of enrichment provision and to support secondary schools to improve their offer.

£2.8 million will be allocated separately to school grants to cover staff costs associated with improving their enrichment offer.

The funding requirement has been benchmarked against related enrichment programmes.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to the BBC's report entitled A BBC For All: Our response to the government’s Green Paper, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the £500 million savings over two years on economic growth generated by the creative industries.

Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

The BBC is a vital national institution and an engine of the nations and regions. In that context, this news is concerning for the BBC workforce who are facing significant uncertainty, and for the sector as a whole. The BBC is delivering significant savings, which requires difficult decisions to be made independent of the Government. The BBC have stated that there will be more information on their plans later this year. Looking ahead, the Charter Review aims to deliver a BBC that is sustainably funded in a way that sets the BBC on a path to thrive until well into the latter half of this century.

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Found: participation – such as measures linked to the National Youth Strategy published in the autumn by DCMS

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Found: a non-departmental public body sponsored by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS

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Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the answer of 17 January 2025, to Question 23032, on Home Office: Flags, which unit of her Department decided which flags would be flown from the Department’s buildings in 2025.

Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) manages the protocol around flying the Union Flag from Government buildings, publishing the designated days list to that effect each year.

Home Office's other flag-flying is managed by Home Office Facilities Management (FM) providers at 5 sites, and by the Government Property Agency at 2 sites, and is signed off by the Deputy Director for Workplace Services and Projects (and shared with the Director for Property and Security, the DG for Chief Operating Officer Group and the Permanent Secretary’s office.

Any additional flags besides the flags of England, Scotland and Wales (flown on national days) would only be flown with sign off from the Permanent Secretary.

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether the Government plans to bring forward further legislation to help prevent and hold online platforms accountable for the monetisation of hate-driven engagement.

Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

The Online Safety Act places duties on online platforms to tackle illegal content that stirs up hatred and to protect children from legal content that is hateful or abusive. Platforms must ensure their algorithms do not promote these types of content.

In March, MHCLG published Protecting What Matters, in which DSIT, in partnership with DCMS, committed to engaging the advertising industry and platforms to further understand how advertising can inadvertently fund legal but harmful content and consider potential solutions to this issue.

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, pursuant to the Answer of 25 March 2026 to Question 121184 on Department for Science, Innovation and Technology: Apprentices, how many of the Department's 57 apprentices were recruited in (a) 2023, (b) 2024 and (c) 2025.

Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

The department offers apprenticeships to internal staff as part of our learning and development offer. Since the original PQ, our records have updated to reflect an additional apprenticeship completion in 2025. We therefore now have 58 members of DSIT staff that are either currently undertaking an apprenticeship or have completed an apprenticeship between 2023 and 2025. (GOV.UK). This information is obtained from our Apprenticeship Employer Account on GOV.UK.

Year by year breakdown:

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to ensure that the enrichment entitlement is received by young people in Leeds Central and Headingley constituency.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

The government is committed to ensuring all young people across England can access a variety of enrichment opportunities at school and college as part of our mission to break down barriers to opportunity.

To support delivery of the enrichment entitlement set out in the government’s response to the Curriculum and Assessment Review, and the 'Every Child Achieving and Thriving’ schools White Paper, we are developing a new Enrichment Framework for publication this academic year. Developed with the department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), and experts across education, youth, sports and the arts, the framework will set out benchmarks to help schools and colleges plan high-quality enrichment more intentionally and strategically and will include case studies and signposting to tools and resources.

We recognise schools and colleges cannot do this on their own and are putting in place support for wider provision including Music Hubs, and the £22.5 million programme developed with DCMS to support the enrichment offer of up to 400 schools in disadvantaged communities.

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Found: the delivery of the national memorial be managed by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS

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Found: RPC-DCMS-26123-IA(1) 1 19/02/2026 Review of Financial Thresholds in Charity Legislation Lead

Found: the delivery of the national memorial be managed by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS