Asked by: Andrew Mitchell (Conservative - Sutton Coldfield)
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 help ensure that older people can engage in community sports in Royal Sutton Coldfield.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government is committed to ensuring that everyone, including older people, should have access to and benefit from quality sport and physical activity opportunities to stay fit and healthy.
The Government provides the majority of support for grassroots sport through DCMS’s Arm’s Length Body, Sport England, which annually invests over £250 million in Exchequer and Lottery funding. Their ten-year Uniting the Movement strategy reinforces their commitment to increasing participation in sport and physical activity for those from under-represented groups, including older people.
Sport England also provides support for grassroots sport through the Movement Fund, which offers crowdfunding pledges, grants and resources to improve physical activity opportunities for the people and communities who need it the most, including older people.
Asked by: Andrew Mitchell (Conservative - Sutton Coldfield)
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 improve access to arts and culture for young people in the West Midlands.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government is committed to ensuring that all children and young people can access high-quality arts and culture.
Between 2023/24 and 2025/26, Arts Council England invested over £170 million in arts organisations and projects across the West Midlands, including almost £40 million supporting children and young people. This funding supports initiatives such as Powered by CAN in Sandwell, which develops creative opportunities and career pathways; Big Brum Theatre in Education, one of the most established Theatre in Education companies in the UK; and Wolverhampton’s City of Youth Culture programme, helping more young people engage with arts, culture and creative activities across the region.
Nationally, the government is committed to revitalising arts education through a reformed curriculum and support for teachers, including via the new National Centre for Arts and Music Education, due to be established by September 2026. To increase access to enrichment opportunities across culture, sport, and wider youth sectors for disadvantaged young people, the Every Child Can programme, backed by £132.5 million in dormant assets through the National Lottery Community Fund, will fund activities within schools and in communities at weekends and in the holidays, ensuring enrichment is a common entitlement for all.
Asked by: Andrew Mitchell (Conservative - Sutton Coldfield)
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 promote (a) Royal Sutton Coldfield and (b) the West Midlands as destinations for British holidaymakers in summer 2026.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport)
DCMS recognises the contribution of the West Midlands, and the constituency of Sutton Coldfield, to the visitor economy. The upcoming summer 2026 season represents a milestone moment for the region. Birmingham’s hosting of the 2026 European Athletics Championships this August will put the West Midlands on a global sporting stage, acting as a powerful catalyst to draw domestic holidaymakers and international visitors alike to regional highlights, from the scenic landscapes of Sutton Park to the historic Black Country Living Museum. I was also delighted to celebrate the success of the region when I attended the West Midlands Tourism Awards in March.
The West Midlands also benefits from VisitBritain's global screen tourism campaign, "Starring Great Britain," which leverages local hit productions like Peaky Blinders to drive inbound tourism to the area.
The West Midlands was a key part of a pilot run by VisitEngland to test a new way of managing tourism. Instead of local groups working in isolation, the project brought national and local tourism bodies together to work as a team. The main goal was to make it much easier for visitors to travel around the region, while joining up the dots between local attractions, hospitality, events, and nightlife.
Looking ahead, the forthcoming Visitor Economy Growth Strategy will set out an ambitious, long-term plan to bring more visitors to the UK, boost spending, and drive sustainable growth across our regional economies. At the heart of this plan is giving regional leaders the power to take charge of their own tourism sectors. This ensures that visitor numbers and income are spread out more widely, directly benefiting regional destinations like the West Midlands.
Asked by: Andrew Mitchell (Conservative - Sutton Coldfield)
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 growth within the creative industries in the West Midlands.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport)
The Creative Industries Sector Plan is a new 10-year plan to tackle barriers to growth and maximise opportunities across the creative industries sector, with the aim of making the UK the number one destination for creativity and innovation by 2035.
The Creative Industries Sector Plan includes a universal offer to drive growth in the creative industries in any place in the UK, outlining new measures to break down barriers such as access to finance, supply of skills, and new support to kickstart innovation.
The £150 million Creative Places Growth Fund is a new approach to supporting Creative Industries - devolving funding and empowering local leaders to grow the sector in 6 high-growth potential Mayoral Strategic Authorities, including the West Midlands. This will provide £25m to West Midlands Combined Authority to distribute, according to local barriers and opportunities.
Asked by: Andrew Mitchell (Conservative - Sutton Coldfield)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what recent steps her Department has taken to support hoteliers in the West Midlands.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government is committed to supporting the hospitality sector as a valuable contributor to the UK economy. The Government recognises the significant pressures facing the hospitality industry, including hotels, and is providing support through various measures to help ease these pressures.
The Government has introduced permanently lower tax rates for retail, hospitality and leisure properties with a ratable value under £500,000, worth nearly £900 million annually, benefitting over 750,000 properties. The new relief rates are permanent, giving businesses certainty and stability, and there will be no cap so all qualifying properties will benefit.
DCMS works closely with VisitEngland/VisitBritain, Local Visitor Economy Partnerships and industry to support accommodation providers, including hotels in the West Midlands. The West Midlands is a key participant in a Destination Development Partnership pilot led by VisitEngland. This programme tests a new model for destination management by encouraging collaboration between national and local tourism bodies. The focus is on making the region more accessible and highlighting its range of shops, restaurants, and hotels.
Asked by: Andrew Mitchell (Conservative - Sutton Coldfield)
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 promote (a) Sutton Coldfield (b) the West Midlands as destinations for British holidaymakers.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport)
DCMS recognises the contribution of the West Midlands, and the constituency of Sutton Coldfield, to the visitor economy. The region's attractions, from Sutton Park to the Black Country Living Museum, and its reputation in hosting major events, including the upcoming 2026 European Athletics Championships, all contribute to local job creation and economic growth.
Screen tourism is also a powerful driver of the West Midlands' visitor economy, with major global hits such as Peaky Blinders providing invaluable global marketing for the destinations. To tap in to screen tourism, and drive more inbound visits across Britain, VisitBritain launched a global screen tourism campaign ‘’Starring Great Britain’’ in January 2025. The campaign uses the country's rich film and television history as a hook to inspire visitors to explore diverse and often rural destinations. The launch was supported by a wider advertising campaign across the UK’s largest and most valuable inbound visitor markets including Australia, the Gulf Co-operation Council countries, France, Germany and the USA.
The West Midlands is also represented in the joint industry and Government-led Visitor Economy Advisory Council, through membership of the Mayor of the West Midlands Combined Authority and the Chief Executive of the West Midlands Growth Company. In this way the views of the West Midlands help to inform and shape Government policy and the forthcoming sector growth plan which will set out a long term plan to increase visitor flows across the UK, boost value, and deliver sustainable growth. I work closely with the Mayor of the West Midlands and recently met with them to discuss tourism.
Asked by: Andrew Mitchell (Conservative - Sutton Coldfield)
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 help ensure that older people can engage in community sports in the West Midlands.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government is committed to ensuring that everyone, including older people, should have access to and benefit from quality sport and physical activity opportunities.
Sport and physical activity play a vital role in driving positive public health outcomes by preventing, and helping to treat and manage, a wide range of health conditions as well as providing wider benefits, for example, in tackling loneliness.
Sport England, our Arm’s Length Body for community sport, are investing up to £250 million of National Lottery and Exchequer funding into more than 90 Place Partnerships across England, including Dudley, Sandwell, Walsall and Wolverhampton. The programme works in a targeted way with local areas to understand and overcome the specific barriers in their communities to getting people active. Birmingham and Solihull were part of the first local delivery pilot areas the scheme is based on.
Sport England also provides support for grassroots sport through the Movement Fund, which offers crowdfunding pledges, grants and resources to improve physical activity opportunities for the people and communities who need it the most, including older people.
Asked by: Andrew Mitchell (Conservative - Sutton Coldfield)
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 Birmingham City Council’s ability to provide a (a) comprehensive and (b) efficient library service in Sutton Coldfield constituency.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
Public libraries are funded by local authorities and each local authority is responsible for assessing the needs of their local communities and designing a library service to meet those needs within available resources.
The Public Libraries and Museums Act 1964 requires the Secretary of State to “superintend and promote the improvement of the public library service provided by local authorities in England”. To assist this function the department regularly engages with local authorities to discuss issues related to their respective library service.
The Department has met with Birmingham City Council officers regularly in the last 20 months, the most recent of which was 7 May, to discuss changes to their library service provision.
Asked by: Andrew Mitchell (Conservative - Sutton Coldfield)
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 improve access to arts and culture in the West Midlands.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
Arts Council England has provided over £357 million of funding in the West Midlands between 2021-2025. Sutton Coldfield has received over £1.5 million between 2021-2025.
For example, Selina Thompson Ltd is in receipt of £350,000 per annum as a new Arts Council England National Portfolio Organisation (NPO). This NPO makes theatre installations, workshops and radio work for performance spaces, pubs, clubs and shopping centres across England and internationally.
The Potteries Museum and Art Gallery has received £5m as part of the Cultural Development Fund to create a striking extended building and repurpose spaces to showcase Stoke-on-Trent’s world class museum collections and enhance the visitor experience. In February, the Secretary of State announced that museums in the West Midlands, including Tamworth and Wolverhampton, would receive Museum Estate and Development Fund awards of over £3.4 million.
The Department has also announced a new £270 million Arts Everywhere Fund on 20 February. This will include support to museums, arts and music venues across the country and is a critical step that this Government is taking to help create jobs, boost local economies, and expand access to arts and culture for communities.
Asked by: Andrew Mitchell (Conservative - Sutton Coldfield)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what recent steps her Department has taken to increase tourism in the West Midlands.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
The Government is delivering the largest reform of destination management in a generation. We now have a network of 41 Local Visitor Economy Partnerships (LVEPs) across England and two Regional Destination pilots in the North East and West Midlands. The programmes have been looking at how we make it easier for people to visit those regions and enjoy a range of things to do when they are there, including great places to eat, shop and stay.
In March 2025, during English Tourism Week, we announced that the government is now providing an extra £1.35 million of support so the pilots can operate for another year. The extension will provide an opportunity to keep testing how a regional approach to managing the visitor economy can help drive visitor numbers, increase spending and create jobs, and secure the West Midlands’ reputation as a world-class destination to visitors.