Asked by: Anna Sabine (Liberal Democrat - Frome and East Somerset)
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.
Asked by: Anna Sabine (Liberal Democrat - Frome and East Somerset)
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 reductions in the BBC's budget on the provision of media literacy resources.
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.
Asked by: Anna Sabine (Liberal Democrat - Frome and East Somerset)
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 the classical music industry and the provision of music education.
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.
Asked by: Anna Sabine (Liberal Democrat - Frome and East Somerset)
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 the proliferation of mis- and disinformation in the UK.
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.
Asked by: Anna Sabine (Liberal Democrat - Frome and East Somerset)
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 merits of delivering a long-term sustainable funding settlement for the BBC.
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.
Asked by: Anna Sabine (Liberal Democrat - Frome and East Somerset)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what information she holds on the number of privately-owned swimming pools and leisure centres by year from 2015 to 2025-26.
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 and leisure facilities.
Sport England, our Arm’s Length Body for grassroots sport, monitors facilities stock through their Active Places dataset. As of March 2026, there are 4,070 operational swimming pools for public access, with 1,669 owned by a Local Authority.
As of December 2025, there were 804 operational sports halls owned by Local Authorities.
Asked by: Anna Sabine (Liberal Democrat - Frome and East Somerset)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what information she holds on the number of publicly-owned swimming pools and leisure centres by year from 2015 to 2025/26.
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 and leisure facilities.
Sport England, our Arm’s Length Body for grassroots sport, monitors facilities stock through their Active Places dataset. As of March 2026, there are 4,070 operational swimming pools for public access, with 1,669 owned by a Local Authority.
As of December 2025, there were 804 operational sports halls owned by Local Authorities.
Asked by: Anna Sabine (Liberal Democrat - Frome and East Somerset)
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 Music and Dance Scheme Schools on the performing arts sector.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
This government is committed to broadening access to arts education, including specialist training for our most promising musicians and dancers irrespective of their personal or financial background through the Music and Dance Scheme. The scheme supports the Creative Industries Sector Plan commitment to increase access to quality specialist creative education provision across England to strengthen our cadre of highly trained young musicians, dancers and performing artists.
My department works closely with the Department for Education who continues to fund the scheme, providing means-tested support to over 2,000 students from lower-income families. The Department for Education currently provides £36.5 million for the MDS this academic year and future funding will be announced in due course.
Asked by: Anna Sabine (Liberal Democrat - Frome and East Somerset)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she has taken with the Secretary of State for Education to secure an uplift in funding for the Music and Dance Scheme Schools.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
This government is committed to broadening access to arts education, including specialist training for our most promising musicians and dancers irrespective of their personal or financial background through the Music and Dance Scheme. The scheme supports the Creative Industries Sector Plan commitment to increase access to quality specialist creative education provision across England to strengthen our cadre of highly trained young musicians, dancers and performing artists.
My department works closely with the Department for Education who continues to fund the scheme, providing means-tested support to over 2,000 students from lower-income families. The Department for Education currently provides £36.5 million for the MDS this academic year and future funding will be announced in due course.
Asked by: Anna Sabine (Liberal Democrat - Frome and East Somerset)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many heritage assets are recorded as being at risk of neglect or dereliction in England; and what assessment they have made of the adequacy of apprenticeship and training provision to support the repair and conservation of historic buildings and other heritage assets.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Historic England's Heritage at Risk Register, last published on 6 November 2025, identified 4,891 heritage assets at risk in England. The register identifies designated sites that are most at risk of being lost as a result of neglect, decay or inappropriate development. More information can be found on Historic England’s website: https://historicengland.org.uk/advice/heritage-at-risk/buildings-at-risk/.
While no assessment has been made of the adequacy of apprenticeship and training provisions to support the repair and conservation of heritage, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport is working with the heritage sector to utilise the government’s investment in skills education to grow the workforce. We are engaging with the Department for Education and Skills England to ensure heritage skills are recognised and developed. Through the fully funded SME apprenticeships for under-25s, we are giving smaller heritage organisations the opportunity to deliver flexible, affordable apprenticeships in heritage skills and conservation.