Asked by: Conor McGinn (Independent - St Helens North)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department has provided recent support to the Gaelic Athletic Association for (a) the redevelopment of Pairc na hEireann and (b) its other activities.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The majority of support for grassroots sport is delivered through our Arm’s Length Body, Sport England. Since 2019 Sport England has provided over £17,000 of funding to support Gaelic football.
The redevelopment of Páirc na hÉireann was funded by Highways England, recognising that nearby roadworks impacted one of the site’s pitches.
Asked by: Conor McGinn (Independent - St Helens North)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department is providing support for the promotion and playing of (a) Gaelic football, (b) hurling and (c) camogie in England.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Supporting grassroots sport is a key government priority. Last year, Sport England received almost £350 million from the Government and National Lottery to fund grassroots sports projects so that everyone, regardless of background, is able to access and benefit from quality sport and physical activity opportunities.
Since 2001, Sport England has invested:
£95,760 in gaelic football with a further £1,550,240 through multi-sport funding investment;
£10,748 in hurling through multi-sport funding investment;
£46,407 in camogie through multi-sport investment.
Asked by: Conor McGinn (Independent - St Helens North)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what support is being given to (a) football clubs and (b) rugby league clubs who own their stadium to assist with increased utility costs.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government recognises the importance of football and rugby league clubs, both professional and at grassroots level, which provide valuable opportunities for communities to come together and to take part in sport.
We understand that the rise in utility costs is having an impact on organisations of all sizes. In September we announced the Energy Bill Relief Scheme, under which businesses and other non-domestic energy users are offered support. This includes support to football and rugby league clubs.
After an initial six months of the scheme, the Government will provide ongoing focused support for vulnerable industries. A review is currently underway to determine where this should be targeted.
Asked by: Conor McGinn (Independent - St Helens North)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to promote brass bands and music; and how much funding her Department has made available for those purposes in each year since 2015.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government supports the arts predominantly through Arts Council England (ACE) funding. ACE plays a hugely important role in developing England’s arts and culture, as the national development agency for creativity and culture.
ACE is working with Brass Bands England, the sector support organisation for brass bands, to make a significant difference in the development of the sector. In particular they are providing support to brass bands across the country to develop and diversify their membership and audiences. Brass Bands England was recently awarded a National Lottery Project Grant to support the European Brass Band Festival held in Birmingham in April earlier this year.
Between 2015 and October 2022, ACE has provided £12,372,233 to organisations and projects that were classified as brass bands. Over the same period, ACE has provided over £1.7 billion to organisations and projects whose main discipline is music. Since April 2016, brass bands have also benefited from the Orchestra tax relief, including the higher rate of 50% from October 2021 until April 2023.
Asked by: Conor McGinn (Independent - St Helens North)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what recent steps her Department has taken to help support the (a) publication and (b) distribution of print editions of local and regional newspapers.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government is committed to supporting local newspapers as vital pillars of our communities. We are in regular contact with local news publishers to understand the financial pressures they face, and we are mindful of particular concerns about rising printing costs, brought about primarily by higher energy prices, as well as by the increasing cost of raw materials including newsprint.
Last month, the government introduced the Energy Bill Relief Scheme, which provides a price reduction to ensure that all businesses and other non-domestic customers, including newspaper printing sites, are protected from excessively high energy bills over the winter period. We are engaging with the sector to monitor the impact of this support, mindful of the review of the Scheme which will consider how best to offer further support to customers who are the most vulnerable to energy price increases.
We are also taking other action to support the sector, including in the digital sphere, where many newspaper publishers face significant challenges in transitioning to sustainable digital business models. Our plans for a pro-competition regime for digital markets will, among many other things, help to rebalance the relationship between news publishers and online platforms. We have also provided tax reliefs and innovation funding to the sector. And the BBC Charter Mid Term Review will evaluate how the BBC and Ofcom assess the market impact and public value of the BBC in an evolving marketplace and how that relates to the wider UK media ecology, including with regard to the local news sector. We will continue to consider all possible options in the interest of promoting and sustaining the sector.
Asked by: Conor McGinn (Independent - St Helens North)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to the Youth Investment Fund, what proportion of phase 1 funding went to successful applicants located in (a) St Helens Metropolitan Borough, (b) Liverpool City Region Combined Authority and (c) the North West.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
Local Authorities have a statutory duty to allocate funding to youth services in line with local need. This is funded from the Local Government settlement, which was over £12 billion this year.
The government recognises the vital role that youth services and activities play in improving the life chances and wellbeing of young people and is investing £560 million over the next 3 years in a new National Youth Guarantee, so that by 2025 every young person will have access to regular clubs and activities, adventures away from home and opportunities to volunteer.
Phase 1 of the Youth Investment Fund is providing funding for local youth organisations in 45 local authorities and around 600 district wards in levelling up priority areas in parts of England, including eligible areas in the North West. Funding for Phase 1 of the Youth Investment Fund has now been allocated to successful applicants by BBC Children in Need, the Intermediary Grant Maker. The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport plans to announce and publish a list of successful recipients of the grant on gov.uk in due course.
Asked by: Conor McGinn (Independent - St Helens North)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to improve the provision of youth services in (a) St Helens North constituency, (b) Liverpool City Region and (c) the North West.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
Local Authorities have a statutory duty to allocate funding to youth services in line with local need. This is funded from the Local Government settlement, which was over £12 billion this year.
The government recognises the vital role that youth services and activities play in improving the life chances and wellbeing of young people and is investing £560 million over the next 3 years in a new National Youth Guarantee, so that by 2025 every young person will have access to regular clubs and activities, adventures away from home and opportunities to volunteer.
Phase 1 of the Youth Investment Fund is providing funding for local youth organisations in 45 local authorities and around 600 district wards in levelling up priority areas in parts of England, including eligible areas in the North West. Funding for Phase 1 of the Youth Investment Fund has now been allocated to successful applicants by BBC Children in Need, the Intermediary Grant Maker. The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport plans to announce and publish a list of successful recipients of the grant on gov.uk in due course.
Asked by: Conor McGinn (Independent - St Helens North)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to phase 1 of the Youth Investment Fund, what her timeframe is for the allocation of funds to successful applicants.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
Phase 1 of the Youth Investment Fund is providing funding for local youth organisations in 45 local authorities and around 600 district wards in levelling up priority areas in parts of England, to expand the reach and range of services they offer. Funding for phase 1 of the Youth Investment Fund is currently being allocated to successful applicants by BBC Children in Need, the Intermediary Grant Maker, with the requirement to demonstrate funding has been spent by the end of March 2022. An applicant's ability to spend funding in this timeframe was a key criterion in the assessment process.
Asked by: Conor McGinn (Independent - St Helens North)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps he is taking to (a) support and (b) promote the sport of pigeon racing.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
Pigeon Racing is not listed under Sport England's list of recognised sports, which can be viewed here. DEFRA have issued full guidance here on gatherings concerning Columbiformes here.
Asked by: Conor McGinn (Independent - St Helens North)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether his Department is providing specific (a) guidance and (b) support to UK-based mountain professionals to help them navigate the new systems of visa and work permits in EU member states.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government has published an End of Transition Period guidance page for the tourism sector to help them navigate the new systems. The Business Secretary also wrote to all tourism businesses in November 2020.
My Department continues to engage with stakeholders in the tourism sector to hear their priorities for the UK’s future relationship with the EU. Officials are currently engaging with the tourism trade bodies, including the British Association of International Mountain Leaders (BAIML) to gather feedback on priority regulators and qualifications for the tourism sector.