Asked by: Helen Grant (Conservative - Maidstone and Malling)
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 increase the participation in sport for women of all ages.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Sport England’s latest Active Lives survey data shows that men are more likely to be active than women and that boys are more likely to be active than girls.
We are dedicated to supporting every aspect of women’s sport and ensuring all women and girls, no matter their background, have access to high quality sport. We want to protect time for physical education and support grassroots clubs in expanding access whilst also breaking down the barriers that exist and prevent women and girls from being active.
High-quality, inclusive facilities help clubs to get more people active and by backing these clubs, the Government will support more women and girls to get onto the pitch wherever they live.
The Government has set out its support for grassroots facilities, including through the Multi-Sport Grassroots Facilities programme which provides funding to build and improve grassroots facilities to support a range of sports, and a commitment to support the Football Association’s ambition to double their number of gold-standard (3-star) community clubs by EURO 2028. This will deliver more opportunities for women and girls to get on the pitch.
Beyond funding, the Government’s commitment includes supporting girls and boys across the country to get more access to sport and physical activity, a review of the curriculum to protect time for PE, and legislation to be brought forward to limit the number of kit items schools can require.
Asked by: Helen Grant (Conservative - Maidstone and Malling)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will take steps to protect the greenbelt in Maidstone and Malling constituency.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Housing targets are an important tool to ensure housing is delivered in the right places – this is critical in tackling the chronic shortage that the country is facing that means owning a home is a distant reality for much of the public.
We cannot local a generation out of homeownership, we must build the homes the next generation needs.
As set out in the manifesto, the Government will restore mandatory housing targets. We will reverse the damaging changes introduced in December 2023 that undermine our growth ambitions and commitment to delivering 1.5 million homes. We will set out more detail in the forthcoming National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) update.
We will take a brownfield first approach, prioritising the development of previously used land wherever possible and fast-tracking approval of urban brownfield sites.
Brownfield alone will never be enough to build the homes we need– which is why we will look to lower quality ‘grey belt’ land where necessary to meet local housing needs.
By enabling democratic engagement with how, not if, homes and infrastructure are built – the major brakes on the planning system will be addressed to support sustainable growth.
We are working at pace on various revisions to the NPPF, with a view to public consultation on a new draft Framework in due course.
Asked by: Helen Grant (Conservative - Maidstone and Malling)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will take steps to ensure that housing targets do not adversely impact the green belt.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Housing targets are an important tool to ensure housing is delivered in the right places – this is critical in tackling the chronic shortage that the country is facing that means owning a home is a distant reality for much of the public.
We cannot local a generation out of homeownership, we must build the homes the next generation needs.
As set out in the manifesto, the Government will restore mandatory housing targets. We will reverse the damaging changes introduced in December 2023 that undermine our growth ambitions and commitment to delivering 1.5 million homes. We will set out more detail in the forthcoming National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) update.
We will take a brownfield first approach, prioritising the development of previously used land wherever possible and fast-tracking approval of urban brownfield sites.
Brownfield alone will never be enough to build the homes we need– which is why we will look to lower quality ‘grey belt’ land where necessary to meet local housing needs.
By enabling democratic engagement with how, not if, homes and infrastructure are built – the major brakes on the planning system will be addressed to support sustainable growth.
We are working at pace on various revisions to the NPPF, with a view to public consultation on a new draft Framework in due course.
Asked by: Helen Grant (Conservative - Maidstone and Malling)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will take steps to ensure that infrastructure is improved before housing developments are proposed in the South East.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
As set out in the National Planning Policy Framework, the purpose of the planning system is to contribute to the achievement of sustainable development, including the provision of supporting infrastructure in a sustainable manner.
Local planning authorities are required to plan for infrastructure delivery as part of plan-making and report on their use of developer contributions in Infrastructure Funding Statements.
The Government will keep the provision of local infrastructure under review, including when considering revisions to national planning policy.
Asked by: Helen Grant (Conservative - Maidstone and Malling)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he will take to reduce pollution from water companies.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Water (Special Measures) Bill delivers on our manifesto commitment to put water companies under tough special measures by strengthening regulation and begin the work of cleaning up our rivers, lakes and seas.
As an immediate step, this Government will strengthen regulation to reverse the tide on the unacceptable destruction of our waterways, ensuring water companies deliver for customers and the environment and attract private-sector investment to upgrade our crumbling infrastructure.
Change will take time. The Government will outline further legislation to fundamentally transform our water industry and restore our rivers, lakes and seas to good health.
Asked by: Helen Grant (Conservative - Maidstone and Malling)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will make additional funding available for grass roots sports clubs.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
This Government recognises that grassroots sports clubs are at the beating heart of communities up and down the country. High-quality, inclusive facilities help clubs to get more people active and by backing these clubs, the Government will support more people to get onto the pitch wherever they live.
To mark the achievements of our senior men’s and women’s football teams, and inspire the next generation as we look ahead to hosting UEFA EURO 2028 across the UK and Ireland, we have set out plans to strengthen our support for grassroots clubs. This includes continuing delivery of funding through the Multi-Sport Grassroots Facilities Programme this year, and a commitment to work with the sector to develop a funding package that will support these plans.
We provide the majority of support for grassroots sport through our arm’s length body, Sport England – which annually invests over £250 million of National Lottery and government money. Sport England’s newly established Movement Fund offers crowdfunding pledges, grants and resources to improve physical activity opportunities for the people and communities who need it the most.
Asked by: Helen Grant (Conservative - Maidstone and Malling)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he plans to take to increase access to local GP services in Maidstone and Malling constituency.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government knows that patients are finding it harder than ever to access general practices (GP) and is committed to fixing the the crisis in GPs to secure the long-term sustainability of the National Health Service, thereby increasing access to local services including those in the Maidstone and Malling constituency.
Our plan to restore GPs and improve waiting times to see a practitioner will require both investment and reform. We have committed to training thousands more GPs and ending the 8:00am scramble for appointments by introducing a modern booking system. The Government will also introduce Neighbourhood Health Centres, bringing together vital health and care services, and ensuring healthcare is closer to home and that patients receive the care they deserve. In addition, the Government will also bring back the family doctor by incentivising GPs to see the same patient.
Asked by: Helen Grant (Conservative - Maidstone and Malling)
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 increase the participation of (a) girls and (b) women in sport.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Opposition Chief Whip (Commons)
The Government is committed to increasing women and girls’ participation in sport and physical activity.
Our sport strategy, Get Active, includes the target of getting 1.25 million more women and 1 million more children active by 2030. This will be supported by Government investment of over £600 million to boost equal access in school sport.
Government is delivering an historic level of direct investment of over £327 million between 2021-25, through the Multi-Sport Grassroots Facilities Programme, to provide up to 8,000 new and improved multi-sport grassroots facilities and pitches across the whole of the UK.
All projects on the Multi-Sport Grassroots Facilities Programme are assessed against their ability to deliver increased participation by under-represented groups, including women and girls, and all projects over £25,000 in England must have an equal access women and girls plan in place.
This includes the £30 million Lionesses Futures Fund, which will deliver up to 30 artificial pitches across the country, creating opportunities to play for almost 8,000 women and girls.
The Government welcomes the Women and Equalities Select Committee’s recent report on ‘Health Barriers for Girls and Women in Sport’ and accepts most of the reports recommendations. We will continue to work with the sector to remove the barriers that prevent women and girls from being active and continue to give women and girls a voice on what they want.
Asked by: Helen Grant (Conservative - Maidstone and Malling)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of a (a) single and (b) ring-fenced support fund for homelessness.
Answered by Felicity Buchan
This Government has made the unprecedented commitment to end rough sleeping within this Parliament and to fully enforce the Homelessness Reduction Act. We are providing an unprecedented £2.4 billion to tackle homelessness and rough sleeping via a range of programmes. The majority of this funding is provided through ring-fenced grants, including the Homelessness Prevention Grant and the Rough Sleeping Initiative, to make sure that resources are committed to these priorities.
The approach to future funding will be a matter for the upcoming Spending Review.
Asked by: Helen Grant (Conservative - Maidstone and Malling)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps his Department is taking to help tackle the health issues faced by homeless people.
Answered by Felicity Buchan
The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) is working closely with the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID), the National Health Service and public health bodies to improve health outcomes for people experiencing homelessness.
This includes DLUHC funding of up to £186.5 million for the Rough Sleeping Drug and Alcohol Treatment Grant, providing evidence-based drug and alcohol treatment and wrap-around support, and funding over £30 million of health interventions under the Rough Sleeping Initiative.
As part of the cross-government Drug Strategy, we are also working with OHID to provide up to £53 million for the Housing Support Grant to improve the recovery outcomes for people in drug and alcohol treatment with a housing need. In addition, the NHS England Long-Term Plan establishes new specialist mental health provision for people who sleep rough in high need areas, underpinned by a £30 million investment. To date, 37 sites have been launched across the country.