Asked by: Helen Maguire (Liberal Democrat - Epsom and Ewell)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if her Department will take steps to ensure that the design of new leisure facilities funded through the Levelling Up Programme reflects community preferences in changing arrangements.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Levelling Up Programme was run under the previous Government. Our Arm’s Length Body, Sport England, provides resources to help in the design of new leisure facilities. Sport England works with local authorities as part of their place partnerships work to help them understand and meet community needs for sport and physical activity.
Asked by: Helen Maguire (Liberal Democrat - Epsom and Ewell)
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 safeguarding policies in mixed-sex changing facilities in (a) leisure centres and (b) swimming pools.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
It is vital that everyone participating in sport feels safe and secure.
Decisions regarding the use of changing facilities are the responsibility of facility owners. Many National Governing Bodies of sport (NGBs), local authorities and sports organisations have guidance and policies in place to help facility owners. As an example, the Child Protection in Sport Unit (CSPU) has produced best practice guidance. Similarly, Sport England’s This Girl Can Campaign published new guidance this year for gyms and leisure centres to make safer spaces for women and girls. This guidance was created in collaboration with ukactive, The Chartered Institute for the Management of Sport and Physical Activity and Women’s Aid, and is available on the Safer Spaces to Move Hub.
Asked by: Helen Maguire (Liberal Democrat - Epsom and Ewell)
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 girl’s participation in rugby.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government is committed to supporting every aspect of women’s sport and ensuring all women and girls, no matter their background, are able to participate in sport and physical activity.
Sport England’s This Girl Can campaign has inspired millions of women and girls to get active and anticipates that 1.6 million women will be active as a result of the campaign by 2028.
Sport England have awarded the Rugby Football Union £13,859,000 as one of their long-term system partners for the period 2022-27 to support grassroots men’s and women’s rugby union.
DCMS has provided £17.98 million of investment to support England hosting the 2025 Women’s Rugby World Cup, including £6.77m legacy funding.
This tournament can be the springboard for women's rugby, just as the women's EUROs in 2022 was for women’s football. A record-breaking 400,000 tickets have been sold and 43,500 women and girls are now playing rugby. The legacy programme, Impact 25, is pivotal in cementing rugby as a game for all- improving facilities, reaching 850 clubs up and down the country, and supporting greater opportunities for women and girls of all ages to get involved.
We’re also launching the Women’s Sport Taskforce at the Rugby World Cup to tackle challenges and barriers facing women and girls in sport, including rugby, from grassroots to elite. Meeting actions will be published on gov.uk.
Asked by: Helen Maguire (Liberal Democrat - Epsom and Ewell)
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 participation in women's rugby.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government is committed to supporting every aspect of women’s sport and ensuring all women and girls, no matter their background, are able to participate in sport and physical activity.
Sport England’s This Girl Can campaign has inspired millions of women and girls to get active and anticipates that 1.6 million women will be active as a result of the campaign by 2028.
Sport England have awarded the Rugby Football Union £13,859,000 as one of their long-term system partners for the period 2022-27 to support grassroots men’s and women’s rugby union.
DCMS has provided £17.98 million of investment to support England hosting the 2025 Women’s Rugby World Cup, including £6.77m legacy funding.
This tournament can be the springboard for women's rugby, just as the women's EUROs in 2022 was for women’s football. A record-breaking 400,000 tickets have been sold and 43,500 women and girls are now playing rugby. The legacy programme, Impact 25, is pivotal in cementing rugby as a game for all- improving facilities, reaching 850 clubs up and down the country, and supporting greater opportunities for women and girls of all ages to get involved.
We’re also launching the Women’s Sport Taskforce at the Rugby World Cup to tackle challenges and barriers facing women and girls in sport, including rugby, from grassroots to elite. Meeting actions will be published on gov.uk.
Asked by: Helen Maguire (Liberal Democrat - Epsom and Ewell)
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 ensure the National Youth Strategy provides sufficient funding to youth services.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government will publish the National Youth Strategy this summer. The detail and scale of the funding commitments included in the Strategy will be shaped by engagement with young people and the youth sector and will be dependent on Spending Review decisions.
In 2025/6, DCMS funding for Youth will include over £85 million of capital funding to create fit-for-purpose spaces in places where it is most needed. This includes the £26 million Better Youth Spaces Fund for youth clubs to buy new equipment and do renovations, and completion of Youth Investment Fund projects underway. Further funding allocations to youth services for 2025/26 will be announced in due course.
Asked by: Helen Maguire (Liberal Democrat - Epsom and Ewell)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what plans her Department has to increase youth services provision in Epsom and Ewell constituency.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Local authorities hold the statutory duty to secure, so far as is reasonably practicable, sufficient provision of educational and recreational leisure-time activities for young people. In September 2023 DCMS published updated statutory guidance to support local authorities’ understanding of the existing duty and how to deliver it. Alongside this, DCMS funds a Peer Review programme for local authorities to learn from each other about the best approaches to youth service provision.
This government has also committed to co-producing a new National Youth Strategy, which is an opportunity to move away from one-size-fits all approaches from central government, bringing power back to young people and their communities and rebuilding a thriving and sustainable sector. We plan to publish the strategy in the summer.
Asked by: Helen Maguire (Liberal Democrat - Epsom and Ewell)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what the (a) scope of and (b) timeline for producing the National Youth Strategy is.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
This Strategy, co-produced with young people and the youth sector, will better coordinate youth services, bringing power back to young people and their communities, and rebuilding a thriving and sustainable sector.
Over the coming months, we will be developing our plans in partnership with young people and with organisations within the youth sector, engaging closely with them to fully understand their needs and the issues they consider to be most crucial in addressing. This National Youth Strategy will cover youth services and policy at local, regional and national levels, and will outline a long-term vision for how all young people can realise their potential, with choices and chances, and be empowered and active members of society. It will also look to empower local areas and communities, moving away from one-size-fits-all approaches.
We will be holding a series of youth-led roundtables and we will set up a youth advisory board to work alongside us, influence our work and challenge us every step of the way. We will ensure this is an accessible engagement period that reaches as many young people as possible.
We will be publishing the Strategy in 2025.