Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
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 the standard of grassroots sports facilities in rural areas.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government is committed to ensuring that everyone, regardless of where they live, has access to and benefits from quality sport and physical activity opportunities.
The Government provides the majority of funding for grassroots sport through our Arm’s Length Body, Sport England - which annually invests over £250 million in Exchequer and Lottery funding in areas of greatest need to tackle inactivity levels through community-led solutions. Sport England’s Movement Fund offers crowdfunding pledges, grants and resources to improve physical activity opportunities for the people and communities who need it the most.
Funding from the Multi-Sport Grassroots Facilities Programme continues to be invested in England through Sport England and our delivery partner, the Football Foundation.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department plans to expand the Multi-Sport Grassroots Facilities Programme to include facilities in Market Drayton.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government is committed to ensuring that everyone, regardless of background, has access to and benefits from quality sport and physical activity opportunities.
The Government provides the majority of funding for grassroots sport through our Arm’s Length Body, Sport England - which annually invests over £250 million in Exchequer and Lottery funding in areas of greatest need to tackle inactivity levels through community-led solutions.
The Government is also acting to support more people to get onto the pitch wherever they live through the delivery of £123 million UK-wide through the Multi-Sport Grassroots Facilities Programme in 2024/25.
Funding from the Multi-Sport Grassroots Facilities Programme continues to be invested in England through Sport England and our delivery partner, the Football Foundation, who plan their investment pipeline based on Local Football Facility Plans (LFFPs) which have been developed in partnership with local authorities and are in the process of being refreshed to reflect the current landscape. The existing LFFP for Shropshire can be found by visiting the Football Foundation’s website, and North Shropshire has benefitted from £152,070 of investment under this programme and the Swimming Pool Support Fund to date.
Should a constituent have an enquiry about prospective investment at a specific facility, they can get in touch with the Football Foundation directly via enquiries@footballfoundation.org.uk.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
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 improve access to sports facilities in Market Drayton.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government is committed to ensuring that everyone, regardless of background, has access to and benefits from quality sport and physical activity opportunities.
The Government provides the majority of funding for grassroots sport through our Arm’s Length Body, Sport England - which annually invests over £250 million in Exchequer and Lottery funding in areas of greatest need to tackle inactivity levels through community-led solutions.
The Government is also acting to support more people to get onto the pitch wherever they live through the delivery of £123 million UK-wide through the Multi-Sport Grassroots Facilities Programme in 2024/25.
Funding from the Multi-Sport Grassroots Facilities Programme continues to be invested in England through Sport England and our delivery partner, the Football Foundation, who plan their investment pipeline based on Local Football Facility Plans (LFFPs) which have been developed in partnership with local authorities and are in the process of being refreshed to reflect the current landscape. The existing LFFP for Shropshire can be found by visiting the Football Foundation’s website, and North Shropshire has benefitted from £152,070 of investment under this programme and the Swimming Pool Support Fund to date.
Should a constituent have an enquiry about prospective investment at a specific facility, they can get in touch with the Football Foundation directly via enquiries@footballfoundation.org.uk.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 1 February 2024 to Question 11912, how many local authority swimming pools have opened in each region in each year since 2015.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
245 local authority swimming pools have opened since 2015. The breakdown per region is as follows:
East Midlands: 27
Eastern: 21
London: 36
North East: 15
North West: 29
South East: 44
South West: 20
West Midlands: 28
Yorkshire and the Humber: 25
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many local authority leisure centres have closed by region in each year since 2015.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
The Government is clear on the importance of ensuring public access to swimming pools, as swimming is a great way for people of all ages to stay fit and healthy. The responsibility of providing this access lies at Local Authority level, and the Government continues to encourage Local Authorities to support swimming facilities. We have also confirmed an additional £60 million support package for swimming pools in 2023/24, which is targeted at addressing cost pressures facing public swimming pool providers and helping make facilities sustainable in the long-term.
276 local authority swimming pools have closed since 2015. The breakdown per year is as follows:
2015: 40
2016: 36
2017: 31
2018: 23
2019: 31
2020: 38
2021: 26
2022: 28
2023: 23
These numbers should be considered in the context of facility provision within the local area. Facilities may close for a number of reasons: this can include the rationalisation of multiple older facilities into a modern, better located facility. In the same period from 2015-2023, 245 local authority swimming pools opened.
Data is stored by facility type (e.g. pool, health and fitness gym, or sports hall) rather than “leisure centre.” From 2015, approximately 261 local authority owned sites which had one or more pools, main halls, or health and fitness gyms, closed either fully or partially (where a facility within the site, including a pool or gym, may have closed). By region the figures are as follows:
East Midlands: 26
Eastern: 21
London: 26
North East: 29
North West:41
South East: 43
South West: 21
West Midlands: 29
Yorkshire and the Humber: 25
At the same time, new facilities were constructed at 242 comparable sites.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many local authority swimming pools have closed in each year since 2015.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
The Government is clear on the importance of ensuring public access to swimming pools, as swimming is a great way for people of all ages to stay fit and healthy. The responsibility of providing this access lies at Local Authority level, and the Government continues to encourage Local Authorities to support swimming facilities. We have also confirmed an additional £60 million support package for swimming pools in 2023/24, which is targeted at addressing cost pressures facing public swimming pool providers and helping make facilities sustainable in the long-term.
276 local authority swimming pools have closed since 2015. The breakdown per year is as follows:
2015: 40
2016: 36
2017: 31
2018: 23
2019: 31
2020: 38
2021: 26
2022: 28
2023: 23
These numbers should be considered in the context of facility provision within the local area. Facilities may close for a number of reasons: this can include the rationalisation of multiple older facilities into a modern, better located facility. In the same period from 2015-2023, 245 local authority swimming pools opened.
Data is stored by facility type (e.g. pool, health and fitness gym, or sports hall) rather than “leisure centre.” From 2015, approximately 261 local authority owned sites which had one or more pools, main halls, or health and fitness gyms, closed either fully or partially (where a facility within the site, including a pool or gym, may have closed). By region the figures are as follows:
East Midlands: 26
Eastern: 21
London: 26
North East: 29
North West:41
South East: 43
South West: 21
West Midlands: 29
Yorkshire and the Humber: 25
At the same time, new facilities were constructed at 242 comparable sites.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many youth centres have closed in each year since 2015.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
DCMS does not hold the data requested. Local Authorities have a statutory duty to ‘secure, so far as is reasonably practicable, sufficient provision of educational and recreational leisure-time activities for young people’. This is funded from the Local Government settlement, which is almost £60 billion this year (FY 23/24). DCMS has worked with the youth sector and local authorities to update the statutory guidance that underpins the duty to support local authorities in delivering it.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many libraries have closed in each year since 2015.
Answered by Julia Lopez
Arts Council England collects data from local authorities and publishes a basic dataset of information on public libraries in England. The libraries basic dataset for 2022 shows the number of static libraries in England (statutory and non-statutory) from April 2010 to 31 December 2022 and includes information on permanent library closures, as well as new library openings. It can be found here.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many libraries have opened in each year since 2015.
Answered by Julia Lopez
Arts Council England collects data from local authorities and publishes a basic dataset of information on public libraries in England. The libraries basic dataset for 2022 shows the number of static libraries in England (statutory and non-statutory) from April 2010 to 31 December 2022 and includes information on permanent library closures, as well as new library openings. It can be found here.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment her Department has made of the impact of switching off the Public Switched Telephone Network in 2025 on rural areas with poor broadband connectivity.
Answered by Julia Lopez
Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services (the Public Switched Telephone Network’s replacement) require a minimum stable connection speed of just 0.5Mbps in order to function correctly, and voice-only services will still be available to consumers in the UK who do not wish to purchase a general internet connection. Thus, even in the small number of rural areas with poor broadband connectivity, the migration will not have an impact on most consumers’ ability to use digital landlines.
More importantly, the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) migration does not affect the universal service obligations set in the Electronic Communications (Universal Service) Order 2003 which require the designated providers to offer telephony services throughout the UK. BT and KCOM are therefore still required to maintain access to a range of telephony services as well as provide a series of special measures designed for users who have a disability.
As a response to complaints from customers, BT announced this week that it will pause the forced migration of customers until new products are available that provide greater power resilience. For more information you can read the full announcement here.
Whilst the upgrade of UK landlines from the PSTN to VoIP technology is an industry-led initiative, the government and Ofcom are working together to ensure consumers and sectors are protected and prepared for the upgrade process.
As of September 2021, 99.6% of premises in the UK were able to access a decent broadband connection from either a fixed or a fixed wireless access broadband connection. Properties without a decent broadband connection may be eligible for a connection under the broadband Universal Service Obligation. The Government is also investing £5bn as part of Project Gigabit to ensure the hardest-to-reach areas in the UK receive coverage.