Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Wansbeck)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many junior football matches have been postponed this season as a result of weather.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Maintenance of grass football pitches is the responsibility of individual clubs in conjunction with the FA. Clubs that play at Step 1 to 6 of the National League System and Tiers 1 to 4 of the Women’s Football Pyramid are eligible to apply for grants through the Premier League Stadium Fund in order to make improvements to their grounds. Administration of the grants is managed by the Football Foundation.
Government is also delivering an historic level of direct investment to build or upgrade thousands of grassroots facilities across the UK. This includes £327 million to provide up to 8,000 new and improved multi-sport grassroots facilities and pitches across the whole of the UK between 2021 and 2025.
The Government recognises the logistical difficulties posed by weather-related postponements, and the consequent fixture congestion caused. This is exacerbated for clubs that have been forced to play their home fixtures at an alternative venue where the surface at their home ground is unplayable. However, the decision of whether or not to extend a football season is one that must be made by the FA as national governing body of the sport.
Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Wansbeck)
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 playing home games at alternative venues on non-league football clubs.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Maintenance of grass football pitches is the responsibility of individual clubs in conjunction with the FA. Clubs that play at Step 1 to 6 of the National League System and Tiers 1 to 4 of the Women’s Football Pyramid are eligible to apply for grants through the Premier League Stadium Fund in order to make improvements to their grounds. Administration of the grants is managed by the Football Foundation.
Government is also delivering an historic level of direct investment to build or upgrade thousands of grassroots facilities across the UK. This includes £327 million to provide up to 8,000 new and improved multi-sport grassroots facilities and pitches across the whole of the UK between 2021 and 2025.
The Government recognises the logistical difficulties posed by weather-related postponements, and the consequent fixture congestion caused. This is exacerbated for clubs that have been forced to play their home fixtures at an alternative venue where the surface at their home ground is unplayable. However, the decision of whether or not to extend a football season is one that must be made by the FA as national governing body of the sport.
Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Wansbeck)
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 impact of the state of grass pitches maintained by local authorities on junior football.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Maintenance of grass football pitches is the responsibility of individual clubs in conjunction with the FA. Clubs that play at Step 1 to 6 of the National League System and Tiers 1 to 4 of the Women’s Football Pyramid are eligible to apply for grants through the Premier League Stadium Fund in order to make improvements to their grounds. Administration of the grants is managed by the Football Foundation.
Government is also delivering an historic level of direct investment to build or upgrade thousands of grassroots facilities across the UK. This includes £327 million to provide up to 8,000 new and improved multi-sport grassroots facilities and pitches across the whole of the UK between 2021 and 2025.
The Government recognises the logistical difficulties posed by weather-related postponements, and the consequent fixture congestion caused. This is exacerbated for clubs that have been forced to play their home fixtures at an alternative venue where the surface at their home ground is unplayable. However, the decision of whether or not to extend a football season is one that must be made by the FA as national governing body of the sport.
Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Wansbeck)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions she has had with the Football Association on an extension to the football season for junior sides.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Maintenance of grass football pitches is the responsibility of individual clubs in conjunction with the FA. Clubs that play at Step 1 to 6 of the National League System and Tiers 1 to 4 of the Women’s Football Pyramid are eligible to apply for grants through the Premier League Stadium Fund in order to make improvements to their grounds. Administration of the grants is managed by the Football Foundation.
Government is also delivering an historic level of direct investment to build or upgrade thousands of grassroots facilities across the UK. This includes £327 million to provide up to 8,000 new and improved multi-sport grassroots facilities and pitches across the whole of the UK between 2021 and 2025.
The Government recognises the logistical difficulties posed by weather-related postponements, and the consequent fixture congestion caused. This is exacerbated for clubs that have been forced to play their home fixtures at an alternative venue where the surface at their home ground is unplayable. However, the decision of whether or not to extend a football season is one that must be made by the FA as national governing body of the sport.
Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Wansbeck)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions she has had with local councils on the maintenance of grass pitches.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Maintenance of grass football pitches is the responsibility of individual clubs in conjunction with the FA. Clubs that play at Step 1 to 6 of the National League System and Tiers 1 to 4 of the Women’s Football Pyramid are eligible to apply for grants through the Premier League Stadium Fund in order to make improvements to their grounds. Administration of the grants is managed by the Football Foundation.
Government is also delivering an historic level of direct investment to build or upgrade thousands of grassroots facilities across the UK. This includes £327 million to provide up to 8,000 new and improved multi-sport grassroots facilities and pitches across the whole of the UK between 2021 and 2025.
The Government recognises the logistical difficulties posed by weather-related postponements, and the consequent fixture congestion caused. This is exacerbated for clubs that have been forced to play their home fixtures at an alternative venue where the surface at their home ground is unplayable. However, the decision of whether or not to extend a football season is one that must be made by the FA as national governing body of the sport.
Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Wansbeck)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether she has had discussions with the Football Association on increasing funding for third and fourth generation playing surfaces.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government is committed to delivering top class sports facilities across the country, so that everyone can take part in sport and physical activity. As part of this commitment, the Government is delivering an historic level of direct investment to build or upgrade thousands of grassroots sport facilities across the UK.
Between 2021 and 2025, the UK Government is delivering investment of over £400 million to build or upgrade thousands of grassroots facilities across the UK. The largest component of this funding is the Multi-Sport Grassroots Facilities Programme, which is investing over £320 million in, among other things, new third generation playing surfaces.
Government recognises the importance of levelling up grassroots facilities across the country and as part of the delivery of the Multi-Sport Grassroots Facilities Programme, we are analysing the need for future funding and how this will be delivered, taking into account the upcoming Spending Review.
Government has been clear that the Football Association plays an integral role in the funding of grassroots facilities, and investment in both 3G and grass pitches remains a key priority. Government will continue to work with the Football Association to encourage future investment into facilities through the Football Foundation.
Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Wansbeck)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of (a) classifying wildlife crimes as either-way offences with a maximum sentence of up to five years imprisonment, (b) giving wildlife crime notifiable status and (c) incorporating wildlife crime into the Policing Education Qualification Framework.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government takes crimes against wildlife seriously. In 2022 Defra more than doubled its funding of the National Wildlife Crime Unit (NWCU) from a total of £495,000 over the three previous years to £1.2 million for the three-year period of 2022-25.
Significant sanctions are already available to judges to hand down to those convicted of wildlife crimes - up to an unlimited fine and/or a six-month custodial sentence. Furthermore, the Animal Welfare (Sentencing) Act 2021 realises the Government’s manifesto commitment to increase the sentences available to our courts for the most serious cases of animal cruelty – including acts against wildlife - by increasing the maximum penalty for this offence to five years’ imprisonment and/or an unlimited fine. Sentencing those convicted of wildlife crimes is, however, a matter for judges; these decisions are rightly taken independently of Government.
Defra has actively supported stakeholders in making representations to the Home Office regarding the issue of making wildlife crimes notifiable. However, regardless of notifiable status, when it comes to responding to the most prevalent wildlife crimes, Chief Constables have operational independence to tackle the crimes that matter most to their communities.
Wildlife crime is not mandated as authorised professional practice and therefore is not a training requirement via the College of Policing. However, the NWCU (funded to a large degree by Defra) currently provides training to police officers across the UK. This training reflects the National Police Chiefs' Council wildlife crime strategy and provides comprehensive training in UK wildlife crime priorities and emerging trends. Since November 2022 the NWCU has trained 890 officers and is in the process of building a comprehensive digital training platform for wildlife crime which police officers and police staff will be able to access nationwide. Additionally, the NWCU provides a digital information hub for almost 1000 police staff, with up-to-date guidance on investigating wildlife crime.
Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Wansbeck)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of the guidance entitled Designate a bathing water: guidance on how to apply, published on 3 July 2023.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The updated bathing water guidance for England, published in July 2023, makes applying for bathing water designation clearer and more streamlined for applicants.
The main changes to the designation guidance were:
Defra engages with a range of stakeholders on bathing waters and welcomes views on the application guidance.
Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Wansbeck)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department is taking steps to reduce processing times for blue badge applications.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department for Transport sets the legislation that governs the Blue Badge scheme and provides guidance for local authorities who are solely responsible for administering the scheme, including issuing the badges.
There are no timescales set for administering applications other than a suggested guideline that issuing authorities should aim to complete end to end applications within 12 weeks.
80% of citizens apply for a badge using the Blue Badge Digital Service (BBDS) operated by the Department for Transport. The Department has a programme of continuous improvement to the BBDS. Working closely with local authorities and citizen users as part of its National Disability Strategy commitments, the Department’s aim is to make online badge applications quicker and easier for both applicants and local authorities.
Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Wansbeck)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department is taking steps to help increase access to grassroots football in deprived areas.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government is committed to delivering top class sports facilities across the country, so that everyone can take part in sport and physical activity. As part of this commitment, the Government is delivering an historic level of direct investment to build or upgrade thousands of grassroots sport facilities across the UK.
Between 2021 and 2025, the UK Government is delivering investment of over £400 million to build or upgrade thousands of grassroots facilities across the UK. The largest component of this funding is the Multi-Sport Grassroots Facilities Programme, which is investing over £320 million between 2021 and 2025 into football and multi-sport pitches, changing rooms and other ancillary facilities. Through this programme over £56,000 has been awarded to Northumberland County Council to improve grass pitches on Morpeth Common.
Central to this investment is a clear objective to level up access for under-represented groups through investment in deprived areas and an emphasis on equal access. 50% of funding will go to the 40% most deprived local authority areas, based on a combined inactivity and deprivation ranking.
All projects are assessed against their ability to deliver increased participation by under-represented groups - including women and girls, ethnic minority communities and people from lower socio-economic backgrounds. All projects can be viewed here on gov.uk.
In addition to facilities funding, in November 2023 Sport England announced £250 million of funding that will provide a major expansion of their investment into local communities across England to ensure those in greatest need are able to be physically active.