Asked by: Josh Babarinde (Liberal Democrat - Eastbourne)
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 support grassroots sports clubs in Eastbourne.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government is determined to ensure that everyone has access to quality sport and physical activity opportunities. That is why we have committed another £400 million to transform facilities across the whole of the UK over the next four years. This funding builds upon the additional £100 million that was announced for the Multi-Sport Grassroots Facilities Programme in March. Details regarding funded projects can be found via the recently updated 2024/25 project lists, which are publicly available here - https://www.gov.uk/guidance/multi-sport-grassroots-facilities-programme-projects-2024-to-2025 - and is also available in the Library of the House.
The Government provides the majority of funding for grassroots sports and health club facilities in England, 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.
We will now work closely with sporting bodies and local leaders to establish what communities need, and then set out further plans on how future funding will be allocated across the UK.
Asked by: Josh Babarinde (Liberal Democrat - Eastbourne)
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 support libraries in Eastbourne.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Public libraries are funded by local authorities and each local authority is responsible for assessing the needs of their local communities and designing a library service to meet those needs within available resources.
The Public Libraries and Museums Act 1964 requires the Secretary of State to “superintend and promote the improvement of the public library service provided by local authorities in England”. To assist this function the department regularly monitors local authority library service provision.
I understand that as at 31 December 2023 the statutory library provision delivered by East Sussex County Council was 17 local authority-run static libraries. Two of these static libraries are located in the Eastbourne constituency: Eastbourne and Hampden Park.
We are committed to ensuring that funding is targeted effectively at the places and services that need it most and allocated in a way that empowers local leaders to deliver against local priorities. Recent decisions taken at the Spending Review result in an average real terms increase in local authority core spending power of 2.6% per year between 2026-27 to 2028-29.
Asked by: Josh Babarinde (Liberal Democrat - Eastbourne)
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 support local media in(a) Eastbourne constituency and (b) East Sussex.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Sustainability of local journalism across the country is an area of particular concern for this Government, including in Eastbourne and East Sussex. Government understands the important work that local news does across the UK, including outlets such as the Argus, the Eastbourne Reporter and the Eastbourne Herald. We are developing a Local Media Strategy, in recognition of the importance of this vital sector. Our vision is a thriving local media that can continue to play an invaluable role as a key channel of trustworthy information at local level, reporting on the issues that matter to communities, reflecting their contributions and perspectives, and helping to foster a self-confident nation in which everyone feels that their contribution is part of an inclusive national story.
We are working across Government and with other stakeholders as the Strategy develops, and we recently held a roundtable discussion with local news editors to discuss our planned approach and collaboration with industry on the Strategy. An industry working group has now been set up to consider the issues in more detail and we will announce more in the coming months.
Asked by: Josh Babarinde (Liberal Democrat - Eastbourne)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she plans to take to support art galleries with financial pressures.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Museums and galleries enrich communities, creating thriving places for people to live and visit.
We’re working with Arts Council England and others to understand the sector’s priorities and needs, looking at the sector as a whole: from our commitment to restoring stability to Local Government, to our forthcoming review of Arts Council England.
Regional art galleries are a major beneficiary of DCMS’s £86 million Museum Estate and Development Fund, with Round 4 currently underway.