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 help grow the tourism industry in Eastbourne.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government is implementing the most significant overhaul of regional destination management in a generation, creating a portfolio of nationally supported, strategic and high-performing Local Visitor Economy Partnerships (LVEPs) in partnership with VisitEngland. These LVEPs will provide strong local leadership and governance in tourism destinations all over the country, including in rural and coastal areas.
The East Sussex, Brighton & Hove and West Sussex LVEP are included in this partnership, and works collaboratively with both local authority and private sector partners to communicate investment opportunities and to showcase Eastbourne’s strengths as a place to live, work, study and invest in, as well as a premier destination for visitors.
DCMS continues to work with VisitBritain/VisitEngland to champion visits to the British countryside to a worldwide audience. VisitBritain’s new GREAT-funded international marketing campaign, ‘Starring GREAT Britain’, uses the hook of Britain’s rich film and television history to encourage more international visitors to explore across Britain, including many rural destinations.
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 seaside tourism in Eastbourne constituency.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
With coastal and countryside destinations making up 25% of domestic day trips and 31% of domestic overnight stays in 2023, DCMS recognises tourism as a key sector with the potential to contribute strongly to economic growth and pride in place of an area.
DCMS and VisitEngland have transformed England’s visitor economy landscape through a new and robust structure of Local Visitor Economy Partnerships (LVEPs) – sharing priorities, resources and targets to help attract more visitors who stay for longer. Over 40 LVEPs have now been accredited, including the East Sussex, Brighton & Hove and West Sussex LVEP, aiming to drive investment and spend across regions and support the government's devolution agenda.
VisitBritain’s GREAT-funded international marketing campaign launched at the beginning of this year. ‘Starring GREAT Britain’ has used the hook of Britain’s rich film and television history to encourage more international visitors to explore across Britain, including many rural and coastal destinations.
Asked by: Josh Babarinde (Liberal Democrat - Eastbourne)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department plans to take to improve access to reproductive health in (a) Eastbourne and (b) East Sussex.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Improving access to reproductive health services in Eastbourne and East Sussex is a matter for local determination.
The Government has mandated local authorities in England to commission comprehensive open access to most sexual and reproductive health services, including contraception advice, through the Public Health Grant. It is for individual local authorities to decide their spending priorities based on an assessment of local need, and to commission the blend of service access that best suits their population.
In addition, under the GP Contract, contraceptive services are an essential service that practices must provide, or arrange for the provision of, to their patients. Practices are paid for providing essential services via the global sum, which is a capitated payment based on practice patient list size, weighted to account for estimated patient workload and unavoidable costs.
Contraception is also available direct from pharmacies, both prescribed and over the counter, as well as online and through other health care services.
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 music and arts programmes in (a) Eastbourne and (b) England.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
For 2023 - 2026 our arms-length-body Arts Council England is investing around £444 million per annum into their National Portfolio Organisations across England. This includes nearly £550k of annual funding to the Towner Gallery in Eastbourne, which attracts over 175,000 visitors a year, and engages with over 55,000 participants a year through its learning and outreach programme.
Arts Council England’s open funding programme, National Lottery Project Grants provides over £100 million of support annually to individuals and organisations, and since 2023 has invested over £600k into arts projects across Eastbourne.
The government wants to ensure everyone has access to high quality arts and culture in the places they call home, and the new Creative Foundations Fund, announced in February, will invest £85 million to support arts and cultural organisations across England to resolve urgent issues with their estates. This will ensure their buildings and infrastructure will provide improved user experience for visitors and ensure they can be enjoyed by visitors for many more years to come. Guidance for the fund was published at the end of May and Arts Council England will be accepting Expressions of Interest until 25 July. With grants available from £100,000 and up to £10 million, this fund is a significant opportunity for eligible organisations across the country, including those in Eastbourne, to address their capital needs.
Asked by: Josh Babarinde (Liberal Democrat - Eastbourne)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to increase the number of available general practice appointments in Eastbourne.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is determined to work with the National Health Service to fix the front door of our health service and ensure that everyone can access general practice (GP) appointments and services, including in Eastbourne. Through our 10-Year Health Plan, it will be easier and faster to see a GP. The 8:00am scramble will end, we will train more doctors, and we will guarantee digital consultations within 24 hours.
In October 2024, we invested £82 million into the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme to support the recruitment of 1,900 individual GPs into primary care networks across England, helping to increase appointment availability and improve care for thousands of patients.
We have also delivered the biggest boost to GP funding in years, an £889 million uplift, with GPs now receiving a growing share of National Health Service resources. Additionally, the new £102 million Primary Care Utilisation and Modernisation Fund will create additional clinical space within over 1,000 practices across England. This investment will deliver more appointments and improve patient care.
Asked by: Josh Babarinde (Liberal Democrat - Eastbourne)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to support the uptake of apprenticeships in (a) Eastbourne and (b) East Sussex.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
This government is transforming the apprenticeships offer into a new growth and skills offer, which will provide greater flexibility to employers and learners across the country, including in Eastbourne and East Sussex, and support the industrial strategy.
From August, the department will be introducing seven new foundation apprenticeships for young people in targeted sectors, including construction and the built environment, digital, and health and social care. We are also reducing the apprenticeship minimum duration to eight months so that shorter apprenticeships are possible from August. These flexibilities will help more people learn new high-quality skills at work and fuel innovation in businesses across the country.
To support employers to access apprenticeships, the government pays £1,000 to employers when they take on apprentices aged 16 to 18 years old, and for apprentices aged 19 to 24 years old who have an education, health and care plan or have been in local authority care. We will also provide £2,000 payments to employers for every foundation apprentice they take on and retain. Employers also benefit from not being required to pay anything towards employees’ National Insurance for all apprentices aged up to 25 when they earn less than £50,270 a year.
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 of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to help tackle health inequalities in (a) Eastbourne and (b) the South East.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to building a fairer Britain, one where people can live longer, healthier lives regardless of where they are born or their financial circumstances. Tackling health inequalities requires a whole-Government effort. The newly published 10-Year Health Plan outlines a long-term vision to tackle these inequalities, address social determinants of health, and to make the National Health Service fit for the future, with further information available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/10-year-health-plan-for-england-fit-for-the-future
In Eastbourne and across the South East, the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities’ South East Regional Team provides system leadership for population health and for reducing health inequalities. This includes working with local authorities and integrated care systems to develop and deliver population health programmes at a local level, supporting regional NHS priorities and long-term planning on prevention and health inequalities, contributing to the development of the public health workforce, and enhancing data, intelligence, and insights for population health.
Asked by: Josh Babarinde (Liberal Democrat - Eastbourne)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, steps his Department is taking to support patients with (a) Type 1 and (b) Type 2 diabetes in Eastbourne.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS Sussex has made notable progress in recent years in tackling the growing challenge of diabetes, with a strong focus on prevention, equity, and modernisation of care pathways. NHS Sussex is committed to commissioning the diabetes care that people need, and has a range of services available.
With rising prevalence, particularly among those under 40 years old, prevention is a strategic priority. A range of nationally commissioned programmes are available to support people at risk of developing type 2 diabetes, including:
- the NHS Diabetes Prevention Programme;
- the type 2 Diabetes Path to Remission Programme;
- the Digital Weight Management Programme; and
- access to GLP-1 receptor agonists where clinically appropriate.
Sussex partners are actively working to increase the uptake of these offers, particularly in high-inequality and underserved populations.
In 2024/25, Sussex launched a multi-agency initiative to co-design a structured education programme tailored for people under 40 years old with type 2 diabetes, an increasingly prevalent yet underserved group.
In 2025/26, this work will shift to a neighbourhood level delivery model, enabling enhanced reviews and improving access to bespoke, community embedded education, especially for those in high-need areas.
In Eastbourne, a specialist diabetes care service is provided at Eastbourne District General Hospital, complemented by a general practice led locally commissioned service to support primary care delivery.
Building on this, NHS Sussex is co-designing an integrated, all-age, whole-pathway model for diabetes care across Sussex. This model will:
- embed prevention throughout the pathway;
- align with Integrated Community Team structures;
- leverage the diabetes technology revolution, for instance remote monitoring, diagnostics, and digital coaching;
- reduce variation in access and outcomes; and
- support a resilient and retained specialist workforce, through robust training and multi-disciplinary team development
In the first year of the hybrid closed loop (HCL) roll-out, Sussex achieved approximately 80% uptake among eligible children, young people, and high-risk adults with type 1 diabetes. In the second year, the rollout will expand to additional national priority groups in line with NHS England’s guidance.
Workforce planning is fully embedded in this process to ensure sustainable, equitable access to HCL technology across the system.
NHS Sussex continues to make progress and remains fully committed to improving outcomes, reducing variation, and delivering person-centred, future-ready diabetes care for people across Eastbourne and the wider Sussex system.
Asked by: Josh Babarinde (Liberal Democrat - Eastbourne)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to increase access to addiction support in Eastbourne.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to ensuring that anyone with a drug or alcohol problem can access the help and support they need, and we recognise the need for evidence-based, high-quality treatment.
As a condition of the Public Health Grant, local authorities are responsible for improving the take up of, and outcomes from, their drug and alcohol treatment services, based on an assessment of local need and a plan which has been developed with local health and criminal justice partners. In addition to funding through the Public Health Grant, in 2025/26, the Department is providing East Sussex County Council with £3,095,946 from the Drug and Alcohol Treatment and Recovery Improvement Grant and £168,422 from the Individual Placement and Support grant to help improve drug and alcohol treatment and recovery support, which includes housing and employment. In the 12 months to May 2025, there were 2,791 adults who had benefited from treatment in East Sussex, compared to 2,657 in the 12 months to May 2024.
This year, the Government is providing an additional £70 million for local authority-led Stop Smoking Services in England, building on existing funding made available via the Public Health Grant. Additional funding for Stop Smoking Services is based on the number of smokers in each local authority, and East Sussex County Council has been allocated an extra £710,734 for 2025/26.
All funding is provided at the East Sussex level, and it is for East Sussex County Council to determine how to meet needs in Eastbourne.
In April 2025, a new statutory levy on gambling operators, expected to raise approximately £100 million per year, was introduced to fund the research, prevention, and treatment of gambling-related harms. The levy will be distributed across the three workstreams, with 50% allocated to NHS England, alongside appropriate bodies in Scotland and Wales, to commission the development of effective treatment and support services at national and sub-national levels.