Asked by: Julie Elliott (Labour - Sunderland Central)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, which listed places of worship in (a) the North East and (b) Sunderland received funding since 2019; and how much each received.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme was established to provide grants towards VAT paid on repairs and maintenance to the nation's listed places or worship. Through this grant scheme, 829 awards have been issued to places of worship in the North East of England since 2019, amounting to a total of £3,532,709. In Sunderland, 39 awards have been issued to places of worship since 2019, amounting to a total of £663,885.
A dataset showing a full list of grant scheme recipients since August 2022 is available here on gov.uk: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/nearly-5000-churches-across-the-united-kingdom-benefit-from-42-million-conservation-fund.
Asked by: Julie Elliott (Labour - Sunderland Central)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to the Government response to independent review: reframing the opportunity in women’s football, published on 4 December 2023, what powers the implementation group of stakeholders announced in the Government’s response to the Carney Review will have to hold (a) the FA, (b) NewCo and (c) the Government to account; and how the implementation group will publish its findings.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government supports the recommendations set out in the Review of Women's Football, and believes that these must be acted on as a priority to ensure that we build on the unprecedented successes of recent years, and maximise the potential of the women’s game.
The implementation group will include key decision-makers from organisations with responsibility for taking forward the recommendations set out in the Review. Implementation group members will be mutually accountable for delivery of the recommendations, with members providing updates on how they are addressing the recommendations.
Asked by: Julie Elliott (Labour - Sunderland Central)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what her Department's policy is on how the independent regulator of football will interact with the newly formed women’s elite football NewCo.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Karen Carney’s independent review into women’s football recommended that the women’s game should be given the opportunity to self-regulate rather than moving immediately to independent statutory regulation. The Government agrees with that recommendation, as set out in our response to the Review.
The independent regulator for English football will be focused on the top five tiers of the men’s game. Where appropriate, it will cooperate, coordinate and share information with the relevant industry bodies in the women’s game to help deliver the shared goal of a successful, sustainable English game.
Asked by: Julie Elliott (Labour - Sunderland Central)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to the Government response to independent review: reframing the opportunity in women’s football, published on 4 December 2023, if she will list the names of the people who have (a) been invited to join (b) accepted a place on the implementation group.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The implementation group will include key-decision makers across industry with responsibility for taking forward the Reviews recommendations. We are working at pace with industry to confirm who will sit on the implementation group.
Asked by: Julie Elliott (Labour - Sunderland Central)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what information her Department holds on the number of (a) girls and (b) boys who play (i) football and (ii) other sports at (A) primary and (B) secondary school.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
The department does not routinely collect data about which sports pupils participate in during the school day. It is up to schools to decide which sports they offer, so that they can meet the needs of their pupils. Factors influencing which sports schools may offer include the space and equipment available.
The department asked what types of sports were available to Year 7 to Year 11 pupils in the Parent, Pupil and Learner Panel, covering the 2021/22 academic year. Girls reported that they were less likely to have football, basketball, cricket and rugby available to them during PE lessons in comparison to boys. By contrast, girls did report that they were more likely to have rounders, netball, badminton, dance, gymnastics and volleyball available to them. Further information can be accessed at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/parent-pupil-and-learner-panel-omnibus-surveys-for-2021-to-2022. Schools can and do separate sporting experiences for boys and girls on the grounds of safety and fairness, but they should take the time to reflect on how this affects girls and boys accessing the same sports equally.
The Active Lives Children and Young People Survey data for the 2022/23 academic year was published by Sport England on 7 December 2023 and shows a significant increase of 4 percentage points of girls in Years 1-11 playing football over the last week compared to the baseline data collected in the 2017/18 academic year. This data is accessible at: https://sportengland-production-files.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/2023-12/Active%20Lives%20Children%20and%20Young%20People%20Survey%20-%20academic%20year%202022-23%20report.pdf?VersionId=3N7GGWZMKy88UPsGfnJVUZkaTklLwB_.
On 8 March 2023, the department announced over £600 million in for the primary PE and sport premium in the 2023/24 and 2024/25 academic years, and £57 million up to March 2025 for the Opening School Facilities programme. Schools can use this funding to increase their sport provision, raise overall quality of PE and improve the opportunities for all boys and girls to access sports.
In July 2023, the government published the School Sport and Activity Action Plan, which set out the expectation for schools to provide girls and boys with the same access and opportunity to play sports in PE and wider school sport. To encourage this, the government has overseen a change to the School Games Mark, which is delivered by the Youth Sport Trust. From September 2023, schools must demonstrate how they are overcoming gender barriers faced by girls and boys in PE and wider school sport as part of their planning and delivery.
Asked by: Julie Elliott (Labour - Sunderland Central)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to his Department's data on expenditure over £500 for September 2023, what the purpose of the hospitality event held at The Botanist, Sheffield on 14 September 2023 was; how much was spent on alcoholic beverages; and how many people attended that event.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The purpose of the event was to bring national government and local authority communication directors together to improve joint working, and complied with departmental hospitality guidance.
The event was booked for 24 people with a set menu that included a single complimentary drink. The venue was secured free of charge.
Asked by: Julie Elliott (Labour - Sunderland Central)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, with reference to her Department's press release entitled Huawei legal notices issued, published on 13 October 2022, what estimate she has made of the cost to the public purse of that decision.
Answered by John Whittingdale
No public funding has been issued to telecoms operators to support the implementation of the legal notices issued in respect of Huawei.
The Impact Assessment published alongside the Telecommunications (Security) Bill estimated that the costs of monitoring compliance with the national security power, under which the legal notices were issued, would be between £7 million and £11.7 million over the period 2020-2029. This includes between £1.7 million and £2.8 million for the Department, and between £5.4 million and £8.9 million for Ofcom.
Last year, Ofcom was awarded £21m in additional funding to be spent over the subsequent three years (22/23, 23/24 and 24/25) to reflect its additional responsibilities under the Telecommunications (Security) Act 2021. The funding is ring-fenced for telecoms security. The majority of the funding is to support Ofcom’s compliance and enforcement of the Telecommunications (Security Measures) Regulations 2022 and Telecommunications Security Code of Practice 2022, but it also includes resources required to respond to any monitoring directions issued by DSIT in relation to designated vendor directions.
Asked by: Julie Elliott (Labour - Sunderland Central)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to transaction 127-DG - Delivery-65121 and 126-DG - Delivery-500 in the Home Office Procurement card spend over £500, March 2023 transparency release, whether the spend included alcoholic products.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
Yes, alcoholic products were purchased in line with the Home Office Gifts & Hospitality Guidance.
Asked by: Julie Elliott (Labour - Sunderland Central)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many tank shells were fired on training exercises in each year since 2015.
Answered by James Heappey
Below is a chart showing the number of shells and shots fired from tanks on training exercises each year since financial year 2014-15 until year to date.
Financial Year | SHELLS FIRED | SHOTS FIRED |
2014-15 | 6,742 | 5,904 |
2015-16 | 11,422 | 10,429 |
2016-17 | 4,313 | 5,509 |
2017-18 | 9,860 | 6,650 |
2018-19 | 10,206 | 7,632 |
2019-20 | 11,038 | 10,807 |
2020-21 | 700 | 4,766 |
2021-22 | 3,581 | 8,818 |
2022-23 | 2,635 | 6,162 |
2023-24 year to date | 3,201 | 1,966 |
Asked by: Julie Elliott (Labour - Sunderland Central)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the average number of (a) flying and (b) simulator hours was per RAF pilot in each of the last six years.
Answered by James Heappey
The information requested could be provided only at disproportionate cost.