Asked by: Kate Osborne (Labour - Jarrow and Gateshead East)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will make it her policy to ensure the continuation of the Lionesses Future Fund.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government is committed to supporting women’s sport and ensuring all women and girls, no matter their background, have access to high quality sport, including football.
The department is working with the Football Foundation to embed standard criteria to ensure access for women and girls for all their major capital projects, meaning more women and girls benefit from our investment. At the Autumn Budget, the Government confirmed our continued support for elite and grassroots sport by investing in multi-use facilities. Further details will be confirmed in due course.
Asked by: Kate Osborne (Labour - Jarrow and Gateshead East)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to Q33 of the oral evidence she gave to the Culture, Media and Sport Committee on 10 December 2024, HC 330, what assessment she has made of the (a) demand for women's and girl's football facilities and (b) the funding required for that provision over the next five years.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government is dedicated to supporting every aspect of women’s sport and ensuring all women and girls, no matter their background, have access to high quality sport. High-quality, inclusive facilities help clubs to get more people active and by backing these clubs, the Government will support more women and girls to get onto the pitch wherever they live.
We are pleased to see the significant progress in the number of women and girls taking up football in recent years, and wider developments in the women’s game. In 2023, Karen Carney OBE published a major Independent Review of Women’s Football which made a series of recommendations including supporting grassroots women and girls’ football. This Government fully endorses those recommendations and looks forward to ensuring tangible progress is made.
The Government continues to support grassroots facilities, including through the Multi-Sport Grassroots Facilities programme, which provides funding to build and improve grassroots facilities, and a commitment to support the Football Association’s ambition to double their number of gold-standard (3-star) community clubs by EURO 2028. This will deliver more opportunities for women and girls to get on the pitch.
£123 million of funding is being delivered through the Multi-Sport Grassroots Facilities Programme in 2024/25. Following the Autumn Budget on 30 October 2024, the Government confirmed its continued support for elite and grassroots sport through future investment, of which further details will be confirmed in due course.
We are also working with the Football Foundation to embed the learnings of the Lionesses Futures Fund as standard criteria for all their major capital projects, meaning more women and girls benefit from our investment. This includes guaranteeing a share of priority slots to women’s and girls’ teams and setting up a new small grants programme specifically targeted at creating female-friendly facilities off the pitch.
The Football Foundation plans 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 increase in demand for women and girls’ grassroots facilities.
The Football Association is a long-term partner of Sport England, and have received over £26 million of funding from them for the period 2022-27 for grassroots football projects.
Asked by: Kate Osborne (Labour - Jarrow and Gateshead East)
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 Cabinet colleagues on a long-term funding settlement for women and girls' football facilities.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government is dedicated to supporting every aspect of women’s sport and ensuring all women and girls, no matter their background, have access to high quality sport. High-quality, inclusive facilities help clubs to get more people active and by backing these clubs, the Government will support more women and girls to get onto the pitch wherever they live.
The Government continues to support grassroots facilities, including through the Multi-Sport Grassroots Facilities programme, which provides funding to build and improve grassroots facilities, and a commitment to support the Football Association’s ambition to double their number of gold-standard (3-star) community clubs by EURO 2028. This will deliver more opportunities for women and girls to get on the pitch.
£123 million of funding is being delivered through the Multi-Sport Grassroots Facilities Programme in 2024/25. Following the Autumn Budget on 30 October 2024, the Government confirmed its continued support for elite and grassroots sport through future investment, of which further details will be confirmed in due course.
Asked by: Kate Osborne (Labour - Jarrow and Gateshead East)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how much funding was allocated to grass roots football in (a) 2023-24 and (b) 2024-25; and if she will take steps to continue this funding in 2025-26.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Grassroots sports clubs are at the heart of communities up and down the country. We know just how important they are, which is why we are committed to supporting high-quality, inclusive facilities to get more people active, including through the Multi-Sport Grassroots Facilities programme, which provides funding to build and improve grassroots facilities, and a commitment to support the Football Association’s ambition to double their number of gold-standard (3-star) community clubs by EURO 2028.
£123 million of funding is being delivered through the Multi-Sport Grassroots Facilities Programme in 2024/25. Following the Autumn Budget on 30 October 2024, the Government confirmed its continued support for elite and grassroots sport through future investment, of which further details will be confirmed in due course.
The Football Association is a long-term partner of Sport England, and have received over £26 million of funding from them for the period 2022-27 for grassroots football projects.
Asked by: Kate Osborne (Labour - Jarrow and Gateshead East)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of a voluntary grassroots contribution on arena and festival tickets to support the grassroots music sector.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government will respond to the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee’s report on grassroots music venues in the coming weeks, including its recommendations on a ticket levy, the agent of change principle, and a fan-led review of live and electronic music. To support fans, we will launch a consultation on new protections for ticket resales in the autumn alongside a call for evidence on price transparency.
We are encouraged to see the music industry exploring a voluntary levy to sustain the flow of talented musicians throughout the music ecosystem, from grassroots to the main stage. The Secretary of State and I [Minister Bryant] look forward to meeting Mark Davyd, CEO of Music Venue Trust later this month to discuss the challenges and opportunities facing the grassroots music sector, where the recommendations set out in the Select Committee’s report will be discussed.
Asked by: Kate Osborne (Labour - Jarrow and Gateshead East)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of putting the agent of change on a statutory footing to support grassroots music venues.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government will respond to the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee’s report on grassroots music venues in the coming weeks, including its recommendations on a ticket levy, the agent of change principle, and a fan-led review of live and electronic music. To support fans, we will launch a consultation on new protections for ticket resales in the autumn alongside a call for evidence on price transparency.
We are encouraged to see the music industry exploring a voluntary levy to sustain the flow of talented musicians throughout the music ecosystem, from grassroots to the main stage. The Secretary of State and I [Minister Bryant] look forward to meeting Mark Davyd, CEO of Music Venue Trust later this month to discuss the challenges and opportunities facing the grassroots music sector, where the recommendations set out in the Select Committee’s report will be discussed.
Asked by: Kate Osborne (Labour - Jarrow and Gateshead East)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will institute a fan-led review of the music industry.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government will respond to the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee’s report on grassroots music venues in the coming weeks, including its recommendations on a ticket levy, the agent of change principle, and a fan-led review of live and electronic music. To support fans, we will launch a consultation on new protections for ticket resales in the autumn alongside a call for evidence on price transparency.
We are encouraged to see the music industry exploring a voluntary levy to sustain the flow of talented musicians throughout the music ecosystem, from grassroots to the main stage. The Secretary of State and I [Minister Bryant] look forward to meeting Mark Davyd, CEO of Music Venue Trust later this month to discuss the challenges and opportunities facing the grassroots music sector, where the recommendations set out in the Select Committee’s report will be discussed.
Asked by: Kate Osborne (Labour - Jarrow and Gateshead East)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of LGBTQ+ sport teams on tackling inequality in sports.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The government is committed to promoting diversity and inclusion in sport at all levels. We will continue to work with the sport sector to help it be inclusive and welcoming to its spectators, participants and workforce, including LGBTQ+ people.
Sport England’s ten year strategy, Uniting the Movement, reinforces their commitment to tackling inequalities faced in sport by underrepresented groups, including LGBTQ+. Sport England is investing £120 million to increase participation in sport and boost diversity at the grassroots level to give more and better opportunities to all.
Additionally, the updated Code for Sports Governance requires sports that receive substantial public funding from either UK Sport or Sport England, including Rugby Union, to have detailed and ambitious diversity and inclusion action plans in place, which are published and updated annually.
Asked by: Kate Osborne (Labour - Jarrow and Gateshead East)
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 support LGBTQ+ rugby union teams.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The government is committed to promoting diversity and inclusion in sport at all levels. We will continue to work with the sport sector to help it be inclusive and welcoming to its spectators, participants and workforce, including LGBTQ+ people.
Sport England’s ten year strategy, Uniting the Movement, reinforces their commitment to tackling inequalities faced in sport by underrepresented groups, including LGBTQ+. Sport England is investing £120 million to increase participation in sport and boost diversity at the grassroots level to give more and better opportunities to all.
Additionally, the updated Code for Sports Governance requires sports that receive substantial public funding from either UK Sport or Sport England, including Rugby Union, to have detailed and ambitious diversity and inclusion action plans in place, which are published and updated annually.
Asked by: Kate Osborne (Labour - Jarrow and Gateshead East)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what support her Department provides to grass roots LGBTQ+ sports teams.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The government is committed to promoting diversity and inclusion in sport at all levels. We will continue to work with the sport sector to help it be inclusive and welcoming to its spectators, participants and workforce, including LGBTQ+ people.
Sport England’s ten year strategy, Uniting the Movement, reinforces their commitment to tackling inequalities faced in sport by underrepresented groups, including LGBTQ+. Sport England is investing £120 million to increase participation in sport and boost diversity at the grassroots level to give more and better opportunities to all.
Additionally, the updated Code for Sports Governance requires sports that receive substantial public funding from either UK Sport or Sport England, including Rugby Union, to have detailed and ambitious diversity and inclusion action plans in place, which are published and updated annually.