Asked by: Louie French (Conservative - Old Bexley and Sidcup)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 9 December 2025 to Question 96315 on Sports: Finance, how much of the £400 million announced for investment into grassroots sports facilities she anticipates will be spent in 2026, and on which sports will that funding be spent.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government’s announcement of £400m of investment into grassroots sports over the next four years will ensure that we continue to deliver high-quality multi-sport facilities in communities that need them across the UK, including Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland, in order to increase participation and allow people to be active.
According to Sport England’s Active Places database, as of December 2025 there are 56,855 non-pitch-based sport facilities in England, which can be broken down by local authority. More details can be found here.
We are working on our plans for future grassroots sports funding and we will continue to engage the Devolved Governments and our local partners across the UK on this matter. We will provide an update early in 2026.
Asked by: Louie French (Conservative - Old Bexley and Sidcup)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 8 December to Question 96978 on Sports: Facilities, what data relating to non-pitch-based sports infrastructure her Department holds; and whether it holds datasets on local authority breakdowns.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government’s announcement of £400m of investment into grassroots sports over the next four years will ensure that we continue to deliver high-quality multi-sport facilities in communities that need them across the UK, including Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland, in order to increase participation and allow people to be active.
According to Sport England’s Active Places database, as of December 2025 there are 56,855 non-pitch-based sport facilities in England, which can be broken down by local authority. More details can be found here.
We are working on our plans for future grassroots sports funding and we will continue to engage the Devolved Governments and our local partners across the UK on this matter. We will provide an update early in 2026.
Asked by: Louie French (Conservative - Old Bexley and Sidcup)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether the £400 million announced for grassroots sports facilities on 19 June 2025 will include Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government’s announcement of £400m of investment into grassroots sports over the next four years will ensure that we continue to deliver high-quality multi-sport facilities in communities that need them across the UK, including Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland, in order to increase participation and allow people to be active.
According to Sport England’s Active Places database, as of December 2025 there are 56,855 non-pitch-based sport facilities in England, which can be broken down by local authority. More details can be found here.
We are working on our plans for future grassroots sports funding and we will continue to engage the Devolved Governments and our local partners across the UK on this matter. We will provide an update early in 2026.
Asked by: Louie French (Conservative - Old Bexley and Sidcup)
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 difference between (a) harm caused by gambling and (b) harm associated with gambling; and if she will set out which of these measures is the policy objective of her department when it comes to gambling policy.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government is acutely aware of the impact that harmful gambling can have on individuals, their families and communities, and we are committed to strengthening protections to safeguard those at risk of both harm caused by, and associated with, gambling.
Asked by: Louie French (Conservative - Old Bexley and Sidcup)
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 changes to the statutory consultee role of Sport England in the planning system on the level of provision of (a) pitches, (b) courts and (c) other sports facilities.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government is currently consulting on proposed changes to Sport England’s statutory consultee role in the planning regime and I encourage anyone interested to feed into that process. The aim of this consultation is not to reduce access to sports facilities. We will continue to work closely with the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government on the proposed reforms.
Asked by: Louie French (Conservative - Old Bexley and Sidcup)
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 prevalence of gambling harms at racecourse bookmakers compared to other forms of gambling; and if she will make it her policy to change the rate charged under the statutory gambling levy in line with this.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
DCMS officials engage regularly with the United Council of Racecourse Bookmakers to discuss a range of matters which affect them.
In-person betting on racing - both at racecourses and betting shops more broadly - is associated with one of the lowest risks of scoring 8+ on the Problem Gambling Severity Index (PGSI) (representing ‘problem gambling’) of all gambling products. According to the latest official statistics that publish specific PGSI data for in-person betting on horse racing, only in-person bingo, scratchcards and lotteries had a lower PGSI 8+ rate. This is reflected in levy rates, with on-course bookmakers charged one of the lowest figures, at 0.2% of Gross Gambling Yield. Levy rates will be reviewed as part of the Government’s formal review of the statutory levy system, which will take place by 2030.
Asked by: Louie French (Conservative - Old Bexley and Sidcup)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to support racecourse bookmakers.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
DCMS officials engage regularly with the United Council of Racecourse Bookmakers to discuss a range of matters which affect them.
In-person betting on racing - both at racecourses and betting shops more broadly - is associated with one of the lowest risks of scoring 8+ on the Problem Gambling Severity Index (PGSI) (representing ‘problem gambling’) of all gambling products. According to the latest official statistics that publish specific PGSI data for in-person betting on horse racing, only in-person bingo, scratchcards and lotteries had a lower PGSI 8+ rate. This is reflected in levy rates, with on-course bookmakers charged one of the lowest figures, at 0.2% of Gross Gambling Yield. Levy rates will be reviewed as part of the Government’s formal review of the statutory levy system, which will take place by 2030.
Asked by: Louie French (Conservative - Old Bexley and Sidcup)
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 the Autumn Budget 2025 on the number of gamblers accessing the black market.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The issue of illegal gambling is a concern for this Government. We are committed to working closely with the Gambling Commission, the statutory regulator for gambling in Great Britain, to ensure that illegal gambling, in all its forms, is addressed. To further secure the regulated market and protect consumers from illegal sites, it was announced at the Budget that the Government is providing an additional £26 million over three years to the Gambling Commission to strengthen enforcement and tackle illegal gambling. We will continue to monitor this area closely and will consider what other action could be taken to further tackle illegal gambling.
Asked by: Louie French (Conservative - Old Bexley and Sidcup)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what representations she has received from the Government of Gibraltar regarding the potential impact of changes to gambling levies on its economy.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
DCMS has not received any direct representations from the Government of Gibraltar regarding the potential impact of changes to gambling levies on its economy.
Asked by: Louie French (Conservative - Old Bexley and Sidcup)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to Minister's statement to the House on 26 June 2025, what assessment she has made of the merits of comparing identical time frames.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
We are confident in the findings set out in the Written Ministerial Statement of 26 June 2025 on society lotteries and prize draws. They are supported by a wide range of data and analysis, including official Industry Statistics published by the Gambling Commission, publicly available data published by operators, and from the robust independent research which was published on the same day.