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 funding announced for her Department in the Spending Review 2025 is (a) new funding and (b) was funding allocated to the Department by the previous Government.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Spending Review 2025 (SR25) formally set all Departmental budgets for the upcoming SR period, no budgets had been formally set before for this period. As such, all SR25 funding was agreed by the current government.
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 merits of (a) a National Lido Strategy and (b) a National Lido Fund.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government has made no assessment on the potential merits of a National Lido Strategy or a National Lido Fund. The Government is committed to ensuring that everyone has access to and benefits from quality sport and physical activity opportunities.
Sports facilities, such as swimming pools and lidos, provide important community hubs for people of all ages to be active and connect people to the places in which they live.
The ongoing responsibility of providing access to public leisure facilities lies at local authority level, and the Government continues to encourage local authorities to invest in leisure facilities. We are committed to supporting Local Government, recognising the significant financial challenges faced by the sector and by ensuring that funding goes to the places that need it most through the Local Government Finance Settlement.
We will continue to engage with Swim England, ukactive, and other key stakeholders to explore how we can work towards securing a vibrant future for swimming pools and lidos, enabling them to continue delivering their full potential for public health, economic growth, and the wellbeing of our communities. Last month, the Culture Secretary announced that following the Spending Review, at least £400 million is going to be invested into new and upgraded grassroots sport facilities in communities right across the UK, supporting the Government's Plan for Change. We will work closely with sporting bodies and local leaders to establish what each community needs and then set out further plans.
Asked by: Louie French (Conservative - Old Bexley and Sidcup)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the 10 Year Health Plan for England, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of using (a) chiropractors and (b) other wider healthcare professionals to support the NHS in delivering neighbourhood health centres.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Neighbourhood health centres will provide easier, more convenient access to a full range of healthcare services on people’s doorsteps, and patients will be treated and cared for closer to their home by new teams of healthcare professionals.
We have launched the National Neighbourhood Health Implementation Programme (NNHIP). The NNHIP will support systems across the country to test new ways of working, share learning, and scale what works. This programme will inform future strategy and policy development, and outcome metrics will be rigorously monitored.
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 plans she has to invest in grassroots cricket.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government provides the majority of support for grassroots sport through Sport England, which annually invests over £250 million in Exchequer and Lottery funding.
This already includes long term investment to the England and Wales Cricket Board, the National Governing Body for cricket, which receives up to £11.6 million for five years to invest in community cricket initiatives.
The Government also announced another £400 million to transform facilities across the whole of the nation following the Spending Review. We will work closely with sporting bodies and local leaders to establish what each community needs and then set out further plans. I met with the England and Wales Cricket Board, among other sports, to discuss this last week.
Asked by: Louie French (Conservative - Old Bexley and Sidcup)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many and what proportion of Gift Aid claims have been rejected in each of the last five years.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The average processing times for Gift Aid claims over the last five tax years are below:
Tax Year | Average Working Days to Pay | ||
06/04/2024 | to | 05/04/2025 | 3.16 |
06/04/2023 | to | 05/04/2024 | 3.24 |
06/04/2022 | to | 05/04/2023 | 2.84 |
06/04/2021 | to | 05/04/2022 | 3.49 |
06/04/2020 | to | 05/04/2021 | 4.08 |
HMRC does not hold information centrally on what proportion of Gift Aid claims have been rejected in each of the last five years.
Asked by: Louie French (Conservative - Old Bexley and Sidcup)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the average processing time was for Gift Aid claims in each of the last five years.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The average processing times for Gift Aid claims over the last five tax years are below:
Tax Year | Average Working Days to Pay | ||
06/04/2024 | to | 05/04/2025 | 3.16 |
06/04/2023 | to | 05/04/2024 | 3.24 |
06/04/2022 | to | 05/04/2023 | 2.84 |
06/04/2021 | to | 05/04/2022 | 3.49 |
06/04/2020 | to | 05/04/2021 | 4.08 |
HMRC does not hold information centrally on what proportion of Gift Aid claims have been rejected in each of the last five years.
Asked by: Louie French (Conservative - Old Bexley and Sidcup)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the tariff rate per patient was for (a) CT, (b) MRI and (c) ultrasound scans delivered in community diagnostic centres on (ii) 1 March and (ii) 1 June 2025.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The community diagnostic centre (CDC) tariff price list has evolved to align with the national payment scheme from April 2025. Tariff prices in CDCs are now consistent with acute and primary care provision so that the cost of the delivery of diagnostics is equitable with the rest of the National Health Service. The payment scheme can be found at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/2025-26-nhs-payment-scheme/
The cost differential over the Spending Review 2021 period allowed CDCs under construction to be supported financially with the additional costs of setting up a new service. The following table shows the CDC price tariffs for 2024/25:
Test type | Test name and description | Price |
Ultrasound (US) non-obstetric ultrasound (NOUS) | US (NOUS) without contrast | £52 |
US (NOUS) with contrast | £117 | |
Computed tomography (CT) | CT with contrast | £146 |
CT without contrast | £133 | |
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) | MRI without contrast | £177 |
MRI with contrast | £264 |
In addition, the following table shows the 2025/26 national payment scheme prices:
Test type | Test name and description | Price |
Ultrasound (US) non-obstetric ultrasound (NOUS) | US (NOUS) without contrast (under 20 mins) | £48 |
US (NOUS) without contrast (over 20 mins) | £61 | |
US (NOUS) with contrast (under 20 mins) | £99 | |
US (NOUS) with contrast (over 20 mins) | £111 | |
Computed tomography (CT) | CT with contrast 1 area (Adult) | £98 |
CT with contrast 1 area (Paediatrics age 6 to 18 years old) | £161 | |
CT with contrast 2 area | £105 | |
CT with contrast 3 area | £115 | |
CT non contrast 1 area (Adult) | £78 | |
CT non contrast 1 area (Paediatrics age 6 to 18 years old) | £132 | |
CT non contrast 2 area | £85 | |
CT non contrast 3 area | £94 | |
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) | MRI non contrast 1 area (Adult) | £129 |
MRI non contrast 1 area (Paediatric age 6 to 18 years old) | £217 | |
MRI non contrast 2 area | £155 | |
MRI non contrast more than 3 area | £222 | |
MRI with contrast 1 area (Adult) | £188 | |
MRI with contrast 1 area (Paediatric age 6 to 18 years old) | £329 |
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 growth in unregulated large-scale prize draws on National Lottery ticket sales.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Prize draws are a significant and growing market. We want people who participate in prize draws to be confident that proportionate protections are in place.
We will be introducing a Voluntary Code for prize draw operators later this year. This Code will provide a uniform approach across the sector to strengthen player protections, increase transparency and improve accountability.
This approach allows us to take swift action collectively with the sector. The success of this code will dictate whether this Government decides that greater regulation may be required, including legislation.
Further information on this can be found in a Written Ministerial Statement published on Thursday 26 June 2025.
The independent research into the prize draws sector was published on 26 June 2026 (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/research-report-online-prize-draws-and-competitions-market-study-assessment-of-harm-and-review-of-potential-interventions). The research gathered views from lottery stakeholders on the perceived impact of the prize draw market on the lotteries sector, including the National Lottery, but did not make a full assessment of this impact.
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, when she plans to publish a timetable for consulting on the regulation of large-scale prize draws.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Prize draws are a significant and growing market. We want people who participate in prize draws to be confident that proportionate protections are in place.
We will be introducing a Voluntary Code for prize draw operators later this year. This Code will provide a uniform approach across the sector to strengthen player protections, increase transparency and improve accountability.
This approach allows us to take swift action collectively with the sector. The success of this code will dictate whether this Government decides that greater regulation may be required, including legislation.
Further information on this can be found in a Written Ministerial Statement published on Thursday 26 June 2025.
The independent research into the prize draws sector was published on 26 June 2026 (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/research-report-online-prize-draws-and-competitions-market-study-assessment-of-harm-and-review-of-potential-interventions). The research gathered views from lottery stakeholders on the perceived impact of the prize draw market on the lotteries sector, including the National Lottery, but did not make a full assessment of this impact.
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, when she plans to publish the independent research into large-scale commercial prize draws.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Prize draws are a significant and growing market. We want people who participate in prize draws to be confident that proportionate protections are in place.
We will be introducing a Voluntary Code for prize draw operators later this year. This Code will provide a uniform approach across the sector to strengthen player protections, increase transparency and improve accountability.
This approach allows us to take swift action collectively with the sector. The success of this code will dictate whether this Government decides that greater regulation may be required, including legislation.
Further information on this can be found in a Written Ministerial Statement published on Thursday 26 June 2025.
The independent research into the prize draws sector was published on 26 June 2026 (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/research-report-online-prize-draws-and-competitions-market-study-assessment-of-harm-and-review-of-potential-interventions). The research gathered views from lottery stakeholders on the perceived impact of the prize draw market on the lotteries sector, including the National Lottery, but did not make a full assessment of this impact.