Asked by: Marsha De Cordova (Labour - Battersea)
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 (a) effectiveness of the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme and (b) potential impact of that scheme on local cultural heritage in areas of low economic activity.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Department continues to monitor the Listed Places of Worship grant scheme through the regular reporting of the grant administrator, EMB. Since 2010, the Government has returned over £350 million to listed churches, synagogues, mosques and temples through the grant scheme continuing their work as centres of worship and community assets, in places all over the country, including areas of low economic activity.
Asked by: Marsha De Cordova (Labour - Battersea)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment her Department has made of the role of indoor and covered tennis facilities in the provision of visually impaired tennis in Britain.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government is committed to improving access to sports and physical activity for everyone, including disabled people, older people and women and girls. Sport and physical activity is central to achieving our health and opportunity manifesto missions, with the biggest gains coming from supporting those who are inactive to move more.
The Government provides the majority of support for grassroots sport through Sport England - which annually invests over £250 million in Exchequer and Lottery funding. Sport England’s work focuses on increasing participation in sport and to boost diversity at a grassroots level to give more and better opportunities to all.
Sport England provides long term investment to The Lawn Tennis Association, which receives up to £10.2 million for 5 years from 2022 to invest in community tennis initiatives that will benefit everyone, including disabled people.
Decisions with regards to future departmental budgets will be made as part of the spending review process.
Asked by: Marsha De Cordova (Labour - Battersea)
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 (a) tennis and (b) padel on physical activity levels amongst (i) older people, (ii) disabled people and (iii) women and girls.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government is committed to improving access to sports and physical activity for everyone, including disabled people, older people and women and girls. Sport and physical activity is central to achieving our health and opportunity manifesto missions, with the biggest gains coming from supporting those who are inactive to move more.
The Government provides the majority of support for grassroots sport through Sport England - which annually invests over £250 million in Exchequer and Lottery funding. Sport England’s work focuses on increasing participation in sport and to boost diversity at a grassroots level to give more and better opportunities to all.
Sport England provides long term investment to The Lawn Tennis Association, which receives up to £10.2 million for 5 years from 2022 to invest in community tennis initiatives that will benefit everyone, including disabled people.
Decisions with regards to future departmental budgets will be made as part of the spending review process.
Asked by: Marsha De Cordova (Labour - Battersea)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department has plans to fund covered tennis facilities for the provision of disability tennis.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government is committed to improving access to sports and physical activity for everyone, including disabled people, older people and women and girls. Sport and physical activity is central to achieving our health and opportunity manifesto missions, with the biggest gains coming from supporting those who are inactive to move more.
The Government provides the majority of support for grassroots sport through Sport England - which annually invests over £250 million in Exchequer and Lottery funding. Sport England’s work focuses on increasing participation in sport and to boost diversity at a grassroots level to give more and better opportunities to all.
Sport England provides long term investment to The Lawn Tennis Association, which receives up to £10.2 million for 5 years from 2022 to invest in community tennis initiatives that will benefit everyone, including disabled people.
Decisions with regards to future departmental budgets will be made as part of the spending review process.
Asked by: Marsha De Cordova (Labour - Battersea)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of funding covered tennis facilities.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government is committed to improving access to sports and physical activity for everyone, including disabled people, older people and women and girls. Sport and physical activity is central to achieving our health and opportunity manifesto missions, with the biggest gains coming from supporting those who are inactive to move more.
The Government provides the majority of support for grassroots sport through Sport England - which annually invests over £250 million in Exchequer and Lottery funding. Sport England’s work focuses on increasing participation in sport and to boost diversity at a grassroots level to give more and better opportunities to all.
Sport England provides long term investment to The Lawn Tennis Association, which receives up to £10.2 million for 5 years from 2022 to invest in community tennis initiatives that will benefit everyone, including disabled people.
Decisions with regards to future departmental budgets will be made as part of the spending review process.
Asked by: Marsha De Cordova (Labour - Battersea)
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 the BBC’s decision to cut Radio 4’s In Touch show from 20 to 15 minutes on accessibility.
Answered by Julia Lopez
Ministers at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport regularly meet the BBC’s leadership to discuss a range of issues.
The BBC’s Royal Charter and Framework Agreement sets out what the BBC is required to deliver. The BBC has a range of obligations to ensure its services are accessible. The BBC is obliged to provide output and services which meet the needs of the United Kingdom’s nations, regions and communities, reflects the diversity of the United Kingdom; to observe guidance within Ofcom’s TV Access Services Code in relation to the provision of access services; and in adhering to regulatory conditions set by Ofcom in the BBC’s Operating Licence, to publish in Annual Report, how it has reflected, represented and served the diverse communities of the whole of the United Kingdom, including with regards to disability.
In meeting these obligations, the BBC is operationally and editorially independent, and BBC programming decisions are a matter for the BBC, not for the Government.
As the BBC’s independent regulator, Ofcom is responsible for holding the BBC to account on these regulatory obligations.
Asked by: Marsha De Cordova (Labour - Battersea)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department has had discussions with the BBC Board on the decision to cut Radio 4’s In Touch show from 20 to 15 minutes.
Answered by Julia Lopez
Ministers at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport regularly meet the BBC’s leadership to discuss a range of issues.
The BBC’s Royal Charter and Framework Agreement sets out what the BBC is required to deliver. The BBC has a range of obligations to ensure its services are accessible. The BBC is obliged to provide output and services which meet the needs of the United Kingdom’s nations, regions and communities, reflects the diversity of the United Kingdom; to observe guidance within Ofcom’s TV Access Services Code in relation to the provision of access services; and in adhering to regulatory conditions set by Ofcom in the BBC’s Operating Licence, to publish in Annual Report, how it has reflected, represented and served the diverse communities of the whole of the United Kingdom, including with regards to disability.
In meeting these obligations, the BBC is operationally and editorially independent, and BBC programming decisions are a matter for the BBC, not for the Government.
As the BBC’s independent regulator, Ofcom is responsible for holding the BBC to account on these regulatory obligations.
Asked by: Marsha De Cordova (Labour - Battersea)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many responses her Department received to its letter of June 2023 to football league and competition organisers on guidance relating to the safety of barriers and fences in stadiums.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
Following serious incidents involving football players colliding with objects and barriers around the perimeter of the playing area, the Government and the Professional Footballers Association (PFA) wrote jointly to The Football Association (FA), Premier League, the English Football League (EFL) and the National League setting out our concerns. Of these, The FA, Premier League, and the EFL have responded.
Asked by: Marsha De Cordova (Labour - Battersea)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to paragraph 3.7 of the policy paper entitled Up next - the Government's vision for the broadcasting sector, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the delay in the planned consultation on the renewal or relicensing of individual local television services on local (a) television services and (b) communities.
Answered by John Whittingdale
The Government recognises the important contribution and impact that local TV services make to our broadcasting ecosystem and for those across the UK, particularly in their role disseminating relevant news and engaging with local communities.
In the Broadcasting White Paper, we announced our intention to make changes to the local TV licensing regime to enable the renewal of the local TV multiplex licence – which would otherwise expire in November 2025 – until 2034. We committed to consulting on the conditions for renewal of the multiplex licence, and on our approach to the renewal or relicensing of the 34 local TV services that broadcast from it and whose licences also expire in November 2025.
The Government understands the desire of the sector for clarity on this important issue and intends to publish the consultation shortly. We are confident that this timeline will allow any renewal or relicensing process to complete well ahead of the 2025 deadline.
Asked by: Marsha De Cordova (Labour - Battersea)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, when the Government plans to publish the consultation on local television licences.
Answered by John Whittingdale
The Government recognises the important contribution and impact that local TV services make to our broadcasting ecosystem and for those across the UK, particularly in their role disseminating relevant news and engaging with local communities.
In the Broadcasting White Paper, we announced our intention to make changes to the local TV licensing regime to enable the renewal of the local TV multiplex licence – which would otherwise expire in November 2025 – until 2034. We committed to consulting on the conditions for renewal of the multiplex licence, and on our approach to the renewal or relicensing of the 34 local TV services that broadcast from it and whose licences also expire in November 2025.
The Government understands the desire of the sector for clarity on this important issue and intends to publish the consultation shortly. We are confident that this timeline will allow any renewal or relicensing process to complete well ahead of the 2025 deadline.