Asked by: Mary Glindon (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne East and Wallsend)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to support rugby clubs to improve sporting facilities for women and girls.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government believes that opportunities to play sport and get physically active should be available to everyone, including playing rugby. The Government is committed to removing the barriers to physical activity for under-represented groups, especially for women and girls. Following the Women’s Rugby World Cup in 2025, the impact programme Impact’ 25 has reached 850 clubs up and down the country since its inception and 37,000 women and girls in the last year alone. We’ve built more female-friendly facilities at clubs all over the country encouraging female participation in rugby and will work with the RFU to continue to grow the game.
More broadly, we provide the majority of support for grassroots sport through our Arm’s Length Body, Sport England, which annually invests over £250 million in Exchequer and Lottery funding.
Sport England is providing long term investment of £16.9 million to the Rugby Football Union (RFU) and £15.7 million to the Rugby Football League (RFL) between 2022 and 2029 to support grassroots rugby participation. The RFU and the RFL, as the National Governing Bodies for rugby, are responsible for decisions on how and where to target that investment into rugby union and rugby league clubs.
In June 2025, the Government also announced that at least £400 million will be invested in new and upgraded grassroots sport facilities over the next four years, promoting health, wellbeing and community cohesion. £85 million of this will be delivered in 2026/27 through the Multi-Sport Grassroots Facilities Programme, with at least 40% of projects funded through the Programme providing a multi-sport offer, meaning more people can get access to a wider variety of sports and activities that appeal to them including rugby.
Asked by: Mary Glindon (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne East and Wallsend)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what recent funding her Department has made available to rugby clubs in Tyneside.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government believes that opportunities to play sport and get physically active should be available to everyone, including playing rugby. The Government is committed to removing the barriers to physical activity for under-represented groups, especially for women and girls. Following the Women’s Rugby World Cup in 2025, the impact programme Impact’ 25 has reached 850 clubs up and down the country since its inception and 37,000 women and girls in the last year alone. We’ve built more female-friendly facilities at clubs all over the country encouraging female participation in rugby and will work with the RFU to continue to grow the game.
More broadly, we provide the majority of support for grassroots sport through our Arm’s Length Body, Sport England, which annually invests over £250 million in Exchequer and Lottery funding.
Sport England is providing long term investment of £16.9 million to the Rugby Football Union (RFU) and £15.7 million to the Rugby Football League (RFL) between 2022 and 2029 to support grassroots rugby participation. The RFU and the RFL, as the National Governing Bodies for rugby, are responsible for decisions on how and where to target that investment into rugby union and rugby league clubs.
In June 2025, the Government also announced that at least £400 million will be invested in new and upgraded grassroots sport facilities over the next four years, promoting health, wellbeing and community cohesion. £85 million of this will be delivered in 2026/27 through the Multi-Sport Grassroots Facilities Programme, with at least 40% of projects funded through the Programme providing a multi-sport offer, meaning more people can get access to a wider variety of sports and activities that appeal to them including rugby.
Asked by: Mary Glindon (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne East and Wallsend)
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 effect of gambling impact assessments on the licensing of gambling premises by local authorities.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport)
Gambling Impact Assessments (GIAs) have now been introduced in the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Act. GIAs are yet to come into force, however, the Government is preparing for their introduction and working closely with the Gambling Commission on guidance to support their successful implementation.
GIAs will allow local authorities to change the presumption in licensing decisions away from the ‘aim to permit’, where there is evidence that additional premises would undermine the licensing objectives for gambling regulation. The local authority would then be able to adopt a policy that it will reject applications for gambling premises licences in the area covered by a GIA, unless the applicant can show that the grant of the licence would be reasonably consistent with the licensing objectives. The Government believes that GIAs will be an effective tool for local authorities, protecting them from legal challenges and providing much needed clarity when making licensing decisions.
Asked by: Mary Glindon (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne East and Wallsend)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what recent progress she has made on establishing a programme to guarantee a library space in every primary school.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport)
We have allocated £12.5 million from the Dormant Assets Scheme to ensure every primary school has a library space by the end of this Parliament. The National Lottery Community Fund is working to develop more of the programme details, including which schools will receive funding.
Asked by: Mary Glindon (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne East and Wallsend)
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 impact of community sports initiatives on (a) public health outcomes and (b) crime.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government is committed to ensuring that everyone, regardless of background, should have access to and benefit from quality sport and physical activity. Community sports initiatives can have a wide range of benefits, including promoting social inclusion, tackling crime and antisocial behaviour, and delivering improvements to physical and mental wellbeing. The benefits to individual wellbeing through sport and physical activity are valued at £106.9 billion a year, and the wider value to society through savings to the health and care system is £15.9 billion a year.
In June, following the Spending Review we committed another £400 million to transform facilities across the whole of the UK over the next four years. We will ensure that this funding promotes health and wellbeing, and helps to remove the barriers to physical activity for under-represented groups. We are working with sporting bodies and local leaders to establish what communities need, before setting out further plans on how future funding will be allocated across the UK.
Asked by: Mary Glindon (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne East and Wallsend)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what recent progress her Department has made in launching Young Futures Hubs.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport)
This Government has committed to up to fifty Young Futures Hubs to be launched over the next four years. The first eight early adopter hubs will be operational by the end of this financial year, backed by a £2m investment and targeted in areas with high levels of crime. Each Young Futures Hub will meet three outcomes of increasing opportunities, improving mental health and wellbeing, and reducing crime. The Government is working closely with the eight early adopters and other stakeholders to design the programme, leveraging local understanding of services in each area.
Young Futures Hubs are part of a wider approach to improve services for young people through the National Youth Strategy, a new long-term vision for young people to be launched later this year.
Asked by: Mary Glindon (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne East and Wallsend)
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 increase access to sport for children and young people from disadvantaged backgrounds in Newcastle upon Tyne East and Wallsend constituency.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport)
I regularly meet with Ministerial counterparts on a range of issues, including young people’s engagement in sport and the barriers around this for those from lower socio-economic groups.
In the 2024/25 Financial Year, Newcastle upon Tyne East and Wallsend constituency received £102,947 from Sport England, our Arm’s Length Body responsible for physical activity and sport participation in England, to increase sport and physical activity opportunities for local communities. Sport England also recently announced Gateshead and South Tyneside as two of their new 53 Place Partnerships, which will receive support to tackle inactivity levels through community-led solutions, including for children and young people.
More widely, the Government recently announced £100 million additional funding for the UK-wide Multi-Sport Grassroots Facilities Programme which funds new and upgraded pitches, facilities, and equipment ensuring a more inclusive and sustainable offer for local communities, including children and young people.
Asked by: Mary Glindon (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne East and Wallsend)
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 steps to increase access to sport for children from low income households.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport)
I regularly meet with Ministerial counterparts on a range of issues, including young people’s engagement in sport and the barriers around this for those from lower socio-economic groups.
In the 2024/25 Financial Year, Newcastle upon Tyne East and Wallsend constituency received £102,947 from Sport England, our Arm’s Length Body responsible for physical activity and sport participation in England, to increase sport and physical activity opportunities for local communities. Sport England also recently announced Gateshead and South Tyneside as two of their new 53 Place Partnerships, which will receive support to tackle inactivity levels through community-led solutions, including for children and young people.
More widely, the Government recently announced £100 million additional funding for the UK-wide Multi-Sport Grassroots Facilities Programme which funds new and upgraded pitches, facilities, and equipment ensuring a more inclusive and sustainable offer for local communities, including children and young people.
Asked by: Mary Glindon (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne East and Wallsend)
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 grassroots music venues in Newcastle upon Tyne East and Wallsend constituency.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
The government has announced £2.5m of continued funding for the Arts Council England’s (ACE) Supporting Grassroots Music Fund (SGMF) for 2025-26. This enables grassroots music venues, recording studios, promoters and festivals to apply for grants of up to £40k to develop new revenue streams, make repairs and improvements, and enhance the live music experience for fans.
ACE has made a number of SGMF awards within the Newcastle upon Tyne East and Wallsend constituency, including Women Are Mint, a grassroots festival that takes place in Newcastle, along with Brave Exhibitions Festival, The Tyne Bank Brewery and Cobalt Studios.
There are also a number of organisations within the ACE national portfolio that engage people in grassroots music activity within this constituency, including Generator, a creative and cultural talent development agency focused on artist development and skills.
The Government and the live music industry are working together to drive progress on an industry-led levy on tickets for stadium and arena shows, to support grassroots music. We welcome commitments by artists and the wider industry to implement the ticket levy, and steps taken by industry to set up a charitable trust to distribute funds from the levy.
Asked by: Mary Glindon (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne East and Wallsend)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what recent steps she has taken to provide funding to the (a) voluntary, (b) community and (c) social enterprise sector in (i) the North East and (ii) Newcastle upon Tyne East and Wallsend constituency.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government has taken a range of steps to provide funding to the Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise (VCSE) sector in the North East.
The Government recently committed up to an additional £2.8 million for the Know Your Neighbourhood Fund, which is designed to widen participation in volunteering and tackle loneliness. The Government has also committed up to an additional £1 million for the Social Enterprise Boost Fund, a fund which provides business support and grant funding to social entrepreneurs. These place-based programmes will continue delivering funding to the VCSE sector in the North East, specifically Hartlepool, Middlesbrough, County Durham, South Tyneside and Sunderland, as well as other areas in England until March 2026.