Asked by: Max Wilkinson (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will publish a list of the sports governing bodies she has met with since 5 July 2024.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
DCMS publishes transparency data on GOV.UK, including details of ministers’ meetings with external organisations. Details of all meetings between 1 July and 30 September 2024 were published on 30 January 2025 and details for the following quarter will be published in due course.
Asked by: Max Wilkinson (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what plans her Department has to renew funding for the Park Tennis Courts programme.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for 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 opportunities.
All future funding of sports facilities will be considered as part of the forthcoming Spending Review.
Asked by: Max Wilkinson (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
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 providing funding for the provision of padel courts.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for 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 opportunities.
Sport England provides long term investment to the Lawn Tennis Association, the National Governing Body for padel tennis in Britain, which receives up to £10.2 million for five years to invest in community tennis and padel initiatives that will benefit everyone.
All future funding of sports facilities will be considered as part of the forthcoming Spending Review.
Asked by: Max Wilkinson (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
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 the Park Tennis Court project on encouraging more people to take up tennis.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for 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 opportunities. We recognise that everyone should have access to high quality facilities and opportunities to participate in sport and physical activity.
The previous Government commissioned an independent impact evaluation assessment of the Park Tennis Court Programme in August 2023, with a key focus being the impact of the programme on participation. We expect the full evaluation impact report to be published during April 2026.
Asked by: Max Wilkinson (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to the oral contribution by the Minister for Sport, Media, Civil Society during the debate on gambling harms of 5 February 2025, Official Report, columns 373-377WH, if she will outline the conditions under which her Department would intervene to replace the self-regulating system in the gambling industry.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Gambling in Great Britain is independently regulated by the Gambling Commission.
The independent Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) is responsible for regulating advertising in the UK. There are robust rules in place to ensure that advertising, whenever it appears, is socially responsible. Gambling operators must comply with the advertising codes of practice, which are enforced by the ASA, as part of their licence conditions. The ASA has the power to take action where there is evidence of advertising in breach of the Codes, and can also refer operators’ advertising to the Gambling Commission for possible regulatory action. However, we recognise that more can be done to improve protections. We have set the gambling industry a clear task to raise standards and this work will be monitored closely.
Asked by: Max Wilkinson (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to her Answer to the hon. Member for Cheltenham of 27 February 2025, Official Report, column 919, what the content was of her discussions with EU commissioners on reducing bureaucracy for artists touring EU countries.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Minister for Creative Industries, Arts and Tourism, Chris Bryant, met the EU Commissioner for Intergenerational Fairness, Youth, Culture and Sport, Glenn Micallef, on 26 February.
The Minister communicated the UK’s commitment to seeking a closer, more cooperative relationship with the EU, including by supporting UK creative professionals to tour in Europe. By ensuring artists and crew can move efficiently, we can support economic growth, job creation, and artistic innovation across the continent. The Minister and the Commissioner agreed to meet again to continue these discussions.
Asked by: Max Wilkinson (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
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 misinformation created by AI-generated news on public trust.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government takes very seriously the impact that online mis- and disinformation can have, including risks posed by AI. We also recognise the concerns around AI models generating large volumes of content that is indistinguishable from human generated content which may also impact trust in the information environment. Enabling users, and institutions, to determine what media is real is a key part of tackling a wide range of AI risks.
Journalism plays an invaluable role in the fabric of our society and we are committed to supporting a free, sustainable and plural media landscape, as the best way of maintaining a shared understanding of facts. We are engaging with the press sector on these concerns, including through a recent ministerial roundtable with major UK publishers and broadcasters on the broader impact of generative AI on journalism. We have also provided funding to the Bridging Responsible AI Divides research programme at The University of Edinburgh, which produced the report ‘Generative AI and Journalism: Mapping the Risk Landscape’. We will continue to work with the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, as the lead department on counter-disinformation policy and monitor developments in this area to inform future policymaking.
Asked by: Max Wilkinson (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
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 AI on (a) print journalism and (b) the online media industry.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Journalism plays an invaluable role in the fabric of our society and we are committed to supporting a free, sustainable and plural media landscape. At the same time, the UK is well placed to seize the transformative opportunities presented by AI and is committed to the responsible adoption of AI across all parts of the economy. In this context, we recognise concerns from the press sector that recent developments in generative AI pose risks, as well as opportunities, to journalism, including those who work freelance. We are engaging with the press sector on these concerns, including through a recent ministerial roundtable with major UK publishers and broadcasters. We have also provided funding to the Bridging Responsible AI Divides research programme at The University of Edinburgh, which produced the report ‘Generative AI and Journalism: Mapping the Risk Landscape’. We will continue to monitor developments here to inform future policymaking, including with regard to employment opportunities for freelance journalists.
We recognise that particular concerns have been raised with regard to the use of copyrighted news content in the training of AI models and how this interacts with UK copyright law. Our consultation on the impact of AI on the copyright regime has now closed. We will consider all the responses we have received and continue to develop our policy approach in partnership with creative industries, media and AI stakeholders. Addressing this is an urgent priority for the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, but no decisions will be taken until we are confident we have a practical plan that delivers for the media and creative industries.
Asked by: Max Wilkinson (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
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 AI on employment opportunities for freelance press journalists.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Journalism plays an invaluable role in the fabric of our society and we are committed to supporting a free, sustainable and plural media landscape. At the same time, the UK is well placed to seize the transformative opportunities presented by AI and is committed to the responsible adoption of AI across all parts of the economy. In this context, we recognise concerns from the press sector that recent developments in generative AI pose risks, as well as opportunities, to journalism, including those who work freelance. We are engaging with the press sector on these concerns, including through a recent ministerial roundtable with major UK publishers and broadcasters. We have also provided funding to the Bridging Responsible AI Divides research programme at The University of Edinburgh, which produced the report ‘Generative AI and Journalism: Mapping the Risk Landscape’. We will continue to monitor developments here to inform future policymaking, including with regard to employment opportunities for freelance journalists.
We recognise that particular concerns have been raised with regard to the use of copyrighted news content in the training of AI models and how this interacts with UK copyright law. Our consultation on the impact of AI on the copyright regime has now closed. We will consider all the responses we have received and continue to develop our policy approach in partnership with creative industries, media and AI stakeholders. Addressing this is an urgent priority for the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, but no decisions will be taken until we are confident we have a practical plan that delivers for the media and creative industries.
Asked by: Max Wilkinson (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if her Department will make an assessment of the potential impact of local government reorganisation on funding of arts, culture and leisure facilities.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The funding of local cultural services and organisations is a matter for individual local authorities, but the Government strongly supports their doing so, not least because of the significant economic, social, and wellbeing benefits cultural organisations deliver.
The final Settlement for 2025-26 makes available over £69 billion for local government, which is a 6.8% cash terms increase in councils’ Core Spending Power on 2024-25. This above-inflation increase demonstrates the Government’s commitment to supporting local authorities. The majority of this funding is not ring-fenced, so local authorities can consider how best to balance their local priorities.
As set out in the Government’s guidance on proposals for local government reorganisation, areas should consider issues of local identity and cultural and historic importance in working up plans that are in the best interests of the whole area.