Oral Answers to Questions

Rob Roberts Excerpts

Thursday 15th June 2023 Commons Chamber

[Stuart Andrew]

The national lottery is set up under separate legislation. However, there is a condition under the fourth licence that the donations that the lottery makes will go to exactly the same areas, including research treatment for people who are suffering gambling-related harm. That money will be going there, so the national lottery will, in effect, be paying.

[Mr Rob Roberts (Delyn) (Ind)]

2. What steps she is taking to encourage more children into grassroots sport.

[The Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (Lucy Frazer)]

Every child and young person should have access to quality sport and physical activity opportunities no matter where they live. We want to ensure that all people get two hours of physical education at school—equal opportunities for boys and girls. We are providing £600 million to boost school sport. Further details of our plan will be set out in our sports strategy.

[Mr Roberts]

Thirty-odd years ago, in weather like this, my friends and I would spend eight hours a day every day of the school holidays, and every evening during term time, up at the cricket nets. Now, they are mostly unused, except on practice nights. My old hockey club, Northop Hall, used to run seven teams on a Saturday, but now it just about manages to scrape three together. I commend the work that James, Matt, Emily, Chris and others do in coaching the next generation of youngsters. What more can the Government do to encourage participation, remove barriers to entry and get more kids out from in front of the screen and into team sports, which bring amazing benefits to mental and physical health?

[Lucy Frazer]

The hon. Gentleman is absolutely right: all children should have the chance to play sport and experience the benefits of being physically active. He is right to talk about facilities, which are important. We have supported more than 80 sites in Wales since 2021. Getting children more active in those facilities will be a central part of our upcoming sports strategy, in which we will set out our ambition to embed physical activity in every child’s life by driving up standards and making sport more accessible and more inclusive.

--- Later in debate ---

[Mr Speaker]

The Clerk of the House is in tears; he’s a Manchester United fan.

[Mr Rob Roberts (Delyn) (Ind)]

T2. In 2020, 30,126 complaints were made to the Independent Press Standards Organisation. Only 496 were investigated, and only 79 out of more than 30,000 complaints were upheld. When are we going to stop talking about the freedom of the press, and recognise that with that freedom comes responsibility? We cannot let them keep marking their own homework and giving themselves a clean bill of health.

[The Minister for Media, Tourism and Creative Industries (Sir John Whittingdale)]

The Government remain committed to press freedom, which is a cornerstone of our democracy. For the Government to intervene in the regulation of the press would run counter to that. However, I recognise what my hon. Friend says. There is a duty on newspapers to behave responsibly, and the vast majority are members of an independent regulator, the most recent review of which found it to be both independent and effective.