Asked by: Samantha Niblett (Labour - South Derbyshire)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether she is taking steps to increase the number of grassroots community (a) arts and (b) music venues in rural areas.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government recognises the value of the grassroots music and arts sectors - they provide the foundation for both industries, fostering creativity, innovation and cultural expression.
The Government response to the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee's report on grassroots music venues, published 14 November, sets out our commitment to working with the sector to support the sustainability of the entire music ecosystem. In particular, the Government is urging the live music industry to introduce a voluntary levy on tickets for stadium and arena shows, to help safeguard the future of the grassroots music sector.
Following the Autumn Budget, we are continuing to support Arts Council England’s (ACE’s) successful Supporting Grassroots Music Fund which provides grants to grassroots music venues, recording studios, promoters and festivals across England.
More generally, ACE plays an important role in supporting grassroots community arts venues through the National Portfolio and other funding schemes such as Creative People and Places and National Lottery Project Grants. ACE also has a national dialogue with rural stakeholders from across England, and uses this to inform their policy and work. ACE is committed to responding to the specific needs of rural areas, supporting artists working in rural areas, improving access for rural audiences and building partnerships for growth.
Asked by: Samantha Niblett (Labour - South Derbyshire)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether she has had recent discussions with the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government on the safety of public spaces for runners.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport regularly engages with the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government on a range of issues.
Sport and physical activity are incredibly important for our physical and mental health and this Government is committed to ensuring that everyone, regardless of background, should have access to and benefit from quality sport and physical activity opportunities in safe environments including open spaces such as parks and streets.
Asked by: Samantha Niblett (Labour - South Derbyshire)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether she plans to help increase diversity in sports coaching.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government is committed to promoting diversity and inclusion in sport at all levels. We will continue to work with the sport sector to help it be inclusive and welcoming to its spectators, participants and workforce. Coaches play a hugely important role in facilitating sporting activity and acting as a source of inspiration and encouragement for people to remain active.
Sport England’s ten year strategy, Uniting the Movement, reinforces their commitment to tackling inequalities faced in sport by underrepresented groups. Sport England is investing £120 million to increase participation in sport and boost diversity at the grassroots level to give more and better opportunities to all.
Additionally, the updated Code for Sports Governance requires sports that receive substantial public funding from either UK Sport or Sport England to have detailed and ambitious diversity and inclusion action plans in place, which are published and updated annually.
Asked by: Samantha Niblett (Labour - South Derbyshire)
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 tourism in rural areas.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government recognises the importance of tourism to rural constituencies, including its contribution to economic growth and pride in place of an area, and an integral part of the UK’s tourism offering. Britain’s coastline is a particular attraction to international visitors with 10% of all visits to the UK including the coast or a beach, rising to 34% amongst those visiting Wales.
DCMS continues to work with VisitBritain/VisitEngland to champion visits to the British countryside to a worldwide audience. Promoting rural areas, with a dedicated webpage on its consumer site which highlights rural areas to visit across the nations and regions of Britain that celebrate the UK’s diverse attractions. This is part of our commitment to spreading tourism’s benefits and creating an inclusive, regional growth model. DCMS, through VisitEngland, has also accredited 35 Local Visitor Economy Partnerships so far; which aims to drive investment and spend across the regions - including in rural areas.
The North East Destination Development Partnership (DDP) is in its third year of delivery and interim evaluation results have found that it has supported over 1,000 businesses, saw a 14% increase in the value of the visitor economy, a 5% increase in visitor numbers, as well as building a pipeline of £125 million of investment, and building the case for a new ferry route to Norway.
VisitBritain’s new GREAT-funded international marketing campaign will launch in early 2025. ‘Starring GREAT Britain’ will use the hook of Britain’s rich film and television history to encourage more international visitors to explore across Britain, including many rural destinations.
Asked by: Samantha Niblett (Labour - South Derbyshire)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what recent assessment she has made of the potential economic contribution of community (a) arts and (b) literary festivals.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
This Government recognises the importance of community arts and literary festivals in bringing local communities together, providing them with high-quality culture, and stimulating local growth.
Data collection plays an integral role in how the Department for Culture, Media and Sport assesses the economic contribution of its sectors to the UK economy. DCMS publishes official statistics (DCMS Sectors Economic Estimates) including data on Gross Value Added, employment and business demographics, which are available at national and regional levels.These data can be found on the DCMS website at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/dcms-sectors-economic-estimates
DCMS Sectors Economic Estimates does not, however, provide data specific to community arts and literary festivals.
Asked by: Samantha Niblett (Labour - South Derbyshire)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what plans she to encourage more (a) women and (b) women of minority backgrounds into (i) sports coaching careers and (ii) voluntary roles.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
We are dedicated to supporting every aspect of women’s sport and ensuring all women and girls, no matter their background, are able to participate in sport and physical activity.
Coaches play an important role in facilitating sporting activity and acting as a source of encouragement for people to remain active. UK Sport’s female Coaches Leadership Programme resulted in the number of women coaching in Olympic and Paralympic sport to double since 2020.
Sport England has also supported the voluntary sector by developing a vision for volunteering, which sets a clear and ambitious direction to increase the diversity of volunteers in sport and physical activity.
Karen Carney’s 2023 review of women’s football highlighted the lack of representation of individuals from diverse backgrounds throughout women’s football both on and off the pitch. The Football Association released its 2024-28 strategy for Women and Girls’ Football in October, which includes a commitment to increase the number of players and workforce from underrepresented communities within all roles in the game. We will continue to monitor progress here.
Asked by: Samantha Niblett (Labour - South Derbyshire)
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 adequacy of the availability of changing and bathroom facilities for women at grassroots sporting venues.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
We are dedicated to supporting every aspect of women’s sport and ensuring all women and girls, no matter their background, are able to participate in sport and physical activity.
Karen Carney OBE’s Review of Women’s Football included a recommendation on meaningful access to facilities. I recently met Karen to discuss implementation of her review which is relevant across women’s sport. I am clear that action is needed to drive all of the recommendations outlined in the Review. I look forward to convening the Implementation Group for Women’s Football before the end of this year to understand progress following Karen’s Review.
The Football Foundation, the charity funded by the Government, the Football Association and the Premier League, has committed to implementing recommendations from an independent review to ensure new minimum standards for women and girls at funded sites. This includes guaranteeing a share of priority slots to women’s and girls’ teams, setting up a new small grants programme, specifically targeted at creating female-friendly facilities off the pitch, and ensuring refreshed Local Football Facility Plans reflect the growth in women and girls' football.
Sport England’s ‘Accessible and Inclusive Sports Facilities’ guidance also supports grassroots sporting venues to provide well designed spaces for female users.
Asked by: Samantha Niblett (Labour - South Derbyshire)
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 regulate Women's Football.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Karen Carney OBE led an independent review of domestic women’s football, which was published in July 2023. We agree with the recommendation that the women’s game should be given the opportunity to self-regulate rather than moving immediately to independent statutory regulation.
While the Independent Football Regulator will be focused on the men’s game, it will cooperate, coordinate and share information where it can with the relevant industry bodies in the women’s game to help deliver the shared goal of a successful, sustainable English game.
However, the Secretary of State will be keeping the scope of the Regulator under review, including whether additional competitions should be specified, such as women’s football competitions.
Asked by: Samantha Niblett (Labour - South Derbyshire)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what estimate she has made of the recent economic contribution of the art and cultural industries to (a) the East Midlands and (b) Derbyshire.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Derbyshire is a very important part of our cultural and artistic heritage, and this Government is committed to supporting these industries to thrive so they continue to bring good jobs and boost growth in all parts of the country.
DCMS publishes official statistics (DCMS Sectors Economic Estimates) including data on Gross Value Added, employment and business demographics, which are available at regional levels. DCMS Economic Estimates categorises the arts as a subsector of the cultural sector. Data can be found on the DCMS website here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/dcms-sectors-economic-estimates
Data from DCMS Official Statistics for the economic contribution of the arts and cultural sector in the East Midlands is listed below:
Cultural Sector
Employment: There were 17,000 filled jobs in the Cultural Sector in the East Midlands in 2023.
GVA: The cultural sector generated £701 million of GVA in East Midlands in 2022.
Business Demographics: There were 2,925 business sites in the cultural sector based in East Midlands in 2023
Arts Sector
Employment: There were 6,000 filled jobs in the Arts subsector, in the East Midlands in 2023
GVA: The arts sub sector generated £246 million of GVA in East Midlands in 2022
Business Demographics: The Arts sector had 1,050 business sites based in the East Midlands in 2023
DCMS does not currently publish economic estimates down to a county or local authority level, so we cannot provide an assessment of the level of economic activity in the Arts and Cultural Sector in Derbyshire
Asked by: Samantha Niblett (Labour - South Derbyshire)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 22 October 2024 to Question 9331 on Football: Women, when the implementation group will next meet; and if she will publish (a) minutes and (b) action points from previous meetings.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Minutes from previous meetings of the Implementation Group are publicly available on gov.uk at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/groups/womens-football-review-implementation-group
I met Karen Carney to discuss the next phase of implementation of her recommendations.
I am clear that action is needed to drive all of the recommendations outlined in the Review.