Asked by: Sarah Owen (Labour - Luton North)
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 help tackle racism in sport.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government’s stance is unequivocal: racism has absolutely no place in our society, and no place in sport and activity. We are committed to stamping it out, from the elite level to the grassroots, ensuring that sport truly is for everyone, regardless of their background, or ethnicity.
The Government is working closely with the sector, particularly its Arm’s Length Bodies Sport England and UK Sport, and the national governing bodies, to tackle racism and discrimination in sport.
The online abuse directed at many athletes is appalling and deeply wrong. We stand with them in condemning it and demanding safer online experiences for everyone.
Asked by: Sarah Owen (Labour - Luton North)
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 Sport England’s Planning Statutory Consultee status on the provision of sporting facilities in new housing developments.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government is reviewing the statutory consultee system, including Sport England, to promote growth and unblock building.
The statutory consultee system must work in support of development and economic growth—reflecting the central place of these objectives in the Government’s plan for change. A process is in place to consult on the impacts of removing a limited number of statutory consultees, including Sport England.
Access to open green spaces and playing fields is important, and we will work closely with MHCLG as part of their proposed reforms, and we remain committed to ensuring our playing field capacity is protected.
Asked by: Sarah Owen (Labour - Luton North)
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 the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government on the protection of sporting facilities in the planning process.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government is reviewing the statutory consultee system, including Sport England, to promote growth and unblock building.
The statutory consultee system must work in support of development and economic growth—reflecting the central place of these objectives in the Government’s plan for change. A process is in place to consult on the impacts of removing a limited number of statutory consultees, including Sport England.
Access to open green spaces and playing fields is important, and we will work closely with MHCLG as part of their proposed reforms, and we remain committed to ensuring our playing field capacity is protected.
Asked by: Sarah Owen (Labour - Luton North)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she plans to take to support local and combined authorities in producing up to date Playing Pitch Strategies.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
This Government is committed to expanding access to community and grassroots sport. Sport has the power to bring people together, to boost physical and mental health and act as social hubs in our communities.
We believe that in order to deliver fundamental change on inactivity levels, sport and physical activity needs to be fully embedded into local systems, including health plans, so communities feel empowered to own outcomes. We are therefore committed to moving to a place-based approach to physical activity across Government Departments.
The Government is acting to support more people in getting onto the pitch wherever they live. In March, we announced that we would invest £98 million into grassroots sport facilities across the UK through the Multi-Sport Grassroots Facilities Programme this year. We will build on this with at least £400 million invested into community sport facilities in the four years from 2026/27.
In England, our delivery partner the Football Foundation plans their investment pipeline based on Local Football Facility Plans (LFFPs), which have been developed in partnership with local authorities, community Football Associations and other sport stakeholders. They are currently being refreshed to reflect the current landscape, with updated plans due to be completed in this year.
Asked by: Sarah Owen (Labour - Luton North)
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 help ensure grassroots (a) women's and (b) girls' football clubs have the facilities they need to (i) play and (ii) train.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government is committed to supporting every aspect of women’s sport and ensuring all women and girls, no matter their background, have access to high quality sport including football.
We are pleased to see the significant progress in the number of women and girls taking up football in recent years, and wider developments in the women’s game. In 2023, Karen Carney OBE published a major Independent Review of Women’s Football which made a series of recommendations including supporting grassroots women and girls’ football. This Government fully endorses those recommendations and looks forward to ensuring tangible progress is made.
We are acting to support more players in getting onto the pitch wherever they live via the Multi-Sport Grassroots Facilities Programme, which will invest £123 million UK-wide throughout 2024/25. All projects selected for funding through this programme are required to demonstrate how they increase access and participation levels among under-represented groups, which includes women and girls.
Following the Autumn Budget on 30 October 2024, the Government confirmed its continued support for elite and grassroots sport through future investment. Further details will be confirmed in due course.
Asked by: Sarah Owen (Labour - Luton North)
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 grassroots (a) women's and (b) girls' football.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government is committed to supporting every aspect of women’s sport and ensuring all women and girls, no matter their background, have access to high quality sport including football.
We are pleased to see the significant progress in the number of women and girls taking up football in recent years, and wider developments in the women’s game. In 2023, Karen Carney OBE published a major Independent Review of Women’s Football which made a series of recommendations including supporting grassroots women and girls’ football. This Government fully endorses those recommendations and looks forward to ensuring tangible progress is made.
The Government has set out its support for grassroots facilities, including through the Multi-Sport Grassroots Facilities programme which provides funding to build and improve grassroots facilities and a commitment to support the Football Association’s ambition to double their number of gold-standard (3-star) community clubs by EURO 2028. This will deliver more opportunities for women and girls to get on the pitch.
The Football Association is a long-term partner of Sport England, and have received over £26 million of funding from them for the period 2022-27.
Asked by: Sarah Owen (Labour - Luton North)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what progress her Department has made on the Gambling Act Review; and when she plans to publish the Gambling Review White Paper.
Answered by Chris Philp - Shadow Home Secretary
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 13 June to Question UIN 13827.
Asked by: Sarah Owen (Labour - Luton North)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if she will provide redress to the people affected by the collapse of BetIndex Limited, the operators of Football Index.
Answered by Chris Philp - Shadow Home Secretary
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 3 February to Question UIN 112706.
Asked by: Sarah Owen (Labour - Luton North)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if she will make it her policy to provide redress to the people affected by the collapse of BetIndex Ltd, the operators of Football Index.
Answered by Chris Philp - Shadow Home Secretary
The Government appreciates the significant impact that the collapse of the novel gambling product Football Index had on former customers. We recognise the frustration and anger that this situation has caused and the hardship that some people have suffered as a result. However, there is no compensation scheme for losses caused by a gambling firm ceasing to operate and the Government does not think it would be appropriate to use public funds for these purposes.
Asked by: Sarah Owen (Labour - Luton North)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what progress her Department has made on the Gambling Act Review; and when she plans to publish the Gambling Review white paper.
Answered by Chris Philp - Shadow Home Secretary
The Gambling Act Review is wide-ranging and aims to ensure that the regulation of gambling is fit for the digital age. We will publish a White paper setting out our conclusions and next steps in the coming weeks.