Shivani Raja

The Department works closely with Sport England to target grassroots investment toward high-need areas experiencing elevated youth violence. Through the Multi-Sport Grassroots Facilities Programme supported with £400 million of funding over the next four years, we are expanding peak evening and weekend capacity by funding floodlights and durable all-weather pitches that offer up to 80 hours of weekly use, alongside targeted partnerships with local Violence Reduction Units. To ensure funding accounts for operational realities, DCMS guides non-departmental public bodies like Sport England to allow outreach providers to include secondary costs, such as indoor venue hire, within grant applications, while enforcing Community Use Agreements to guarantee subsidised or free access for high-priority youth programmes.

The Government is determined to ensure that everyone has access to affordable quality sport and physical activity opportunities. That's why we’ve invested £3 million into new all-weather, covered cricket domes this year which ensure accessible sport year-round, building on the £1.5m investment into covered cricket domes made last year. New and refurbished facilities give families low-cost options to stay active, helping when many are facing cost-of-living pressures. The wider sports sector helps to drive good growth in every postcode, something I saw when I visited Loughborough University’s Women in Sport Research and Innovation Hub last year.

Between 2022 and 2029, we are supporting grassroots participation with a £13.4m investment via Sport England and the England & Wales Cricket Board. Earlier this year, the ECB also launched their Building Belonging in Cricket Fund - a £45m investment to improve grassroots cricket facilities and help enable year-round play through the construction of all-weather cricket domes, indoor halls, multi-use games areas and community hubs. The ECB is working with Regional Cricket Boards, including Leicestershire and Rutland Cricket Foundation, to identify potential projects.

In order to increase availability and accessibility to the local community, Sport England factors in a site's Community Use Agreement, and their capacity to offer free/low cost bookings when determining whether individual projects should receive funding.

We are collaborating with the sports sector, including the ECB, and local leaders to develop investment plans for a range of sports across the country based on what each community needs.

The Government is determined to ensure that everyone has access to affordable quality sport and physical activity opportunities. That's why we’ve invested £3 million into new all-weather, covered cricket domes this year which ensure accessible sport year-round, building on the £1.5m investment into covered cricket domes made last year. New and refurbished facilities give families low-cost options to stay active, helping when many are facing cost-of-living pressures. The wider sports sector helps to drive good growth in every postcode, something I saw when I visited Loughborough University’s Women in Sport Research and Innovation Hub last year.

Between 2022 and 2029, we are supporting grassroots participation with a £13.4m investment via Sport England and the England & Wales Cricket Board. Earlier this year, the ECB also launched their Building Belonging in Cricket Fund - a £45m investment to improve grassroots cricket facilities and help enable year-round play through the construction of all-weather cricket domes, indoor halls, multi-use games areas and community hubs. The ECB is working with Regional Cricket Boards, including Leicestershire and Rutland Cricket Foundation, to identify potential projects.

In order to increase availability and accessibility to the local community, Sport England factors in a site's Community Use Agreement, and their capacity to offer free/low cost bookings when determining whether individual projects should receive funding.

We are collaborating with the sports sector, including the ECB, and local leaders to develop investment plans for a range of sports across the country based on what each community needs.

We are absolutely committed to ensuring that every child has the opportunity to participate in sport and physical activity, and recognise the crucial role school facilities play in delivering this.

As part of this Government's commitment to school sport, we have announced nearly £200 million to improve school sport and PE infrastructure. We are working with Sport England to ensure the funding tackles inequalities in access to sport and physical activity.

In addition, the new PE and School Sport Partnerships Network, announced in June 2025, will better connect schools with National Governing Bodies, local clubs and other providers. The model will build on learning from current and previous initiatives, such as Opening School Facilities, and support schools to make more effective and strategic use of their assets, including facilities.

The Department works closely with Sport England to target grassroots investment toward high-need areas, which includes areas experiencing elevated youth violence. Through the Community Sports Facilities Programme, which is investing £400 million of funding through to 2030, we are expanding peak evening and weekend capacity by funding floodlights and durable all-weather pitches that offer up to 80 hours of weekly use.

In addition, Sport England have partnered with StreetGames to produce a Theory of Change document focused on Sport, Youth Offending and Serious Youth Violence. The document sets out clearly how sport can reduce risk factors linked to youth offending while strengthening protective factors that keep young people safe. That theory underpinned the Ministry of Justice’s £5m Youth Justice Sport Fund, which now informs more than a dozen place-based partnerships with Active Partnerships, Police and Crime Commissioners and Violence Reduction Units.

The Department also funds the Million Hours Fund, in partnership with The National Lottery Community Fund, which provides youth organisations with funding to deliver additional hours of positive activities for young people in areas with higher levels of anti-social behaviour. The latest phase of the Fund, which runs until March 2027, awarded £18 million to 292 organisations, including grassroot sports programmes.

DCMS is also funding the Young Futures Hubs and Transformation Programme to improve local youth services and establish a network of 50 Young Futures Hubs by March 2029. Each Young Futures Hub will meet three outcomes of increasing opportunities, improving mental health and wellbeing, and reducing crime.

The Cabinet Office is committed to delivering value for money to the public. There is no additional or marginal cost of issuing a nationwide Emergency Alert; the most recent activation of the Emergency Alert capability on 14 August was issued at no cost to the taxpayer.

The government contracts with Mobile Network Operators to enable provision of the capability 24/7 nationwide, allowing for individual Alerts to be broadcast at no cost.

The Emergency Alerts system remains ready for activation at short notice around the clock, in response to a range of emergencies.

New model Gender Reassignment guidance has been issued to Civil Service departments for them to use as a template for their own departmental guidance. Internal HR policies and guidance are not published externally.

The Cabinet Office also believes disclosure of the model Policy and Guidance: Supporting Trans and Non-binary Employees would also contravene Section 36(2)(b)(i), (ii), and (c) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

The planning and activation of the Emergency Alert capability on 14 August was issued at no cost to the taxpayer.

It is long established that effective policy development relies on the ability of ministers and their officials to exchange views and provide free and frank advice on the options available. Disclosing the requested information is likely to have a detrimental effect on the quality of the advice and the way it would be given, which would not be in the public interest.

The MP for Brighton Kemptown and Peacehaven, Chris Ward, acted as the qualified person and gave his opinion on 24 June 2026, during his time as Parliamentary Secretary for the Cabinet Office.

The Cabinet Office fully accounted for the status of the requested information when making the public interest assessment under section 2(2)(b) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000. While the central model policy templates are finalised, broader rollout of departmental guidance is at active consultation and implementation phase.

In line with the Ministerial Code, Ministers should be as open as possible with Parliament, refusing to provide information only when disclosure would not be in the public interest which should be decided in accordance with the relevant statutes and the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

Departments are undertaking consultation with relevant stakeholders to revise their own policies.

New model Gender Reassignment guidance has been issued to Civil Service departments for them to use as a template for their own departmental guidance. Internal HR policies and guidance are not published externally.

In common with the Department of Transport, the Cabinet Office has not issued formal guidance regarding the provision of official cars outside the Government Car Service (GCS).

At any point in time, there is likely to be a small number of individuals who have been displaced due to restructures within their business units or, for example, have returned from a loan from another department and their role no longer exists. The exact number changes on a day-to-day basis.

Each department is responsible for specifying its own contract requirements, so the meaning of “Bed Space Size” and “Bed space" may vary based on the criteria established by each department.

This government wants to make the UK the best place to start a business, with a culture that supports entrepreneurship on the high street. Our Plan for Small Businesses sets out a comprehensive package of support for small businesses. This includes measures to help SMEs access finance, adopt digital tools and access advice, but also high street interventions addressing antisocial behaviour, updating our licensing regime and targeting funding through our Pride in Place and High Street and Growth Incubator programmes.

Later this year we will bring forward a new cross-government High Streets Strategy to drive long-term high street regeneration. This will build on powers like High Street Rental Auctions, which are enabling local authorities to tackle long-term vacant properties and support local businesses and communities to make use of them.

AI will transform workplaces, demanding new skills and augmenting existing roles. To prepare for this, the AI Economics Institute (AIEI) was set up as a cross-government function to help ensure that AI delivers positive outcomes for the economy, jobs and workers. The AIEI recently published a snapshot of entry-level hiring, produced with LinkedIn, which found that entry-level hiring is falling broadly in line with the wider market, though further research is needed before conclusions can be drawn on AI's role. We have also launched the Early Careers Jobs Alliance to map how entry-level work is changing and help maintain entry-level career pathways.

The National Minimum Wage (Amendment) Regulations 2026 Impact Assessment was published in January 2026. Evidence to date shows little or no significant impact on employment from past increases to the National Minimum Wage (NMW) and National Living Wage (NLW).

A Tax Information and Impact Note (TIIN) was also published in November 2024 containing the changes to employer NICs. The TIIN sets out the impact of the policy on the exchequer, the economic impacts of the policy, and the impacts on individuals, businesses, and civil society organisations, as well as an overview of the equality impacts.

Illicit trade, money laundering and related crime committed using high street property undermines legitimate businesses, discourages investment, and contributes to the decline of high streets. BIST is supporting the new High Streets Organised Crime Unit, based in the Home Office, to strengthen our cross-government response to money laundering and other forms of organised criminality on our high streets. This will align with the forthcoming High Streets Strategy to ensure a holistic approach to barriers to vibrancy on the high street.

The Government has already announced £30 million to crack down on cash intensive businesses. This includes £6 million to bolster Trading Standards response and £20 million towards enhanced law enforcement, including a new multi-agency coordinated cell based in the National Crime Agency.

This Government is supporting the long-term competitiveness of the UK automotive industry by backing the technologies that will shape the next generation of vehicles. Our flagship DRIVE35 initiative is supporting research and development in zero emission vehicle technologies including software defined vehicle technologies, accelerating commercial scale up, and attracting investment in manufacturing.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 16^th June to question UIN 8641 (Written questions and answers - Written questions, answers and statements - UK Parliament).

The Government’s Industrial Strategy sets out a long-term plan to support growth across the UK. Delivering the Industrial Strategy, regulatory reform and other steps will help to ensure the UK remains competitive, delivers long-term sustainable growth and that its economic fundamentals remain strong.

To assist all Growth Hubs in long-term planning, we will establish indicative multi- year core funding budgets for 2026-29 and provide flexibility to accommodate local government reorganisation. This funding will form part of the Integrated Settlement in Established Mayoral Strategic Authorities, per our commitment in the English Devolution White Paper.

Last year this government published our 10-year Modern Industrial Strategy, setting out our long-term approach to strengthening domestic capability. Alongside it, Government published the Advanced Manufacturing Sector Plan, which outlines both sector-specific and cross-cutting measures – including on energy, skills, innovation, tech adoption and access to finance - to make the UK the best place to start and grow a manufacturing business. Through this plan, Government committed £4.3 billion to support manufacturers over 5 years, including up to £2.8 billion for R&D alone, alongside £4 billion in funding available from the British Business Bank Industrial Strategy Growth Capital and £27.8 billion available from the National Wealth Fund to help manufacturing business access the finance they need to expand.

Last year this government published our 10-year Modern Industrial Strategy, setting out our long-term approach to strengthening domestic capability. Alongside it, Government published the Advanced Manufacturing Sector Plan, which outlines both sector-specific and cross-cutting measures – including on energy, skills, innovation, tech adoption and access to finance - to make the UK the best place to start and grow a manufacturing business. Through this plan, Government committed £4.3 billion to support manufacturers over 5 years, including up to £2.8 billion for R&D alone, alongside £4 billion in funding available from the British Business Bank Industrial Strategy Growth Capital and £27.8 billion available from the National Wealth Fund to help manufacturing business access the finance they need to expand.

This Government is working to ensure we have a high-quality and professional construction industry, with consumer protection at the heart of this. TrustMark, sponsored by the Department and licenced by the Government, is the Government Endorsed Quality Scheme that covers work a consumer chooses to have carried out in or around their home. In addition, the Building Safety Act 2022 has introduced competence requirements for both individuals and businesses working in the built environment.

The Department for Business and Trade does not hold this information. We continue to support UK businesses and have many avenues through which businesses of all sizes can explore opportunities to grow internationally. We will continue to review how we can support businesses moving forward.

The Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 (DMCCA), protects consumers from unfair trading practices and prohibits traders, including estate agents, from omitting (or providing unclear, untimely or obscure) material information to consumers in any ‘invitation to purchase’.

The DMCCA strengthens consumer law enforcement by giving the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) new administrative powers, and the CMA and courts the ability to impose significant monetary penalties of up to 10% of turnover.

The CMA has published updated guidance on price transparency and unfair commercial practices to help businesses comply.

Mercosur countries are important partners for the UK and I am personally committed to strengthening our bilateral trading relationships to remove barriers to trade and help grow UK exports. I recently visited Brazil, where I signed agreements on customs, regulatory reform and export credit and pushed Brazil to complete the Double Taxation Agreement; and Argentina to further UK interests on whisky, financial services and air services.

The UK is not currently negotiating a Free Trade Agreement with Mercosur. Any decision to seek to negotiate a Free Trade Agreement with Mercosur would be communicated to the House in the usual way.

The Department for Business and Trade (DBT) is implementing the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers (DMCC) Act which strengthens consumer law enforcement by giving the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) new administrative powers, and the CMA and courts the ability to impose significant monetary penalties of up to 10% of turnover.

The DMCC Act also bans the buying, selling, and publishing of fake reviews, and restates existing prohibitions on misleading consumers in the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations (2008).

DBT also funds Citizens Advice to provide the consumer service which supports consumers to resolve disputes and assert their rights.

Our sanctions are designed to minimise impact on the UK and avoid unintended consequences. We have sought to minimise the impact on businesses through implementing appropriate exceptions, specific export licences where appropriate, and wind-down periods when some sanctions are introduced. We have also published impact assessments alongside all Russia sanctions legislation.