Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Stephanie Peacock and Desmond Swayne

Thursday 26th February 2026 Commons Chamber

[Stephanie Peacock]

I know this is a concern to Members across the House—I have met and corresponded with a number of them. It is an issue that is incredibly important to both me and the Secretary of State, who met with players impacted by this to hear their stories. I will be hosting a roundtable discussion shortly with the football bodies to explore what more can be done. Our priority is for the football authorities to provide greater clarity on the available funding and to ensure enough money is available to provide those impacted with the support they need.

[Sir Desmond Swayne (New Forest West) (Con)]

T2. My hon. Friend the Member for Old Bexley and Sidcup (Mr French) has drawn our attention to the fact that Sport England is losing its consultee status. This is at a time when sports clubs are facing business rate increases of as much as 46%. Are Ministers alive to the prospect of sporting facilities becoming increasingly attractive grey-belt building propositions?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Stephanie Peacock and Desmond Swayne

Thursday 3rd July 2025 Commons Chamber

[Sir Desmond Swayne (New Forest West) (Con)]

8. What recent assessment she has made of the potential impact of changes to employer national insurance contributions on charities.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (Stephanie Peacock)]

The Government highly value the charity sector and its positive contribution. However, we have had to take a number of difficult decisions on tax, welfare and spending to fix the public finances, fund public services and restore economic stability.

[Sir Desmond Swayne]

The National Council for Voluntary Organisations puts the cost at £1.4 billion. That is right, isn’t it?

[Stephanie Peacock]

I reiterate that we really value the charity sector, but we have had to make some very difficult decisions.

Victory in Europe and Japan: 80th Anniversaries

Debate between Stephanie Peacock and Desmond Swayne

Thursday 13th March 2025 Commons Chamber

[Stephanie Peacock]

My hon. Friend has outlined the huge impact that the war had. I said in my statement that my generation would be the last to grow up with family members and friends who fought or contributed; I remember on my first day at school, or certainly not long after I joined school, my first teacher talking about her experience during an air raid. That was really important to me growing up—it was part of my childhood that people talked about the second world war. That is not the case for today’s generation, which is why we have launched our “Letters to Loved Ones” initiative. That initiative encourages people to explore their family history—to look for letters and artefacts so that they can understand what life was like during wartime. We are encouraging people to share those letters and artefacts on our website, so that we can all learn from them.

[Sir Desmond Swayne (New Forest West) (Con)]

My father served on HMS Fearless, which was sunk, and although he survived, many of his comrades remain buried at sea. Will there be any initiative to address war graves at sea, given that there have been egregious examples of their being plundered for scrap and other things?

[Stephanie Peacock]

The right hon. Gentleman makes an important point about war graves at sea, and I would be very happy to meet him or write to him. I will certainly reach out to colleagues in the MOD to talk further about that issue.