Asked by: Stephen Twigg (Labour (Co-op) - Liverpool, West Derby)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps his Department is taking to promote women's football in (a) Liverpool and (b) England.
Answered by Mims Davies - Shadow Minister for Women and Equalities
The government is determined to get more girls and women playing sport, something we set out in our sport strategy, Sporting Future. Football is the second most played team sport for adult women and the top ranked team sport in terms of participation for girls.
We are investing £14.6million into the Football Association (FA) through Sport England between 2017 and 2021, to support their grassroots participation, talent and coaching programmes. £2.6million of this is specifically reserved for women and girls talent programmes, helping the FA reach its aspiration to double the number of women and girls teams. The FA also receive an additional £2m each year towards improving diversity in its coaching workforce.
Government is also investing £18million to the Football Foundation charity each year to help deliver a programme of new and improved community sports facilities in towns and cities across the country.
All public funding provided is used to benefit men’s, women’s and disability football; for example, investment in a mixed coaching programme or facility will benefit all groups within that community.
Liverpool, for example, has benefitted to the sum of £15.2millon for football programmes over the last three years from the Football Foundation, which includes a mix of public funding and investment from the FA and the Premier League. This includes the delivery of a Parklife Football Hub, which is home to women and girls clubs, recreational programmes and women’s beginner football festivals.
Asked by: Stephen Twigg (Labour (Co-op) - Liverpool, West Derby)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of level of access to superfast fibre broadband in (a) Liverpool West Derby constituency, (b) Merseyside and (c) North West England; and what steps he is taking to increase access to that service in those areas.
Answered by Margot James
According to Thinkbroadband; 99.7% of premises in Liverpool West constituency currently have access to Superfast broadband. 96.8% of premises in the North West, have access to Superfast broadband. Thinkbroadband does not hold specific information for Merseyside.
Despite high levels of access to superfast speeds in these areas, many premises are choosing not to take it up. Current take up rates for broadband stands at 46.6% of premises in the Merseyside area, and 45.2% in the North West.
DCMS run several voucher schemes which are available to the public to help increase broadband services across the UK.
The Better Broadband Voucher Scheme is available to those who are unable to obtain a connection speed above 2Mbps. The Scheme can support access to satellite broadband, or fixed 4G or wireless connections in some locations. The Better Broadband Voucher Scheme will be open for applications until 31st December 2019, ensuring that an affordable basic broadband installation remains available to eligible applicants. Further information is available at:https://basicbroadband.culture.gov.uk/.
In March 2018 the Local Full Fibre Networks programme launched its £67m Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme. Small to medium sized businesses can claim a voucher worth up to £2,500, and residents can claim a voucher worth up to £500 as part of a group project. Businesses and local community groups interested in requesting a voucher can find details of suppliers in their local area on our website at: https://gigabitvoucher.culture.gov.uk/.
Asked by: Stephen Twigg (Labour (Co-op) - Liverpool, West Derby)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, on how many occasions the Information Commissioner's Office has disclosed personal data to the wrong recipient.
Answered by Margot James
We do not hold the requested information. The Information Commissioner is independent of Government, and reports directly to Parliament. The Information Commissioner's Office publishes its annual report on its website, www.ICO.org.uk, where it holds such information.