Asked by: Stuart Anderson (Conservative - South Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what funding is available to increase access to grassroots sport in South Shropshire constituency.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government is investing £98 million to deliver new and upgraded grassroots sports facilities across the UK in 2025/26 through the Multi-Sport Grassroots Facilities Programme. Our delivery partner for the programme in England, the Football Foundation, plans its investment pipeline using Local Football Facility Plans (LFFPs), which are developed in partnership with local authorities to better understand the needs of each community. The LFFP for Shropshire can be found here: https://localplans.footballfoundation.org.uk/local-authorities-index/shropshire/shropshire-executive-summary/.
The Government provides the majority of support for grassroots sport through Sport England, which annually invests over £250 million in Exchequer and Lottery funding.
The Government’s announcement of £400 million to be invested in grassroots sports facilities across the UK over the next four years will ensure we can continue to deliver high-quality multi-sport facilities in the areas that require them, in order to increase participation and allow people to be active.
Asked by: Stuart Anderson (Conservative - South Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps are being taken to increase volunteering opportunities in South Shropshire constituency.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Volunteering plays a vital role in communities throughout the country, contributing to the very fabric of British life. The Government wants to encourage and enable as many people as possible to be involved in delivering positive change. That is why we are investing in developing an open data infrastructure for volunteering, which will make it easier for people to find opportunities online and volunteer in their communities.
DCMS is also supporting the launch of The Big Help Out 2026, which aims to encourage organisations to provide meaningful volunteering opportunities and inspire people to make a difference in communities across the country. The campaign will signpost local opportunities, including in South Shropshire, to encourage new volunteers to get involved in a range of activities.
Asked by: Stuart Anderson (Conservative - South Shropshire)
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 improve the sustainability of local authority leisure centres.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government recognises the importance of ensuring public access to leisure facilities which are vital spaces for people of all ages to stay fit and healthy, and which play an important role within communities.
The ongoing responsibility of providing access to public leisure facilities lies at local authority level with funding levels set as part of the Local Government Finance Settlement. The Government encourages local authorities to make investments which offer the right opportunities and facilities for the communities they serve, investing in sport and physical activity with a place-based approach, to meet the needs of individual communities.
In June, we committed another £400 million to transform sports facilities across the whole of the UK over the next four years, supporting the Government's Plan for Change. We are working closely with sporting bodies and local leaders to establish what communities need, before setting out further plans on how future funding will be allocated.
Asked by: Stuart Anderson (Conservative - South Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps he is taking to support conservation projects in churches at risk.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Department supports the conservation of historic places of worship, including those at risk, through several channels.
The Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme was extended for a further year in January 2025 to March 2026, with a £23 million budget. This scheme helps religious organisations reclaim the VAT costs of eligible repairs and renovations, which supports the conservation of these vital heritage and community assets.
In exceptional circumstances, listed places of worship may be eligible for Heritage at Risk funding provided by Historic England. In addition, the Department funded the £15 million Heritage At Risk Capital Fund in the 2025/26 financial year. Out of 37 projects awarded funding through this capital fund, 4 were places of worship, receiving a total of £1,387,842 for their conservation projects.
Asked by: Stuart Anderson (Conservative - South Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps the Government is taking to support community libraries.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Local authorities are responsible for assessing the needs of their local communities and designing a library service to meet those needs within available resources, including how community libraries may form a part of that.
Where a community library is part of the Local Authority service statutory network it can benefit from wider government initiatives such as the improved Local Government Finance Settlement for 2025-26, and could also benefit from library specific funding such as the Libraries Improvement Fund.
The Secretary of State announced in February 2025 a further £5.5 million of this Libraries Improvement Fund for 2025-26 to councils across England to invest in their library service and fund a range of projects to upgrade buildings and technology. This can include bids to benefit community managed branches within the statutory network.
Asked by: Stuart Anderson (Conservative - South Shropshire)
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 support the visitor economy in South Shropshire constituency.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Tourism contributes to growth and jobs across all parts of the country particularly in rural constituencies like South Shropshire, home to historical sites such as Ludlow castle and the diverse landscapes of the Shropshire Hills.
DCMS works with VisitBritain and VisitEngland to champion visits to the British countryside to a worldwide audience with the aim of ensuring that the economic benefits of tourism are felt by all regions and nations.
The Telford and Shropshire Local Visitor Economy Partnerships (LVEPs) has an important role to play in supporting the development of local tourism products and packages that meet the needs of visitors and benefit local communities to the area.
The Government is committed to supporting the sector through the forthcoming Visitor Economy Growth Plan, which will set out a long term plan to increase visitor flows across the UK, boost value, and deliver sustainable growth.
Asked by: Stuart Anderson (Conservative - South Shropshire)
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 improve services for young people in South Shropshire constituency.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Local authorities play a key part in delivering youth services, reflected in their statutory duty to provide sufficient leisure-time activities and facilities in line with local needs. In 25/26 we are investing £8m in the Local Youth Transformation (LYT) Pilot to support local authorities to rebuild a high-quality offer for young people and transition back to local youth services leadership. Shropshire County Council is one of the 12 local authorities participating in the pilot, and they have been awarded £695,131.
This Government fully recognises the importance of youth services to help young people live safe and healthy lives, and we are committed to giving all young people the chance to reach their full potential. We are co-producing a new National Youth Strategy to set out a new long-term vision for young people and an action plan for delivering this. The National Youth Strategy will be published later this year.
Asked by: Stuart Anderson (Conservative - South Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what support is available for community sports organisations to help modernise (a) running tracks and (b) other facilities.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government recognises that sports clubs and facilities are important to communities up and down the country. High-quality, inclusive facilities help people get active. Everyone, no matter who they are or where they live, should have access to them and opportunities to participate in sport and physical activity.
Grassroots sport is also funded through the Government’s Arm’s Length Body, Sport England, who invest over £250 million in Exchequer and Lottery funding each year.
Sport England’s Movement Fund also offers crowdfunding pledges, grants and resources to improve physical activity opportunities for the people and communities who need it the most. The Movement Fund can be used for the refurbishment or upgrading facilities to improve or create spaces that can provide opportunities to get more people active.
Alongside funding Sport England also provides extensive guidance to organisations looking to develop and modernise facilities. This guidance is available here.
The Government is also committed to continued funding for grassroots facilities. £100 million will be invested into grassroots sport facilities across the UK through the Multi-Sport Grassroots Facilities Programme. Investment into individual projects is still to be determined for 2025-26.
Future funding of sports facilities beyond 2025/26 will be considered following the Spending Review.
Asked by: Stuart Anderson (Conservative - South Shropshire)
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 improve the long-term viability of local authority-owned leisure centres.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government recognises the importance of ensuring public access to leisure facilities which are vital spaces for people of all ages to stay fit and healthy, and which play an important role within communities.
The ongoing responsibility of providing access to public leisure facilities lies at local authority level with funding levels set by MHCLG as part of the Local Government Finance Settlement.
The Government encourages local authorities to make investments which offer the right opportunities and facilities for the communities they serve, investing in sport and physical activity with a place-based approach, to meet the needs of individual communities.
Future funding of community sports facilities will be considered as part of the forthcoming Spending Review.
Asked by: Stuart Anderson (Conservative - South Shropshire)
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 the TV licence increase on household budgets.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
In April 2025 the level of the licence fee increased in line with inflation, as set out in the 2022 Licence Fee Settlement that was reached under the previous government. The increase will mean that TV licence costs £5 more per year for households than in 2024/25. This uplift provides certainty and stability for the BBC and S4C, and supports them in delivering their essential public services remits and world-class educational and engaging programming, while also ensuring we deliver the best outcomes for licence fee payers.
The government recognises there is pressure on households and to support those most in need, has taken action to expand the Simple Payment Plan to help more households facing financial hardship pay their TV licence.