Asked by: Stuart Andrew (Conservative - Daventry)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether she plans to implement the policies set out in the policy paper entitled High stakes: gambling reform for the digital age, published on 27 April 2023; and if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of the policies in that white paper on the land-based gambling industry.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Minister for Gambling has indicated her support for the previous government’s 2023 gambling white paper. This government has moved quickly to implement a number of proposals, including the statutory levy and online slots stake limits. We are considering the best available evidence from a wide range of sources to inform decisions on the remaining measures relating to the land-based sector. We are moving forward with measures to modernise the regulations for land-based casinos and are working as quickly as we can to ensure that legislation is laid in Parliament as soon as possible to implement these measures.
Asked by: Stuart Andrew (Conservative - Daventry)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 25 February 2025 to Question 31424 on the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme, whether her Department has undertaken an equality impact assessment of changes to that scheme.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The decision to make changes to the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme was made with careful consideration of the public sector equality duty outlined in section 149 of the Equality Act 2010, ensuring that the objectives in that section were taken into account. There is no legal requirement to publish an equality impact assessment.
Asked by: Stuart Andrew (Conservative - Daventry)
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 Education on the potential merits of physical education in the national curriculum on future engagement with sport
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Secretary of State for Culture Media and Sport and the Minister for Sport, Media, Civil Society and Youth regularly meet with Ministerial counterparts from the Department for Education on a range of issues, including Physical Education and school sport.
Schools play a key role in allowing all children to have high quality opportunities to take part in PE and sport, setting them up for a lifetime of physical activity. The Government is committed to protecting time for physical education in schools. The expert-led review of the curriculum will ensure that all children can engage with a broad range of subjects, including PE and sport.
Asked by: Stuart Andrew (Conservative - Daventry)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department plans to provide funding for grassroots tennis.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government is committed to ensuring that everyone, regardless of background, should have access to and benefit from quality sport and physical activity opportunities.
The Government provides the majority of funding for grassroots sport through our Arm’s Length Body, Sport England, which invests over £250 million in Exchequer and Lottery funding each year. Sport England’s work focuses on increasing participation in sport, including tennis, at grassroots level to give more and better opportunities to all.
Sport England provides long term investment to the Lawn Tennis Association, the National Governing Body for tennis in Britain, which receives up to £10.2 million for five years to invest in community tennis initiatives that will benefit everyone.
Asked by: Stuart Andrew (Conservative - Daventry)
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 (a) the Church of England, (b) the Roman Catholic Church and (c) representatives of non-conformist churches on changes to the Listed Places of Worship Scheme.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government holds a range of meetings with representatives of religious organisations. DCMS officials have met with the Church of England and Catholic Bishops’ Conference to discuss the changes and ministers have exchanged correspondence with representatives from most denominations.
Asked by: Stuart Andrew (Conservative - Daventry)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many meetings she had had in the last six months with Historic England on listed places of worship that are at risk.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
I have met with Historic England several times formally and informally since July 2024 when we have discussed a wide range of issues affecting heritage buildings, heritage at risk and planning reform. These discussions have also included discussions on listed places of worship that are at risk.
Asked by: Stuart Andrew (Conservative - Daventry)
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 (a) the Church of England, (b) the Roman Catholic Church and (c) representatives of non-conformist churches on funding for the (i) restoration and (ii) preservation of historic buildings.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
DCMS leads on heritage policy covering a wide range of historic buildings; representatives from the churches have largely restricted their comments to matters of repair and renovation works to listed places of worship.
Asked by: Stuart Andrew (Conservative - Daventry)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what recent correspondence she has received from Historic England on the Listed Places of Worship scheme.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
None.
Asked by: Stuart Andrew (Conservative - Daventry)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of changes to the Listed Places of Worship Scheme on the (a) restoration and (b) preservation of historic buildings.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme was established to provide grants towards VAT paid on repairs and maintenance to the nation's listed places of worship. Based on past claims we estimate that 94% of applications will not be affected by the £25,000 cap.
Asked by: Stuart Andrew (Conservative - Daventry)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will publish her Department's equality impact assessment in relation to changes to the Listed Places of Worship Scheme.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
We do not have any plans to publish an equality impact assessment in relation to changes to the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme.