Asked by: Thangam Debbonaire (Labour - Bristol West)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference to his Department's guidance entitled Installing chess tables in parks and public spaces: prospectus, published on 1 September 2023, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of providing additional funding to local authorities for chess pieces to accompany the chess tables.
Answered by Jacob Young - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
85 local authorities that received Levelling Up Parks Fund funding were invited to apply for the chess tables funding. In total, 55 local authorities applied for the funding. We have provided funding to those 55 local authorities to install 99 chess tables across England.
We have asked local authorities to consider how the location they choose creates new opportunities, helps to strengthen relationships, builds local social cohesion and provides opportunities for people to come together in a joint activity.
Prior to the announcement of funding, we engaged stakeholders across Government, as well as local authorities and the English Chess Federation.
Local authorities know their communities best and are best placed to manage the use and assess the effects of the chess tables locally, if they choose to do so.
Any decisions to provide chess sets are for local authorities to take.
Further announcements will be set out in the usual way.
Asked by: Thangam Debbonaire (Labour - Bristol West)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will take steps to ensure that newly-installed chess tables funded by his Department are used for their intended purpose.
Answered by Jacob Young - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
85 local authorities that received Levelling Up Parks Fund funding were invited to apply for the chess tables funding. In total, 55 local authorities applied for the funding. We have provided funding to those 55 local authorities to install 99 chess tables across England.
We have asked local authorities to consider how the location they choose creates new opportunities, helps to strengthen relationships, builds local social cohesion and provides opportunities for people to come together in a joint activity.
Prior to the announcement of funding, we engaged stakeholders across Government, as well as local authorities and the English Chess Federation.
Local authorities know their communities best and are best placed to manage the use and assess the effects of the chess tables locally, if they choose to do so.
Any decisions to provide chess sets are for local authorities to take.
Further announcements will be set out in the usual way.
Asked by: Thangam Debbonaire (Labour - Bristol West)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference to his Department's press release entitled Major investment to transform future of English chess announced, published on 22 August 2023, whether he plans to assess the impact of funding chess tables on (a) levels of loneliness and (b) people's problem solving skills.
Answered by Jacob Young - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
85 local authorities that received Levelling Up Parks Fund funding were invited to apply for the chess tables funding. In total, 55 local authorities applied for the funding. We have provided funding to those 55 local authorities to install 99 chess tables across England.
We have asked local authorities to consider how the location they choose creates new opportunities, helps to strengthen relationships, builds local social cohesion and provides opportunities for people to come together in a joint activity.
Prior to the announcement of funding, we engaged stakeholders across Government, as well as local authorities and the English Chess Federation.
Local authorities know their communities best and are best placed to manage the use and assess the effects of the chess tables locally, if they choose to do so.
Any decisions to provide chess sets are for local authorities to take.
Further announcements will be set out in the usual way.
Asked by: Thangam Debbonaire (Labour - Bristol West)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether his Department held discussions with relevant stakeholders prior to the announcement of funding for local authorities to install chess tables in public spaces.
Answered by Jacob Young - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
85 local authorities that received Levelling Up Parks Fund funding were invited to apply for the chess tables funding. In total, 55 local authorities applied for the funding. We have provided funding to those 55 local authorities to install 99 chess tables across England.
We have asked local authorities to consider how the location they choose creates new opportunities, helps to strengthen relationships, builds local social cohesion and provides opportunities for people to come together in a joint activity.
Prior to the announcement of funding, we engaged stakeholders across Government, as well as local authorities and the English Chess Federation.
Local authorities know their communities best and are best placed to manage the use and assess the effects of the chess tables locally, if they choose to do so.
Any decisions to provide chess sets are for local authorities to take.
Further announcements will be set out in the usual way.
Asked by: Thangam Debbonaire (Labour - Bristol West)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how many local authorities submitted bids for funding for new chess tables.
Answered by Jacob Young - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
85 local authorities that received Levelling Up Parks Fund funding were invited to apply for the chess tables funding. In total, 55 local authorities applied for the funding. We have provided funding to those 55 local authorities to install 99 chess tables across England.
We have asked local authorities to consider how the location they choose creates new opportunities, helps to strengthen relationships, builds local social cohesion and provides opportunities for people to come together in a joint activity.
Prior to the announcement of funding, we engaged stakeholders across Government, as well as local authorities and the English Chess Federation.
Local authorities know their communities best and are best placed to manage the use and assess the effects of the chess tables locally, if they choose to do so.
Any decisions to provide chess sets are for local authorities to take.
Further announcements will be set out in the usual way.
Asked by: Lord Wigley (Plaid Cymru - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what consequential payments they are making to the Welsh and Scottish Governments under the Barnett formula as a result of their recent announcement of additional funding for the promotion of the game of chess in schools and communities in England.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The funding for promoting chess in schools in England was funded from within existing budgets. As such, there are no additional Barnett consequentials from this decision.
Asked by: Julian Knight (Independent - Solihull)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to promote chess in schools.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Government is committed to supporting pupils to have access to a wide range of enrichment opportunities, such as chess, which can be an important part of a rich educational experience. On 22 August 2023 the Department announced that it is providing £200,000 to at least 100 primary schools to improve access to chess for young people, particularly targeting girls and those receiving free school meals, who have been historically underrepresented in the game of chess. These grants will enable schools to purchase chess sets, provide access to weekly online chess tutorials, set up online platforms and access curriculum planning materials for teachers. The schools that are awarded this grant will share best practice on how other schools could establish strong chess enrichment to complement their existing provision.
Asked by: John Baron (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, which Minister in her Department is responsible for chess.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
A range of Government departments have an interest in chess. For example, the Department for Education would lead on chess in schools.
Within the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, ultimately the Secretary of State would have overall responsibility, while other issues would fall to different Ministers depending on the nature of the issue. For example, the Minister for Sport, Gambling and Civil Society would have an interest in questions related to promoting chess to young people outside school - while the Minister for Media, Tourism and Creative Industries would engage the gaming industry on online forms of chess.
Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds North West)
Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether his Department has a process for designating an activity as either a sport or a game.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government’s arm’s length body (ALB) for grassroots sport, Sport England, has a process for recognising activities. The objective of the recognition process is to identify sports that Sport England may wish to work with and the national bodies that govern them. The process is run jointly with the other three Home Country Sports Councils and UK Sport.
When deciding if an activity can be recognised, the Sports Councils refer to the definition of sport contained within the Council of Europe’s European Sports Charter. This states that:
“Sport means all forms of physical activity which, through casual or organised participation aim at expressing or improving physical fitness and mental well-being, forming social relationships or obtaining results in competition at all levels.”
As an example of this process, the English Chess Federation made an application for recognition in 2008, but this was turned down as the Sports Councils did not consider chess to be a physical activity. Therefore, it did not meet the Council of Europe’s definition.
Asked by: Baroness Brown of Cambridge (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question
To ask His Majesty's Government what support they provide for the development of chess to (1) schools, (2) communities, and (3) the English Chess Federation, given (a) the social and cognitive benefits that game brings, and (b) its increased popularity since the COVID-19 lockdown.
Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government recognises the well-established social and cognitive benefits of playing chess, and is pleased to see its increased popularity. While the Department for Culture, Media and Sport does not provide any direct support to the English Chess Federation specifically, we are supportive of all programmes which could extend these benefits to more people, including the work of the English Chess Federation and other chess charities which have successfully promoted the game of chess across the country.
The charity Chess in Schools & Communities, for example, provides chess equipment, software and lessons to state primary schools in England and Wales. Its aim is to promote the educational and social benefits of playing chess and to organise chess events which encourage mass participation. As well as partnering with over 900 schools across the UK, it has also worked successfully with local authorities to empower whole communities through chess, and has established a growing network of chess clubs in libraries.