Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department is taking steps to encourage (a) the Football Association and (b) other English national sport associations to organise games outside of London.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Decisions relating to the staging of fixtures are a matter for national governing bodies of sports. However, we welcome the success that the FA, the ECB, the RFU, England Netball and other national governing bodies have enjoyed in hosting representative fixtures across the country.
The government continues to work with UK Sport and prospective event partners on the bidding, planning and delivery of major sporting events. As outlined in the DCMS and UK Sport guidance, the ‘Gold Framework’, revised in 2023, this includes ensuring that hosting and therefore the benefits felt by communities are spread across the country. We have demonstrated this in recent events, such as the UEFA Women’s European Championships 2022, spread across 10 cities, and the Rugby League World Cup matches in the same year across 18 towns and cities, including Newcastle, and mainly hosted in the north of the country. In our pipeline of events, the 2025 Women’s Rugby World Cup covers England, with the opening match in Sunderland. Our successful bid for the UEFA Men’s European Championships 2028 means that matches are set to take place across the UK and Ireland.
Asked by: Julie Elliott (Labour - Sunderland Central)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what information her Department holds on the number of (a) girls and (b) boys who play (i) football and (ii) other sports at (A) primary and (B) secondary school.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
The department does not routinely collect data about which sports pupils participate in during the school day. It is up to schools to decide which sports they offer, so that they can meet the needs of their pupils. Factors influencing which sports schools may offer include the space and equipment available.
The department asked what types of sports were available to Year 7 to Year 11 pupils in the Parent, Pupil and Learner Panel, covering the 2021/22 academic year. Girls reported that they were less likely to have football, basketball, cricket and rugby available to them during PE lessons in comparison to boys. By contrast, girls did report that they were more likely to have rounders, netball, badminton, dance, gymnastics and volleyball available to them. Further information can be accessed at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/parent-pupil-and-learner-panel-omnibus-surveys-for-2021-to-2022. Schools can and do separate sporting experiences for boys and girls on the grounds of safety and fairness, but they should take the time to reflect on how this affects girls and boys accessing the same sports equally.
The Active Lives Children and Young People Survey data for the 2022/23 academic year was published by Sport England on 7 December 2023 and shows a significant increase of 4 percentage points of girls in Years 1-11 playing football over the last week compared to the baseline data collected in the 2017/18 academic year. This data is accessible at: https://sportengland-production-files.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/2023-12/Active%20Lives%20Children%20and%20Young%20People%20Survey%20-%20academic%20year%202022-23%20report.pdf?VersionId=3N7GGWZMKy88UPsGfnJVUZkaTklLwB_.
On 8 March 2023, the department announced over £600 million in for the primary PE and sport premium in the 2023/24 and 2024/25 academic years, and £57 million up to March 2025 for the Opening School Facilities programme. Schools can use this funding to increase their sport provision, raise overall quality of PE and improve the opportunities for all boys and girls to access sports.
In July 2023, the government published the School Sport and Activity Action Plan, which set out the expectation for schools to provide girls and boys with the same access and opportunity to play sports in PE and wider school sport. To encourage this, the government has overseen a change to the School Games Mark, which is delivered by the Youth Sport Trust. From September 2023, schools must demonstrate how they are overcoming gender barriers faced by girls and boys in PE and wider school sport as part of their planning and delivery.
Asked by: James Wild (Conservative - North West Norfolk)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 23 November 2022 to Question 87999, if he will provide a breakdown listing (a) the 15 sports that received loans and (b) the total number of loans allocated to each.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Sport Survival Package distributed a total of £264.8 million funding (loan and grant funding) across 15 sports to ensure their survival throughout the pandemic.
The number of loans issued to sports and their organisations is as follows: one loan was issued to athletics, 10 loans were issued to basketball, 35 loans were issued to football, one loan was issued to horse racing, five loans were issued to ice hockey, five loans were issued to motorsport, five loans were issued to netball, one loan was issued for non-ticketed events, 27 loans were issued to rugby league, 103 loans were issued to rugby union and one loan was issued to tennis.
Asked by: Julian Knight (Independent - Solihull)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department has made an estimate of the amount of sports equipment that will be given to sporting groups in the West Midlands following the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
Based on discussions between the Birmingham 2022 Organising Committee and Sport England, my department estimates that over 16,000 items of sports equipment will be given to community organisations in the West Midlands following the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games. This includes items such as boxing gloves, martial arts mats, netball bibs, basketballs and T20 cricket equipment as well as a number of items of general non-sport specific equipment. A full list of the equipment on offer is available via Sport England’s sports equipment gifting legacy catalogue.
Asked by: Gareth Bacon (Conservative - Orpington)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if she will provide a list of (a) professional staff networks and (b) social clubs operating within his Department; and if she will provide the (i) budgets and (ii) FTE staff time allocated to each group within each of the last three years.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
(a) DCMS has the following staff networks:
Ability Network (Beyond Disability)
Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) Network
Carers Network
Direct Appointee Network
EU Nationals Network
Faith and Belief Network
Fair Treatment Ambassadors
Flexible Working and Job Share Network
Gender Equality Network
Grade B Network (HEO / SEO Grade equivalent)
Grade C&D Network (AO & EO Grade equivalent)
Green Network
Ideas Panel Network
LGBT+ Network
Mental Health and Wellbeing Network
New Joiner Network
North Network
Parenting Network Group
Social Mobility Network
South West Network
Volunteering Network
(b) The Sports and Social Network is a Network for all staff to access and organise sport and social activity in DCMS. The social clubs that currently operate within this network include:
Choir
Football teams:
London Men’s team
London Women's team
Manchester team
Netball
Film Club
Book Club
Bake Club
Board Games
Meditation Club
(i) Budgets allocated to each group within each of the last three years
The annual budget allocated to all network activity is £10,000. This has been the same for the past three years. Networks are able to access funding on a case by case basis for events or training.
(ii) FTE staff time allocated to each group within each of the last three years
FTE staff are not allocated to networks, the role of network chair is a voluntary role and as such the time they allocate to each network is not recorded or reported upon. As part of the DCMS ‘business deal’ for network chairs, in agreement with line management and subject to business need, 10% of the network chair’s working hours can be allocated to network activity increasing to up to 20% in periods of high demand.
Asked by: Julie Elliott (Labour - Sunderland Central)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what plans he has to support the safe return of (a) badminton, (b) table tennis, (c) squash, (d) basketball, (e) netball, (f) volleyball and (g) other indoor sports after the end of the national covid-19 lockdown restrictions that commenced in November 2020.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
Sport and physical activity are incredibly important for our physical and mental health, and are a vital weapon against coronavirus. As the Prime Minister said on 23 November national restrictions will end on Wednesday 2 December and grassroots sport can resume in all tiers. This is providing social distancing remains in place, although there will be some restrictions on highest-risk activity in tier three areas.
In tier one areas indoor sports can take place within the rule of six. This will mean people from different households could play 3 on 3 volleyball, or four people from different households could play doubles tennis or badminton. Group activities such as training sessions and exercise classes can take place in larger numbers, provided that people are in separate groups (up to 6 people) which do not mix.
In tier two areas, indoor sport can take place within households, and people can take part in group activity like exercise classes as long as there is no mixing between households. People can play certain sports which do not involve close proximity or physical contact against one person from another household, such as a singles tennis match or badminton match.
In tier three areas, indoor sport will be restricted to within your household only, and there should be no group activity such as exercise classes.
Further details are to be announced imminently.
Asked by: Bill Wiggin (Conservative - North Herefordshire)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what plans she has to make sport more accessible to (a) women and (b) disabled people in the West Midlands.
Answered by Nigel Adams
Government’s strategy for sport and physical activity ‘Sporting Future: A New Strategy for An Active Nation’ aims to create a more physically active nation, where people of all ages and backgrounds can enjoy the benefits that sport and physical activity can provide. The strategy focuses on people in groups that are currently less likely to take part in sport and physical activity, such as women and girls and disabled people.
Our national sport council, Sport England’s strategy ‘Towards an Active Nation’ aims to deliver the aims of Sporting Future and has funded a number of projects aimed at supporting women and disabed people to be active in the West Midlands, including:
In addition, the Government is supporting the delivery of the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games, which will have the biggest para sport and women’s sport programme in Commonwealth Games history. It is the first time any major multi-sport competition will have more medal events for women than men. It builds on the incredible growth of women’s sport in recent years and offers a fantastic opportunity to further increase the profile of para sport.
Asked by: David Simpson (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
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 encourage the hosting of major sporting tournaments in the UK.
Answered by Mims Davies - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Government recognises the wide-ranging benefits that hosting major sports events can bring.
My Department works closely with UK Sport and the national governing bodies of sport, as well as local, regional and devolved partners, to ensure that the UK successfully bids for and stages a wide range of the world’s biggest sporting events.
The 'Gold Framework' publication sets out the processes as to how the Government and UK Sport work together with our sports bodies in bidding and staging major sports events. Our approach has been successful, with over 100 major international sporting events secured for the UK since the London 2012 Games.
We have a strong programme of events to look forward to, including the Cricket World Cup, Netball World Cup and Cycling Road World Championships this year, the EURO 2020 men's Championships next year, and the EURO women's Championships and Rugby League World Cup in 2021.
We are also looking forward to hosting the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games, welcoming thousands of athletes and officials from around the world and showcasing the best that the UK has to offer to a global audience of 1.5 billion.
Asked by: Lord Wasserman (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Viscount Younger of Leckie on 9 May (HL15351), what support they are giving to women's and girls' (1) basketball, and (2) netball.
Answered by Lord Ashton of Hyde
The Government wants to get more people from all backgrounds embracing sport and physical activity, including those less likely to do so such as women and girls, and help them to get active in ways that suit them.
Sport England, the government arm’s length body responsible for grassroots sport in England, are investing in a series of programmes and initiatives to increase participation amongst women and girls in basketball and netball. This includes £19.7m for the 2017-2021 funding cycle in England Netball to increase the number of women and girls participating in the sport. England Netball deliver this through programmes such as Back to Netball and Walking Netball and to support the high performance pathway. The Netball World Cup will also continue to build interest in the sport and will be supported by the This Girl Can campaign.
Sport England are also investing £6.04m for the 2017-2021 funding cycle in Basketball England to fund both the talent pathway and community participation. Funded programmes focused on increasing girl’s participation in the sport include Junior NBA (a city based schools league competition) and the recently launched Slam Jam (aimed at primary school aged children).
Asked by: Paul Farrelly (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
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 reduce the environmental footprint of large sporting events.
Answered by Mims Davies - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The government, along with major event partners, is committed to embedding sustainability as a key pillar of the planning and delivery of major sporting events. We also welcome the innovation that the sector is driving such as the degradable seaweed pouches used at this year’s London Marathon instead of plastic water bottles.
UK Sport is working alongside several events, providing support as they look into environmentally friendly delivery options. The upcoming Netball World Cup is currently undergoing an environmental review across all workstreams, with findings not only being used to make changes to the event, but also will be fed back into the newly formed sector working group, which alongside staff from UK Sport, consists of athletes, venues and NGB representatives.
UK Sport is also conducting work to place a range of ethical policies at the heart of all events delivered with government support, with environmental policies and considerations sitting as a core element of that work.