Asked by: Stephanie Peacock (Labour - Barnsley East)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether independent guidance will be issued to sports governing bodies on prevention of chronic traumatic encephalopathy.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The safety, wellbeing and welfare of everyone taking part in sport is absolutely paramount. National Governing Bodies are responsible for the regulation of their sports, and for ensuring that appropriate measures are in place to protect participants from harm. The government expects sports to do all they can to protect their players.
I welcome work by sports to provide practical support to former players who develop neurodegenerative conditions. This includes the work of player associations, who play a valuable role in supporting players by providing short and long-term support to those affected by sporting injuries. I have discussed the issue of dementia with the Chief Executive of the Professional Footballers' Association, specifically the need for the Premier League to make progress on their promise to allocate funding towards a new Football Brain Health Fund for players impacted by dementia. The Brain Health Fund was subsequently announced in September 2023. The fund aims to assist former players and their families who have been impacted by dementia and other neurodegenerative conditions.
The Government continues to take the issue of head injuries very seriously. In December 2021 DCMS published its Command Paper report on concussion in sport, outlining the steps the Government is undertaking to help reduce risks associated with head injuries by improving understanding, awareness, prevention and treatment of concussion in sport. As part of this, in April 2023 the Government announced the first UK concussion guidelines for grassroots sport, in conjunction with the Sport and Recreation Alliance. This guidance is intended to be a helpful tool in reducing the risks associated with concussion and marks an important step in making sport safer for thousands of people who enjoy sport at a grassroots level, as well as an aid to professional sports.
Further research on the links between health, dementia and contact sport is needed to better understand the issue. To that end, DCMS established a Sports Concussion Research Forum in July 2022 to identify key research questions that need answering in this important area. The research forum is now formulating a report to identify the priority research questions for the sector that need to be addressed, with the final report expected in 2024.
The Government remains committed to working with sports to build on the positive work that is already taking place to mitigate the causes and effects of concussion in sport.
Asked by: Stephanie Peacock (Labour - Barnsley East)
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 (a) enable partnership working and (b) increase collaboration between schools, youth organisations and sport providers.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government recognises the importance of encouraging partnership working between schools, youth organisations, and sports providers to provide opportunities for young people. Our current Enrichment Partnerships pilot, which was a joint bid with the Department for Education, is working closely with schools, youth organisations, councils and enrichment and sports providers to test whether greater coordination locally can enhance school enrichment offers and remove barriers to participation, create efficiencies (reducing the burden on school staff resources) and unlock existing funding and provision.
The Government-funded network of 450 School Games Organisers (SGO) works directly with local schools and sports providers to coordinate inclusive sport competitions across 40 different sports and activities. In the 2022/23 academic year, the SGO network provided over 2.2 million opportunities for children to take part in local, inclusive sport and physical activity.
Our updated statutory guidance and peer review programme for Local Authorities aims to encourage best practice of local youth provision and advice on how to create a sufficient and unified approach to out of school provision for young people. We also are providing £320,000 to Regional Youth Work Units across England (RYWUs) over the next two years, to build upon their current practices and ensure a consistent minimum level of regional leadership. The funding will support RYWUs to influence youth policy, develop partnerships, support and grow the youth workforce, ensure young people's voices are heard, and improve collaboration across the regions.
Working with the Young People Foundation Trust, DCMS also encourages and supports local youth partnerships through the Local Partnerships Fund. The fund is designed to encourage productive connections between youth services and councils, schools, local sporting and smaller community based organisations, as well as local businesses and funders so they can provide a more holistic experience for young people.
Asked by: Stephanie Peacock (Labour - Barnsley East)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what proportion of his Department’s (a) advertising and (b) marketing expenditure was on (i) local newspapers in print and online, (ii) national newspapers in print and online, (iii) social media, (iv) search engines, (v) broadcast and on-demand television and (vi) other channels in the most recent year for which data is available.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The requested information is not centrally held, and complying with this request would incur a disproportionate cost to the department.
Asked by: Stephanie Peacock (Labour - Barnsley East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of her Department’s (a) advertising and (b) marketing expenditure was on (i) local newspapers in print and online, (ii) national newspapers in print and online, (iii) social media, (iv) search engines, (v) broadcast and on-demand television and (vi) other channels in the most recent year for which data is available.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
In 2022/23, the department continued to deliver communications activity in support of ministerial priorities and the wider government communications plan across its remit of skills, schools and families. This included campaigns to support the government’s ambitious skills reform programme, maximising take up of childcare entitlements, inspiring more people to teach in schools and a new campaign to attract professionals to share their skills by becoming teachers in further education.
Most communications continue to be delivered in–house at no additional cost, as part of cross-government campaigns or at low cost by supporting and co–ordinating partners’ activity. Government marketing plays a crucial role in achieving operational and policy objectives, as well as driving behaviour change. Where paid-for communications are used, these are subject to the Cabinet Office’s advertising, marketing and communications spending controls. These controls ensure that, where taxpayer money is being spent on government communications, it is cost-effective, co-ordinated and reflects functional standards and professional best practices. Paid-for communications also comply with government and departmental procurement or governance policies and processes.
The latest period for which final and consolidated total spend across all Department for Education campaigns is available for the 2022/23 financial year. Spend across the channels requested is outlined below:
Media type | 22/23 |
TV and Broadcast Video on Demand | £7,769,044 |
Search Engine | £3,215,500 |
Social | £4,842,978 |
Print (local and national) | £222,623 |
Other channels | £10,664,887 |
Total | £26,715,032 |
Asked by: Stephanie Peacock (Labour - Barnsley East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 1 March 2024 to Question 15320 on Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit: Mining, for what reason not all applicants for Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefits receive compensation.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
In order to be entitled to an award of Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit (IIDB), claimants must meet all the eligibility criteria set out in the relevant legislation. Claims may be disallowed prior to any medical assessment where certain entitlement criteria are not met (e.g. conditions around employed earner’s employment are not met, or the claimant does not satisfy the occupational criteria associated with the disease they are claiming for).
Claims for IIDB may also be disallowed following a medical assessment if the entitlement criteria are not met, for example, if it is established at assessment that the customer does not have one of the diseases set out in the relevant legislation.
There is not normally entitlement to a payable award of IIDB where disablement is assessed at less than 14%, with exceptions for some prescribed diseases as set out in legislation. In these cases, it is accepted that the customer is suffering from the prescribed disease, but they may not be entitled to a payable award of IIDB.
However, IIDB may still be payable for people who claim for more than one accident or disease and the total disablement, when the effects of all the accidents and diseases are added together, is 14% or more.
Asked by: Stephanie Peacock (Labour - Barnsley East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what discussions his Department has had with the Industrial Injuries Advisory Council on classification as an industrial injury of neurodegenerative conditions linked to repeated head impacts.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department is advised by the Industrial Injuries Advisory Council (IIAC), an independent scientific body, on changes to the list of occupational diseases for which Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit (IIDB) can be paid. IIAC is currently considering whether there is a link between certain neurodegenerative diseases and professional sportspeople.
IIAC has reviewed over 100 studies relating to ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis) and will need to give more consideration to the evidence before it can make a decision. IIAC will also likely consult experts (neurologists) in this field and will then publish its findings when the investigation is complete.
It would be premature to speculate on how the Council’s investigation will progress or whether there is enough evidence of a link between certain neurodegenerative diseases and professional sportspeople to meet the threshold for a new ‘prescribed disease’ to be recommended by IIAC for the purpose of IIDB entitlement.
If recommendations are made by IIAC on this matter, they will be carefully considered by the Department.
Asked by: Stephanie Peacock (Labour - Barnsley East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent discussions she has had with NHS England on ensuring that cancer is (a) diagnosed and (b) treated as quickly as possible.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department engages in ongoing discussions with NHS England, and is taking steps to reduce cancer diagnosis and treatment waiting times across England. The Government is working jointly with NHS England on implementing the delivery plan for tackling the COVID-19 backlogs in elective care, and plans to spend more than £8 billion from 2022/23 to 2024/25 to help drive up and protect elective activity, including cancer diagnosis and treatment activity.
Recently, following ministerial approval, NHS England consolidated the cancer waiting times standards on 1 October 2023. This followed the clinically led review of standards across the National Health Service, which recommended consolidating cancer waiting times from 10 standards into three. The three standards are: the Faster Diagnosis Standard (FDS), ensuing a maximum 28-day wait for communication of a definitive cancer or non-cancer diagnosis for patients referred urgently, or those identified by NHS cancer screening; a maximum 62-day wait to first treatment from urgent general practitioner referral, NHS cancer screening, or consultant upgrade; and a maximum 31-day wait from the decision to treat to any cancer treatment starting, for all cancer patients.
To achieve the FDS target and early diagnosis, NHS England has implemented a non-symptom specific pathway for patients who present with non-specific symptoms, or combinations of non-specific symptoms, that can indicate several different cancers, and a Best Timed Practice Pathway to ensure patients are diagnosed or told that cancer is ruled out within 28 days of an urgent referral.
Asked by: Stephanie Peacock (Labour - Barnsley East)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of the condition of crown court (a) buildings and (b) other infrastructure.
Answered by Mike Freer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The general condition of Crown Court buildings and other infrastructure is adequate, but I recognise that improvements are needed in some locations.
That is why we are investing £220 million in the two years to March 2025 for essential modernisation and repair work across the court and tribunal estate. This will minimise disruptions, retain the heritage of the estate, and ensure it is fit for the future.
We are working to ensure that those buildings most in need of investment are prioritised, providing a step forward in improving the quality of the court estate.
Asked by: Stephanie Peacock (Labour - Barnsley East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if his Department will make an assessment of the potential impact of the brightness of LED headlights on local communities.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
All types of road vehicle headlamps are designed, tested and approved to internationally recognised standards to help prevent undue glare on a broad range of roads and environments. However, the Government is aware of concerns raised by members of the public and we intend to commission independent research shortly.
While there are clear safety, security and economic benefits associated with the use of LED lighting, the scientific evidence base on its adverse effects is less advanced. The government is committed to improving the evidence base to ensure we understand the effects more fully before making further policy interventions.
Asked by: Stephanie Peacock (Labour - Barnsley East)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will make a comparative assessment of levels of poverty in areas that (a) have and (b) have not received funding through the Levelling Up Fund.
Answered by Jacob Young - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
The Levelling Up Fund is one of a number of Government interventions designed to level up all parts of the UK. Through the Levelling Up Fund we have prioritised funding to areas most in need.
Our analysis of need takes into account a range of factors including skills, pay, productivity, transport connectivity and regeneration.