Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how much the Charity Commission has spent on translation and interpretation services in each of the last five years.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Charity Commission’s total spend on translation and interpretation services in each of the last five years is detailed in the below table:
Year | Spend (£) |
2024/25 | 31,219.52 |
2023/24 | 35,879.83 |
2022/23 | 34,318.51 |
2021/22 | 15,016.08 |
2020/21 | 10,129.45 |
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what estimate her Department has made of the potential contribution of independent museums to local economic growth.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Drawing on external analysis, the Department considers independent museums as key to local economic growth. Museums form an integral part of the Creative Industries, driving innovation across the economy. By animating high streets and communities through their public programmes, museums draw tourists and employers to regions across the country, with many ranking amongst the most visited attractions in the UK.
Independent museums make up over half the sector, and the Association of Independent Museums estimates that independent museums across the UK made an overall economic contribution of £838.7 million in 2023, supporting 17,900 jobs. The Annual Museum Survey 2025 produced by the Arts Council England funded Museum Development Network, estimates the combined economic impact of Independent, Local Authority, and University museums in England at over £1.1 billion annually.
Asked by: David Smith (Labour - North Northumberland)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how community sports teams can become youth hubs; and how they can access funding for community sports facilities.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Sports facilities provide important community hubs for people of all ages to be active and connect people to the places in which they live.
On 20 June 2025, the Culture Secretary announced that following the Spending Review, £400 million is going to be invested into new and upgraded grassroots sport facilities in communities right across the UK, supporting the Government's Plan for Change. We are now working closely with sporting bodies and local leaders to establish what each community needs, including for children and young people, and will then set out further plans.
DCMS funding for youth spaces is delivered through the Better Youth Spaces (BYS) fund. This is £30.5 million of capital funding for small scale capital equipment to help youth organisations to better support the young people they work with across England.
DCMS also has responsibility for Young Futures Hubs. The first eight of 50 hubs will be operational by the end of this financial year, with a remaining 42 to be established where they will have the most impact by March 2029.
Asked by: Greg Smith (Conservative - Mid Buckinghamshire)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what recent discussions she has had with the Charity Commission on regulatory compliance cases into (a) Dar Alhekma and (b) the Abrar Islamic Foundation.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Ministers and officials regularly meet with the Charity Commission to discuss a range of issues relating to charity regulation. As the Charity Commission is independent from the Government in its regulatory decision making, it will be for the Charity Commission to assess these matters further.
The Charity Commission has live regulatory compliance cases into Dar Alhekma Trust and Abrar Islamic Foundation. These cases were temporarily paused at the request of the Metropolitan Police Service, to avoid prejudicing the police’s assessment of the concerns raised. The Charity Commission is now engaging with the trustees of both charities to assess the allegations.
Asked by: Ellie Chowns (Green Party - North Herefordshire)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment her department has made of the potential merits of distributing grassroots sports funding through local authorities for leisure centres and swimming pools.
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 sports facilities, including leisure centres and swimming pools, which are vital spaces for people of all ages to stay fit and healthy, and which play an important role within communities right across the country.
The ongoing responsibility of providing access to public leisure facilities lies at local authority level, and the Government encourages local authorities to make investments which offer the right opportunities and facilities for the communities they serve.
In June, the Government announced that £400 million will be invested in new and upgraded grassroots sports facilities over the next four years. We want to ensure that our future funding plans take a place-based approach, and we are working in collaboration with local authorities and the sports sector to understand the demand for facilities in each area of the UK. Plans for future funding programmes will be confirmed in due course. This funding is on top of the £250 million that our arm’s length body, Sport England invests every year in grassroots sport in England.
Asked by: Joe Robertson (Conservative - Isle of Wight East)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how much funding her Department plans to provide to (a) tennis and (b) padel in each year until 2028.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government is determined to ensure that everyone has access to quality sport and physical activity opportunities. That is why we have committed another £400 million to transform facilities across the whole of the UK following the Spending Review. We are now working closely with sporting bodies and local leaders to establish what communities need and will then set out further plans. I have met with the Lawn Tennis Association, the National Governing Body for tennis and padel, along with representatives from other sports, to discuss this.
The Government provides the majority of support for grassroots sport in England through Sport England, which annually invests over £250 million in Exchequer and Lottery funding. This includes long term investment in the Lawn Tennis Association, which receives up to £10.2 million for five years from 2022 to 2027 to invest in community tennis and padel initiatives that will benefit as many people as possible.
Asked by: Bob Blackman (Conservative - Harrow East)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how much funding will be provided to (a) tennis and (b) padel up to 2028.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government is determined to ensure that everyone has access to quality sport and physical activity opportunities. That is why we have committed another £400 million to transform facilities across the whole of the UK following the Spending Review. We are now working closely with sporting bodies and local leaders to establish what communities need and will then set out further plans. I have met with the Lawn Tennis Association, the National Governing Body for tennis and padel, along with representatives from other sports, to discuss this.
The Government provides the majority of support for grassroots sport in England through Sport England, which annually invests over £250 million in Exchequer and Lottery funding. This includes long term investment in the Lawn Tennis Association, which receives up to £10.2 million for five years from 2022 to 2027 to invest in community tennis and padel initiatives that will benefit as many people as possible.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions her Department has had with stakeholders on improving access to all weather football pitches in South Holland and the Deepings constituency.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government’s recent 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 grass, artificial grass pitches and other multi-sport facilities in the areas that require them, in order to increase participation and allow people to be active.
Following this announcement, we have been working in collaboration with the sports sector and local leaders to develop plans for delivering future funding.
We want to ensure these plans take a place-based approach to investment, using regional expertise across the country to deliver in line with demand in each area. Plans for future funding programmes will be confirmed in due course.
Asked by: Louie French (Conservative - Old Bexley and Sidcup)
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 value for money of funding distributed by the Arts Council England.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The government ensures value for money from Arts Council England (ACE) funding by holding it accountable through performance reporting, financial controls, and grant-management standards set by DCMS. ACE also reports against key performance indicators and strategic outcomes in its annual report.
The government has also strengthened performance measurement by developing long-term impact indicators, including a participation survey, to measure the outcomes of funded arts activity. Alongside this, through the Culture Heritage Capital programme, DCMS and its arms length bodies are developing new methodology and guidance to measure the value for money of investment in culture. In December 2024 DCMS published Embedding a Culture and Heritage Capital Approach, which set out the ambitions for the programme.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what progress her Department has made on expanding access to youth cultural programmes in areas with historically low participation.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government has taken a number of steps to expand youth access to cultural programmes in under-served areas.
Arts Council England (ACE) is targeting 54 areas in England where cultural engagement and investment have been historically low through its Priority Places programme. All 54 areas include Music Hub provision which provide engagement aimed at young people; and some of the national portfolio organisations operating in Priority Places are entirely focused on children and young people, such as the BookTrust, the UK's largest reading charity which reaches millions of children each year. In 2024/25 ACE invested almost £27 million through National Lottery Project Grants to Priority Places.
The Arts Everywhere Fund, announced earlier this year, has also committed £3.2 million in funding for four cultural education programmes for the 2025/26 financial year to preserve increased access to arts for children and young people through the Museums and Schools Programme, Heritage Schools Programme, Art & Design National Saturday Clubs and BFI Film Academy.
In November, we published the Government’s response to the Curriculum and Assessment Review, which will ensure that a high-quality arts education is an essential part of the broad and rich education every child deserves. We will revitalise arts education through a reformed curriculum and support for teachers. In September 2026 we will launch the new National Centre for Arts and Music Education, which will improve access and opportunity for children and young people, strengthening collaboration between schools and industry.
In addition, £132.5 million of dormant assets funding will be allocated to support the provision of services, facilities or opportunities to meet the needs of young people. £117.5m of this has been allocated to increase disadvantaged young people’s access to enrichment opportunities in the arts, culture, sports and wider youth services, aimed at improving wellbeing and employability.