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, pursuant to the Answer of 8 December to Question 96978 on Sports: Facilities, what data relating to non-pitch-based sports infrastructure her Department holds; and whether it holds datasets on local authority breakdowns.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government’s announcement of £400m of investment into grassroots sports over the next four years will ensure that we continue to deliver high-quality multi-sport facilities in communities that need them across the UK, including Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland, in order to increase participation and allow people to be active.
According to Sport England’s Active Places database, as of December 2025 there are 56,855 non-pitch-based sport facilities in England, which can be broken down by local authority. More details can be found here.
We are working on our plans for future grassroots sports funding and we will continue to engage the Devolved Governments and our local partners across the UK on this matter. We will provide an update early in 2026.
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, pursuant to the Answer of 9 December 2025 to Question 96315 on Sports: Finance, how much of the £400 million announced for investment into grassroots sports facilities she anticipates will be spent in 2026, and on which sports will that funding be spent.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government’s announcement of £400m of investment into grassroots sports over the next four years will ensure that we continue to deliver high-quality multi-sport facilities in communities that need them across the UK, including Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland, in order to increase participation and allow people to be active.
According to Sport England’s Active Places database, as of December 2025 there are 56,855 non-pitch-based sport facilities in England, which can be broken down by local authority. More details can be found here.
We are working on our plans for future grassroots sports funding and we will continue to engage the Devolved Governments and our local partners across the UK on this matter. We will provide an update early in 2026.
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, whether the £400 million announced for grassroots sports facilities on 19 June 2025 will include Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government’s announcement of £400m of investment into grassroots sports over the next four years will ensure that we continue to deliver high-quality multi-sport facilities in communities that need them across the UK, including Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland, in order to increase participation and allow people to be active.
According to Sport England’s Active Places database, as of December 2025 there are 56,855 non-pitch-based sport facilities in England, which can be broken down by local authority. More details can be found here.
We are working on our plans for future grassroots sports funding and we will continue to engage the Devolved Governments and our local partners across the UK on this matter. We will provide an update early in 2026.
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 many and what proportion of civil servants in her Department are (a) on temporary contract and (b) consultants.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Information on the number of civil servants employed on temporary contracts is published quarterly by the Office for National Statistics as part of the quarterly Public Sector Employment statistics. Information can be accessed for September 2025 at the following web address: https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/publicsectorpersonnel/bulletins/publicsectoremployment/september2025
Departmental expenditure on consultancy is published within the Annual Report andAccounts. The latest report for FY 2024/25 can be found at the following web address: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dcms-annual-report-and-accounts-2024-to-2025
Asked by: Neil O'Brien (Conservative - Harborough, Oadby and Wigston)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many and what proportion of staff in each grade were rated in the top performance category in the last year.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport operates a continual performance management approach throughout the year, which includes data on those not meeting performance expectations through the Managing Poor Performance process.
There is no common definition of ‘top performance’ across Government, and we do not hold performance data for top performers for staff below SCS level at this time.
For Senior Civil Servants, DCMS follows the SCS framework for performance management. There are four possible ratings available with the top marking being ‘Exceeding’. Given the relatively small number of Senior Civil Servants in scope of the process, sharing the number and proportion of those receiving the top box marking could be disclosive and is therefore being suppressed.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what the net zero targets for the Department and its arm’s-length bodies are; and what guidance has been issued on adopting net zero targets earlier than 2050.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Net Zero target in the Climate Change Act 2008, is a target for the whole of the UK, not individual departments or arms-length bodies.
Greening Government Commitments are the central framework setting out the actions UK government departments and their agencies will take to reduce their impacts on the environment, including setting targets to reduce emissions, during the framework period.
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport committed to a 33% reduction in direct emissions and a 58% reduction in overall emissions by 2025.
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs is reviewing the Greening Government Commitments to ensure that they remain aligned with government priorities.
Asked by: Sarah Pochin (Reform UK - Runcorn and Helsby)
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 impact of allowing advertising on BBC platforms on the licence fee settlement.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government’s aim is to support a sustainable and fair funding model for the BBC, and we are considering a broad range of options to deliver this at Charter Review.
A thriving media sector is vital for the UK. We acknowledge that the BBC carrying advertising would represent a significant shift and have impacts on the wider media sector, including the other Public Service Broadcasters and local media providers, as well as on audience experiences.
The Government is seeking further views and evidence about the potential impacts of the BBC carrying adverts on the market, on audience engagement and on willingness to pay the licence fee before making any final decisions, including through the public consultation on the Charter Review Green Paper and through evidence from stakeholders and the BBC. This will build on modelling the department commissioned under the previous government on the BBC’s potential to generate commercial revenue from advertising.
Asked by: Sarah Pochin (Reform UK - Runcorn and Helsby)
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 impact of BBC advertising on commercial broadcasters and local media organisations.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government’s aim is to support a sustainable and fair funding model for the BBC, and we are considering a broad range of options to deliver this at Charter Review.
A thriving media sector is vital for the UK. We acknowledge that the BBC carrying advertising would represent a significant shift and have impacts on the wider media sector, including the other Public Service Broadcasters and local media providers, as well as on audience experiences.
The Government is seeking further views and evidence about the potential impacts of the BBC carrying adverts on the market, on audience engagement and on willingness to pay the licence fee before making any final decisions, including through the public consultation on the Charter Review Green Paper and through evidence from stakeholders and the BBC. This will build on modelling the department commissioned under the previous government on the BBC’s potential to generate commercial revenue from advertising.
Asked by: Sarah Pochin (Reform UK - Runcorn and Helsby)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what modelling her Department has undertaken on projected advertising revenues on BBC services.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government’s aim is to support a sustainable and fair funding model for the BBC, and we are considering a broad range of options to deliver this at Charter Review.
A thriving media sector is vital for the UK. We acknowledge that the BBC carrying advertising would represent a significant shift and have impacts on the wider media sector, including the other Public Service Broadcasters and local media providers, as well as on audience experiences.
The Government is seeking further views and evidence about the potential impacts of the BBC carrying adverts on the market, on audience engagement and on willingness to pay the licence fee before making any final decisions, including through the public consultation on the Charter Review Green Paper and through evidence from stakeholders and the BBC. This will build on modelling the department commissioned under the previous government on the BBC’s potential to generate commercial revenue from advertising.
Asked by: Sarah Pochin (Reform UK - Runcorn and Helsby)
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 Ofcom about the potential impact of BBC services displaying advertisements on the BBC's obligations regarding (a) impartiality and (b) public service broadcasting.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Secretary of State is in regular discussion with the BBC about Charter Review and other BBC matters, including on the options for funding the BBC set out in the Charter Review Green Paper. DCMS officials also hold regular meetings with the BBC and Ofcom about Charter Review, including issues relating to BBC funding.
The Government is developing its understanding of the impact of commercial options and will continue to build this throughout the Charter Review process, including through the public consultation and our engagement with stakeholders, including the BBC and Ofcom.