Asked by: Baroness Debbonaire (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to ways to support the BBC’s work in relation to classical music, particularly in relation to young musicians.
Answered by Baroness Twycross - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The BBC continues to hold a uniquely important role as a cornerstone of the whole of the UK’s creative economy, including playing an important role in the provision of music.
As part of the Charter Review process, the Government is looking at how the BBC can best use its significant public funding to act differently to other broadcasters and prioritise genres and activities that would otherwise be underserved by the market. We are considering options to ensure that the BBC drives opportunities and good jobs across the UK, including in the creative sector and the arts.
Asked by: Baroness Debbonaire (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether the BBC charter renewal process will consider the impact of changes on the music sector.
Answered by Baroness Twycross - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The BBC continues to hold a uniquely important role as a cornerstone of the whole of the UK’s creative economy, including playing an important role in the provision of music.
As part of the Charter Review process, the Government is looking at how the BBC can best use its significant public funding to act differently to other broadcasters and prioritise genres and activities that would otherwise be underserved by the market. We are considering options to ensure that the BBC drives opportunities and good jobs across the UK, including in the creative sector and the arts.
Asked by: Baroness Debbonaire (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they have taken to review the impact on the UK's soft power of reductions in British Council staff.
Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington - Minister of State (Development)
This Government is providing a non-Official Development Assistance (ODA) uplift of £40 million across the Spending Review period (2026/27 to 2028/29) to the British Council. This supports our objective of a financially sustainable British Council for the long-term.
Asked by: Baroness Debbonaire (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of (1) the extent, and (2) the impact, of the provision of arts and culture activities for children in schools by external organisations.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Participation in the arts brings a range of benefits for children and young people. In addition to the value of arts engagement in and of itself, the Education Endowment Fund’s teaching and learning toolkit, for example, reports positive impacts on academic outcomes in other curriculum areas, as well as benefits to children’s wellbeing and attitudes to learning.
There is a range of support available to schools from external organisations to help them provide arts and cultural activities. The government will be publishing a new enrichment framework this academic year, which will encourage partnership working and signpost to organisations, such as Arts Council England.
We are also committed to revitalising arts as part of the reformed national curriculum and qualifications, with high-quality support for teachers of these subjects through the new National Centre for Music and Arts, and our music hubs network.
Asked by: Baroness Debbonaire (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will take steps with relevant football bodies to help increase British Asian representation in football (a) on and (b) off the pitch.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
Asked by: Baroness Debbonaire (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will take steps with relevant football bodies to help increase the level of volunteering in grassroots football.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
Asked by: Baroness Debbonaire (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether she has had discussions with public service broadcasters on commissioning (a) film and (b) TV products from media organisations within the UK.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Shadow Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology
Individual commissioning decisions are a matter for the public service broadcasters (PSBs) themselves, which are operationally and editorially independent of Government. In 2022, commissions by PSBs were worth more than £1.5 billion to the independent production sector in the UK.
Asked by: Baroness Debbonaire (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will take steps to ensure there are no uninsulated overhead electricity cables at domestic sport facilities.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
The safety, wellbeing and welfare of everyone taking part in sport is absolutely paramount. It is for individual sports clubs to carry out risk assessments and put in place mitigations that will improve player safety.
Sport England, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport arm's length body for grassroots sport, is not a regulator of community sport but does provide guidance to help sports clubs carry out risk assessments, as do national governing bodies of sport.
For each new sports facility built, there is a legal obligation shared between developers, designers and contractors to promote health and safety. This applies throughout the entire project cycle from design and construction through to operation, maintenance and demolition. This obligation is given in the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations - https://www.hse.gov.uk/construction/cdm/2015/index.htm. Any breach of these regulations is a criminal offence.
In addition, Sections 2 and 3 of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 outline ongoing duties to protect workers and members of the public from risk.
The Health and Safety Executive and others, including the Energy Networks Association, have also produced guidance in relation to safety around overhead lines.
Asked by: Baroness Debbonaire (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will make an estimate of the number of volunteers there were in amateur football in (a) 2010, (b) 2019 and (c) 2023.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
The Government tracks activity levels through Sport England’s Active Lives surveys. Two surveys run annually: Active Lives Adult, and Active Lives Children and Young People. These surveys measure the activity levels of people across England and allows the Government to collect accurate data on what and how much sport and physical activity different groups are participating in. You can find out more about the surveys on Sport England's website.
2009/10
Active People survey - 15.2 million people took part in sport and wider physical activity for an average of at least 30 minutes a week.
Children and young people - Sport England only started collecting data in 2017.
2018/19
Active Lives Adult survey - 28.6 million took part in 150+ minutes of activity a week.
Active Lives Children and Young People survey - 3.3 million doing an average of 60+ minutes per day.
2022/23
Active Lives Adult survey - 29.5 million took part in 150+ minutes of activity a week.
Active Lives Children and Young people survey - 3.5 million doing an average of 60+ minutes per day.
It’s important to note that comparing data on a consistent basis across this time is not possible as the methodologies and metrics employed changed to reflect changes in the Chief Medical Officers’ (CMO) guidance.
Since 2010, the CMO guidelines on physical activity changed from five separate sessions of 30 minutes of at least moderate intensity physical activity in a week to at least 150 minutes of moderate equivalent intensity physical activity a week. In addition to this, Sport England’s remit has extended to include recreational activities and active travel.
Sport England does not record the number of volunteers in amateur football.
Asked by: Baroness Debbonaire (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will make an estimate of the number of people that played grassroots sport in England in (a) 2010, (b) 2019 and (c) 2023.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
The Government tracks activity levels through Sport England’s Active Lives surveys. Two surveys run annually: Active Lives Adult, and Active Lives Children and Young People. These surveys measure the activity levels of people across England and allows the Government to collect accurate data on what and how much sport and physical activity different groups are participating in. You can find out more about the surveys on Sport England's website.
2009/10
Active People survey - 15.2 million people took part in sport and wider physical activity for an average of at least 30 minutes a week.
Children and young people - Sport England only started collecting data in 2017.
2018/19
Active Lives Adult survey - 28.6 million took part in 150+ minutes of activity a week.
Active Lives Children and Young People survey - 3.3 million doing an average of 60+ minutes per day.
2022/23
Active Lives Adult survey - 29.5 million took part in 150+ minutes of activity a week.
Active Lives Children and Young people survey - 3.5 million doing an average of 60+ minutes per day.
It’s important to note that comparing data on a consistent basis across this time is not possible as the methodologies and metrics employed changed to reflect changes in the Chief Medical Officers’ (CMO) guidance.
Since 2010, the CMO guidelines on physical activity changed from five separate sessions of 30 minutes of at least moderate intensity physical activity in a week to at least 150 minutes of moderate equivalent intensity physical activity a week. In addition to this, Sport England’s remit has extended to include recreational activities and active travel.
Sport England does not record the number of volunteers in amateur football.