Asked by: Rehman Chishti (Conservative - Gillingham and Rainham)
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 increase tourism in (a) Kent and (b) Medway.
Answered by Michael Ellis
The Discover England Fund is a £40m fund aimed at increasing the tourism offer in England, creating innovate, bookable experiences for targeted international markets. The “Culture Coasting, Garden and Gourmet” and the “US Connections” projects are examples of projects in the Kent and Medway area.
Kent is also used in VisitBritain’s marketing campaigns, including their #MyMicroGap domestic campaign. In addition to this, suppliers in the Medway area are provided on the VisitBritain trade website for bookings.
The Government has entered into formal negotiations on the proposed Tourism Sector Deal. The proposed Sector Deal aims to improve productivity in the tourism sector. Any businesses with an interest is invited to contact Steve Ridgway of VisitBritain who is representing the Tourism Industry in our discussions.
Asked by: Rehman Chishti (Conservative - Gillingham and Rainham)
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 support women's football in (a) Kent and (b) England.
Answered by Tracey Crouch
The government’s sport strategy “Sporting Future” highlighted the importance of focusing on groups that are less likely to take part in sport and physical activity, including women and girls.
Sport England, government’s arm’s length body for community sport, funds the Football Association (FA) to encourage participation in the women’s game, both in developing talented women and girls as well as supporting participation at the grassroots. For 2017-2021 Sport England awarded The FA £14.6m. This investment includes funding for programmes like ‘Grow the Game’ aimed at supporting new women’s and disability teams.
The FA has partnered with Sport England’s “This Girl Can” campaign, to encourage more women and girls to get involved with the sport across the country. In Kent, Sport England funding has helped Kent FA start the Player Development Centre which has seen many girls receive extra coaching opportunities.
Government supports the FA’s bid to host the UEFA Women’s Euro 2021 finals in England which will hopefully inspire the next generation of young female players.
Asked by: Rehman Chishti (Conservative - Gillingham and Rainham)
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 promote women's football in (a) Kent and (b) England.
Answered by Tracey Crouch
The government’s sport strategy “Sporting Future” highlighted the importance of focusing on groups that are less likely to take part in sport and physical activity, including women and girls.
Sport England, government’s arm’s length body for community sport, funds the Football Association (FA) to encourage participation in the women’s game, both in developing talented women and girls as well as supporting participation at the grassroots. For 2017-2021 Sport England awarded The FA £14.6m. This investment includes funding for programmes like ‘Grow the Game’ aimed at supporting new women’s and disability teams.
The FA has partnered with Sport England’s “This Girl Can” campaign, to encourage more women and girls to get involved with the sport across the country. In Kent, Sport England funding has helped Kent FA start the Player Development Centre which has seen many girls receive extra coaching opportunities.
Government supports the FA’s bid to host the UEFA Women’s Euro 2021 finals in England which will hopefully inspire the next generation of young female players.
Asked by: Rehman Chishti (Conservative - Gillingham and Rainham)
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 support sports facilities in (a) Medway and (b) Kent.
Answered by Tracey Crouch
Making sure that good quality and affordable sports facilities are available and accessible to people from all backgrounds and ability levels is a central element of the government Sport Strategy 'Sporting Future'. In the Medway area we have invested over £1m of exchequer and lottery funding through Sport England, into 46 projects since 2010 and since 2011 more than £540,000 in 22 projects in Gillingham and Rainham.
Asked by: Rehman Chishti (Conservative - Gillingham and Rainham)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, how many applications for Big Lottery funding that were (a) successful and (b) unsuccessful were received from (i) the Gillingham and Rainham constituency, (ii) Medway and (iii) the UK in each of the last five years.
Answered by Tracey Crouch
The number of applications and awards made in (i) Gillingham and Rainham, (ii) Medway and (iii) the UK over each of the last five financial years were as follows:
Gillingham and Rainham
Financial Year | Applications | Awards |
2013-2014 | 24 | 17 |
2014-2015 | 19 | 12 |
2015-2016 | 16 | 11 |
2016-2017 | 28 | 18 |
2017-2018 | 20 | 12 |
TOTAL | 107 | 70 |
Medway
Financial Year | Applications | Awards |
2013-2014 | 56 | 31 |
2014-2015 | 53 | 36 |
2015-2016 | 51 | 26 |
2016-2017 | 70 | 43 |
2017-2018 | 70 | 33 |
TOTAL | 300 | 169 |
UK-wide
Financial Year | Applications | Awards |
2013-2014 | 23,178 | 13,139 |
2014-2015 | 21,264 | 13,059 |
2015-2016 | 21,250 | 11,822 |
2016-2017 | 24,000 | 13,713 |
2017-2018 | 20,550 | 11,037 |
TOTAL | 110,242 | 62,770 |
Big Lottery Fund assigns applications and awards by primary project location - where the project is delivered from, rather than beneficiary location or where their beneficiaries live. As such, it is likely that people living in (i) Gillingham and Rainham and (ii) Medway have also benefited from awards assigned to other locations over the past five financial years.
Asked by: Rehman Chishti (Conservative - Gillingham and Rainham)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what estimate he has made of the economic value of tourism to the (a) UK and (b) South East in each of the last five years.
Answered by Michael Ellis
VisitBritain’s data for economic value of tourism in UK and South East are as follows-
Inbound Tourism
Year | UK | South East |
2012 | £18.6 billion | £1.9 billion |
2013 | £21.3 billion | £2 billion |
2014 | £21.8 billion | £2.2 billion |
2015 | £22.1 billion | £2.2 billion |
2016 | £22.5 billion | £2.2 billion |
2017 | £24.3 billion | £1.68 billion (January-September) |
Domestic Tourism
Year | UK (day) | UK (overnight visits) | South East (day) | South East (overnight visits) |
2012 | £65.6 billion | £23.9 billion | £8.6 billion | £1.6 billion |
2013 | £62 billion | £23.2 billion | £8.1 billion | £1.4 billion |
2014 | £61.8 billion | £22.6 billion | £8.7 billion | £1.6 billion |
2015 | £61.9 billion | £24.8 billion | £7.6 billion | £1.6 billion |
2016 | £63.9 billion | £23 billion | £8.6 billion | £1.5 billion |
2017 | £62.4 billion | £23.6 billion | £7 billion | £2.7 billion |
Asked by: Rehman Chishti (Conservative - Gillingham and Rainham)
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 potential benefits of the UK taking part in the European Year of Cultural Heritage proposed for 2018 by the European Commission for her Department's objectives set out in the Culture White Paper, published in March 2016 ; what assessment she has made of the implications of the outcome of the EU referendum on UK participation in that event; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Tracey Crouch
Our rich cultural heritage makes the UK a great place to live and attracts millions of visitors each year. In the White Paper we committed to ensuring we continue to celebrate our heritage and make sure we can pass on something even more inspirational to future generations.
Until exit negotiations are concluded, the UK remains a full member of the European Union and all the rights and obligations of EU membership remain in force. During this period, we will continue to participate in EU initiatives, and the European Year of Cultural Heritage is a potential opportunity to showcase UK heritage. We will continue to work with the heritage sector to determine the nature of our involvement.
Asked by: Rehman Chishti (Conservative - Gillingham and Rainham)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what support his Department has provided for museums in Medway.
Answered by Lord Vaizey of Didcot
DCMS directly sponsors 16 museums and galleries in England including the British Library, and supports regional museums through Arts Council England (ACE), the body responsible for museums and galleries in England. DCMS also supports heritage bodies including the Chatham Historic Dockyard Trust which is both a heritage site and independent museum. DCMS has provided £245,000 funding to Chatham Historic Dockyard Trust in 2014-15, and will provide £324,000 in 2015-16.
Both the Chatham Historic Dockyard and Trust, and the Royal Engineers Museum, Library and Archive received support from Arts Council England between 2011 and 2015. Chatham Historic Dockyard and Trust received awards of funding of £312,681 in Renaissance transition funding and £9,500 from the ACE Subject Specialist Networks scheme. The Royal Engineers Museum, Library and Archive, which has a Designated collection of national importance, received a single award of £73,035 from the ACE Designation Development Fund.
ACE has also provided support to museums in Medway through its Museum Resilience Fund. The Museum resilience fund aims to support a step change for the museums sector by enabling museums to become more sustainable and resilient organisations. The most recent round of awards from the fund was announced in March; the Guildhall Museum was granted £67,100 and Chatham Historic Dockyard Trust £263,000. Chatham Historic Dockyard Trust was also awarded £466,542 from the fund in the previous round.
DCMS and the Wolfson Foundation jointly fund the DCMS Wolfson Museums and Galleries Improvement Fund, which supports projects in English Museums and galleries that improve the quality of displays, collection interpretation, public spaces, and access and facilities for disabled visitors. In January 2014 two Museums in Medway received grants from the DCMS Wolfson Fund. Chatham Historic Dockyard Trust received an award of £150,000 towards its Building the Future project. The Royal Engineers Museum also received £22,794 towards its Waterloo 200: redisplay of Wellington’s Map project.
Asked by: Rehman Chishti (Conservative - Gillingham and Rainham)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps his Department is taking to improve (a) female and (b) BME participation in football at (i) player and (ii) management level.
Answered by Helen Grant
As part of its Whole Sport Plan funding, Sport England is investing £2.4 million into a joint initiative with the Football Association, the Premier League and the Football League Trust. This initiative encourages more women and girls to play football, and a further £3 million to the ‘Women and Girls' Talent Pathway programme to develop the next generation of talented female football players.
As set out in the Autumn Statement, the Government will also be investing £10m in facilities and coaching that will boost grassroots participation across the country. Part of this funding will go to a bursary scheme to help open up the higher tiers of coaching to more people, with a particular emphasis on female coaches, and those from BME backgrounds.
I will also be bringing together key figures from across football for a meeting in the New Year to explore what more can be done to improve the numbers of ethnic minorities in leadership positions in the top tiers of English football.
Asked by: Rehman Chishti (Conservative - Gillingham and Rainham)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the Nuisance Calls Action Plan.
Answered by Lord Vaizey of Didcot
Tackling nuisance calls is a priority for the Department. We published the first ever Nuisance Calls Action Plan on 30 March 2014: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/nuisance-calls-action-plan-unveiled.
This set out our achievements to date, work underway and proposed actions for the future, which included both legislative and non-legislative measures. We are currently pursuing these measures which, as a combination are beginning to make a significant difference for the benefit of consumers.