Asked by: Ben Bradley (Conservative - Mansfield)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment he has made of the financial effect on grassroots sports clubs of the covid-19 outbreak; and what estimate he has made of the level of financial support those clubs require.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
Sports and physical activity providers and facilities are at the heart of our communities, and play a crucial role in supporting adults and children to be active.
Sport England’s Community Emergency Fund has provided £210 million directly to support community sport clubs and exercise centres through this pandemic. We are continuing to work with organisations to understand what they need and how we may be able to support them.
Asked by: Ben Bradley (Conservative - Mansfield)
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 help enable youth clubs to re-open to support vulnerable young people as covid-19 restrictions are eased.
Answered by John Whittingdale
This department recognises the unprecedented impacts the pandemic has had on young people, and on the vital support that youth services provide particularly for those most vulnerable.
Youth centres are being permitted to re-open on 4th July, to ensure our young people have access to not only the support they need, but opportunities to engage in safe activities over the summer period. We know that youth workers are already supporting young people through detached youth work, and we have supported the National Youth Agency to produce guidance for youth organisations on operating safely during Covid19.
DCMS is engaging regularly with young people and key youth organisations to understand how best to support the re-opening of youth centres over the coming weeks and months.
Asked by: Ben Bradley (Conservative - Mansfield)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions his Department has had on extending financial support to self-employed workers in the sport and recreation sector during the covid-19 outbreak; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
It is vital that the sport and physical activity sector is supported to come through this difficult period and it has a crucial role in supporting the nation back into activity once the pandemic has abated.
The Government has announced a comprehensive package of measures to support businesses and the self-employed. This includes the Self-employment Income Support Scheme which allows those that are self-employed to claim a taxable grant worth 80% of their trading profits up to a maximum of £2,500 a month.
The Government is having regular discussions with sector and industry bodies to understand the impact of COVID-19 on sport and physical activity and to discuss what additional support might be needed.
Asked by: Ben Bradley (Conservative - Mansfield)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps the Government plans to take to support children reliant on youth services as covid-19 lockdown restrictions are lifted.
Answered by John Whittingdale
This department recognises the unprecedented impacts the pandemic has had on the youth sector, and on the vital services it provides for young people. DCMS is engaging regularly with key youth organisations and other government departments to understand options for addressing this and the path for reopening services as lockdown measures are eased and when the science allows.
Organisations working with young people are also eligible for a number of Government and Arm Length Bodies funds, in addition to the wider HM Treasury support packages.
Asked by: Ben Bradley (Conservative - Mansfield)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, how many youth services have closed as a result of covid-19; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by John Whittingdale
Government does not hold data on the number of youth services that have closed as a result of covid-19.
This department recognises the unprecedented impacts the pandemic has had on the youth sector, and on the vital services it provides for young people. DCMS is engaging regularly with key youth organisations and other government departments to understand options for addressing this and the path for reopening services as lockdown measures are eased and when the science allows.
Asked by: Ben Bradley (Conservative - Mansfield)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on the provision of youth services as covid-19 restrictions are lifted.
Answered by John Whittingdale
This department recognises the unprecedented impacts the pandemic has had on the youth sector, and on the vital services it provides for young people.
DCMS is in ongoing discussions at both Ministerial and official level with colleagues from other government departments including the Home Office, MHCLG, and the Department for Education, as well a variety of youth organisations at local and national level.
Asked by: Ben Bradley (Conservative - Mansfield)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Minister of State, Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the potential effect of the closure of the BBC Red Button Teletext service on people's access to information on sport.
Answered by Nigel Adams
Responsibility for assessing the potential effect of the closure of the BBC Red Button service on people’s access to information on sport is for the BBC, which is editorially and operationally independent of the Government. The Government welcomes the BBC's decision to pause the closure of the Red Button service, ahead of its review of the impact of the closure on the most vulnerable including the elderly, and deaf and blind licence fee payers.
Asked by: Ben Bradley (Conservative - Mansfield)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what plans she has to review the (a) TV licence fee and (b) BBC Charter; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Nigel Adams
The Government has no plans to review the BBC Charter ahead of the next Charter Review, which is due to take place ahead of 2027.
The government has committed to maintain the licence fee funding model for the BBC until 2027 for the duration of this 11 year Charter period.
The Prime Minister has indicated that the Government will consider the licence fee funding model in the long term.
Asked by: Ben Bradley (Conservative - Mansfield)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, how much funding her Department has allocated to Powerchair Football in each of the last five years.
Answered by Nigel Adams
The Government is committed to ensuring that everyone is able to access sport and physical activity, including those with a disability.
Sport England have contributed £70,425 of National Lottery investment in Wheelchair football activities the last 5 years (from 2015/16). Further detail on Sport England funding breakdowns can be found here: https://www.sportengland.org/funding/what-have-we-funded/
Asked by: Ben Bradley (Conservative - Mansfield)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what plans he has to increase funding for hockey at grassroots level across the UK.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
DCMS arm’s length body, Sport England’s core market investment into England Hockey for 2017/21 is £9.83 million. £7m is targeted on interventions including developing a more flexible format, protecting key facilities and improving governance and the use of data in driving up participation. £2.83 m is for developing talent at grassroots level.
Additionally, in the last 10 years, Sport England have invested £4.8m in Hockey facilities, clubs and projects (3.8m Lottery, £1m Exchequer)
Future funding will depend on the strength of incoming bids and to what extent they meet the aims of the Government sport strategy, Sporting Future.