Asked by: Adam Jogee (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
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 effectiveness of Sport England in supporting grassroots sport in (a) Newcastle-under-Lyme and (b) Staffordshire.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government believes that opportunities to play sport and get physically active should be available to everyone, including children and young people. Everyone, regardless of background, should have access to and benefit from quality sport and physical activity.
Every bit of physical activity counts and the greatest public health benefit is enabling people, currently less active, to move more and lead more active lives. This can help to reduce the risk of a range of chronic diseases, in line with the Government’s aims to prevent ill health as set out in the recent NHS 10 Year Plan.
The Secretary of State and I engage regularly with the leadership of Sport England, including at quarterly meetings with the Chairs and CEOs of all DCMS public bodies.
A large part of Sport England’s work focuses on bringing the health and sports sectors together at community level, including their place partnerships work which is working in a targeted way with local areas to understand and overcome the specific barriers in their communities. Stoke-on-Trent in Staffordshire is one of Sport England’s place partnerships.
Asked by: Adam Jogee (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what recent engagement she has had with the leadership of Sport England.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government believes that opportunities to play sport and get physically active should be available to everyone, including children and young people. Everyone, regardless of background, should have access to and benefit from quality sport and physical activity.
Every bit of physical activity counts and the greatest public health benefit is enabling people, currently less active, to move more and lead more active lives. This can help to reduce the risk of a range of chronic diseases, in line with the Government’s aims to prevent ill health as set out in the recent NHS 10 Year Plan.
The Secretary of State and I engage regularly with the leadership of Sport England, including at quarterly meetings with the Chairs and CEOs of all DCMS public bodies.
A large part of Sport England’s work focuses on bringing the health and sports sectors together at community level, including their place partnerships work which is working in a targeted way with local areas to understand and overcome the specific barriers in their communities. Stoke-on-Trent in Staffordshire is one of Sport England’s place partnerships.
Asked by: Adam Jogee (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what recent engagement she has had with the leadership of the National Army Museum.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport has had no recent engagement with the National Army Museum, an Executive Non-Departmental Public Body and sponsored by the Ministry of Defence. Officials meet regularly with the three service museums to share wider museum sector updates, and this includes the Director of the National Army Museum as well as officials from the Ministry of Defence.
Asked by: Adam Jogee (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what plans she has to invest in (a) tennis, (b) padel and (c) court-base sports in the 2025-2026 financial year.
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 at least £400 million to transform facilities across the whole of the nation following the Spending Review.
We will now work closely with sporting bodies - including the Lawn Tennis Association - and local leaders to establish what each community needs and then set out further plans.
The Government provides the majority of support for grassroots sport through Sport England - which annually invests over £250 million in Exchequer and Lottery funding. Sport England provides long term investment to the LTA, which receives up to £10.2 million for 5 years from 2022 to invest in tennis and padel initiatives that will benefit as many people as possible.
Asked by: Adam Jogee (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what plans she has to continue funding tennis facilities following the conclusion of the Park Tennis Project.
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 at least £400 million to transform facilities across the whole of the nation following the Spending Review.
We will now work closely with sporting bodies - including the Lawn Tennis Association - and local leaders to establish what each community needs and then set out further plans.
The Government provides the majority of support for grassroots sport through Sport England - which annually invests over £250 million in Exchequer and Lottery funding. Sport England provides long term investment to the LTA, which receives up to £10.2 million for 5 years from 2022 to invest in tennis and padel initiatives that will benefit as many people as possible.
Asked by: Adam Jogee (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what proportion of dormant assets funds will be allocated to youth services.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
In November 2024, the government announced an even split of £350m between the four Dormant Assets causes. Since then an additional £90m has been split between Youth and Financial Inclusion.
Asked by: Adam Jogee (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to ensure that (a) Newcastle-under-Lyme constituency and (b) other communities have access to covered tennis facilities to enable year-round play.
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 at least £400 million to transform facilities across the whole of the nation following the Spending Review.
We will now work closely with sporting bodies - including the Lawn Tennis Association - and local leaders to establish what each community needs and then set out further plans.
The Government provides the majority of support for grassroots sport through Sport England - which annually invests over £250 million in Exchequer and Lottery funding. Sport England provides long term investment to the LTA, which receives up to £10.2 million for 5 years from 2022 to invest in tennis and padel initiatives that will benefit as many people as possible.
Asked by: Adam Jogee (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to increase access to the arts for children and young people in (a) Newcastle-under-Lyme constituency and (b) Staffordshire.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Secretary of State has a range of discussions with Cabinet colleagues across the whole of her portfolio. DCMS officials regularly discuss access to the arts for children and young people with their counterparts across His Majesty’s Government including with the Department for Education.
The government, through the recently announced Dormant Assets Scheme Strategy, has allocated £132.5 million in England towards youth. This will increase disadvantaged young people’s access to enrichment opportunities in the arts, culture, sports and wider youth services, aimed at improving wellbeing and employability.
In addition, our arms-length body, Arts Council England (ACE) coordinates public funding which supports a number of creative programmes and activities for children and young people across Newcastle-under-Lyme and Staffordshire. This includes Shaw Education Trust’s ‘Young Curators’ programme, which gives high school students in Newcastle-under-Lyme the opportunity to learn hands-on about curation and host their own exhibitions in the local art gallery.
Since 2024, ACE has invested nearly £8 million into programmes and projects in the Staffordshire region (excluding the Stoke-on-Trent City Council area) which have had a focus on children and young people. This figure includes almost £3 million of support for organisations in Newcastle-under-Lyme.
Asked by: Adam Jogee (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
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 Cabinet colleagues on steps to increase access to the arts for children and young people in (a) Newcastle-under-Lyme and (b) Staffordshire.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Secretary of State has a range of discussions with Cabinet colleagues across the whole of her portfolio. DCMS officials regularly discuss access to the arts for children and young people with their counterparts across His Majesty’s Government including with the Department for Education.
The government, through the recently announced Dormant Assets Scheme Strategy, has allocated £132.5 million in England towards youth. This will increase disadvantaged young people’s access to enrichment opportunities in the arts, culture, sports and wider youth services, aimed at improving wellbeing and employability.
In addition, our arms-length body, Arts Council England (ACE) coordinates public funding which supports a number of creative programmes and activities for children and young people across Newcastle-under-Lyme and Staffordshire. This includes Shaw Education Trust’s ‘Young Curators’ programme, which gives high school students in Newcastle-under-Lyme the opportunity to learn hands-on about curation and host their own exhibitions in the local art gallery.
Since 2024, ACE has invested nearly £8 million into programmes and projects in the Staffordshire region (excluding the Stoke-on-Trent City Council area) which have had a focus on children and young people. This figure includes almost £3 million of support for organisations in Newcastle-under-Lyme.
Asked by: Adam Jogee (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what recent assessment she has made of the potential impact of arts and culture on (a) society and (b) education in (i) Newcastle-under-Lyme and (ii) Staffordshire.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The government strongly believes in the benefits that the arts and culture can bring to the UK, both in terms of their social and economic impact. According to DCMS Economic estimates, the cultural sector contributed an estimated £35.0bn in 2023, accounting for 1.5% of UK GVA.
Newcastle-under-Lyme currently has three National Portfolio Organisations (NPO) receiving public funding of almost £1.5 million per annum. In total, Arts Council England (ACE) funding to organisations and individuals in Staffordshire since 2024 is over £12 million. This includes a major award of £1.7m towards the restoration of Tamworth Castle, through the Museum Estate and Development Fund (MEND).
An example of this positive impact is the ACE funded New Vic Theatre in Newcastle-under-Lyme, which delivers community programmes that are a strong example of how investment into creative infrastructure can benefit communities. Their ‘Tale Trail’ experience is a first introduction to the arts for 88% of the children who attend, with 87% of children attending the theatre’s programmes showing improved markers for school readiness. These positive outcomes are also reflected in the theatre’s work with dementia patients, with self-reported health ratings nearly tripling following interactions with the ‘Dementia and Creativity’ programme.
ACE is also delivering Music Hubs, which are supported by Department for Education funding. Staffordshire Music Hub offers a wide range of instrumental lessons and access to rehearsal spaces for children and young people.
DCMS is committed to promoting the culture of Staffordshire, including in its heritage buildings, ensuring these buildings serve the needs of local communities. Since 1994, The National Lottery Heritage Fund has awarded nearly £100 million to 760 projects across Staffordshire. The National Lottery Heritage Fund has identified Stoke-on-Trent as one of twenty places as part of their Heritage Places UK-wide initiative which aims to provide long term place-based investment that boosts pride in place and connects communities and visitors with heritage.