Asked by: Alison McGovern (Labour - Wirral South)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps he is taking to ensure that artists receive a greater share of revenue from the streaming of their music.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
The Government recognises that it is important that artists are fairly remunerated for their work. We are aware of the concerns that have been raised recently about artists’ revenue from music streaming.
We welcome the DCMS Select Committee inquiry into the economics of music streaming, and have provided evidence to inform the inquiry. We look forward to receiving the Committee’s recommendations, which we will respond to.
The Government has funded a 12-month industry-led research project investigating the flow of money from streaming to creators which is due to report this summer. We will continue to encourage the ongoing dialogue between music creators, record labels, and streaming services on this issue.
Asked by: Alison McGovern (Labour - Wirral South)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what recent meetings have taken place between (a) the Prime Minister and his officials and (b) Ministers and officials in his Department and representatives of Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspur, Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester City football clubs.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Department continuously meets with a range of DCMS stakeholders to discuss matters, including the return of fans. However, neither Ministers nor officials met with representatives of Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspur, Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester City football clubs in advance of the Super League announcement.
The full list of Ministerial meetings can be found on gov.uk.
Asked by: Alison McGovern (Labour - Wirral South)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what recent discussions he has had with Sport England on the effectiveness of their Tackling Inequalities Fund; and what steps he is taking to support Sport England to ensure that inequalities are tackled in sport and physical activity.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government is committed to tackling inequalities in sport and physical activity. Our strategy ‘Sporting Future’ sets out a clear ambition to increase levels of physical activity amongst under-represented groups. We are working closely with Sport England, DCMS’s arm’s length body for grassroots sport in England, to ensure that inequalities are being tackled effectively.
The £20 million Tackling Inequalities Fund (TIF) is an important part of the £270 million support package that Sport England has committed to directly reduce the negative impact COVID 19 and the widening of inequalities in sport and physical activity.
The fund is a focused approach to increasing physical activity for four under-represented groups: lower socio-economic groups, Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic communities, disabled people, and people with long-term health conditions. Currently, £13.5 million has been awarded, and £9.7m of this has already reached community organisations and groups directly through 42 Active Partnerships and 30 national partners across the country. As a result there are over 2,800 projects actively being delivered by trusted partners closer to the communities that have previously been unserved by more traditional delivery structures.
Tackling inequalities is also at the heart of Sport England’s recently launched new ten year strategy, ‘Uniting the Movement’, reinforcing their commitment to diversifying participation. DCMS will continue to work closely with Sport England to ensure that inequalities are addressed and tackled in sport and physical activity.
Asked by: Alison McGovern (Labour - Wirral South)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 13 April 2021 to Question 174112, what data his Department holds on the effect of the National Leisure Recovery Fund on the rate of leisure centre closures since that funding was announced.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The National Leisure Recovery Fund sought to support eligible public sector leisure centres to reopen to the public, giving the sport and physical activity sector the best chance of recovery to a position of sustainable operation over the medium term. It was delivered in conjunction with the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government and Sport England.
A total of £100 million was available as a biddable fund to eligible local authorities in England, which was allocated in a single funding round. Eligible local authorities include: those in England who hold responsibility for the provision of leisure services, those who have outsourced their leisure provision to an external body to and those whose outsourced leisure arrangements have ended since 20 March 2020 and services are now delivered as an in-house function. This is in addition to the wider financial support provided to councils throughout the pandemic.
As part of the National Leisure Recovery Fund, the government has set up a data capture system to show how the fund has supported the reopening of these vital community assets and the impact on the rate of participation across Local Authorities. Early information will be available at the end of the month and will help to inform future government policy in this space.
Asked by: Alison McGovern (Labour - Wirral South)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of access to green spaces on the equality of access to sport.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
Sports and physical activity are incredibly important for our physical and mental health, and are a vital weapon against coronavirus. That’s why we have made sure that people can exercise throughout the national restrictions.
We know that high quality multi-use local green spaces can play a key role as sporting venues and as alternative settings for sport and healthy activity. Last month Sport England published its new strategy Uniting the Movement which sets out their 10 year vision to transform lives and communities through sport and physical activity. A key part of the strategy is creating and protecting the local places and spaces that make it easier for people to be active including encouraging walking and cycling.
Last year, Public Health England published Improving Access to Greenspace. The report highlights the strong evidence that regular physical activity supports both individual and community outcomes such as increasing educational attainment, improving self-esteem and reducing social isolation and that greenspace can support higher levels of physical activity.
Asked by: Alison McGovern (Labour - Wirral South)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps he is taking to support the Sport England Tackling Inequalities Fund to help tackle inequality in sport.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government is committed to tackling inequalities in sport and physical activity. Our strategy ‘Sporting Future’ sets out a clear ambition to increase levels of physical activity amongst under-represented groups, working closely with the sector to achieve this. The Tackling Inequalities Fund is an important part of the £270 million support package that Sport England, DCMS’s arm’s length body for grassroots sport in England, has committed to directly support community sport clubs and exercise centres through COVID-19.
The £20 million Tackling Inequalities Fund aims to reduce the disproportionately negative impact of the pandemic on physical activity levels for four groups: lower socio-economic groups, Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic communities, disabled people, and people with long-term health conditions. Currently, £13.5 million has been awarded to partners, funding over 2,800 projects being delivered through 43 Active Partnerships and 30 national partners across the country.
Sport England’s recently launched new ten year strategy, Uniting the Movement, also reinforces their commitment to diversifying participation and tackling inequalities in sport and physical activity. DCMS will continue to work closely with Sport England to ensure that inequalities are addressed and tackled in sport and physical activity.
Asked by: Alison McGovern (Labour - Wirral South)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to his Department's press release entitled Government announces allocation of £100 million to support recovery of leisure centres, published on 20 March 2021, what steps he has taken to ensure that the process of allocating recovery funding is (a) equitable and (b) transparent.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The National Leisure Recovery Fund sought to support eligible public sector leisure centres to reopen to the public, giving the sport and physical activity sector the best chance of recovery to a position of sustainable operation over the medium term.
A total of £100 million was available as a biddable fund to eligible local authorities in England, which was allocated in a single funding round. Eligible local authorities include: those in England who hold responsibility for the provision of leisure services, those who have outsourced their leisure provision to an external body to and those whose outsourced leisure arrangements have ended since 20 March 2020 and services are now delivered as an in-house function. This is in addition to the wider financial support provided to councils throughout the pandemic.
To help ensure an equitable distribution of the National Leisure Recovery Fund, a Notional Funding Allocation was calculated for each eligible local authority and funding awards were only made in excess of the Notional Funding Allocation in the most exceptional circumstances. The basis of the Notional Funding Allocation is a per capita allocation. This has then been adjusted to take into consideration physical activity levels, number of facilities and health outcome indicators.
Government has worked closely with the Local Government Association (LGA), ukactive, the District Councils' Network, Community Leisure UK, Chief Cultural and Leisure Officers Association and others to make sure the application and funding process is as fast and simple as possible.
Asked by: Alison McGovern (Labour - Wirral South)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to his Department's press release entitled Government announces allocation of £100 million to support recovery of leisure centres, published on 20 March 2021, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of that funding on trends in the level of leisure centre closures; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The National Leisure Recovery Fund sought to support eligible public sector leisure centres to reopen to the public, giving the sport and physical activity sector the best chance of recovery to a position of sustainable operation over the medium term.
A total of £100 million was available as a biddable fund to eligible local authorities in England, which was allocated in a single funding round. Eligible local authorities include: those in England who hold responsibility for the provision of leisure services, those who have outsourced their leisure provision to an external body to and those whose outsourced leisure arrangements have ended since 20 March 2020 and services are now delivered as an in-house function. This is in addition to the wider financial support provided to councils throughout the pandemic.
To help ensure an equitable distribution of the National Leisure Recovery Fund, a Notional Funding Allocation was calculated for each eligible local authority and funding awards were only made in excess of the Notional Funding Allocation in the most exceptional circumstances. The basis of the Notional Funding Allocation is a per capita allocation. This has then been adjusted to take into consideration physical activity levels, number of facilities and health outcome indicators.
Government has worked closely with the Local Government Association (LGA), ukactive, the District Councils' Network, Community Leisure UK, Chief Cultural and Leisure Officers Association and others to make sure the application and funding process is as fast and simple as possible.
Asked by: Alison McGovern (Labour - Wirral South)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether he has made a recent assessment of the effect on people's wellbeing of (a) community outreach aspects and (b) other (i) non-sporting and (ii) non-physical benefits of sport.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
Sports and physical activity are incredibly important for our physical and mental health and have been shown to treat, manage and prevent a range of conditions including heart disease, cancers, diabetes, stress, depression or anxiety. It can also bring communities together and tackle issues such as loneliness.
Sport England’s Active Lives Adult and Children surveys provide information not only on activity levels but also on social outcomes such as physical and mental wellbeing too. The latest reports can be found here.
In September last year, Sport England published research (undertaken by Sheffield Hallam University) on the social impact and the economic importance of sport and physical activity in England. The findings of this research show that for every £1 spent on community sport and physical activity in England, an economic and social return on investment of £3.91 is generated. In addition, the combined economic and social value (SROI) of taking part in community sport and physical activity in England in 2017/2018 was £85.5 billion.
Furthermore, last month Sport England published its new strategy Uniting the Movement which sets out their 10 year vision to transform lives and communities through sport and physical activity. The strategy seeks to tackle the inequalities we have seen in sport and physical activity and provide opportunities to people and communities that have traditionally been left behind, helping to remove barriers to activity.
Asked by: Alison McGovern (Labour - Wirral South)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what (a) working groups, (b) committees and (c) other forums there are in his Department for sector representatives of the creative industries to raise their representations on the Government's response to the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) engages regularly with representatives of the creative industries on the Covid-19 response, including on economic support and public health policy and guidance. This includes engagement through the working groups on Entertainment and Events and on Broadcasting, Film and Production, which were established with the DCMS Secretary of State’s Cultural Renewal Taskforce.
In addition, DCMS engages with creative industries stakeholders through roundtables and other meetings chaired by ministers, and ongoing, frequent engagement by DCMS officials. DCMS will continue to collaborate with creative industries organisations on the Government’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic.