Asked by: Andy Carter (Conservative - Warrington South)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what the (a) value of grants awarded by and (b) number of grant recipients for the Listed Places of Worship Scheme was since 2010.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme was established to reimburse the VAT paid on repairs and maintenance to the nation's listed places of worship. The grant scheme has been managed by multiple administrators on behalf of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport since it was established in 2001, and there are limited data predating 2014. Since 2010, a total of £358,356,027 has been allocated in grant funding to support places of worship throughout the UK. Based on the data the Department does possess, it can be estimated that 22,633 listed places of worship were the recipients of grant funding through the scheme since 2014.
Asked by: Andy Carter (Conservative - Warrington South)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many direct grants her Department has made to support (a) swimming pools and (b) leisure centres since 2010; and what the total value was of those grants.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government recognises the importance of ensuring public access to swimming pools, as swimming is a core life skill and a great way for people of all ages to stay fit and healthy. The responsibility of providing access to leisure facilities lies at Local Authority level, and the Government continues to encourage Local Authorities to support swimming facilities.
In 2023/24, the Government provided over £60 million in additional funding to support operating costs and help improve energy efficiency of facilities through the Swimming Pool Support Fund, delivered via Sport England. In total, the Swimming Pool Support Fund will fund 442 individual facilities and 788 individual pools across 269 Local Authorities by March 2025. Further details can be found on Sport England’s website at:
We provide the majority of support for grassroots sport through our arm’s length body, Sport England - which receives £323 million in Exchequer and Lottery funding each year. Between 2010 - 2023, before the SPSF, Sport England provided over £98 million of support to more than 500 programmes to facilitate participation in grassroots swimming up and down the country. Sport England publishes data on all grant recipients as part of its register of grants awards, which is updated on a quarterly basis with awards dating back to 2009. Please find the information on Sport England’s website at:
Asked by: Andy Carter (Conservative - Warrington South)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many grants were made to film and TV production companies through the (a) Global Screen Fund, (b) Film and TV Production Restart Scheme, (c) Creative industries: Sector Deal and (d) Creative Industries Sector Vision since 2010; and what the total value was of these grants.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government is committed to the continued success of the Film and TV sectors and we have a consistent track record of supporting them. Funding from DCMS has, and continues to, provide critical support to production companies across the UK:
The £21 million UK Global Screen Fund was introduced in 2021. Since inception it has supported 179 awards totalling £13.91 million. You can find out more about the awards made and the pilot year evaluation via: https://www.bfi.org.uk/get-funding-support/funding-support-international-activity/uk-global-screen-fund
The £500 million Film and TV Production Restart Scheme was established in 2020. It did not provide grant funding, but allowed 1,259 productions to purchase indemnity cover during the pandemic. Claims for compensation are currently being processed and are expected to total £49.5m, with 348 claims paid at September 2023. You can find out more about the scheme through the impact evaluation which was published in April 2023 via: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/film-and-tv-production-restart-scheme-impact-evaluation
The Creative Industries Sector Deal and the Creative Industries Sector Vision covered a wide range of schemes including the measures mentioned above. It is not possible to provide figures on the number of production companies supported and total value of grants provided across all these measures. However, there are ongoing evaluations for individual programmes which we would encourage you to look at where available.
Asked by: Andy Carter (Conservative - Warrington South)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how much funding her Department has given to the British Film Institute since 2010.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The government is committed to the continued success of the film and high end TV (HETV) sectors. As an Arms-Length Body (ALB), the British Film Institute (BFI) plays a critical role in leading the UK’s screen sectors, helping drive economic growth and create jobs while supporting cultural and place-based objectives.
DCMS has provided nearly £400 million of funding in total to the BFI since 2010. The BFI is also a National Lottery Distributor and also has its own self-generated income. More information on the BFI’s funding, including from DCMS, going back to 1998/99 can be found in the BFI’s published accounts via: https://www.bfi.org.uk/strategy-policy/annual-review-management-agreement.
Asked by: Andy Carter (Conservative - Warrington South)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many grants were made to local newspapers under the Future News Fund pilot; and what the value was of each grant.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Future News Fund sought to invest in new technological prototypes, start-ups and innovative business models to explore new ways of sustaining the industry in this changing landscape. In 2019, Government invested £2 million in the Future News Fund, which received 178 applications. Grants were awarded to 19 projects, ranging from funding to support the trial of a digital wallet model where publishers were able to offer the option to readers to pay for news on a casual basis, to funding to a local news publisher to build a new system to involve members and the local community in the reporting of local news.
It was designed to be open to as wide a range of innovations as possible, including those from existing news publishers. The government was not involved in deciding which organisations should receive funding. Nesta made these decisions independently with advice from industry experts. Nesta’s evaluation of the Fund was completed in 2020, and can be found alongside further information on the grantees here: https://www.nesta.org.uk/project/future-news-fund/
Asked by: Andy Carter (Conservative - Warrington South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to help improve decision making by local authorities on special educational provision for children.
Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
To support strategic decision-making, the department will introduce new local Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) and Alternative Provision (AP) partnerships that bring together delivery partners across local systems to support local authorities to strategically plan and commission support for children and young people with SEND and in AP. Partnerships will be expected to co-produce a Local Area Inclusion Plan based on robust evidence that will explain how the needs of children and young people aged 0-25 in the area will be met. The department is providing local authorities with guidance on partnerships and plans throughout the year to strengthen local governance and decision-making for SEND and AP and services. Soon, the department will be launching a national and local inclusion dashboard that will present published data on system health and performance to enable better decision-making at a national and local level and drive self-improvement across local areas.
The department is also testing, via the Change Programme, whether using Multi Agency Panels for decision making about individuals in the Education, Health and Care plan process improves decision-making and parental confidence.
Asked by: Andy Carter (Conservative - Warrington South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking with Warrington Borough Council to help (a) support families with disabled children and (b) reduce the time taken to process education, health and care plans.
Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Following the Area Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) inspection of Warrington Local Area Partnership (LAP), conducted by Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission and published in May 2023, departmental officials have been working alongside NHS England SEND advisers to provide support and challenge to the LAP to address the areas for improvement highlighted in the report. These areas for improvement include:
Responding to the inspection report, Warrington LAP have updated their SEND strategy and published a strategic SEND improvement plan. This sets out how the Partnership will improve services for children and young people with SEND in the area and address the areas for improvement highlighted in the inspection report. The department monitors progress against these plans at regular intervals. Both documents are available at: https://www.warrington.gov.uk/send-inspection-review.
In 2022, the rate of EHC plans, excluding exceptions, issued within 20 weeks in Warrington was 48.2%, compared with a national average of 49.2%. This data is accessible at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/education-health-and-care-plans.
The department has increased Warrington's dedicated schools grant from £190 million in 2021/22 to over £238 million in 2024/25. This includes an increase of 33% in the high needs block from £25.6 million in 2021 to over £34.2 million in 2024/25.
Asked by: Andy Carter (Conservative - Warrington South)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps her Department is taking to support the development of carbon capture, utilisation and storage technology.
Answered by Andrew Bowie - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
We are clear that CCUS is a priority for this Government, and we are progressing at pace. In March 2023 we announced up to £20 billion funding for early deployment of CCUS across all sectors, and in December we outlined how we will get to a competitive carbon capture market by 2035.
Asked by: Andy Carter (Conservative - Warrington South)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to improve the court estate.
Answered by Mike Freer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The condition of the court estate matters – for the standing of the justice system in our society, but also for all court users, including the victims and witnesses who rely on the courts to see justice done.
We have significantly increased the budget to maintain the court and tribunal estate. The £220m two-year settlement is already enabling major estates projects to be planned with certainty and efficiency.
Asked by: Andy Carter (Conservative - Warrington South)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what progress he has made on (a) increasing the availability of driving tests and (b) reducing the wait time between bookings for people retaking their tests.
Answered by Richard Holden - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
As of 23 October 2023, there were 571,820 car practical driving tests booked, and 72,787 driving tests available within the 24-week booking window.
The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) is taking all the measures it can to reduce driving test waiting times. This includes carrying out overtime, such as at weekends and on public holidays, buying back annual leave from driving examiners (DE) and, inviting recently retired DEs to return to work.
Since April 2021, measures put in place by the DVSA to reduce waiting times for its customers, together with the ongoing recruitment of DEs, is creating on average over 40,000 extra car test slots each month.
The DVSA has also deployed all eligible managers and administrative staff back on the front line to do driving tests from the beginning of October 2023 until the end of March 2024, which will create around 150,000 test slots.