Asked by: Caroline Dinenage (Conservative - Gosport)
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 the Creative Industries Sector Vision (a) supports and (b) expands (i) existing skills training schemes and (ii) new training programmes.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Our Creative Industries Sector Plan, published in June 2025, sets out our approach to developing a high quality, responsive, inclusive and targeted education, skills and training offer, meeting the workforce requirements of the creative industries.
This includes refining and developing the growth and skills offer to deliver apprenticeships and skills training that recognise the particular needs of the sector, supporting existing schemes like flexi-job apprenticeships, and introducing new flexibilities such as short courses. The Government introduced new creative Higher Technical Qualifications in September, and will continue to expand the quantity of creative training pathways more broadly, including through further regional creative skills bootcamps.
Access to a high-quality arts education supports the pipeline into the creative industries and cultural sectors. Under this government, access will not be the preserve of the privileged few, but the entitlement of every child. The Curriculum and Assessment Review and the government's response has been published. We are committing to revitalising arts education, putting it back at the heart of a rich and broad curriculum through high-quality support for teachers of creative subjects and the new National Centre for Arts and Music Education.
The National Centre for Arts and Music Education will launch in September 2026, improving access and opportunity for children and young people and strengthening collaboration between schools and industry. It will promote high quality arts education, provide continuous professional development to teachers, and boost partnerships between schools and creative organisations.
We are also supporting music and dance through Arts Council England which provides £450,000 per annum to the National Youth Dance Company, which offers high-quality training and performance opportunities; and £420,000 per annum to the National Youth Music Organisations who help develop talented young musicians across all kinds of music styles.
Asked by: Caroline Dinenage (Conservative - Gosport)
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 ensure that music and dance education remains central to the creative industries.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Our Creative Industries Sector Plan, published in June 2025, sets out our approach to developing a high quality, responsive, inclusive and targeted education, skills and training offer, meeting the workforce requirements of the creative industries.
This includes refining and developing the growth and skills offer to deliver apprenticeships and skills training that recognise the particular needs of the sector, supporting existing schemes like flexi-job apprenticeships, and introducing new flexibilities such as short courses. The Government introduced new creative Higher Technical Qualifications in September, and will continue to expand the quantity of creative training pathways more broadly, including through further regional creative skills bootcamps.
Access to a high-quality arts education supports the pipeline into the creative industries and cultural sectors. Under this government, access will not be the preserve of the privileged few, but the entitlement of every child. The Curriculum and Assessment Review and the government's response has been published. We are committing to revitalising arts education, putting it back at the heart of a rich and broad curriculum through high-quality support for teachers of creative subjects and the new National Centre for Arts and Music Education.
The National Centre for Arts and Music Education will launch in September 2026, improving access and opportunity for children and young people and strengthening collaboration between schools and industry. It will promote high quality arts education, provide continuous professional development to teachers, and boost partnerships between schools and creative organisations.
We are also supporting music and dance through Arts Council England which provides £450,000 per annum to the National Youth Dance Company, which offers high-quality training and performance opportunities; and £420,000 per annum to the National Youth Music Organisations who help develop talented young musicians across all kinds of music styles.
Asked by: Caroline Dinenage (Conservative - Gosport)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether the Government plans to work with (a) Swim England and (b) other stakeholders to prioritise swimming pool provision as part of the £400 million grassroots sport investment.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government recognises the importance of ensuring public access to leisure facilities, including swimming pools, which are vital spaces for people of all ages to stay fit and healthy, and which play an important role within communities across the country.
The ongoing responsibility of providing access to public leisure facilities lies at local authority level, with funding levels set as part of the Local Government Finance Settlement. The Government encourages local authorities to make investments which offer the right opportunities and facilities for the communities they serve, investing in sport and physical activity with a place-based approach, to meet the needs of individual communities.
In June, we committed another £400 million to transform facilities across the whole of the UK over the next four years, supporting the Government's Plan for Change. We will ensure that this funding promotes health, wellbeing and community cohesion and helps to remove the barriers to physical activity for under-represented groups. We are working closely with sporting bodies and local leaders to establish what communities need, before setting out further plans on how future funding will be allocated across the UK.
This funding is on top of the £250 million per year which we invest through Sport England, our arm’s length body responsible for physical activity and sport participation in England, into grassroots sport and physical activity.
Asked by: Caroline Dinenage (Conservative - Gosport)
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 role of swimming pools in delivering (a) health, (b) wellbeing and (c) community cohesion outcomes.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government recognises the importance of ensuring public access to leisure facilities, including swimming pools, which are vital spaces for people of all ages to stay fit and healthy, and which play an important role within communities across the country.
The ongoing responsibility of providing access to public leisure facilities lies at local authority level, with funding levels set as part of the Local Government Finance Settlement. The Government encourages local authorities to make investments which offer the right opportunities and facilities for the communities they serve, investing in sport and physical activity with a place-based approach, to meet the needs of individual communities.
In June, we committed another £400 million to transform facilities across the whole of the UK over the next four years, supporting the Government's Plan for Change. We will ensure that this funding promotes health, wellbeing and community cohesion and helps to remove the barriers to physical activity for under-represented groups. We are working closely with sporting bodies and local leaders to establish what communities need, before setting out further plans on how future funding will be allocated across the UK.
This funding is on top of the £250 million per year which we invest through Sport England, our arm’s length body responsible for physical activity and sport participation in England, into grassroots sport and physical activity.
Asked by: Caroline Dinenage (Conservative - Gosport)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what proportion of the £400 million funding for grassroots sport facilities she plans to allocate to support the (a) development, (b) refurbishment and (c) sustainability of public swimming pools.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government recognises the importance of ensuring public access to leisure facilities, including swimming pools, which are vital spaces for people of all ages to stay fit and healthy, and which play an important role within communities across the country.
The ongoing responsibility of providing access to public leisure facilities lies at local authority level, with funding levels set as part of the Local Government Finance Settlement. The Government encourages local authorities to make investments which offer the right opportunities and facilities for the communities they serve, investing in sport and physical activity with a place-based approach, to meet the needs of individual communities.
In June, we committed another £400 million to transform facilities across the whole of the UK over the next four years, supporting the Government's Plan for Change. We will ensure that this funding promotes health, wellbeing and community cohesion and helps to remove the barriers to physical activity for under-represented groups. We are working closely with sporting bodies and local leaders to establish what communities need, before setting out further plans on how future funding will be allocated across the UK.
This funding is on top of the £250 million per year which we invest through Sport England, our arm’s length body responsible for physical activity and sport participation in England, into grassroots sport and physical activity.
Asked by: Caroline Dinenage (Conservative - Gosport)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to help ensure that the £400 million grassroots sport funding supports swimming pools in areas with limited access to aquatic facilities.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government recognises the importance of ensuring public access to leisure facilities, including swimming pools, which are vital spaces for people of all ages to stay fit and healthy, and which play an important role within communities across the country.
The ongoing responsibility of providing access to public leisure facilities lies at local authority level, with funding levels set as part of the Local Government Finance Settlement. The Government encourages local authorities to make investments which offer the right opportunities and facilities for the communities they serve, investing in sport and physical activity with a place-based approach, to meet the needs of individual communities.
In June, we committed another £400 million to transform facilities across the whole of the UK over the next four years, supporting the Government's Plan for Change. We will ensure that this funding promotes health, wellbeing and community cohesion and helps to remove the barriers to physical activity for under-represented groups. We are working closely with sporting bodies and local leaders to establish what communities need, before setting out further plans on how future funding will be allocated across the UK.
This funding is on top of the £250 million per year which we invest through Sport England, our arm’s length body responsible for physical activity and sport participation in England, into grassroots sport and physical activity.
Asked by: Caroline Dinenage (Conservative - Gosport)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether the £400 million funding for grassroots sport facilities includes funding for energy efficiency upgrades in swimming pools.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government recognises the importance of ensuring public access to leisure facilities, including swimming pools, which are vital spaces for people of all ages to stay fit and healthy, and which play an important role within communities across the country.
The ongoing responsibility of providing access to public leisure facilities lies at local authority level, with funding levels set as part of the Local Government Finance Settlement. The Government encourages local authorities to make investments which offer the right opportunities and facilities for the communities they serve, investing in sport and physical activity with a place-based approach, to meet the needs of individual communities.
In June, we committed another £400 million to transform facilities across the whole of the UK over the next four years, supporting the Government's Plan for Change. We will ensure that this funding promotes health, wellbeing and community cohesion and helps to remove the barriers to physical activity for under-represented groups. We are working closely with sporting bodies and local leaders to establish what communities need, before setting out further plans on how future funding will be allocated across the UK.
This funding is on top of the £250 million per year which we invest through Sport England, our arm’s length body responsible for physical activity and sport participation in England, into grassroots sport and physical activity.
Asked by: Caroline Dinenage (Conservative - Gosport)
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 terrestrial television and radio services on the resilience of communications infrastructure.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government understands how important it is that everyone can access information in times of national emergency. Television and radio both play an important role in providing such access in a range of different emergency scenarios, including scenarios where other communications may be disrupted.
The BBC has specific requirements under its Framework Agreement in relation to broadcast security and resilience, and works closely with DCMS in ensuring its networks are able to support emergency communications.
The Government’s project looking into the future of TV distribution is considering a range of relevant factors, including the future resilience requirements for broadcast networks.
Asked by: Caroline Dinenage (Conservative - Gosport)
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 reliability of (a) digital terrestrial television and (b) IPTV.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government’s project on the future of TV distribution is seeking to understand how people receive their television now and in the next decade. We want audiences to continue to receive consistent levels of service regardless of how they receive their television, and ensuring that this can happen will be a priority for the Government.
Reliability is one of the issues that is being considered by the Future of TV Distribution stakeholder forum. The forum brings together the Government, the TV industry, the infrastructure sectors, and audience advocacy groups to share ideas and develop solutions.
Asked by: Caroline Dinenage (Conservative - Gosport)
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 the Chancellor of the Exchequer on the impact of the Business Rates Review on live entertainment venues.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Secretary of State has regular discussions with Cabinet colleagues on a range of issues. The Government intends to introduce permanently lower tax rates for retail, hospitality, and leisure (RHL) properties from 2026-27. To provide further support, the government has extended RHL relief at 40% for 2025-26. The Government is prioritising the creative industries, including live music, as part of the Industrial Strategy.