Asked by: Dan Jarvis (Labour - Barnsley Central)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether she plans to allocate specific funding from the public purse to female grassroots football teams.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
We are determined to support more women and girls to get active and football is the most popular team sport in terms of participation for women and girls.
The Lionesses’ fantastic performance at the 2022 Women’s Euros has inspired the nation and it is essential that we take the opportunity to build on the success and legacy of the tournament. This includes Sport England’s investment in 2020 of £1 million into legacy groups to help develop and create recreational women’s football opportunities in each of the nine host cities up and down England. It also includes the Sport England Adult Recreational Football Project, which is led by seven recreational football officers across the country who will develop this area of the game over the next two years.
We will continue to invest in grassroots sport through Sport England funding. In April 2022, Sport England awarded a total of £199,562 in 169 organisations to start new grassroots women’s and girls’ teams in high Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) areas. Sport England has also committed over £26 million until 2027 to support the FA’s aim to harness the power of grassroots football to unite communities and improve the health of the nation.
We are also focused on supporting the future development of women’s and girl’s football, and inspiring the next generation. The recently announced Women’s Football Review will look at how to deliver bold and sustainable growth of the women’s game at elite and grassroots level. The Football Foundation is also working with facility owners to name pitches and facilities in towns and cities that have a strong link to each tournament winning squad member, in order to raise the profile of facilities in the UK, and to commemorate the Lionesses.
Asked by: Dan Jarvis (Labour - Barnsley Central)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to the press notice issued by her Department entitled Government plans to name grassroots football facilities in honour of Lionesses class of Euros 2022, published on 31 July 2022, what recent progress her Department has made on naming grassroots football facilities in this way.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
DCMS is working closely with the Football Foundation and the Lionesses on plans to name the facilities in honour of the EURO 2022 winning team, and we intend to announce the first tranche of facilities in early 2023. This will raise the profile of facilities across the UK and help increase sports participation, in particular for women and girls and other under-represented groups, and act as a fitting tribute to the winning performances of the England Women’s team.
Asked by: Dan Jarvis (Labour - Barnsley Central)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what recent assessment he has made of the impact of the potential cuts to BBC local radio on (a) people who are housebound and (b) people who live in rural area’s ability to access local news.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government recognises the important role that radio plays in terms of the provision of local news and information, and of community engagement, including for those who are housebound, and those living in rural areas. The Government is disappointed that the BBC is planning to reduce parts of its local radio output.
The BBC is operationally and editorially independent from the government as set out in its Royal Charter, and decisions on service delivery are a matter for the BBC. However, my officials engage the BBC and Ofcom on these issues. I have also raised them, including reflections on recent parliamentary discussions, with the BBC.
Asked by: Dan Jarvis (Labour - Barnsley Central)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what recent assessment he has made of the (a) cost of newsprint and (b) the impact of those costs on the viability of local newspapers.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government is committed to supporting local newspapers as vital pillars of our communities. We are in regular contact with local news publishers to understand the financial pressures they face, and we are mindful of particular concerns about rising newsprint costs.
We will continue to consider all possible options in the interest of promoting and sustaining the sector.
Asked by: Dan Jarvis (Labour - Barnsley Central)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what recent discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities on the impact on Barnsley Central constituency of not being prioritised for funding from the Youth Investment Fund.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
Following the 2021 Spending Review, we are investing £560 million in youth services in England over the next 3 years, including the Youth Investment Fund and ongoing support for the National Citizen Service. This will transform the government’s offer for young people and level up opportunities right across the country.
£368 million of our investment has been dedicated to the Youth Investment Fund, which will see 45 local authorities and around 600 district wards in deprived parts of England eligible to apply, paving the way for up to 300 youth facilities to be built or redeveloped over the next three years.
The areas qualifying for the Youth Investment Fund were chosen on the basis of need using publicly available data sources. The data sets chosen were local authority level rates of young people not in Education or Employment (NEET), the proportion of children living in low income households from the Index of Multiple Deprivation (IDACI scores), and the returns from local authorities to government on the levels of spend on youth services (Section 251 data).
The details of how this formula has been applied are available on the GOV.UK website.
Asked by: Dan Jarvis (Labour - Barnsley Central)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the impact of not including Barnsley as a priority left behind area for the Youth Investment Fund on youth services in Barnsley Central.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
Following the 2021 Spending Review, we are investing £560 million in youth services in England over the next 3 years, including the Youth Investment Fund and ongoing support for the National Citizen Service. This will transform the government’s offer for young people and level up opportunities right across the country.
£368 million of our investment has been dedicated to the Youth Investment Fund, which will see 45 local authorities and around 600 district wards in deprived parts of England eligible to apply, paving the way for up to 300 youth facilities to be built or redeveloped over the next three years.
The areas qualifying for the Youth Investment Fund were chosen on the basis of need using publicly available data sources. The data sets chosen were local authority level rates of young people not in Education or Employment (NEET), the proportion of children living in low income households from the Index of Multiple Deprivation (IDACI scores), and the returns from local authorities to government on the levels of spend on youth services (Section 251 data).
The details of how this formula has been applied are available on the GOV.UK website.
Asked by: Dan Jarvis (Labour - Barnsley Central)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether the qualifying criteria for the Platinum Jubilee medal requires the full five calendar years of service to be continuous service.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
To qualify for The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Medal recipients must be in an eligible role in the public sector on 6 February 2022 and have completed five years’ service.
Individual Departments, the Devolved Administrations and Crown Dependencies are responsible for applying the criteria and making eligibility decisions regarding the award of the Medal to their staff and other organisations that fall under their sponsorship.
Asked by: Dan Jarvis (Labour - Barnsley Central)
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 is taking to establish an independent regulator for English football as recommended in the Independent Fan Led Review of English Football.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government has endorsed in principle the primary recommendation of the review, that football requires a strong, independent regulator to secure the future of our national game.
The Government will now work at pace to review the report in full, including determining the most effective way to deliver an independent regulator, including any powers it may need.
The Government will continue to engage with stakeholders as we work towards issuing a full response to the report in Spring 2022.
Asked by: Dan Jarvis (Labour - Barnsley Central)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to encourage people to return to live events following the lifting of covid-19 public health restrictions.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government recognises the important contribution that live events make to the UK’s culture and economy. It's important that as we welcome the return of large events such as music festivals, and fans back to our stadiums, we do so as carefully as possible. That’s why we have been working with event organisers to ensure that the lessons learned from the Events Research Programme are being put into practice.
The Government is committed to ensuring the safety of the public through minimising the risks of transmission of Covid-19 and by encouraging vaccination. The evidence from the Events Research Programme pilots was used to inform and shape Government policy and bring about the return of audiences to venues and events across England. The ERP showed that transmission is most likely when large crowds gather, and covid-status certification has been shown to be one method of mitigating this risk. Certification will help to improve confidence in those wishing to attend live events and encourage attendance.
From 19 July, the Government made the NHS COVID Pass available so that individuals can prove their vaccination status. The NHS Covid Pass has been designed to be quick and simple to use, so as not to place any significant burden on settings utilising the resource. Use of the NHS COVID Pass is voluntary for individual organisations. However, we encourage the use of the NHS COVID Pass in facilities or events where people are likely to be in close proximity to a large number of people from other households for a sustained period of time.
Asked by: Dan Jarvis (Labour - Barnsley Central)
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 potential impact of privatising Channel 4 on Yorkshire’s economy.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The government has recently consulted on whether an alternative ownership model for Channel 4 (but one where it retains a public service remit) may be better for the broadcaster, and better for the country.
Consulting on the broadcaster’s future is about ensuring that Channel 4 can continue to contribute to the UK’s success in public service broadcasting for years to come, and how we ensure its ownership model best supports this aim.
Channel 4’s economic contributions to the nations and regions of the UK is an issue we have consulted on. We value Channel 4’s contribution to levelling up, and we consider a continued and renewed commitment to it may be appropriate to any change of ownership.
The consultation opened on 6 July, running for 10 weeks, before closing on 14 September. We are currently analysing responses to our consultation, and evidence received through it, to inform our policy-making decisions. Once we have answered the questions set out in the consultation, we will know what specific impacts to assess and will therefore be in a position to carry out an impact assessment.