Asked by: Edward Morello (Liberal Democrat - West Dorset)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether she has had discussions with (a) public landowners, (b) the National Trust and (c) Forestry England on the potential impact of cashless-only car parking systems on (i) older people and (ii) people without mobile phones.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
No such discussions have taken place. Car parking charges for publicly-owned car parks are primarily a matter for local authorities.
Asked by: Edward Morello (Liberal Democrat - West Dorset)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of youth workers on levels of costs for (a) the NHS and (b) other public bodies providing services to young people.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
This Government fully recognises the importance of youth services to help young people live safe and healthy lives, and we are committed to giving all young people the chance to reach their full potential.
We have not made an assessment of the potential impact of youth workers on costs for the NHS or other relevant public bodies, instead, we utilise the wealth of external research indicating the positive impact youth work and youth services can have on young people’s health and other outcomes, including helping to reduce costs for a range of public services.
The new National Youth Strategy will better coordinate youth services and policy at a local, regional and national level, moving away from siloed working and driving efficiencies - ensuring we are better coordinated and more than the sum of our parts.
Asked by: Edward Morello (Liberal Democrat - West Dorset)
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 ensure youth work funding is distributed (a) across the country and (b) rural areas.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Local Authorities have a statutory duty to secure, so far as is reasonably practicable, sufficient provision of educational and recreational leisure-time activities for young people in their area. Local Authorities fund youth services from their Local Government Finance Settlement in line with local need. To support Local Authorities, we launched the £8 million Local Youth Transformation pilot this year, which will support local authorities across the country to build back capability to improve local youth offers. The selected local authorities for the pilot include a mix of urban and rural areas.
In addition, we are co-producing a new National Youth Strategy. The strategy will support better coordination of youth services across the country and will increase access to opportunities, in particular in underserved areas. The Strategy will be published in Autumn and will be supported by funding, across the SR period to develop new youth facilities and improve existing ones, as well as further funding to support local youth service provision.
Asked by: Edward Morello (Liberal Democrat - West Dorset)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether she has had recent discussions with Cabinet colleagues on the potential impact of youth work on (a) the wellbeing of and (b) employment outcomes for young people.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
This Government fully recognises the importance of youth services to help young people live safe and healthy lives, and we are committed to giving all young people the chance to reach their full potential. We know the impact that youth work has on young people’s life chances, including on their wellbeing and their employment outcomes. That is why we are co-producing an ambitious new National Youth Strategy, with young people, sector experts and cross-government colleagues.
The Strategy will better coordinate youth services and policy at a local, regional and national level, moving away from siloed working - ensuring we are better coordinated and more than the sum of our parts. We will publish the Strategy in the Autumn.
Asked by: Edward Morello (Liberal Democrat - West Dorset)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will take steps to develop a cross-departmental strategy on youth work.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
DCMS is leading a National Youth Strategy in collaboration with a number of other key departments to set out a new long-term vision for young people and an action plan for delivering this. This strategy will cover youth services, provision and policy at local, regional and national levels. We are co-producing this National Youth Strategy with young people and cross-sector experts and so the breadth of issues will be shaped by our engagement.
The Strategy will better coordinate youth services and policy at a local, regional and national level, moving away from siloed working - ensuring we are better coordinated and more than the sum of our parts. We will publish the Strategy in the Autumn.
Asked by: Edward Morello (Liberal Democrat - West Dorset)
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 encourage girls to participate in grassroots rugby in (a) schools and (b) local clubs through its funding for the Impact 25 programme.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Since July 2024 the Government has invested £6.78m in Impact 25 the legacy programme for the 2025 Women’s Rugby World Cup. Impact 25 supports women's and girls' clubs across England as part of the Rugby Football Union’s ambition to widen female participation. It has provided investment to 850 clubs to improve facilities and to train 3,385 new female coaches and match officials, making coaching sessions and matches more accessible contributing to a 35% increase in female age grade registrations in England rising from 17,700 places in 2022 to 23,900 in 2025.
The programme has provided direct support to clubs in the West Dorset constituency, providing £10,000 of funding to Bridport RFC , Dorchester RFC and Sherborne RFC. Each club received funding for a ‘Girls Activity Day Pack’ to introduce girls aged 6-12 to rugby with activities, merchandise, and prizes (such as tickets to a Women's Rugby World Cup match). All clubs also received sanitary product packages which are made freely available in club restrooms.
More broadly, we want as many girls as possible to get involved in sport and physical activity, including in schools. That is why on 19 June 2025, the Government announced a new School Sport Partnerships model and a new Enrichment Framework for schools to ensure all young people have equal access to high-quality sport and extracurricular activity. Girls will be given the same opportunity as boys to play sports at school.
Asked by: Edward Morello (Liberal Democrat - West Dorset)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what recent steps her Department has taken to promote the Women's Rugby World Cup.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
We are ambitious and want to make this the biggest Women’s World Cup (RWC) ever. Over 400,000 tickets have already been sold for the tournament, more than double the number bought for the previous tournament in New Zealand in 2022, including a sold out final at Allianz Stadium, Twickenham highlighting the demand for women’s sport in the country.
The Government is proud to have provided just under £18m of investment into the tournament since summer 2024 which will be used for all aspects of tournament delivery.
In addition to this DCMS Ministers have supported the promotion of the tournament directly with the Secretary of State Lisa Nandy appearing on the BBC at the 100 Days to go event which also coincided with the reveal of the new Women's RWC trophy. I was then delighted to represent the Department at the 50 Days to go Event held in Parliament and the England teams opening match of the tournament in Sunderland against the USA.
Asked by: Edward Morello (Liberal Democrat - West Dorset)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what recent discussions her Department has had with stakeholders on (a) the Eden Portland project and (b) its potential contribution to (i) biodiversity education, (ii) scientific learning and (iii) tourism.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Department welcomes the ambition of the Eden Project Portland and its stated aims to contribute to tourism, biodiversity education, and scientific learning on the Jurassic Coast.
In relation to departmental support, officials discussed the project with representatives of the Eden Portland Project on 22 April 2025. It was explained that while primary responsibility for considering central Government funding for a project of this nature rests with the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, my department would be happy to engage with them to express our support for the project’s significant cultural, heritage, and tourism contributions.
I remain focussed on creating the conditions for the visitor economy to thrive. My department is working closely with the sector to draft a Visitor Economy Growth Strategy, which we anticipate publishing later this year. We encourage projects like Eden Portland to engage with their Local Visitor Economy Partnership, in this case the Visit Dorset Business Support Hub, to ensure they are aligned with and can benefit from this important work.
Asked by: Edward Morello (Liberal Democrat - West Dorset)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department has had discussions with the Eden Project on support for Eden Portland.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Department welcomes the ambition of the Eden Project Portland and its stated aims to contribute to tourism, biodiversity education, and scientific learning on the Jurassic Coast.
In relation to departmental support, officials discussed the project with representatives of the Eden Portland Project on 22 April 2025. It was explained that while primary responsibility for considering central Government funding for a project of this nature rests with the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, my department would be happy to engage with them to express our support for the project’s significant cultural, heritage, and tourism contributions.
I remain focussed on creating the conditions for the visitor economy to thrive. My department is working closely with the sector to draft a Visitor Economy Growth Strategy, which we anticipate publishing later this year. We encourage projects like Eden Portland to engage with their Local Visitor Economy Partnership, in this case the Visit Dorset Business Support Hub, to ensure they are aligned with and can benefit from this important work.
Asked by: Edward Morello (Liberal Democrat - West Dorset)
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 support youth organisations serving (a) isolated and (b) rural communities in West Dorset constituency.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
This Government fully recognises the importance of youth services to help young people live safe and healthy lives, and we are committed to giving all young people the chance to reach their full potential.
We also, however, acknowledge the challenges facing the sector and the changing needs of the young people it supports — especially those in rural areas, who often face additional barriers such as limited access to services, transport, and opportunities.
That is why we are co-producing a new National Youth Strategy. The Strategy will support better coordination of youth services across different regions — including remote and underserved areas and move away from one-size-fits-all approaches from central government. By doing so, we will bring power back to young people and their communities, rebuild a thriving and sustainable sector, and ensure that rural youth are not left behind.
We will be publishing an interim report shortly, and the Strategy will be published in Autumn.