Asked by: Esther McVey (Conservative - Tatton)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to her Department's press release entitled Game changer for the nation, published on 19 June 2025, whether the investment in grassroots sports facilities will fund the development of covered tennis courts in (a) Tatton constituency and (b) in areas which lack indoor facilities across the UK.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government is determined to ensure that everyone has access to quality sport and physical activity opportunities. That is why we have committed another £400 million to transform facilities across the whole of the nation following the Spending Review.
We will now work closely with sporting bodies - including the Lawn Tennis Association - and local leaders to establish what each community needs and then set out further plans.
The Government provides the majority of support for grassroots sport through Sport England - which annually invests over £250 million in Exchequer and Lottery funding. Sport England provides long term investment to the LTA, which receives up to £10.2 million for 5 years from 2022 to invest in tennis and padel initiatives that will benefit as many people as possible.
Asked by: Esther McVey (Conservative - Tatton)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to her Department's press release entitled Game changer for the nation, published on 19 June 2025, how much of the £900 million investment in major sporting events and grassroots sport will be spent on tennis.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government is determined to ensure that everyone has access to quality sport and physical activity opportunities. That is why we have committed another £400 million to transform facilities across the whole of the nation following the Spending Review.
We will now work closely with sporting bodies - including the Lawn Tennis Association - and local leaders to establish what each community needs and then set out further plans.
The Government provides the majority of support for grassroots sport through Sport England - which annually invests over £250 million in Exchequer and Lottery funding. Sport England provides long term investment to the LTA, which receives up to £10.2 million for 5 years from 2022 to invest in tennis and padel initiatives that will benefit as many people as possible.
Asked by: Esther McVey (Conservative - Tatton)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what funding her Department plans to provide for tennis during the Spending Review period.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government is determined to ensure that everyone has access to quality sport and physical activity opportunities. That is why we have committed another £400 million to transform facilities across the whole of the nation following the Spending Review.
We will now work closely with sporting bodies - including the Lawn Tennis Association - and local leaders to establish what each community needs and then set out further plans.
The Government provides the majority of support for grassroots sport through Sport England - which annually invests over £250 million in Exchequer and Lottery funding. Sport England provides long term investment to the LTA, which receives up to £10.2 million for 5 years from 2022 to invest in tennis and padel initiatives that will benefit as many people as possible.
Asked by: Esther McVey (Conservative - Tatton)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many staff network events took place in her Department in May 2025 ; and what the names of those events were.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Staff networks are collaborative volunteer networks, organised by staff themselves rather than the department. As a result, events are organised by staff themselves, not the department. We are aware of the following events that these networks organised in May 2025.
7 events were held in May:
For Mental Health Awareness Week, 5 events took place:
Women’s Mental Health Talk, Monday, May 12.
Men’s Mental Health Talk, Monday, May 12,
Keeping Healthy at Work, Wednesday, May 14
LGBT+ Awareness Talk, Thursday, May 15
Mental Health Awareness Week Panel, Thursday, May 15
For World Culture Day, optional drop-in “bring your own lunches” were hosted in Manchester, Darlington and London on Wednesday, May 21.
The Faith and Belief Network, held a “Faith, Fasting and Food” lunchtime discussion on Thursday, May 22
Asked by: Esther McVey (Conservative - Tatton)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department has updated guidance on the use of single-sex facilities in response to the Supreme Court judgement in the case of For Women Scotland v The Scottish Ministers of 16 April 2025.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
We will review and update policy wherever necessary to ensure it complies with the latest legal requirements. We aim to ensure appropriate facilities are available for all staff.
Asked by: Esther McVey (Conservative - Tatton)
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 adequacy of progress on the rollout of superfast broadband in Tatton constituency.
Answered by Julia Lopez
Over 95 per cent of premises in the constituency of Tatton are already able to access a superfast connection. Further non-superfast premises are gaining access to gigabit-capable connections through continued delivery under the Connecting Cheshire programme.
Later this year we will launch a Project Gigabit procurement in Cheshire, covering an estimated 74,000 premises, including those that still do not have access to superfast broadband.
More immediate support for premises in rural areas is also available through our Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme.
Asked by: Esther McVey (Conservative - Tatton)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether she has had discussions with representatives of Equity on the standards of services it provides to its members.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston
DCMS has regular contact with Equity, and with other trade unions representing the arts and culture sector. Equity also sat on the Department’s Events and Entertainment Working Group.
In May this year the Minister for Arts met representatives from Equity to discuss aspects of the Universal Credit system and their impact on Equity members. Lord Parkinson also attended a freelancers roundtable in June organised by the Cultural Learning Alliance at which Equity was present.
Asked by: Esther McVey (Conservative - Tatton)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether she has had discussions with members of Equity on the payment of repeat fees and the retention of those fees by that union.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston
DCMS has regular contact with Equity, and with other trade unions representing the arts and culture sector. Equity also sat on the Department’s Events and Entertainment Working Group.
In May this year the Minister for Arts met representatives from Equity to discuss aspects of the Universal Credit system and their impact on Equity members. Lord Parkinson also attended a freelancers roundtable in June organised by the Cultural Learning Alliance at which Equity was present.
Asked by: Esther McVey (Conservative - Tatton)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether she has received representations on the scope of activities being undertaken by Equity.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston
DCMS has regular contact with Equity, and with other trade unions representing the arts and culture sector. Equity also sat on the Department’s Events and Entertainment Working Group.
In May this year the Minister for Arts met representatives from Equity to discuss aspects of the Universal Credit system and their impact on Equity members. Lord Parkinson also attended a freelancers roundtable in June organised by the Cultural Learning Alliance at which Equity was present.
Asked by: Esther McVey (Conservative - Tatton)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what plans his Department has to include provisions in the Product Security and Telecommunications Infrastructure Bill, announced in the Queen's Speech, to quicken the process by which wayleaves are granted.
Answered by Matt Warman
We are currently analysing the responses to the consultation and will publish the Government response in due course. This will include our proposals for measures to ensure that the Electronic Communications Code continues to support the faster deployment of digital infrastructure. We expect any legislative measures to be taken forward in the Product Security and Telecommunications Infrastructure Bill.