Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
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 the development of tourism in Shropshire.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Tourism contributes to growth and jobs across all parts of the country particularly in rural areas such as Shropshire, home to the UNESCO-listed Ironbridge Gorge, the medieval Ludlow Castle and the scenic Shropshire Hills AONB.
The Government is committed to supporting the sector through the forthcoming Visitor Economy Growth Strategy, which will set out a long term plan to increase visitor flows across the UK, boost value, and deliver sustainable growth. Central to this strategy is ensuring greater dispersal, so that the economic benefits of tourism are felt by all regions, including rural and coastal communities.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 3 November 2025 to Question 87461 on Arts: West Midlands, what steps she is taking to include policies relating to local authorities outside of mayoral strategic authorities within the Creative Industries Sector Plan.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
There are creative industries clusters and micro clusters in every part of the UK and they are equally crucial to growth. We are keen to ensure that there are no cultural not-spots in the country and that everyone has an equal chance to pursue a career in the creative industries whether they live in a major metropolitan area or not.
The CI Sector Plan includes a universal offer to drive growth in the creative industries in any place in the UK, outlining new measures to break down barriers such as access to finance, supply of skills, and new support to kickstart innovation.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 3 November 2025 to Question 87461 on Arts: West Midlands, what steps he is taking to include policies relating to Mayoral strategic authorities within the Creative Industries Sector Plan.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Creative Industries Sector Plan includes a universal offer to drive growth in the creative industries in any place in the UK, outlining new measures to break down barriers such as access to finance, supply of skills, and new support to kickstart innovation.
This Sector Plan has been shaped by engagement with MSAs and with businesses in the regions. We will continue to work closely with Mayors and have established a new Creative Places Group with representatives from DCMS, devolved governments, high potential MSAs, and others to create a network of policy makers committed to unlocking the potential across our nations and regions.
The Creative Industries Sector Plan spotlights 12 high-potential clusters for Creative Industries growth and their unique investment offer. The Sector Plan also included the new Creative Places Growth Fund which will provide £150m of devolved funding to six Mayoral Strategic Authorities across England, empowering local leaders to turbocharge growth in their places.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
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 improve sporting facilities for young people in North Shropshire constituency.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government is committed to ensuring that everyone, including children and young people, should have access to, and benefit from, quality sport and physical activity opportunities.
In the last financial year, 2024-25, our Arm’s Length Body for grassroots sport, Sport England, invested £37,724 into the North Shropshire constituency to improve access to sport and physical activity.
Sport England, through its place partnerships, also works with local areas to understand and overcome the specific barriers to sport and physical activity in communities. Energize Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin is one of Sport England’s place partnerships.
Sports facilities provide important community hubs for people of all ages to be active and connect people to the places in which they live. On 19 June 2025, we announced that following the Spending Review at least £400 million is going to be invested into new and upgraded grassroots sport facilities in communities right across the UK, supporting the Government's Plan for Change. We are now working closely with sporting bodies and local leaders to establish what communities need, including for children and young people, and will then set out further plans.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how much funding was provided to the creative industry in the West Midlands by (a) capital and (b) project grants and by (i) county and (ii) county per head in each year since 2015.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Creative Industries Sector Plan includes a universal offer to drive growth in the creative industries in any place in the UK and announced £380m of targeted government support over the Spending Review period.
The £150m Creative Places Growth Fund will be fully devolved to 6 Mayoral Strategic Authorities, including the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA), to empower local leaders to grow their creative industries and unlock creative skills, jobs and investment opportunities. Shropshire Council is a non-constituent member of WMCA and is not currently within the funding boundary of WMCA. The devolved nature of this fund will enable local leaders to allocate this funding according to local barriers and opportunities, which may include areas beyond funding boundaries.
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) has provided specific support to the West Midlands through the Creative Scale-Up Pilot (CSUP) and the Create Growth Programme (CGP), providing grants of £1,300,000 and £945,000 to the WMCA and access to direct financial support from InnovateUK on a competition basis with £20 million available across 12 regions. Distribution of CGP and CSUP funding at the county and county per head level is handled by the delivery partners (WMCA and Innovate UK) and is not held by DCMS.
Since 2015, DCMS has delivered UK-wide funding programmes available to businesses and organisations in the West Midlands and Shropshire area, including the UK Games Fund, UK Global Screen Fund and Music Exports Growth Scheme. The Supporting Grassroots Music fund is also available to applicants based in England. Funding is delivered to businesses by the delivery partners and DCMS does not hold data at a regional level. The Sector Plan announced expansion of these programmes for 2026-2029.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how much and what proportion of the funding provided through the Creative Industries Fund to the West Midlands will be allocated to (a) Shropshire and (b) North Shropshire constituency.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Creative Industries Sector Plan includes a universal offer to drive growth in the creative industries in any place in the UK and announced £380m of targeted government support over the Spending Review period.
The £150m Creative Places Growth Fund will be fully devolved to 6 Mayoral Strategic Authorities, including the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA), to empower local leaders to grow their creative industries and unlock creative skills, jobs and investment opportunities. Shropshire Council is a non-constituent member of WMCA and is not currently within the funding boundary of WMCA. The devolved nature of this fund will enable local leaders to allocate this funding according to local barriers and opportunities, which may include areas beyond funding boundaries.
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) has provided specific support to the West Midlands through the Creative Scale-Up Pilot (CSUP) and the Create Growth Programme (CGP), providing grants of £1,300,000 and £945,000 to the WMCA and access to direct financial support from InnovateUK on a competition basis with £20 million available across 12 regions. Distribution of CGP and CSUP funding at the county and county per head level is handled by the delivery partners (WMCA and Innovate UK) and is not held by DCMS.
Since 2015, DCMS has delivered UK-wide funding programmes available to businesses and organisations in the West Midlands and Shropshire area, including the UK Games Fund, UK Global Screen Fund and Music Exports Growth Scheme. The Supporting Grassroots Music fund is also available to applicants based in England. Funding is delivered to businesses by the delivery partners and DCMS does not hold data at a regional level. The Sector Plan announced expansion of these programmes for 2026-2029.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
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 the creative industries in (a) North Shropshire constituency and (b) Shropshire.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
There are creative industries clusters and micro clusters in every part of the UK and they are equally crucial to the delivery of our Growth Mission. We are keen to ensure that there are no cultural not-spots in the country and that everyone has an equal chance to pursue a career in the creative industries whether they live in a major metropolitan area or not.
The CI Sector Plan includes a universal offer to drive growth in the creative industries in any place in the UK, including North Shropshire, outlining new measures to break down barriers such as access to finance, supply of skills, and new support to kickstart innovation.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
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 with the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government to ensure that developer funding contributes to the improvement of sporting facilities in the local area.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
I will continue to discuss how the planning system can contribute to the provision of local sporting facilities with my ministerial colleagues at the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government.
Our Arm’s Length Body, Sport England, helps local authorities assess likely increases in demand for sports facilities, and advises on how Section 106 agreements with developers can be used to secure the necessary improvements or creation of these facilities to benefit the community.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
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 deliver (a) the Greenfields Sports Ground project, (b) the Marches School project and (c) the North East Area (Whitchurch) 3G FTP project..
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
High-quality, inclusive facilities help people get active. Everyone, no matter who they are or where they live, should have access to them and opportunities to participate in sport and physical activity.
This year, the Government is investing £98 million through the Multi-Sport Grassroots Facilities Programme, which is delivered through the Football Foundation in England. The Football Foundation plans their investment pipeline based on Local Football Facility Plans (LFFPs), which have been developed in partnership with local authorities, community FAs and other sport stakeholders. The LFFP for Shropshire, which notes the potential Greenfields Sports Ground, Marches School North East Area (Whitchurch) 3G FTP projects can be found here. The Football Foundation is currently engaging with Marches Academy Trust and Shropshire Council to understand the feasibility of these projects.
In June, the Government committed another £400 million to transform facilities across the whole of the UK over the next four years. This funding will be invested in new and upgraded grassroots sport facilities that promote health and wellbeing and 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 a 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: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what funding her Department is providing to facilitate the completion of projects listed by the Football Foundation as priority.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
High-quality, inclusive facilities help people get active. Everyone, no matter who they are or where they live, should have access to them and opportunities to participate in sport and physical activity.
This year, the Government is investing £98 million through the Multi-Sport Grassroots Facilities Programme, which is delivered through the Football Foundation in England. The Football Foundation plans their investment pipeline based on Local Football Facility Plans (LFFPs), which have been developed in partnership with local authorities, community FAs and other sport stakeholders. The LFFP for Shropshire, which notes the potential Greenfields Sports Ground, Marches School North East Area (Whitchurch) 3G FTP projects can be found here. The Football Foundation is currently engaging with Marches Academy Trust and Shropshire Council to understand the feasibility of these projects.
In June, the Government committed another £400 million to transform facilities across the whole of the UK over the next four years. This funding will be invested in new and upgraded grassroots sport facilities that promote health and wellbeing and 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 a 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.