Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the potential implications for her policies of recent increases to TV license fees.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The obligations placed on the BBC, and the public service it provides to the country, show the need for continued, sustainable public funding to support its vital work.
The government has committed to retaining the licence fee for the remainder of the Charter Period. The level of the fee will increase by £5 per household to £174.50 in April 2025, rising in line with inflation as required by the 2022 Licence Fee Settlement. This uplift provides certainty and stability for the BBC and S4C, and supports them in delivering their essential public services remits and world-class educational and engaging programming, while also ensuring we deliver the best outcomes for licence fee payers.
Reflecting our understanding of the pressures on households, this government has taken action to expand the Simple Payment Plan to help more households facing financial hardship pay their TV licence.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what progress she has made on the allocation of dormant assets in the last 12 months.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
To date, the Dormant Assets Scheme has unlocked over £1 billion of dormant assets which The National Lottery Community Fund distributes across the UK. DCMS is responsible for the English portion and recently announced that the next £350 million tranche of funding for England would be split equally between youth, financial inclusion, social investment and community wealth funds. The relevant Devolved Governments are responsible for their own portion.
To date, a total of £25 million has been allocated to the Northern Ireland Dormant Assets programme to build capacity, resilience and sustainability in the third sector. Over £3 million has been committed in FY24/25 to support smaller and underrepresented community groups to build their capacity. Discussions are underway regarding the deployment of the next phase of dormant assets funding in Northern Ireland, which is expected to be launched in due course.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
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 help support small music venues.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government response to the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee's report on grassroots music venues sets out our commitment to working with the sector to support the sustainability of the entire music ecosystem. In particular, the Government is urging the live music industry to introduce a voluntary levy on tickets for stadium and arena shows, to help safeguard the future of the grassroots music sector.
The Government has also announced £2.5m of continued funding for the Arts Council England’s Supporting Grassroots Music Fund for 2025-26. This enables grassroots music venues, recording studios, promoters and festivals to apply for grants of up to £40,000 to develop new revenue streams, make repairs and improvements, and enhance the live music experience for music lovers across the UK.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps he is taking to support young men at (a) schools and (b) universities who are gambling online.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
We are committed to protecting children and young people from gambling harm. In December last year, the Government laid a draft regulation introducing new stake limits for online slots games, including a lower stake limit of £2 for adults aged 18 to 24.
We are introducing a statutory levy to be paid by gambling operators raising funding for research, prevention and treatment of gambling-related harms. The levy will play an important part in the Government’s wider aim to have a better informed and protected public when it comes to gambling-related harms. The government also continues to support the NHS National Gambling Clinic which provides treatment for adults and children experiencing gambling harm.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will make representations with the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development to her French counterpart on the impact of the hijab ban in sports in France on freedom of religion or belief.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Sport must be open to everyone. The UK will continue to champion freedom of religion or belief for all, both at home and abroad. No one should live in fear because of what they do or do not believe in.
The Government expects sports bodies in the UK to take robust action to tackle discrimination whenever and wherever it occurs. The Government will continue to work with National Governing Bodies and sector organisations to fight all forms of discrimination at all levels of sport.
We are working to uphold the right to freedom of religion or belief through our positions at the UN, G7 and other multilateral fora and in our important bilateral work. Ministers regularly engage with their French counterparts on a broad range of issues.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
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 support freedom of religion or belief for athletes.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Sport must be open to everyone. The UK will continue to champion freedom of religion or belief for all, both at home and abroad. No one should live in fear because of what they do or do not believe in.
The Government expects sports bodies in the UK to take robust action to tackle discrimination whenever and wherever it occurs. The Government will continue to work with National Governing Bodies and sector organisations to fight all forms of discrimination at all levels of sport.
We are working to uphold the right to freedom of religion or belief through our positions at the UN, G7 and other multilateral fora and in our important bilateral work. Ministers regularly engage with their French counterparts on a broad range of issues.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what support her Department has offered grassroots football clubs in the last 12 months.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government is committed to ensuring that everyone, regardless of background, has access to and benefits from quality sport and physical activity opportunities.
We are acting to support more people in getting onto the pitch wherever they live via the Multi-Sport Grassroots Facilities Programme, which will invest £123 million UK-wide throughout 2024/25.
In Northern Ireland, funding from the Multi-Sport Grassroots Facilities Programme is invested through our delivery partner, the Irish Football Association, who invites bids from local authorities, clubs and community organisations. Application windows are currently closed. The constituency of Strangford has received a total of £513,015.98 worth of funding from the Multi-Sport Grassroots Facilities Programme.
If MPs would like to discuss investment in their constituency, or potential applicants want to enquire about future funding available, they can contact the relevant delivery partner Irish Football Association on dcms.funding@irishfa.com.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
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 widen the eligibility criteria for a (a) free and (b) discounted TV licence.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
As part of the next Charter Review, the government will engage with the BBC and others to consider how to ensure the BBC thrives well into the next decade and beyond. This will include discussions on a range of important issues, including how we ensure that there is a sustainable funding model that is fair for those who pay for it.
In the meantime, the Government will be legislating to expand the Simple Payment Plan, to enable more households in financial hardship to pay their TV licence in flexible fortnightly or monthly installments.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the potential implications for her policies of reports that the sport of shooting has not been selected for the 2026 Commonwealth Games.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The sporting programme for the Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games, and the recent decision not to include shooting as a sport, is a matter for the Commonwealth Games Federation and Commonwealth Games Scotland.
Shooting has been an optional sport for Commonwealth Games since a decision made at the 2015 Commonwealth Games Federation General Assembly, and its status as such is not, therefore, a decision for the UK Government.
In the last year, 315,700 people have participated in shooting activities, and Government continues to support the success of the sport. Sport England have funded British Shooting £1,197,420 from 2022-27 as part of their system partner investment. UK Sport will invest over £8m in supporting Olympic and Paralympic shooting 2021-2025, and will be making future funding decisions in due course.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will make an estimate of the amount of money (a) spent and (b) lost on illegal gambling sites in each of the last five years.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The issue of illegal gambling is a concern for this Government and we are committed to working closely with the Gambling Commission, the statutory regulator for gambling in Great Britain, to ensure that illegal gambling, in all its forms, is addressed. The Commission continues to monitor this area closely and take action against unlicensed operators where needed.
Estimating the size of the illegal gambling market is difficult due to the changing nature of the sites and channels through which customers are able to access illegal activity. While research in this space is improving, further research is required to confidently estimate the extent of illegal gambling within Great Britain, who is engaging with it, and the impact that it is having. The Gambling Commission is working to improve its evidence base around the unlicensed gambling market, using web traffic data and gambling behaviour data to estimate the size of the online unlicensed market and conducting qualitative research to understand consumer motivations for participation in illegal gambling. The Commission published a blog outlining its approach in October 2024.
Gambling regulation is a devolved matter in Northern Ireland, where it falls under The Betting, Gaming, Lotteries and Amusements (Northern Ireland) Order 1985 and The Betting, Gaming, Lotteries and Amusements (Amendment) Act 2022.