Asked by: Joe Morris (Labour - Hexham)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what recent discussions the Department has had with relevant stakeholders to improve support for local arts in (a) Hexham constituency, (b) Northumberland, (c) Newcastle and (d) the North East.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Secretary of State and her ministerial team engage regularly with a wide range of stakeholders and DCMS Arm’s Length Bodies regarding support for local arts organisations and museums. In February 2025, the Secretary of State announced a new £270 million Arts Everywhere Fund, with organisations across the North East already benefitting. This includes the £20 million Museum Renewal Fund, with over £1.2 million awarded to museums in the North East in October, and £483k specifically for the North East Museums group to support activities across Northumberland museums, including Hexham Old Gaol. This funding is additional to core museums funding delivered through Arts Council England, including the National Portfolio Investment Programme, which sees over £3.3 million a year invested in the North East Museums group amongst others.
The Department continues to work with stakeholders to provide additional support for local museums and galleries in 2025/26, through the £25 million Museum Estate and Development Fund (MEND) tackling maintenance backlogs, and the DCMS/Wolfson Museums and Galleries Improvement Fund, currently open for applications.
The Arts Everywhere Fund will also deliver £85 million of investment through the Creative Foundations Fund to support arts and cultural organisations, including local arts centres, to address urgent estate issues, ensuring buildings and infrastructure are fit for future generations. In addition, Ministers have commissioned a formal review of ACE, the body responsible for distributing arts funding across England. The review is considering all aspects of ACE’s work and investment, and will report this Autumn.
Asked by: Joe Morris (Labour - Hexham)
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 relevant stakeholders to improve support for grassroots sports in (a) Hexham constituency, (b) Northumberland, (c) Newcastle and (d) the North East.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
My Department engages on a regular basis with a range of stakeholders to support grassroots sport.
A large part of our Arm’s Length Body Sport England’s work focuses on their place partnerships, where they work with local areas to understand and overcome the specific barriers to sport and physical activity in communities. Rise Northumberland, Tyne & Wear and County Durham, and Tees Valley Sport are two of Sport England’s place partnerships.
We’ve also committed another £400 million to transform facilities across the whole of the UK over the next four years. We are working closely with sporting bodies and local leaders to establish what communities need, and will then set out further plans.
The Government is committed to supporting every aspect of women’s sport and ensuring all women and girls, no matter their background, have opportunities to participate in sport and physical activity.
This includes supporting Sport England’s This Girl Can campaign which has inspired millions of women and girls to get active. We’ve also launched the Women’s Sport Taskforce to tackle challenges and barriers facing women and girls in sport, from grassroots to elite, and are harnessing the power of hosting major sporting events, such as investing £6.7 million into the Impact 25’ programme for the Women’s Rugby World Cup to make facilities more accessible for women. We’ve also announced plans to more than double the share of slots dedicated to women’s and girls’ teams at Government-funded facilities across England over the next five years.
Asked by: Joe Morris (Labour - Hexham)
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 relevant stakeholders on encouraging girls into sport in (a) Hexham constituency, (b) Northumberland, (c) Newcastle and (d) the North East.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
My Department engages on a regular basis with a range of stakeholders to support grassroots sport.
A large part of our Arm’s Length Body Sport England’s work focuses on their place partnerships, where they work with local areas to understand and overcome the specific barriers to sport and physical activity in communities. Rise Northumberland, Tyne & Wear and County Durham, and Tees Valley Sport are two of Sport England’s place partnerships.
We’ve also committed another £400 million to transform facilities across the whole of the UK over the next four years. We are working closely with sporting bodies and local leaders to establish what communities need, and will then set out further plans.
The Government is committed to supporting every aspect of women’s sport and ensuring all women and girls, no matter their background, have opportunities to participate in sport and physical activity.
This includes supporting Sport England’s This Girl Can campaign which has inspired millions of women and girls to get active. We’ve also launched the Women’s Sport Taskforce to tackle challenges and barriers facing women and girls in sport, from grassroots to elite, and are harnessing the power of hosting major sporting events, such as investing £6.7 million into the Impact 25’ programme for the Women’s Rugby World Cup to make facilities more accessible for women. We’ve also announced plans to more than double the share of slots dedicated to women’s and girls’ teams at Government-funded facilities across England over the next five years.
Asked by: Joe Morris (Labour - Hexham)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether she has received representations on the collapse of Football Index.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Secretary of State has received letters and emails from members of the public and Members of Parliament on the collapse of BetIndex Ltd, the operator of the novel gambling product Football Index. The collapse had a significant impact on former customers, and we recognise that many people were affected, and that for some people financial losses were significant. The previous Government commissioned an Independent Review in June 2021, conducted by Malcom Sheehan KC and which reported in September 2021. The review looked at how the company had been regulated, and identified areas for improvement for the Financial Conduct Authority and the Gambling Commission. All recommendations of the report have since been implemented.