Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
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 6 December 2023 to Question 4035 on Veterans: Radiation Exposure, whether she has had discussions with Cabinet colleagues on the preparation of an instrument under the terms of section 3 of the Public Records Act 1958 to permanently retain the (a) ES and (b) AB series of files that were withdrawn from the National Archives in 2018.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Instruments under the terms of section 3 of the Public Records Act 1958 do not permit the permanent retention of records that have been selected for transfer to The National Archives. Instead, retained records must be reviewed by the Department after a maximum period of 10 years.
The review of the AB and ES files relating to the UK’s historic nuclear weapons programme is ongoing. The Ministry of Defence published an update on its review in January 2024, which can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/review-of-nuclear-archive-records/review-of-nuclear-archive-records-update-january-2024
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many grants her Department has made to (a) leisure centres and (b) swimming pools in (i) Lincolnshire and (ii) the East Midlands since 2010; and what the total value was of those grants.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government recognises the importance of ensuring public access to swimming pools, as swimming is a core life skill and a great way for people of all ages to stay fit and healthy. The responsibility of providing access to leisure facilities lies at Local Authority level, and the Government continues to encourage Local Authorities to support swimming facilities.
In 2023/24, the Government provided over £60 million to Local Authorities in additional funding to support operating costs and help improve energy efficiency of facilities through the Swimming Pool Support Fund, delivered via Sport England. In total, the Swimming Pool Support Fund (£60 million Exchequer, £20 million of Sport England National Lottery funding) will fund 442 individual facilities and 788 individual pools across 269 Local Authorities by March 2025.
As part of the Swimming Pool Support Fund:
Further details of local authorities and swimming pools/leisure centres awarded funding from Phase I and Phase II of the Swimming Pool Support Fund are available on Sport England’s website at:
We provide the majority of support for grassroots sport through our arm’s length body, Sport England - which receives £323 million in Exchequer and Lottery funding each year. Sport England publishes data on all grant recipients as part of its register of grants awards, which is updated on a quarterly basis with awards dating back to 2009. Between 2009 - 2023, in addition to the Swimming Pool Support Fund, Sport England provided over £2.1 million of funding to Lincolnshire and over £15 million to the East Midlands to support leisure centres and swimming pools. Across the East Midlands, just over £7 million of this is related to the Sport England Covid-19 Leisure Recovery Fund. There is more detail on Sport England’s website at: https://www.sportengland.org/about-us.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will hold discussions with sports governing bodies on banning transgender athletes participating in women’s sporting competitions.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport recently hosted a roundtable with a group of national governing bodies to stress the Government’s position that competitive fairness and safety for women and girls cannot come at the expense of the inclusion of transgender athletes, and to understand how various governing bodies have developed their policies on this issue.
We will continue to engage with sports on this issue to understand what work national governing bodies are doing to protect women’s sport.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
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 with Cabinet colleagues to help improve the quality of sports fields in (a) Lincolnshire and (b) South Holland and the Deepings constituency.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government is committed to delivering top class sports facilities across the country, so that everyone can take part in sport and physical activity. As part of this commitment, the Government is delivering an historic level of direct investment to build or upgrade thousands of grassroots sport facilities across the UK.
Between 2021 and 2025, the UK Government is delivering investment of over £400 million to build or upgrade thousands of grassroots facilities across the UK, including multi-sport pitches, tennis courts, and swimming pools and leisure centres.
Since 2021, South Holland and the Deepings has received investment of £600,149 from the Football Foundation across four projects, including a new artificial grass pitch at Holbeach United Community Sports Academy. All projects can be viewed here on gov.uk.
South Holland and the Deepings has also received £102,251 from the Park Tennis Court Renovation Programme (co-funded by the Government and the Lawn Tennis Association) for Ayscoughfee Gardens and £29,651 from our Swimming Pool Support Fund for Castle Sports Centre and Swimming Pool.
Overall, Lincolnshire has received £1,258,322 from the Football Foundation. Lincolnshire has also received £169,027 from the Park Tennis Court Renovation Programme and £492,261 from the Swimming Pool Support Fund.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
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 assessment of the potential merits of establishing an independent ombudsman to enforce gambling operators’ duty of care.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Following the Government’s review of the Gambling Act 2005, and the Gambling White Paper, published in April 2023, we are introducing a package of measures to further prevent gambling-related harm, including a commitment to establish a non-statutory ombudsman to strengthen protections for customers where things go wrong. The body will adjudicate complaints, including those relating to social responsibility or gambling harm, where an operator is not able to.
We are working at pace with industry and all stakeholders in the sector, including the Ombudsman Association, to ensure customers have access to an ombudsman that is fully operationally independent in line with Ombudsman Association standards, and is fully credible in the eyes of customers. As set out in the white paper, it is important that the body adjudicates fairly and transparently all complaints regarding social responsibility or gambling harm issues where an operator is not able to resolve these.
We remain clear that if this approach does not deliver as we expect, or shortcomings emerge regarding the ombudsman’s remit, powers or relationship with industry, the government will actively explore the full range of options to legislate to create a statutory ombudsman.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many designated listed buildings of each grade of listing there are in (a) South Holland and (b) South Kesteven District.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
This information can be found by using the advanced search facility of the National Heritage List for England (https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/advanced-search/), which is maintained by Historic England on behalf of the Secretary of State.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many Building Preservation Notices have been issued in (a) South Holland and (b) South Kesteven District in the last ten years.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Building Preservation Notices are served by local planning authorities.The Department for Culture, Media and Sport has no role in the serving of these notices, and does not maintain a central record of those that have been served.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
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 investigations of gambling-related suicides.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
His Majesty’s Government recognises that, while millions of people gamble without experiencing problems, for some it becomes an addiction with serious consequences. It is particularly important to take steps to protect those, particularly young people, who are at risk of experiencing gambling harm.
In April 2023 the Department for Culture, Media and Sport published a White Paper following our review of the Gambling Act 2005. The White Paper outlined a series of measures to tackle practices and products which can drive harm and to ensure that people who are at risk of gambling harm and addiction are protected, including a commitment to introduce a new statutory levy paid by operators to fund research, prevention, and treatment. We are working at pace with the Gambling Commission to bring these measures into force as quickly as possible.
In October 2023 the Gambling Commission published its decision to introduce a specific reporting requirement requiring gambling businesses to inform the Commission when they become aware of a person who has gambled with them has died by suicide. This requirement will come into force on 1 April 2024. While it is the role of the Coroner to investigate such death, where the Commission is made aware that a customer of a licensee has died by suicide, it will consider whether there is evidence of suspected regulatory failings and whether it would be appropriate and proportionate to take any regulatory action.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department provided funding to the charity Mermaids UK in (a) 2021, (b) 2022 and (c) 2023.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
DCMS has provided no funding to the charity Mermaids UK in 2021, 2022, or 2023.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether she is taking steps to ensure that (a) disabled and (b) partially sighted people are not sent multiple letters from TV Licensing.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Under the Communications Act 2003 the BBC is responsible for the collection and enforcement of the licence fee, not the Government. Given the BBC’s independence from government it would not be appropriate for the Government to seek to intervene on operational decisions on enforcement action. Nonetheless, the Government expects the BBC to collect the licence fee in an efficient and proportionate manner, and to treat all vulnerable people with sensitivity in doing so.
The Government remains concerned that a criminal sanction for TV licence evasion is increasingly disproportionate and unfair in a modern public service broadcasting system. While the current system will remain in place for the rest of the Charter period, our review of the BBC’s funding model will consider whether a mandatory licence fee with criminal penalties is still appropriate.