Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
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 increase participation in creative apprenticeships in the North East.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The government is committed to empowering local leaders to take decisions related to their local skills needs. As part of this, DCMS is providing £25m to the North East Strategic Authority through the Creative Places Growth Fund. This will allow areas to distribute funding according to local barriers and opportunities and maximise the impact of national interventions, including supporting regional skills initiatives like apprenticeships.
More broadly, this government is transforming the apprenticeships offer into a new growth and skills offer, which will offer greater flexibility to employers and learners. In the Creative Industries Sector Plan, we committed to working with industry to refine and develop this offer, to deliver apprenticeships and skills training that recognises the particular needs of the sector.
This will build on flexi-job apprenticeship agencies and new flexibilities like shorter apprenticeships, which were introduced in August. From April 2026, we will also introduce short course ‘apprenticeship units’ in areas such as digital and AI, to support Industrial Strategy sectors like the Creative Industries.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what support is being provided to heritage sites affected by severe weather and coastal erosion.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Support is being provided to heritage sites affected by severe weather and coastal erosion through the Department for Culture, Media and Sport’s Arms Length Bodies, Historic England (HE) and the National Lottery Heritage Fund (NLHF).
In recent years, HE has worked with local authorities and other partners to assess a range of heritage assets at risk from coastal erosion, including Sandsfoot Castle in Dorset, Sandwich Bay in Kent, and Seaford Head in Sussex. These investigations are intended to better understand the significance of and risk to heritage assets from coastal erosion to inform asset owners, local authority and managers when taking their decisions about conservation. They have recently begun projects, such as ‘A Matter of Time & Tide’ which will quantify the number of Scheduled Monuments that are currently or likely to become at risk from coastal erosion and on what timeframe.
The NLHF has funded over 25 projects concerning heritage impacted by severe weather and coastal erosion. This includes a 2023 grant of £226,372 to the project ‘Facing the Cliff: The Race to Uncover and Share the Folkestone Villa at East Wear Bay’, which is an archeological project to excavate this significant site before it is lost due to coastal erosion. They also provided a 2021 grant of £295,904 to ‘The Compass Point Project’, which involved dismantling, moving, and reconstructing a 1835 Grade II Storm Tower in danger of falling into the sea.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what progress her Department has made on expanding access to youth cultural programmes in areas with historically low participation.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government has taken a number of steps to expand youth access to cultural programmes in under-served areas.
Arts Council England (ACE) is targeting 54 areas in England where cultural engagement and investment have been historically low through its Priority Places programme. All 54 areas include Music Hub provision which provide engagement aimed at young people; and some of the national portfolio organisations operating in Priority Places are entirely focused on children and young people, such as the BookTrust, the UK's largest reading charity which reaches millions of children each year. In 2024/25 ACE invested almost £27 million through National Lottery Project Grants to Priority Places.
The Arts Everywhere Fund, announced earlier this year, has also committed £3.2 million in funding for four cultural education programmes for the 2025/26 financial year to preserve increased access to arts for children and young people through the Museums and Schools Programme, Heritage Schools Programme, Art & Design National Saturday Clubs and BFI Film Academy.
In November, we published the Government’s response to the Curriculum and Assessment Review, which will ensure that a high-quality arts education is an essential part of the broad and rich education every child deserves. We will revitalise arts education through a reformed curriculum and support for teachers. In September 2026 we will launch the new National Centre for Arts and Music Education, which will improve access and opportunity for children and young people, strengthening collaboration between schools and industry.
In addition, £132.5 million of dormant assets funding will be allocated to support the provision of services, facilities or opportunities to meet the needs of young people. £117.5m of this has been allocated to increase disadvantaged young people’s access to enrichment opportunities in the arts, culture, sports and wider youth services, aimed at improving wellbeing and employability.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
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 regional theatres with operational costs.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government recognises the vital role that the arts, including regional theatre, play for people and communities in all parts of this country, and delivers funding to theatres primarily through Arts Council England (ACE).
ACE’s National Portfolio Organisations, including theatres, can use some of their annual funding to cover operational costs like staffing as long as those costs are justified in the budget and align with ACE’s funding agreement. In addition, ACE’s National Lottery Project Grants (NLPG) also allows some contribution to overheads, but has to be tied to the particular project that the funding has been awarded for. Nearly £14.5 million was awarded to theatres outside the capital through the NLPG programme in 2024/25.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what estimate her Department has made of the potential contribution of independent museums to local economic growth.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Drawing on external analysis, the Department considers independent museums as key to local economic growth. Museums form an integral part of the Creative Industries, driving innovation across the economy. By animating high streets and communities through their public programmes, museums draw tourists and employers to regions across the country, with many ranking amongst the most visited attractions in the UK.
Independent museums make up over half the sector, and the Association of Independent Museums estimates that independent museums across the UK made an overall economic contribution of £838.7 million in 2023, supporting 17,900 jobs. The Annual Museum Survey 2025 produced by the Arts Council England funded Museum Development Network, estimates the combined economic impact of Independent, Local Authority, and University museums in England at over £1.1 billion annually.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment has been made of regional disparities in access to elite sports pathways.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Elite pathways are designed and operated by National Governing Bodies and are independent from the Government. Widening access is a condition of the public funding they receive. All funded sports must publish Diversity and Inclusion Action Plans and show annual progress in improving representation across their pathways.
Home Country Sports Councils regularly review athlete data from funded sports to understand representation across regions and socio economic groups.
Where disparities exist, they are usually linked to the location of specialist facilities or the cost and travel required to access them, rather than formal exclusion. To address this, UK Sport and the Sports Councils support regional hubs, outreach activity and targeted financial assistance.
National talent recruitment programmes, such as Find Your Greatness have also helped engage a more diverse population and introduce them to sports they may not previously have accessed.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
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 adequacy of the resilience of local sports clubs in the context of energy prices.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government is committed to supporting local sports clubs and recognises their importance to communities up and down the country.
The Government provides the majority of support for grassroots sport in England through its Arm’s Length Body Sport England, which annually invests over £250 million in Exchequer and Lottery Funding. Ten percent of the funding allocated through their Movement Fund supports clubs to improve environmental sustainability and reduce energy costs. Sport England also provides detailed guidance to sporting clubs on managing energy costs and making facilities energy efficient.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what recent assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of the distribution of grassroots sports funding between urban and coastal towns.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government is investing £98 million in grassroots sports facilities to support increased participation across the UK via the Multi-Sport Grassroots Facilities Programme in 2025/26. Projects funded through the programme include new artificial grass pitches, changing rooms and pavilions, and floodlights.
A full list of projects funded through the Programme, as well as an interactive map for each funding year, can be found on gov.uk: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/multi-sport-grassroots-facilities-programme-projects-2021-to-2025.
At least £400 million will be invested in new and upgraded grassroots sport facilities over the next four years, promoting health and wellbeing while ensuring community cohesion and pride of place.
Officials are now working with the sports sector and local leaders to develop plans for delivering this funding through a place-based approach. This will allow us to better understand the differing needs for grassroots facilities in communities across the UK, including coastal areas and their specific needs, and will ensure that investment best meets demand.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
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 effectiveness of the Youth Investment Fund in improving community facilities.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Youth Investment Fund is supporting the delivery of over 250 new and refurbished youth facilities across England, in less advantaged areas, so young people can regularly attend activities in welcoming, fit-for-purpose youth centres.
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport has invested over £145 million to provide stability to the youth sector and ensure young people can continue to access opportunities, as we transition to the new National Youth Strategy. Part of this funding is in recognition of the urgent need for more youth facilities. The investment has enabled more flexibility with project delivery and continues to support the completion of Youth Investment Fund projects into 2026.
An independent evaluation of the Youth Investment Fund is ongoing, with a final report due to be published in 2027.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
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 increase participation of young girls in competitive sports (a) at and (b) outside school.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
The Government is committed to supporting women and girls’ sport at every opportunity including pushing for greater participation across all sports, at every level. In our new Sport Strategy ‘Get Active’, we set an ambitious target of getting 1 million more active children and 1.25 million more active women by 2030.
We are determined to maximise the potential of women’s sport in the future so we can sustain that pipeline of talent and expand it. We are investing over £600 million in school sport across the next two academic years todrive up the quality of physical education and ensure girls have equal access to opportunities to play sport.
The School Games programme offers children the opportunity to take part in competitions in over 40 sports at local and regional level, including inclusive, modified versions of the sports. In the 2022/23 academic year, the country-wide network of 450 School Games Organisers provided over 2.2 million opportunities for children to take part. The introduction of new equality criteria to the School Games Mark encourages and recognises schools providing equal access to girls and boys.
Outside of school, we are investing over £300 million in grassroots football and multi-sport facilities across the UK by 2025 which will further support women and girls accessing sport. The new £30 million Lioness Futures fund will deliver approximately 30 new state of the art 3G pitches at sites supporting women’s and girls’ teams across England. Projects in England will need to have a clear women and girls plan to receive this funding and will be monitored regularly to ensure the objectives are met.