Oral Answers to Questions

Nick Smith Excerpts

Thursday 16th April 2026 Commons Chamber

[Ian Murray]

My friend the hon. Member, my almost-neighbouring MP in Edinburgh, is absolutely right: Scotland is one of the world leaders in video games, and we have to make sure we are harnessing that. The games growth fund that I announced on Monday at the London games festival will make sure that we are nurturing new talent, helping people to get to the prototype stage, and growing the sector to get those projects to commercialisation. That will be spread across the country, of course, but Dundee is the key part of that. Rockstar in Edinburgh will be launching “Grand Theft Auto VI” later this year, which will be the biggest launch of any audiovisual package in the world. We are looking forward to that, but the hon. Member is absolutely right that we have to nurture that talent and bring the pipeline of talent through.

[Nick Smith (Blaenau Gwent and Rhymney) (Lab)]

11. What funding her Department is providing to help improve participation in grassroots sport.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (Stephanie Peacock)]

The Government believe in the power of grassroots sport. We have committed £400 million over the next four years, and £85 million in this coming year. Of course, Sport England invests £250 million annually through Exchequer and lottery funding.

[Nick Smith]

I declare an interest as the chair of the all-party parliamentary group on parkrun. As the Minister knows, parkrun is a global phenomenon, and it has just celebrated its 21st birthday this year. Currently, over 1,300 parkrun events take place across the UK every Saturday morning, including two in my constituency of Blaenau Gwent and Rhymney. Given its benefits in terms of health and wellbeing—many of my constituents are NHS couch to 5K graduates—will the Minister please outline what discussions she has had with parkrun to support that excellent initiative?

[Stephanie Peacock]

I was pleased to meet representatives of parkrun alongside my hon. Friend a few months ago to mark its 21st anniversary, and I pay tribute to the huge impact it has. Indeed, last year, I joined my hon. Friend for the relaunch of parkwalk, which is a great example of how inclusive parkrun is—of course, it would not be possible without all the volunteers. If I may, I would like to mention Oliver Smith from my constituency. I was pleased to run the Barnsley parkrun with my hon. Friend the Member for Barnsley North (Dan Jarvis) alongside Oliver Smith, aged nine, who is running nine marathons in four months to raise money for the Brain Tumour Charity following his dad’s diagnosis. I wish him luck in completing his challenge next weekend at the mini London marathon.

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[Martin Rhodes (Glasgow North) (Lab)]

8. What discussions the Client Board has had with representatives of the events sector on the potential impact of the possible acquisition of the QEII centre on that sector.

[Nick Smith (Blaenau Gwent and Rhymney)]

I am delighted to give the Second Church Estates Commissioner, my hon. Friend the Member for Battersea (Marsha De Cordova), a short rest this morning.

The possibility of the House of Lords being temporarily based in the neighbouring QEII centre during restoration and renewal is being considered. The R and R programme has worked closely with the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government—the freehold owner of the centre—and with wider Government to understand the implications of using the QEII centre during in the programme. Direct engagement with the events sector has, to date, been restricted because of commercial sensitivities, but available information suggests that conference centres across Westminster and the wider London area have sufficient spare capacity to accommodate displaced events.

[Martin Rhodes]

I declare my interest as the chair of the all-party parliamentary group for events. Given the importance of the QEII centre for hosting many major international events, and its direct economic value—we are talking about hundreds of jobs, thousands of hotel rooms, and significant spend and investment across the wider supply chain—does my hon. Friend have concerns that significantly reducing capacity could negatively affect the ability to attract major business events to the UK and give our international competitors an advantage?

[Nick Smith]

My hon. Friend is right to emphasise the QEII centre’s value to the UK events sector. However, I am advised that the evidence indicates that any displaced events could be accommodated by other conference centres in London, given the available spare capacity. Events, visitor spending and associated economic activity would be expected to transfer to alternative venues and their supply chains, rather than being lost to international competitors. Given his expertise, may I suggest a meeting with R and R officials who have looked deeper into this, so that they can hear his concerns in more detail and share their analysis of the matter?

The hon. Member for Battersea, representing the Church Commissioners, was asked—

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[The Second Church Estates Commissioner (Marsha De Cordova)]

indicated dissent.

[Nick Smith (Blaenau Gwent and Rhymney)]

The Church Commissioner gets another rest.

In February, the Restoration and Renewal Client Board reported costed proposals for the programme and a recommended way forward. The key recommendations are a phase 1 works package and the preparation of temporary accommodation, including a long-term resilience Commons Chamber, and reducing the number of delivery options from four to two, with a decision on a preferred option required by 2030. Also, the R and R team has engaged with Members of both Houses in party group meetings, Committees and briefings, and has had stands in Portcullis House and the Royal Gallery; the team has had almost 400 interactions with fellow parliamentarians. The next step is for parliamentary debates on the subject, in which Members of both Houses can consider the Client Board’s recommendations and decide how to make progress.

[Charlie Dewhirst]

What assessment has the hon. Gentleman made of the so-called waterside option, which would see a floating pontoon with temporary Chambers built on the Thames? That would allow Parliament to access the rest of the estate during the refurbishment of this Palace. Why has that not been included in the options, and why instead are we being left to choose between two lengthier and more costly options?

[Nick Smith]

I, too, read the waterside options. The issue is that there is a preferred option, which is that the Commons moves to the northern estate and the House of Lords moves to the QEII centre. That has been proposed for safety and value-for-money reasons.