Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact on the health of people under the age of 18 of having access to free sports facilities for at least two hours a week.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
We know that active people are fitter, happier and healthier - which is why in our new Sport Strategy - 'Get Active’ - we set out an ambitious strategy to boost our national health by getting 3.5 million extra active people by 2030. This includes bold targets to reach communities with the lowest levels of physical activity.
As part of this strategy, we have set up a new National Physical Activity Taskforce to ensure we meet these targets, and will work closely with Sport England to track and measure the impact of our interventions. This will include measuring the progress made in tackling inactivity annually through the Active Lives Children survey, and in real time by seeking new sources of data that allow us to monitor progress.
Schools play a key role in allowing all children to have high quality opportunities to take part in PE and sport. In July we published an update to the School Sport and Activity Action Plan. This builds on the announcement we made in March that set out new ambitions for equal access to PE and sport and guidance on how to deliver 2 hours of quality PE a week, alongside over £600 million funding for the Primary PE and Sport Premium and the School Games Organiser network.
The Department for Education will be introducing a new digital tool to support schools with their reporting requirements for their PE and sport premium spend. This will hold schools accountable for how they use their PE and sport premium funding allocation to measure and improve the quality of PE and sport they provide.
Alongside this, the government is also investing over £300 million in grassroots football, tennis, swimming pools and multi-sport facilities across the UK by 2025 to increase participation and ensure physical activity should be accessible to all, no matter a person’s background or location. The historic level of direct investment to build or upgrade thousands of grassroots facilities across the UK and support swimming pools in England, will also increase access for thousands more young people.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what recent estimate she has made of the number of people who are addicted to gambling.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
As set out in Public Health England’s evidence review of gambling-related harms, the problem gambling rate for England was estimated as 0.4% in 2021, and has been relatively stable since 2012. However it should be noted that Covid impacted data collection for the latest Health Survey meaning comparisons between 2021 findings and those from earlier surveys cannot be made.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
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 introducing a scheme to give all people under the age of 18 free access to a local sports club.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
We know that active people are fitter, happier and healthier - which is why in our new Sport Strategy - 'Get Active’ - we set out an ambitious strategy to boost our national health by getting 3.5 million extra active people by 2030. This includes bold targets to reach communities with the lowest levels of physical activity.
As part of this strategy, we have set up a new National Physical Activity Taskforce to ensure we meet these targets, and will work closely with Sport England to track and measure the impact of our interventions. This will include measuring the progress made in tackling inactivity annually through the Active Lives Children survey, and in real time by seeking new sources of data that allow us to monitor progress.
Schools play a key role in allowing all children to have high quality opportunities to take part in PE and sport. In July we published an update to the School Sport and Activity Action Plan. This builds on the announcement we made in March that set out new ambitions for equal access to PE and sport and guidance on how to deliver 2 hours of quality PE a week, alongside over £600 million funding for the Primary PE and Sport Premium and the School Games Organiser network.
The Department for Education will be introducing a new digital tool to support schools with their reporting requirements for their PE and sport premium spend. This will hold schools accountable for how they use their PE and sport premium funding allocation to measure and improve the quality of PE and sport they provide.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps is she taking to encourage young adults to participate in the recommended levels of sport and physical activity each week.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
We know that active people are fitter, happier and healthier - which is why in our new Sport Strategy - 'Get Active’ - we set out an ambitious strategy to boost our national health by getting 3.5 million extra active people by 2030. This includes bold targets to reach communities with the lowest levels of physical activity.
As part of this strategy, we have set up a new National Physical Activity Taskforce to ensure we meet these targets, and will work closely with Sport England to track and measure the impact of our interventions. This will include measuring the progress made in tackling inactivity annually through the Active Lives Children survey, and in real time by seeking new sources of data that allow us to monitor progress.
Schools play a key role in allowing all children to have high quality opportunities to take part in PE and sport. In July we published an update to the School Sport and Activity Action Plan. This builds on the announcement we made in March that set out new ambitions for equal access to PE and sport and guidance on how to deliver 2 hours of quality PE a week, alongside over £600 million funding for the Primary PE and Sport Premium and the School Games Organiser network.
The Department for Education will be introducing a new digital tool to support schools with their reporting requirements for their PE and sport premium spend. This will hold schools accountable for how they use their PE and sport premium funding allocation to measure and improve the quality of PE and sport they provide.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact of a tourist tax on (a) Treasury receipts, (b) tourist numbers and (c) tourists' experiences; and if she will enable the introduction of pilot schemes for such a tax in local areas.
Answered by John Whittingdale
The Chancellor continually keeps the tax system under review. At present, HM Government does not have any plans to introduce a national tourism tax or a pilot scheme for such a tax in local areas. An assessment on the potential impact of a national tourist tax on Treasury receipts, tourist numbers and tourists’ experiences has therefore not been made.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
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 number of short term holiday lets operating in (a) 2023, (b) 2022 and (c) 2021.
Answered by John Whittingdale
In 2022, the government held a Call for Evidence on developing a tourist accommodation registration scheme in England, with one of the aims being to better understand the size of the short-term lets market.
The results of the Call for Evidence, published in April 2023, highlighted that there is no single, definitive source of data on short-term lets in England. Based on the analysis of responses to the call for evidence, there were approximately 257,000 short-term and holiday letting listings in England in 2022. Since the Call for Evidence, the government has consulted on the design and implementation of a registration scheme for short term lets, which will improve our understanding of the short term letting market.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what recent discussions she has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on potential undeclared tax from the Short Term Holiday Let industry.
Answered by John Whittingdale
Following last year's Call for Evidence, in December 2022 the government introduced a registration scheme for short-term lets in England in the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill. On 12 April 2023, a consultation was published which sought views on details about how the scheme will operate. The consultation closed on 7 June 2023 and the government is working to analyse responses.
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport is working with relevant government departments, including HMRC and HM Treasury, on the design of the registration scheme for short-term lets to ensure that different measures which apply to short-term lets are proportionate, complementary and easy to understand.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
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 merits of local authorities introducing voluntary short term holiday let registration schemes.
Answered by John Whittingdale
Following last year's Call for Evidence, in December 2022 the government introduced a registration scheme for short-term lets in England in the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill. On 12 April 2023, a consultation was published which sought views on details about how the scheme will operate. The consultation closed on 7 June 2023 and the government is working to analyse responses.
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport is working with relevant government departments, including HMRC and HM Treasury, on the design of the registration scheme for short-term lets to ensure that different measures which apply to short-term lets are proportionate, complementary and easy to understand.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, when she plans to publish the response to her Department's consultation on a registration scheme for short-term lets in England.
Answered by John Whittingdale
Following last year's Call for Evidence, in December 2022 the government introduced a registration scheme for short-term lets in England in the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill. On 12 April 2023, a consultation was published which sought views on details about how the scheme will operate. The consultation closed on 7 June 2023 and the government is working to analyse responses.
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport is working with relevant government departments, including HMRC and HM Treasury, on the design of the registration scheme for short-term lets to ensure that different measures which apply to short-term lets are proportionate, complementary and easy to understand.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
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 ensure people that people from all socio-economic backgrounds can participate in community sports.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
His Majesty’s Government is committed to ensuring that everyone is able to enjoy the physical and mental health benefits that sport and physical activity provides, regardless of background. This is a central part of the Levelling Up agenda and will be a major focus of the Government’s upcoming Sport Strategy.
We fund the majority of support for grassroots sport through our Arms Length Body, Sport England - which receives over £100 million in Exchequer funding each year. Sport England is responsible for growing and developing grassroots sport and getting more people active across England. Sport England's ten year strategy ‘Uniting the Movement’ reinforces their commitment to increasing participation in sport and physical activity for those from under-represented groups.
Government is also investing nearly £400 million directly into grassroots sports facilities across the country up to 2025.
This includes over £300 million into multi-sport pitches and facilities across the UK to level up facilities by, in particular, targeting those communities most in need and increasing participation among under-represented groups, including women and girls, ethnic minority communities and people from lower socio-economic backgrounds. At least 50% of the funding will go to the most deprived areas across the UK.
Through our partnership with the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA), the government is renovating park tennis courts across England, Scotland and Wales. The Government is investing £22 million, with a further £8 million from the LTA. This funding will bring over 3,000 courts up to playable standard by 2025.
At Spring Budget 2023, the Government also announced the £63 million Swimming Pool Support Fund to address the cost pressures facing some public swimming pool providers, and provide investment in energy efficiency measures to make facilities sustainable in the long-term and ensure communities can continue to access the facilities they need.