Asked by: Stephanie Peacock (Labour - Barnsley East)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what recent estimate her Department has made of the contribution of sport and sporting activities to the economy.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The government is committed to supporting economic growth in the sector, and ensuring this translates into tangible outcomes that span grassroots participation through to elite performance. In turn, this can help stimulate the contribution sport makes to growing the national economy.
The government’s previous Sport Satellite Account estimated that the gross value added (GVA) of the sport sector in 2019 was £48.9 billion. This marked an increase of 2.9% between 2018 and 2019, and of 20.4% between 2010 and 2019, in real terms. In addition, major sporting events have significant benefits for the national economy and for attracting investment to the UK. The hosting of the 2022 events (excluding Commonwealth Games), had a direct economic impact of £132 million, supported 1,600 jobs and had a 6:1 return on investment. The short-term impact alone of the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games contributed almost £871 million GVA to the UK economy.
In our new sport strategy, Get Active, we have set out our ambition to deliver a new economic snapshot that articulates the economic value and growth opportunities that exist within sport in the UK. This will replace the previous government Sport Satellite reporting mechanism.
Asked by: Julian Knight (Independent - Solihull)
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 financial impact on Birmingham of hosting the 2026 European Athletics Championships.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Major sporting events contribute a wide range of benefits for host cities and the entire UK. Sport is estimated to be worth over £38 billion a year to the UK’s economy, and major sporting events play a significant role in delivering continued growth across many key sectors.
The 2022 Commonwealth Games, hosted in Birmingham, were a huge success, coming in under budget and delivering at least £870 million gross value add (GVA) for the economy. Over half of this was generated in the West Midlands specifically.
Following the Section 114 notice on 5th September, Birmingham City Council is developing a financial management plan on future spending, including the 2026 European Athletics Championships.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department plans to take steps to encourage UK regions to bid to host the 2026 Commonwealth Games; and if she will make a statement on Victoria withdrawing as the host of the games.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The announcement by the Victorian Government was disappointing for fans and athletes. The government is keen that the Commonwealth Games Federation and Commonwealth Games Australia will now work together to find a viable solution to hosting the event in 2026 so that athletes have the chance to compete and fans have the opportunity to enjoy this incredible event.
The UK is proud to have hosted the Games twice in the past decade, including in Birmingham last year: coming in under budget and adding at least £870 million GVA to the UK economy. We are committed to working with the CGF and Commonwealth countries to support a sustainable future for the Games.
Asked by: Julian Knight (Independent - Solihull)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to Government grants statistics 2020 to 2021, published on 31 March 2022, what assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of the Commonwealth Games Associated Grants 2021-2223.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
All grants associated with the delivery of the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games have now closed and met their objectives.
The Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games came in on time and under its £778 million budget, which included £594 million of funding from central government. The Games have accelerated investment and regeneration in Birmingham, the West Midlands and beyond.
This core public investment has also helped to unlock over £85 million additional funding from a range of bodies including a £35 million investment from Sport England to deliver a physical activity legacy.
The government is committed to robust evaluation of the impacts driven by its investments. An interim evaluation report on the impact of the Games has shown it has added £870 million GVA to the UK economy, with a final impact report to be published in early 2024.
Asked by: Stephanie Peacock (Labour - Barnsley East)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to her Department's publication of transactions over £25,000 for April 2023 on 29 June, at what venue her Department's staff conference took place on 25 January; what activities that conference involved; and how many staff from her Department were in attendance.
Answered by John Whittingdale
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport’s (DCMS) staff conference took place at Alexandra Palace, chosen as it represented best value for money after a thorough search and for its links to the department’s policy areas of sport, culture, tourism and the events industry.
Like many large organisations, DCMS manages our staff conference as a cost-effective way of developing skills and training all staff on the latest policy developments, sharing ideas, building their digital skills, and focusing on how they can best support the government’s agenda. The conference was hybrid, bringing the benefits of being together face to face, with the accessibility of online.
The conference featured talks, panels and Q&A sessions focused on the department’s delivery priorities for 2023, learnings from the major events the Department delivered in 2022 such as the Commonwealth Games and Platinum Jubilee. Sessions also included how to harness the benefits of 5G, how to work effectively as one team in pursuit of shared objectives as well as a short annual staff awards that recognised the huge contribution our people make to public service.
In total 1,665 colleagues attended the hybrid event.
Asked by: Julian Knight (Independent - Solihull)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference to Government grants statistics 2020 to 2021, published 31 March 2022, what assessment his Department has made of the Infrastructure for Commonwealth Games grant.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
I refer the Hon Member to my answer to Question UIN 188581 on 14 June 2023.
Asked by: Julian Knight (Independent - Solihull)
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 tourism between Wales and the West Midlands.
Answered by John Whittingdale
The Government promotes Great Britain as a holiday destination to tourists through the national tourist board, the British Tourist Authority (operating as VisitBritain/VisitEngland). As tourism is a devolved matter, Visit Wales, which sits within the Welsh Government, is responsible for promoting Wales as a tourist destination.
One of the key objectives of the Government’s Tourism Recovery Plan is to ensure that tourism benefits every nation and region of Great Britain. To drive the dispersal of visitors across every nation and region, the Government is investing in the visitor economy through funding for cultural and heritage organisations, investment in infrastructure, and boosting connectivity to make it easier for visitors to get around.
Schemes such as the £10 million National Lottery ‘Days Out’ campaign, and events such as the 2023 Eurovision Song Contest, UNBOXED: Creativity in the UK, and the Birmingham Commonwealth Games (which included a £24m Business and Tourism programme aimed at boosting tourism numbers and spend in the West Midlands) have helped to boost regional tourism across the UK.
To strengthen the structure and coherence of the regional tourism landscape, the Government is taking forward recommendations from the Nick de Bois Review of Destination Management Organisations (DMOs) with the aim of supporting regional areas to better attract and manage tourists. This includes accrediting the highest-performing DMOs throughout 2023 as Local Visitor Economy Partnerships (LVEPs), and the West Midlands have welcomed the news that their region is one of 15 new destinations given accreditation status in April 2023, to help boost tourism.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department has had discussions with the Commonwealth Games Federation on promoting the (a) games in (i) Africa, (ii) Asia, (iii) the Caribbean and (iv) the Pacific and (b) sports indigenous to these regions; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government is committed to promoting the benefits that staging and participating in major sporting events, such as the Commonwealth Games, can bring. The Commonwealth Games Federation is primarily responsible for the continuing role of promoting the Games and we have worked with them to do this.
Ahead of the Birmingham 2022 Games taking place in the summer of 2022, the then Minister for Sport chaired the 10th Commonwealth Sports Ministers meeting, which brought together delegates from across the Commonwealth to discuss a range of issues relating to the sport sector, including promoting the role of the Games in contributing to the broader values and aims for sport in the Commonwealth.
In addition, a £5 million development grant was made available via the Birmingham 2022 Games budget, funded by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and Birmingham City Council, which enabled the Commonwealth Games Federation to fund a range of sport development initiatives across Commonwealth countries.
Asked by: Lord Storey (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the findings by Sport England that 80 per cent of black children do not swim.
Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government recognises the importance of swimming to everyone. That is why, as part of the National Curriculum, all primary schools must provide swimming and water safety lessons in either Key Stage 1 or 2. This includes being able to swim competently, confidently, and proficiently over a distance of at least 25 metres. Currently 75% of 11 year-olds leave primary school able to swim 25 metres.
Sport England’s Active Lives Survey sets out that 14.2% of Black children and young people had swum in the last week across the 2021/22 academic year, compared to 23.6% of children and young people overall. Sport England is working with the Black Swimming Association to gather more insight, data, and research on the barriers and motivations for participation in swimming by people of African, Caribbean and Asian descent. Sport England is also working with the Black Swimming Association to deliver water safety programmes.
As part of the legacy of the Birmingham Commonwealth Games, Sport England has provided £500,000 to Swim England’s Inspire 2022 project which will use innovative and accessible means to help people from all kinds of backgrounds in the West Midlands take part in swimming. This will include teaching children the key water safety messages which could save their life in an emergency.
Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, with reference to Government transparency data entitled DIT: spending over £25,000 for September 2022, for what purpose her Department spent £37,981 on corporate event management and marketing with Commonwealth Enterprise and Investment Council on 13 September 2022, transaction reference 462424.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
Commonwealth Enterprise and Investment Council (CWEIC, the Commonwealth accredited business organisation) were contracted by the former Department for International Trade to plan and co-design and manage the delivery of various business aspects of the Commonwealth Games Business and Tourism Programme, including the Business Forum on 28th July 2022 to attract businesses, investment and trade opportunities.
This was the payment for event management including a series of plenary sessions, recruitment of a targeted business audience and co-ordinating Heads of Government and Commonwealth Business Leaders, producing the programme and agenda and carrying out customer feedback at the Business Forum.