Asked by: Thangam Debbonaire (Labour - Bristol West)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference to his Department's press release entitled Major investment to transform future of English chess announced, published on 22 August 2023, whether he plans to assess the impact of funding chess tables on (a) levels of loneliness and (b) people's problem solving skills.
Answered by Jacob Young - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
85 local authorities that received Levelling Up Parks Fund funding were invited to apply for the chess tables funding. In total, 55 local authorities applied for the funding. We have provided funding to those 55 local authorities to install 99 chess tables across England.
We have asked local authorities to consider how the location they choose creates new opportunities, helps to strengthen relationships, builds local social cohesion and provides opportunities for people to come together in a joint activity.
Prior to the announcement of funding, we engaged stakeholders across Government, as well as local authorities and the English Chess Federation.
Local authorities know their communities best and are best placed to manage the use and assess the effects of the chess tables locally, if they choose to do so.
Any decisions to provide chess sets are for local authorities to take.
Further announcements will be set out in the usual way.
Asked by: Thangam Debbonaire (Labour - Bristol West)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether his Department held discussions with relevant stakeholders prior to the announcement of funding for local authorities to install chess tables in public spaces.
Answered by Jacob Young - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
85 local authorities that received Levelling Up Parks Fund funding were invited to apply for the chess tables funding. In total, 55 local authorities applied for the funding. We have provided funding to those 55 local authorities to install 99 chess tables across England.
We have asked local authorities to consider how the location they choose creates new opportunities, helps to strengthen relationships, builds local social cohesion and provides opportunities for people to come together in a joint activity.
Prior to the announcement of funding, we engaged stakeholders across Government, as well as local authorities and the English Chess Federation.
Local authorities know their communities best and are best placed to manage the use and assess the effects of the chess tables locally, if they choose to do so.
Any decisions to provide chess sets are for local authorities to take.
Further announcements will be set out in the usual way.
Asked by: Thangam Debbonaire (Labour - Bristol West)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how many local authorities submitted bids for funding for new chess tables.
Answered by Jacob Young - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
85 local authorities that received Levelling Up Parks Fund funding were invited to apply for the chess tables funding. In total, 55 local authorities applied for the funding. We have provided funding to those 55 local authorities to install 99 chess tables across England.
We have asked local authorities to consider how the location they choose creates new opportunities, helps to strengthen relationships, builds local social cohesion and provides opportunities for people to come together in a joint activity.
Prior to the announcement of funding, we engaged stakeholders across Government, as well as local authorities and the English Chess Federation.
Local authorities know their communities best and are best placed to manage the use and assess the effects of the chess tables locally, if they choose to do so.
Any decisions to provide chess sets are for local authorities to take.
Further announcements will be set out in the usual way.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make it her policy to introduce wildlife education to the early years curriculum.
Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The early years foundation stage (EYFS) statutory framework sets the standards and requirements that all early years providers must follow to ensure every child has the best start in life and is prepared for school. The EYFS includes an area of learning on ‘Understanding the World’, which requires settings to foster children’s understanding of our culturally, socially, technologically and ecologically diverse world. Across the early years curriculum, practitioners can teach children about wildlife and the natural environment in a range of ways, for example through books, activities and play and by visiting parks and other local areas.
At the end of the EYFS, children are assessed on their level of development, against the Early Learning Goals (ELGs). The ‘Understanding the World’ ELGs include exploring the natural world around them, making observations and drawing pictures of animals and plants, knowing some similarities and differences between the natural world around them and contrasting environments.
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 support the provision of (a) tennis and (b) badminton courts in rural areas.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Supporting grassroots sport is a key government priority and we recognise the role of high quality accessible facilities in encouraging people to take part in sport and ensuring participation rates continue to grow. Our new strategy ‘Get Active’ sets out our ambition to build a more active nation, with a target to get 3.5 million more people classed as ‘active’ by 2030 including 1 million more children.
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. Building on their 12 local delivery pilot areas, Sport England is expanding their place-based work so that at least 75% of their investment is committed to areas with the lowest levels of physical activity and social outcomes, including rural areas.
Since 2020, Sport England has invested over £17 million in projects which facilitate participation in grassroots badminton.
In partnership with the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA), the Government is currently renovating public park tennis courts across England, Scotland, and Wales. Between 2022 and 2024 the UK Government has invested £21.9 million, with a further £8.4 million from the LTA Tennis Foundation.
This funding will bring around 3,000 courts in local parks up to playable standard by September 2024. Since the start of the programme, over £100,000 has been invested in South Holland and the Deepings constituency, with four tennis courts at Ayscoughfee Gardens renovated and improved directly as a result of investment from the Programme.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of St Albans (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what further steps they plan to take to support and protect upland and hill farmers to offset any loss of income they face under the new environmental land management schemes.
Answered by Lord Douglas-Miller - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Upland farmers play a vital role in managing some of our most important and iconic landscapes, which are valued and recognised by the public. In addition to farming, the management of upland landscapes can provide many environmental benefits and ecosystem services, including clean air and water, carbon sequestration and flood risk management.
Upland farmers are well placed to benefit from our Environmental Land Management (ELM) schemes, which are designed to maintain sustainable, productive land which delivers for both farmers and the environment.
The schemes under ELM have been designed to be as accessible and attractive to as wide a range of farmers as possible. We continue to work closely with a range of environmental and agricultural stakeholders to collaboratively design our new approaches to ensure they are fit for purpose.
Support for small farmers, including upland farmers, includes the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) Management Payment. At the recent National Farmers Union Conference, the Prime Minister announced that this payment will be doubled to a maximum of £2000 per year. At the Conference the Prime Minister also announced the biggest ever package of grants this year, to boost productivity and resilience, which will total £220 million. Upland farmers will be eligible to benefit from this, through increases to the Improving Farming Productivity scheme and the Farming Equipment and Technology fund. And the Prime Minister announced that the Government is also increasing funding for grassroots mental health support, because we know what a tough job farming is; and providing funding to support food producers by redirecting surplus food into the hands of those who need it.
This builds on support already in place for upland farmers. Upland farmers can get paid for over 130 relevant actions under Countryside Stewardship and the SFI from 2024. This will include new moorland and upland peat actions, with considerably higher payments for moorlands in good environmental condition. They can also extend their Higher Level Stewardship agreements for five years if they have one that can run alongside any Countryside Stewardship or SFI agreement they have, allowing them to get paid for more actions and take advantage of recent price increases. And they can apply for Countryside Stewardship Wildlife Offers for a range of management options that focus on providing habitats for farm wildlife.
Upland farmers in Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty or National Parks can apply for the Farming in Protected Landscapes programme, which funds farmers to support nature recovery, mitigate the impacts of climate change, provide opportunities for people to discover, enjoy and understand the landscape and its cultural heritage, or protect or improve the quality and character of the landscape or place. And upland farmers can continue to benefit from the Landscape Recovery scheme, creating the landscape scale and tailored environmental land management change we need for our targets. So far 56 successful projects have been selected for Rounds 1 and 2 of Landscape Recovery, demonstrating the Government’s commitment to funding that delivers environmental benefits in harmony with food production. Defra will open a third round of Landscape Recovery in 2024.
Asked by: Tobias Ellwood (Conservative - Bournemouth East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to expand the support available through Jobcentres in Bournemouth East constituency.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The local Jobcentre team are collaborating with a range of partners to support people into work and employers fill vacancies. In addition to hosting Jobs Fairs and delivering Sector-Based Work Academy Programmes (SWAPS), they are working with Bournemouth and Poole College, BCP Council, Citizens Advice, Faithworks, Seetec Pluss, Aspire Training, Skills & Learning, International Care Network, Parks in Mind, the Boscombe Towns Fund and a plethora of other partners and organisations. We have SWAPs that are either active or planned in Facilities Management, Hospitality, IT and Communications, Education, Construction, Security, Manufacturing, Administration and the Civil Service through a range of local providers.
Asked by: Navendu Mishra (Labour - Stockport)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will have discussions with representatives of Britannia Hotels on the impact of the closure of Pontins Holiday Parks on (a) staff, (b) local tourism and (c) community organisations using the parks for events.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Holiday parks are a key part of the UK’s tourism landscape and enjoyed by many visitors around the country, as well as being important local employers and bringing wider benefits to regional visitor economies.
As a department, we are therefore concerned about the closures of Pontins sites at Prestatyn Sands, Camber Sands and Southport, particularly with regards to supporting staff from those sites who no longer have roles, as well as tourism businesses who rely on the secondary spend of visitors to Pontins.
The Culture Secretary has set out her concerns around job losses and the impact on the local tourism sector in written correspondence with Britannia, and requested a meeting to discuss.
Asked by: Mike Amesbury (Labour - Weaver Vale)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps his Department is taking to increase access to green spaces.
Answered by Jacob Young - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
National Planning Policy sets out that access to high quality open spaces and opportunities for sport and physical activity are important for the health and well-being of communities.
The Government is firmly committed to protecting and creating more parks and green spaces. Through the Levelling Up Parks Fund we have provided £9 million to create new or significantly refurbish existing green spaces.
Asked by: Baroness Hayman of Ullock (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what analysis has been carried out of the impact of proposals to extend Permitted Development Rights in National Parks and other Protected Landscapes for the conversion of barns and other rural buildings to residential use, including analysis of whether this would conflict with the statutory purposes to conserve and enhance the natural beauty, wildlife and cultural heritage of the area.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Government has consulted on proposals to extend permitted development rights to support housing delivery and the agricultural sector. This includes proposals to extend permitted development rights to allow farmers to convert agricultural buildings like barns to houses in national parks and other protected landscapes. We are currently analysing responses to this consultation, which closed on 25 September 2023. This includes consideration of whether this PDR extension would conflict with the statutory purposes of protected landscapes.
National Parks and National Landscapes represent our shared heritage and support our nation’s health and wellbeing. They are also crucial to delivering our commitments to tackle climate change and restore nature. To support them in this role we introduced measures in the Levelling Up and Regeneration Act 2023 placing a stronger requirement on partners to deliver on the statutory purposes of these areas.