Asked by: Lord Moynihan (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club on the possible participation of Russian and Belarussian players at the grass-court Wimbledon Championships this year; and what assessment has been made of the inclusion of those players at that event.
Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Individual, self-funded Russian and Belarusian athletes can compete in the UK, subject to following our guidance on neutrality. We therefore support the approach of the All England Lawn Tennis Club and Lawn Tennis Association on the basis of following that guidance.
Asked by: Baroness Hoey (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that (1) tennis clubs in Northern Ireland can participate in British tennis, and (2) tennis clubs can affiliate to both Tennis Ireland and the Lawn Tennis Association if they wish.
Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Lawn Tennis Association is the internationally recognised governing body for tennis in Great Britain, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man. Tennis Ireland is the internationally recognised governing body for tennis in the Republic of Ireland and also has the responsibility for promoting and supporting tennis in Northern Ireland.
It is not currently possible for a club to be affiliated to both Tennis Ireland and the Lawn Tennis Association. If a club in Northern Ireland wished to affiliate to the Lawn Tennis Association, that would be a matter for such a club to raise with the LTA directly. Dual affiliation would be a matter for each national governing body, and the International Tennis Federation, to agree.
Asked by: Julian Knight (Independent - Solihull)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment her Department has made of the impact of inflation on sporting infrastructure projects.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government remains committed to ensuring that communities across the UK have the sporting facilities they need. We are investing over £300 million between 2022 and 2025 on multi-sport facilities, as well as an additional £22 million on tennis courts in local parks between 2022 and 2024.
Planning for these programmes factors in the impact of inflation - including the increases in energy costs, construction costs, and the cost of certain materials, such as steel and imported wood. We work closely with delivery partners to understand and assess these impacts in order to ensure these programmes - and similar non-government investment into elite and grassroots sporting infrastructure - continue to deliver for local communities.
Asked by: James Wild (Conservative - North West Norfolk)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 19 December 2022 to Question 107201, if he will list the value of the loans made to each of those 15 sports.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Sport Survival Package distributed a total of £264.8 million funding (loan and grant funding) to over 1,685 organisations across 15 sports to ensure their survival throughout the pandemic.
£218,271,393 was provided through loans to the sports listed below:
Asked by: James Wild (Conservative - North West Norfolk)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 23 November 2022 to Question 87999, if he will provide a breakdown listing (a) the 15 sports that received loans and (b) the total number of loans allocated to each.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Sport Survival Package distributed a total of £264.8 million funding (loan and grant funding) across 15 sports to ensure their survival throughout the pandemic.
The number of loans issued to sports and their organisations is as follows: one loan was issued to athletics, 10 loans were issued to basketball, 35 loans were issued to football, one loan was issued to horse racing, five loans were issued to ice hockey, five loans were issued to motorsport, five loans were issued to netball, one loan was issued for non-ticketed events, 27 loans were issued to rugby league, 103 loans were issued to rugby union and one loan was issued to tennis.
Asked by: Tim Loughton (Conservative - East Worthing and Shoreham)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether she has had discussions with the Association of Tennis Professionals on (a) the £820,000 pound fine given to the Lawn Tennis Association and (b) the participation of Russian and Belarusian players in tennis tournaments.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The UK Government has made it clear in writing to both the Association of Tennis Professionals and the Women’s Tennis Association that we fully supported the decision of the Lawn Tennis Association and the All England Lawn Tennis Club to decline entries from Russian and Belarusian players to competition in England.
It is essential that the international sport community stands united in ensuring President Putin cannot use sport to legitimise his barbaric invasion of Ukraine. Fining the AELTC and LTA sends completely the wrong message to Putin, and we strongly urge the ATP and WTA to reconsider.
Asked by: Tom Hunt (Conservative - Ipswich)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the impact of increasing grassroots sport opportunities on the level of physical activity undertaken in local authority areas.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
Sport and physical activity are incredibly important for our physical and mental health and this government is committed to ensuring that everyone, regardless of background, should have access to and benefit from quality sport and physical activity opportunities.
Since the government launched its sports strategy, Sporting Future in 2015, we have achieved a huge amount.
Sport England has allocated over £1.5 billion to nearly 5,000 grassroots organisations across the UK, increasing opportunities for individuals all over the country to get active.
In 2020 alone, Sport England distributed over £340 million of Exchequer and Lottery funding to support the development of grassroots sport in England, in addition to £100 million through the National Leisure Recovery Fund.
The Government also invests £18 million each year in community sport facilities via the Football Foundation. In partnership with the Football Association and Premier League, this results in £70 million being invested into community sport facilities every year.
The Government has also recently announced a £30 million package to refurbish 4,500 park tennis courts throughout the country in partnership with the Lawn Tennis Association.
On top of this, the Prime Minister has committed to delivering the grassroots pitches every community needs and this has already resulted in an investment of £25 million by the government in 2021/22 to upgrade and improve facilities across the UK. At the Spending Review, a further £205 million was pledged over the next three years, targeted at the communities most in need, with the aim of increasing participation in sport among under-represented groups, as part of the government’s levelling up plans.
Asked by: Lord Moynihan (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to ensure maximum use of (1) government, and (2) school, sports facilities to provide access for (a) local clubs, and (b) the general public, during evenings, weekends and the school holidays.
Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
We have announced £30 million for PE teacher training and to open up school facilities to provide access to the wider community. At the recent Spending Review, we announced £205 million to build or transform up to 8,000 state-of-the-art community football pitches and multi-use sports facilities across the UK. This was in addition to a £30 million package to renovate park tennis courts across the country.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton South)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to help support grassroots sport.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
Sports and physical activity are incredibly important for our physical and mental health and all generations and communities should be able to enjoy the health, wellbeing, social and other benefits of being active.
Since the government launched its sports strategy, Sporting Future in 2015, we have achieved a huge amount. Sport England has allocated over £1.5 billion to nearly 5,000 grassroots organisations across the UK. Sport England has also published its new ten year strategy which focuses on driving up activity levels and helping to improve physical and mental health.
In 2020 alone, Sport England distributed over £340 million of Exchequer and Lottery funding to support the development of grassroots sport in England, in addition to £100 million through the National Leisure Recovery Fund.
The Prime Minister has committed to delivering the grassroots pitches every community needs and this has already resulted in an investment of £25 million by the government to upgrade and improve facilities across the UK this year. At the Spending Review, a further £205 million was pledged over the next three years, targeted at the communities most in need, with the aim of increasing participation in sport among under-represented groups, as part of the government’s levelling up plans. This was in addition to a £30 million package to renovate 4,500 park tennis courts across the country.
Asked by: Fleur Anderson (Labour - Putney)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if she will take steps to help prohibit all Russian players from the Wimbledon Tennis Championship 2022.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
Russia’s assault on Ukraine is an unprovoked, premeditated and barbaric attack against a sovereign democratic state. President Putin must not be allowed to exploit major sporting and cultural events on the world stage to seek to legitimise his regime’s invasion.
In response, the UK Government, alongside 36 other nations, issued a joint statement calling on international sporting federations to endorse the principles that:
Russia and Belarus should not be permitted to host, bid for or be awarded any international sporting events.
Individual athletes selected by Russia and Belarus, administrators and teams representing the Russian or Belarusian state should be banned from competing in other countries, including those representing bodies, cities or brands that are effectively representing Russia or Belarus, such as major football clubs.
Wherever possible, appropriate actions should be taken to limit sponsorship and other financial support from entities with links to the Russian or Belarusian states.
The issue of Russian or Belarusian individual sports persons participating in a truly neutral capacity - in the UK and overseas - adds further complexity, and our position will have the greatest impact if it is taken in line with other nations.
We are engaging with national governing bodies, including the All England Lawn Tennis Club, and international counterparts in order to reach an agreed position that can be implemented as consistently as possible.