theodi/ndl-core-corpus huggingface dataset:
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Lisa Smart:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department plans to review the priority order of Universal Credit deductions; and if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of ensuring that child maintenance payments have priority over council tax arrears. \p Sir Stephen Timms: The Government is committed to a sustainable long-term approach to tackling poverty and supporting people on lower incomes, and in support of this the Chancellor announced at the Autumn Budget, the Fair Repayment Rate (FRR), this measure is a permanent change and will reduce the Universal Credit (UC) overall deductions cap from 25% to 15% of a customer’s UC standard allowance from April 2025. This measure will help approximately 1.2 million UC households with deductions retain more of their UC award, on average £420 a year or £35 per month. In addition to the FRR measure a second measure was to move child maintenance deduction higher up the regulated priority order from April 2025.
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Sir John Hayes:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to increase access to work capability assessments in (a) South Holland and the Deepings constituency and (b) Lincolnshire. \p Sir Stephen Timms: We have interpreted your question as referring to the accessibility of Work Capability Assessments (used in supporting the department in the determination of the health element of Universal Credit, Employment and Support Allowance and other specialist benefits) within the (a) South Holland and the Deepings constituency and (b) Lincolnshire.

We take our responsibility to ensure all individuals have access to our services, without disadvantage, very seriously. We have a range of provisions in place to ensure assessments are accessible to all individuals, in line with the standards under the Equality Act 2010. DWP meets legal accessibility requirements by ensuring individuals can access our services.

Consideration will be given to individuals who need a specific assessment channel due to their health condition or circumstances. At all stages of the claim, individuals are asked to advise us of any mobility restrictions. If the assessment supplier is made aware of mobility restrictions; they will consider booking a different assessment channel.

As part of the Functional Assessment Services process, the feasibility of a paper-based assessment will always be considered in the first instance. Where a paper-based review is not possible individuals will be invited to an assessment.
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Neil Duncan-Jordan:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate she has made of the number of appeals that are subsequently successful related to claims for disability and long term sickness benefits. \p Sir Stephen Timms: Appeals are the responsibility of His Majesty's Courts and Tribunals Service who publish information on tribunal outcomes by benefit type here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/tribunals-statistics.

In particular please refer to Main Tables ODS file and tables SSCS_1 to SSCS_3.
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Neil Duncan-Jordan:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate she has made of the number of people of working age currently claiming sickness and disability benefits that would be unable to find gainful employment as a result of their disability or long-term sickness. \p Sir Stephen Timms: No estimate has been made of the number of people of working age currently claiming sickness and disability benefits that would be unable to find gainful employment as a result of their disability or long-term sickness
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Warinder Juss:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will take steps to assess the fairness of the two-child limit on Universal Credit. \p Sir Stephen Timms: Tackling child poverty is at the heart of the Government’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity and improve the life chances of every child. The Child Poverty Taskforce is exploring how we can harness all available levers to reduce child poverty, including social security reforms, before publishing a strategy that will deliver lasting change.
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Ben Obese-Jecty:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of foreign national offenders receive benefits. \p Andrew Western: The Department does not hold the information requested.
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Neil Duncan-Jordan:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of returning the assessment process for disability and long term sickness benefits in-house. \p Sir Stephen Timms: Delivery of functional assessments to support health and disability benefit processing has been outsourced by DWP since 1998. New five-year contracts for these services commenced in September 2024. In advance of the procurement of these contracts, a delivery model assessment was carried out in line with commercial best practice, which determined that outsourced delivery remained the best way of achieving value for money and service stability. A further delivery model assessment will be carried out in due course to inform decisions on future service delivery, beyond the current contracts.
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Josh Fenton-Glynn:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many social media accounts her Department operates; and how much her Department spent on social media (a) subscriptions and (b) advertisements on each social media platform in each of the last three years. \p Andrew Western: There are a total of 80 social media accounts that are operated across the department. A full list of handles can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dwp-registered-twitter-accounts/dwp-official-twitter-accounts

There are currently no paid for subscriptions to any of these services.

Spending on social media advertising for the last three years is outlined below. This does not include cross-government campaign costs which cannot be disaggregated between Departments:

2022

2023

2024

Totals

LinkedIn

£188,679

£0

£14,381

£203,060

Meta

£1,120,584

£1,556,910

£972,889

£3,650,383

NextDoor

£0

£92,338

£49,225

£141,563

Pinterest

£23,156

£193,854

£117,860

£334,870

Reddit

£0

£0

£38,985

£38,985

Snapchat

£175,414

£60,000

£285,419

£520,833

Twitter

£213,905

£128,584

£0

£342,489

£1,721,738

£2,031,686

£1,478,759

£5,232,183
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Neil Duncan-Jordan:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make an assessment with Cabinet colleagues of the potential causes of the (a) disabilities and (b) long-term illnesses that have contributed to the trends in the number of working age people who are claiming sickness and disability benefits. \p Sir Stephen Timms: The number of working age people reporting long-term health conditions and disabilities had been growing steadily since at least the late 1990s, before accelerating since the COVID-19 pandemic. These increases are likely to be caused by a combination of changes in health and awareness, and have been reflected in higher numbers of people receiving incapacity and disability benefits.

A number of health-related factors may have contributed to these increases, including: higher prevalence and recognition of health conditions, particularly mental health and neurodiverse conditions; the direct health impacts of the COVID-19 virus; indirect impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and associated lockdowns on physical health (through reduced activity) and mental health (through reduced social interaction and increased anxiety); impacts of subsequent labour market changes and cost of living pressures on health; and increases in NHS waiting times.

In addition, a number of behavioural factors are also likely to have contributed to higher numbers claiming incapacity and disability benefits, including: cost of living pressures; greater awareness of disability benefits (in part due to cost of living); longer waits for NHS treatment; economically inactive people being more likely to report long-term illness or disability as their main reason for inactivity; and incentives in the benefit system that can encourage people to claim health-related benefits.

In addition, further factors affecting incapacity benefits have been analysed in the publication Growth in numbers of Employment and Support Allowance Support Group or Universal Credit Limited Capability for Work and Work-Related Activity - GOV.UK
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Sir John Hayes:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, for what purposes the National Employment Savings Trust Corporation has used artificial intelligence in the last 12 months. \p Torsten Bell: Artificial Intelligence (AI) is at the heart of the Government’s plan to kickstart an era of economic growth, transform how we deliver public services, and boost living standards for working people across the country.

Nest uses Signal AI to monitor media, and has taken part in Microsoft Copilot trials, investigating the role it can play in supporting efficiency and productivity.
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Rebecca Smith:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of naming supported lodgings as specified accommodation under housing benefit regulations. \p Sir Stephen Timms: No such assessment is planned.
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Kevin Hollinrake:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, for what reason the Minister for Social Security and Disability attended the Muslim Council of Britain's leadership dinner on 25 January 2025. \p Sir Stephen Timms: I attended the event in order to bid farewell to the outgoing General Secretary, Zara Mohammed.
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Chris Bloore:To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether his Department offers (a) paid time off work and (b) other support to employees who become kinship carers. \p Feryal Clark: The Department does not offer paid time off work specifically for kinship care. However, the Department does offer unpaid carer’s leave and both paid and unpaid special leave for employees who have caring responsibilities for dependants, either family or friends, which can include kinship care.
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Jon Trickett:To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, how many staff his Department has seconded from Palantir since July 2024. \p Feryal Clark: Since July 2024, the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology has had no secondees from Palantir.
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Mark Pritchard:To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, if he will implement stronger penalties for creating non-consensual deepfake content. \p Feryal Clark: Government is committed to tackling the harm posed by the creation of non-consensual intimate images. We are bringing forward legislation to criminalise this behaviour in the Data (Use and Access) Bill. The new legislation will ensure that offenders face the appropriate punishments for this atrocious harm.

The sharing of or threatening to share a deepfake intimate image without consent is already a criminal offence under the Online Safety Act and was designated as a priority offence in November 2024. Companies in scope of the Act’s illegal safety duties will be required to proactively tackle this type of content, preventing its proliferation online.
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Daisy Cooper:To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether the Bertin Review will consider the differences between the online and offline regulation of pornographic content. \p Feryal Clark: The Independent Pornography Review assessed the effectiveness of current pornography legislation, regulation and enforcement. This included considering the difference in regulation for pornography online versus ‘offline’.

The Review has now concluded, and the report has been published. It is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/creating-a-safer-world-the-challenge-of-regulating-online-pornography.
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Martin Wrigley:To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether he has had discussions with his American counterpart on the security provisions in place for UK citizens that have data held by US Government Departments, in the context of recent steps taken by the US Department of Government Efficiency to access personal data. \p Chris Bryant: The UK-US special relationship continues to be critical for our security, growth and prosperity, as reiterated by the Prime Minister and President during the recent visit. Under the UK data protection regime, organisations must ensure there are appropriate safeguards in place when sending UK personal data internationally.

The UK has an adequacy decision for certain transfers to the US and robustly monitors any developments that could affect that decision. Where an adequacy decision cannot be relied upon, UK organisations must ensure alternative safeguards are in place, such as contractual clauses, in accordance with Article 46 of the UK GDPR.
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Sarah Champion:To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether the forthcoming strategy on phasing out animal testing will include all areas of science and regulatory testing, including chemicals, medicines, and cosmetics; and if he will publish a list of the specific areas under review. \p Feryal Clark: The Labour Manifesto includes a commitment to “partner with scientists, industry, and civil society as we work towards the phasing out of animal testing”, which is a long-term goal.

The government will publish a strategy to support the development, validation and uptake of alternative methods in basic, applied, translational and regulatory research and testing later this year. It will cover the whole range of uses of animals in science, including chemicals, medicines and cosmetics; each sector is at a different stage in its journey to applying alternative methods, which the strategy will take into account.
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Jo Platt:To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what discussions his Department has had with representatives from civil society on phasing out of animal testing. \p Feryal Clark: The Labour Manifesto includes a commitment to “partner with scientists, industry, and civil society as we work towards the phasing out of animal testing”, which is a long-term goal. The government has been consulting civil society as this process unfolds. This includes attending meetings with animal protection organisations and considering documentation sent by such organisations to the Government.
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Jo Platt:To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether he plans to meet with representatives from civil society to discuss the Government’s strategy to support the development, validation and uptake of alternative methods to the use of animals in science prior to it being published later this year. \p Feryal Clark: The Government is committed to supporting the use of alternative methods to the use of animals in science and the Labour Manifesto includes a commitment to “partner with scientists, industry, and civil society as we work towards the phasing out of animal testing”, which is a long-term goal. The government will publish a strategy to support the development, validation and uptake of alternative methods later this year. The government has been and will continue to consult civil society as this process unfolds.
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Afzal Khan:To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment he has made of the potential implications for his policies of the work produced by the University of Manchester’s Unit M initiative. \p Feryal Clark: Officials from the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology have met the University of Manchester to understand how its new Unit M functions, and intends to help the university to support the region’s innovation economy. We look forward to learning from its insights as it delivers its activities.

This is an example of how universities are working collaboratively within their regions to deliver economic growth, supporting the government’s mission to kickstart the economy. The importance of developing regional innovation ecosystems in this way is why we have extended the Innovation Accelerator pilot programme into 2025/26.
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Max Wilkinson:To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if her Department will make an assessment of the potential impact of local government reorganisation on funding of arts, culture and leisure facilities. \p Chris Bryant: The funding of local cultural services and organisations is a matter for individual local authorities, but the Government strongly supports their doing so, not least because of the significant economic, social, and wellbeing benefits cultural organisations deliver.

The final Settlement for 2025-26 makes available over £69 billion for local government, which is a 6.8% cash terms increase in councils’ Core Spending Power on 2024-25. This above-inflation increase demonstrates the Government’s commitment to supporting local authorities. The majority of this funding is not ring-fenced, so local authorities can consider how best to balance their local priorities.

As set out in the Government’s guidance on proposals for local government reorganisation, areas should consider issues of local identity and cultural and historic importance in working up plans that are in the best interests of the whole area.
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Chi Onwurah:To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions she has had with the Church of England on the protection of Cathedral buildings as heritage assets. \p Chris Bryant: None.
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Sarah Olney:To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for the Home Department on the potential impact of proposed cuts to the Parks Police on ensuring the protection of the (a) nature and (b) environment of Royal Parks. \p Chris Bryant: The Royal Parks are Crown Land managed on behalf of the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport by The Royal Parks Charity. The policing of the parks is an operational matter for the Metropolitan Police Service, who are in regular contact with The Royal Parks Charity. No discussions have been held between the Home Secretary and Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport regarding this matter.

As the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs is not responsible for the Royal Parks, it is also assumed that no discussions have been held between that Secretary of State and the Home Secretary.
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Matt Bishop:To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to help support (a) youth centres and (b) youth services in the Forest of Dean. \p Stephanie Peacock: This government recognises the value of youth centres and youth services, and has committed to co-producing a new National Youth Strategy. This is an opportunity to move away from one-size-fits all approaches from central government, bringing power back to young people and their communities and rebuilding a thriving and sustainable sector. We plan to publish the strategy in the summer.
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Dame Caroline Dinenage:To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the potential merits for business and academic research of requiring the Office for National Statistics to publish statistical releases using 4-digit Standard Industrial Classification codes rather than the current 2-digit aggregation; and what assessment she has made of the impact of this on enabling enhanced sectoral analysis for monitoring the growth of the creative industries. \p Stephanie Peacock: The Office for National Statistics is independent of ministers, who are therefore unable to require publication of any particular breakdowns, including statistics at 4-digit Standard Industrial Classification codes. DCMS has a strong working relationship with the Office for National Statistics, with significant collaboration between our officials. Through this relationship, we would request rather than require analysis.

We acknowledge the importance of sectoral analysis for monitoring the growth of the creative industries. The Office for National Statistics publishes some data at the 4-digit Standard Industrial Classification code level, such as in their Annual Business Survey, and offers a bespoke data service for requesting additional breakdowns where sample sizes allow. The ONS is bound by the Code of Practice for Statistics to ensure the quality of all estimates is appropriate and that any business data is protected and not identifiable in published statistics. DCMS publishes a portfolio of official statistics about the creative industries, predominantly based on data held by the Office for National Statistics.

Both DCMS and ONS are committed to developing official statistics and ensuring these reflect the needs of users.
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Stuart Andrew:To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Education on the potential merits of physical education in the national curriculum on future engagement with sport \p Stephanie Peacock: The Secretary of State for Culture Media and Sport and the Minister for Sport, Media, Civil Society and Youth regularly meet with Ministerial counterparts from the Department for Education on a range of issues, including Physical Education and school sport.

Schools play a key role in allowing all children to have high quality opportunities to take part in PE and sport, setting them up for a lifetime of physical activity. The Government is committed to protecting time for physical education in schools. The expert-led review of the curriculum will ensure that all children can engage with a broad range of subjects, including PE and sport.
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Mr Luke Charters:To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if her Department will take steps to support the School Games Organisers Network. \p Stephanie Peacock: Our mission-led Government puts children and young people at the heart of our priorities. This includes breaking down barriers to opportunity for every child to access high-quality sport and physical activity, especially those who are less likely to be active.

The School Games Organisers are essential in ensuring that all children have the opportunity to take part in local and accessible sport and physical activity. The Government has confirmed funding for the School Games Organisers (SGOs) until the end of the 2024/25 Academic Year. Funding beyond then will be confirmed ahead of the start of the 2025/26 Financial Year, with funding from April 2026 onwards subject to the ongoing Spending Review.
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Gareth Snell:To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to her Department's Statutory guidance for local authorities’ youth provision, published on 27 September 2023, what progress local authorities have made on conducting Needs assessments in their area; and whether her Department has plans to publish he results of what local authorities deliver. \p Stephanie Peacock: Local Authorities have a statutory duty to secure, so far as is reasonably practicable, sufficient provision of educational and recreational leisure-time activities for young people in their area. Although there is no legal requirement for local authorities to publish their plans, the guidance encourages local authorities to publish their assessment of local needs for youth services as well as the rationale for their actions and decisions. The department does not hold this information centrally and has no plans for a publication on needs assessments
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David Williams:To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to ensure youth voice is integrated into the new national youth strategy. \p Stephanie Peacock: The National Youth Strategy will be co-produced in partnership with young people and the youth sector.

DCMS has already conducted Ministerial roundtables with young people and over the next couple of months will conduct a number of different engagement activities with young people, including focus groups. In the coming weeks, we will be launching a wide-reaching survey, and a series of youth engagement activities across the country to ask young people about their issues and priorities.

We have also set up a Youth Advisory Group and an Expert Advisory Group to work alongside us throughout the development of the strategy.
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Stuart Andrew:To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department plans to provide funding for grassroots tennis. \p Stephanie Peacock: The Government is committed to ensuring that everyone, regardless of background, should have access to and benefit from quality sport and physical activity opportunities.

The Government provides the majority of funding for grassroots sport through our Arm’s Length Body, Sport England, which invests over £250 million in Exchequer and Lottery funding each year. Sport England’s work focuses on increasing participation in sport, including tennis, at grassroots level to give more and better opportunities to all.

Sport England provides long term investment to the Lawn Tennis Association, the National Governing Body for tennis in Britain, which receives up to £10.2 million for five years to invest in community tennis initiatives that will benefit everyone.
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David Williams:To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment her Department has made of the need for the National Youth Strategy to register the importance of long-term sustainable revenue funding in providing youth services. \p Stephanie Peacock: The Government will publish the National Youth Strategy this summer. The detail and scale of the funding commitments included in the strategy will be shaped by engagement with young people and the youth sector and will be dependent on Spending Review decisions.

In 2025/6, DCMS funding for Youth will include over £85 million of capital funding to create fit-for-purpose spaces in places where it is most needed. This includes the £26 million Better Youth Spaces Fund for youth clubs to buy new equipment and do renovations, the Local Youth Transformation Fund to start the journey of building back lost capability in local areas and completion of Youth Investment Fund projects underway.
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Helen Maguire:To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to ensure the National Youth Strategy provides sufficient funding to youth services. \p Stephanie Peacock: The Government will publish the National Youth Strategy this summer. The detail and scale of the funding commitments included in the Strategy will be shaped by engagement with young people and the youth sector and will be dependent on Spending Review decisions.

In 2025/6, DCMS funding for Youth will include over £85 million of capital funding to create fit-for-purpose spaces in places where it is most needed. This includes the £26 million Better Youth Spaces Fund for youth clubs to buy new equipment and do renovations, and completion of Youth Investment Fund projects underway. Further funding allocations to youth services for 2025/26 will be announced in due course.
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Andrew Rosindell:To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to provide funding for local sports clubs in (a) England and (b) Romford constituency. \p Stephanie Peacock: This Government recognises that grassroots sports clubs are central to communities up and down the country.

The Government provides the majority of funding for grassroots sport through our Arm’s Length Body, Sport England, which invests over £250 million in Exchequer and Lottery funding each year.

The Government has also committed to continued funding for grassroots facilities, investing £123 million UK-wide via the Multi-Sport Grassroots Facilities Programme throughout 2024/25, working with our delivery partner the Football Foundation. In this year, Romford has had one funded project in Raphael Park.
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Sir Ashley Fox:To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether there are any requirements for civil servants to book a desk in advance in order to attend the office in person in each of (a) their Department's office workplaces and (b) the arm’s length bodies of their Department. \p Stephanie Peacock: DCMS staff are encouraged to book a desk to guarantee a work setting whilst working at our London HQ. Other non bookable work settings are also available for staff to use. Desk booking is not currently implemented at any other DCMS office location.

Desk booking services for arm’s length bodies within DCMS are not centrally held and would come at disproportionate cost to the department in producing this information.
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Martin Wrigley:To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether she has commissioned research into trends in the level of public trust in the UK press; and whether she plans to take steps to help increase this trust. \p Stephanie Peacock: We are aware that news consumption habits are changing and many are increasingly turning to less trustworthy news sources. The Government is committed to supporting a free, sustainable and plural media landscape, as the best way to maintain a shared understanding of facts. Relevant work here includes the next BBC Charter Review, our Local Media Strategy, and the implementation of recent legislation on broadcasting, digital competition and online safety.

We will take an evidence-based approach to all of this work, and any research that we commission on trends in public trust in the UK press will be published in line with Government policy and build on previous relevant research from Ofcom, the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism and others.
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Martin Wrigley:To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether she plans to shift to using the Impress regulator. \p Stephanie Peacock: The Government is committed to protecting press freedom, which is essential to a strong and functioning democracy. In the UK, there exists an independent, self-regulatory system for the press, which is crucial to maintain press freedom.

The Government therefore does not use, intervene in or oversee the work of Impress or other independent press regulators.
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Martin Wrigley:To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will make it her policy to commission a follow-up to the Leveson report. \p Stephanie Peacock: The Government has clearly laid out its priorities in the manifesto and in the King’s speech, and the second part of Leveson is not among them. This Government has no current plans for further legislation in this area.
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Kevin Hollinrake:To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether she plans to continue to publish statutory notices in local newspapers. \p Stephanie Peacock: Public notices are important for ensuring that the public is kept informed of decisions made by their council which may affect their quality of life, local services or amenities, or their property. The independent 2019 Cairncross Review into sustainable journalism found that public notices are also an important source of revenue for local newspapers. The sector’s Public Notice Portal is a welcome innovation, intended to take advantage of print publishers’ growing digital audiences and provide a centralised resource for all types of public notice. We continue to monitor the progress of the Portal and the effect that it has on the audience reach of public notices.

We also welcome the plans for expansion of the Portal, announced in December and funded by the Google News Initiative, including a fully searchable archive and new consultation functions to help public bodies and commercial entities engage with the public more effectively. We consider this type of industry innovation and collaboration to be integral to securing the sector’s future, and will seek to further support and incentivise it through our Local Media Strategy.
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Andy MacNae:To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, when her Department plans to publish the results of the November 2022 Listed Events: Digital Rights Review. \p Stephanie Peacock: The previous Government’s “Digital Rights Review” naturally came to an end with the change of Government in July 2024. No results of that review were published.
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Saqib Bhatti:To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the potential implications for her policies of EY's report entitled TV distribution after 2034, published in February 2024. \p Stephanie Peacock: The Government has an ongoing project on the future of TV distribution after 2034, which is considering how people receive their television now and in the next decade. The evidence being considered as part of this process includes EY’s report. DCMS also published independent research on the future of TV distribution on 8 November 2024.
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Jo Platt:To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to support deaf athlete swimmers with (a) training, (b) funding and (c) accessing equal opportunities \p Stephanie Peacock: The Government is dedicated to making sport in this country accessible and inclusive for everyone, including d/Deaf people.

Our arm's length body, Sport England, has committed £1.2 million between 2022 and 2027 to support deaf sport at the grassroots level, build wider participation, and develop strong governance within UK Deaf Sport. Sport England are also exploring a series of small-scale talent pilots for d/Deaf athletes. These pilots will see Sport England, National Governing Bodies, and UK Deaf Sport working together to explore these issues and suggest potential solutions.

We also recognise the importance of ensuring access to leisure and swimming facilities. Sport England provides support for community facilities, including £250 million National Lottery and Exchequer funding each year. Sport England provides long term investment to Swim England, the National Governing Body for swimming in England, which receives up to £10.5 million for five years to invest in community swimming initiatives that will benefit everyone.
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Paula Barker:To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether she has had discussions with the (a) Premier League and (b) English Football League on the cost of football tickets; and if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of recent trends in the cost of football tickets on supporters. \p Stephanie Peacock: Football is nothing without its fans and the Government is keen to see as many people as possible benefit from and enjoy the spectacle of live sport.

The matter of ticket prices is a commercial decision for individual clubs and leagues to take. However, the Government remains in conversation with stakeholders to ensure that fans are engaged properly.

This is also why the Government has introduced legislation to establish an Independent Football Regulator to protect and promote the sustainability of English football in the interests of fans and the local communities football clubs serve.

As a result of changes made by this Government, the Football Governance Bill will now explicitly require clubs to consult their supporters on ticket prices making sure their voice is heard on this key issue.
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Lee Anderson:To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what additional support her Department is providing to churches, in the context of the decrease in funding for the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme. \p Chris Bryant: As well as the continuing Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme, the Secretary of State has recently announced £15 million of additional funding for Heritage at Risk, building on Historic England's existing Repair Grants for Heritage at Risk programme.

Alongside this, the National Lottery Heritage Fund has committed to investing around £100m between 2023 and 2026 to support places of worship, including churches.
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Mrs Sureena Brackenridge:To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to improve the accessibility of cultural activities in Wolverhampton. \p Chris Bryant: This government is committed to supporting culture, and making sure that arts and cultural activities will no longer be the preserve of a privileged few. As part of our Plan for Change, we are committed to ensuring that arts and culture thrives in every part of the country, with more opportunities for more people to engage, benefit from and work in arts and culture where they live.

The government supports the arts predominantly through Arts Council England (ACE) funding. ACE’s open funding programme, National Lottery Project Grants, is currently accessible to organisations and individuals across the country, including those in Wolverhampton. This programme provides over £100 million of support annually to individuals and organisations, and since 2020 has invested over £2.3 million into arts projects across Wolverhampton. Alongside this funding, organisations in Wolverhampton currently receive £1,029,081 per annum through ACE’s National Portfolio programme.

Our new Creative Foundations Fund, announced in February, will also invest £85 million into arts and cultural organisations across England to support urgent capital works to keep venues across the country up and running and open to the public. In addition to this, we were pleased to announce last week that Wolverhampton Art Gallery has been awarded a major Capital grant of over £1.6m from Round 4 of the Museum Estate and Development Fund (MEND), and that a fifth Round will launch shortly.
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Dr Danny Chambers:To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether her Department plans to (a) increase the (i) frequency of trains and (ii) number of carriages per train on all South Western Railway services operating between Winchester and London, (b) reduce the high cost of fares on this route, (c) tackle (A) delays and (B) cancellations affecting these services, (d) improve the compensation scheme for passengers experiencing journey disruptions and (e) ensure that ensure that concerns of South Western Railway passengers are (1) listened to and (2) acted upon. \p Simon Lightwood: Department officials are in regular conversation with South Western Railway regarding their service provision in response to demand. When reviewing train services, the Department needs to assess business cases and balance demand with value for the taxpayer in its considerations.

The Department’s aim is to keep the price of rail travel at a point that works for both passengers and taxpayers, where possible. We are also committed to simplifying the fares and ticketing system and driving innovation across the network.

The Rail Minister recently met with South Western Railway regarding their operational performance, as he has done and continues to do with all Operators, as this is a key priority of the Department.

On 25th May 2025, SWR will be the first operator to be nationalised following the introduction of the Passenger Railway Services (Public Ownership) Act 2024. This will lead to the introduction of Great British Railways which will bring track and train together under one directing mind, with a relentless focus on improving services for passengers and customers.
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Kevin Hollinrake:To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 13 February 2025 to Question 29617 on Heathrow Airport, whether she plans to have a vote in Parliament on the revised Airports National Policy Statement. \p Mike Kane: The Government has invited proposals for a third runway at Heathrow to be brought forward by the summer. Once proposals have been received, the government will review the Airports National Policy Statement in line with the requirements of the Planning Act 2008. When conducting the review, the Secretary of State will comply with the consultation, publicity and parliamentary requirements of the Planning Act 2008.
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Priti Patel:To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 12 December 2024 to Question 18360 on Transport: Infrastructure, if she will list the transport projects (a) approved and (b) yet to be approved included in the 150 major infrastructure projects. \p Lilian Greenwood: The 150 major infrastructure projects are defined as Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects (NSIPs), which are decided through the Development Consent Order (DCO) process. Government has not identified what all of the 150 projects will be, rather this represents what we expect to come through the system over this Parliament, as well as projects currently in the pipeline. Further details on existing NSIP projects can be found on the Planning Inspectorate’s website.

Since the start of the current Parliament in July the department has issued decisions on two transport projects: Immingham Roll on Roll off facility and Immingham Green Energy Terminal.