Every parliamentary written question tabled by Anna Sabine this session, with the full answer and department. Back to the MP page.
Showing 1–20 of 20 · Department for Culture, Media and Sport
Media and Sport, what discussions she has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer and the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care on the (a) contribution of choirs to public health, wellbeing and social prescribing and (b) potential role of an extended Orchestra tax relief in supporting the sustainability of choir activity in local communities.
Awaiting answer.
Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of delivering a long-term sustainable funding settlement for the BBC.
The BBC is a vital national institution and an engine of the nations and regions. In that context, this news is concerning for the BBC workforce who are facing significant uncertainty, and for the sector as a whole. The BBC is delivering significant savings, which requires difficult decisions to be made independent of the Government. The BBC have stated that there will be more information on their plans later this year. Looking ahead, the Charter Review aims to deliver a BBC that is sustainably funded in a way that sets the BBC on a path to thrive until well into the latter half of this century.
Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of reductions in the BBC's budget on the provision of media literacy resources.
The BBC is a vital national institution and an engine of the nations and regions. In that context, this news is concerning for the BBC workforce who are facing significant uncertainty, and for the sector as a whole. The BBC is delivering significant savings, which requires difficult decisions to be made independent of the Government. The BBC have stated that there will be more information on their plans later this year. Looking ahead, the Charter Review aims to deliver a BBC that is sustainably funded in a way that sets the BBC on a path to thrive until well into the latter half of this century.
Media and Sport, with reference to the BBC's report entitled A BBC For All: Our response to the government’s Green Paper, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the £500 million savings over two years on the proliferation of mis- and disinformation in the UK.
The BBC is a vital national institution and an engine of the nations and regions. In that context, this news is concerning for the BBC workforce who are facing significant uncertainty, and for the sector as a whole. The BBC is delivering significant savings, which requires difficult decisions to be made independent of the Government. The BBC have stated that there will be more information on their plans later this year. Looking ahead, the Charter Review aims to deliver a BBC that is sustainably funded in a way that sets the BBC on a path to thrive until well into the latter half of this century.
Media and Sport, with reference to the BBC's report entitled A BBC For All: Our response to the government’s Green Paper, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the £500 million savings over two years on the classical music industry and the provision of music education.
The BBC is a vital national institution and an engine of the nations and regions. In that context, this news is concerning for the BBC workforce who are facing significant uncertainty, and for the sector as a whole. The BBC is delivering significant savings, which requires difficult decisions to be made independent of the Government. The BBC have stated that there will be more information on their plans later this year. Looking ahead, the Charter Review aims to deliver a BBC that is sustainably funded in a way that sets the BBC on a path to thrive until well into the latter half of this century.
Media and Sport, with reference to the BBC's report entitled A BBC For All: Our response to the government’s Green Paper, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the £500 million savings over two years on economic growth generated by the creative industries.
The BBC is a vital national institution and an engine of the nations and regions. In that context, this news is concerning for the BBC workforce who are facing significant uncertainty, and for the sector as a whole. The BBC is delivering significant savings, which requires difficult decisions to be made independent of the Government. The BBC have stated that there will be more information on their plans later this year. Looking ahead, the Charter Review aims to deliver a BBC that is sustainably funded in a way that sets the BBC on a path to thrive until well into the latter half of this century.
Media and Sport, what information she holds on the number of privately-owned swimming pools and leisure centres by year from 2015 to 2025-26.
The Government recognises the importance of ensuring public access to swimming and leisure facilities.Sport England, our Arm’s Length Body for grassroots sport, monitors facilities stock through their Active Places dataset. As of March 2026, there are 4,070 operational swimming pools for public access, with 1,669 owned by a Local Authority.As of December 2025, there were 804 operational sports halls owned by Local Authorities.
Media and Sport, what information she holds on the number of publicly-owned swimming pools and leisure centres by year from 2015 to 2025/26.
The Government recognises the importance of ensuring public access to swimming and leisure facilities.Sport England, our Arm’s Length Body for grassroots sport, monitors facilities stock through their Active Places dataset. As of March 2026, there are 4,070 operational swimming pools for public access, with 1,669 owned by a Local Authority.As of December 2025, there were 804 operational sports halls owned by Local Authorities.
Media and Sport, what steps she has taken with the Secretary of State for Education to secure an uplift in funding for the Music and Dance Scheme Schools.
This government is committed to broadening access to arts education, including specialist training for our most promising musicians and dancers irrespective of their personal or financial background through the Music and Dance Scheme. The scheme supports the Creative Industries Sector Plan commitment to increase access to quality specialist creative education provision across England to strengthen our cadre of highly trained young musicians, dancers and performing artists.My department works closely with the Department for Education who continues to fund the scheme, providing means-tested support to over 2,000 students from lower-income families. The Department for Education currently provides £36.5 million for the MDS this academic year and future funding will be announced in due course.
Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of Music and Dance Scheme Schools on the performing arts sector.
This government is committed to broadening access to arts education, including specialist training for our most promising musicians and dancers irrespective of their personal or financial background through the Music and Dance Scheme. The scheme supports the Creative Industries Sector Plan commitment to increase access to quality specialist creative education provision across England to strengthen our cadre of highly trained young musicians, dancers and performing artists.My department works closely with the Department for Education who continues to fund the scheme, providing means-tested support to over 2,000 students from lower-income families. The Department for Education currently provides £36.5 million for the MDS this academic year and future funding will be announced in due course.
Media and Sport, what information her Department holds on the number of visitors there were to sites owned by Historic England by age group in 2025.
DCMS does not hold data on the number of visitors to sites owned by Historic England. The National Heritage Collection, operated by English Heritage Trust, comprises more than 400 historic sites and monuments, and the majority of these are free to enter. As some of these sites are not staffed on a day-to-day basis, English Heritage are unable to collect complete data on visitors to these sites by age group.
Media and Sport, how many heritage assets are recorded as being at risk of neglect or dereliction in England; and what assessment they have made of the adequacy of apprenticeship and training provision to support the repair and conservation of historic buildings and other heritage assets.
Historic England's Heritage at Risk Register, last published on 6 November 2025, identified 4,891 heritage assets at risk in England. The register identifies designated sites that are most at risk of being lost as a result of neglect, decay or inappropriate development. More information can be found on Historic England’s website: https://historicengland.org.uk/advice/heritage-at-risk/buildings-at-risk/.While no assessment has been made of the adequacy of apprenticeship and training provisions to support the repair and conservation of heritage, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport is working with the heritage sector to utilise the government’s investment in skills education to grow the workforce. We are engaging with the Department for Education and Skills England to ensure heritage skills are recognised and developed. Through the fully funded SME apprenticeships for under-25s, we are giving smaller heritage organisations the opportunity to deliver flexible, affordable apprenticeships in heritage skills and conservation.
Media and Sport, whether her Department plans to continue to fund the UK Youth Parliament programme in 2026–27.
Youth empowerment is at the core of the National Youth Strategy. We have committed to putting young people in the driving seat of their own lives and empowering them to shape the solutions and decisions that impact them. Over the coming months, we are working with young people to create these opportunities for youth empowerment. The DCMS grant for the UK Youth Parliament (UKYP) programme currently runs until 31st March 2026. Decisions relating to future funding will be communicated in due course.
Media and Sport, whether she has conducted an impact assessment on UK musicians regarding the additional CITES permit requirements that an Appendix I listing would require, including travel, touring logistics, and compliance impacts.
DCMS has not conducted a formal impact assessment on UK musicians regarding the additional CITES permit requirements that an Appendix I listing would require.Consultation on CITES proposals are led by DEFRA, who engaged extensively with the music sector and DCMS Officials ahead of the recent COP20 to understand potential implications of uplisting Brazilwood (Pernambuco) to Appendix I. This evidence informed the UK’s position to oppose an uplisting as it would have imposed significant negative impacts through increased administrative burdens and restrictions on the movement of finished bows, without delivering a clear conservation benefit.
Media and Sport, what steps she is planning to take to ensure that lessons from the 24 early support hubs will feed into the Young Futures Hubs programme; and what plans she has to build the Young Futures Hubs programme on these existing hubs.
The Department for Health and Social Care is responsible for Early Support Hubs, and interventions into young people’s mental health. Young Futures Hubs, developed by DCMS, will leverage local understanding of services in each area to improve support for young people at community level, increasing opportunities, improving mental health and wellbeing, and reducing crime. 50 Young Futures Hubs across the country will be supported by the end of this Parliament. We are working closely with DHSC, NHS England, and health partners to ensure Young Futures Hubs builds on existing evidence to meet young people's emerging needs, including early mental health and wellbeing support.
Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to help ensure that Young Futures Hubs deliver on their core purpose of early mental health support.
This Government fully recognises the importance of youth services in helping young people live safe, healthy and fulfilling lives, and is committed to building on great youth services by developing the National Youth Strategy, strengthening services and expanding opportunities for all young people. As part of this Strategy, Young Futures Hubs will leverage local understanding of services in each area to improve support for young people at community level, increasing opportunities, improving mental health and wellbeing, and reducing crime. 50 Young Futures Hubs across the country will be supported by the end of this Parliament.We are working closely with DHSC, NHS England and a number of health stakeholders, to ensure that Young Futures Hubs offer services together to support young people with emerging needs, including early mental health advice and wellbeing interventions. This includes using learnings from programmes such as Early Support Hubs.
Media and Sport, whether the outcomes from the Shared Outcomes Fund early support hubs will be utilised in the development of the Young Futures Hubs programme; and whether transitional funding will be put in place to keep these early support hubs open.
Each Young Futures Hub will meet three outcomes of increasing opportunities, improving mental health and wellbeing, and reducing crime. We are collaborating with DHSC, NHS England, and health partners to ensure Young Futures Hubs meet young people's emerging needs, providing early mental health and wellbeing support. Early Support Hubs built the evidence base for next year's Young Futures Hubs, with evaluation findings directly informing the programme. The Early Support Hubs were initially funded through the Shared Outcomes Fund in the 2024/25 financial year. The programme has since been extended for a further year to 2025/26.
Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of hosting the 2035 women's football world cup on the economy.
The UK Government is working closely with the Home Nation Football Associations and the Devolved Governments to develop the UK-wide bid for the 2035 FIFA Women’s World Cup. As the largest single sport women’s event in the world, this tournament has the potential to generate significant socio-economic benefits, impact communities across the UK, and build on our world-leading reputation as a host of major events.To illustrate, the FIFA Women’s World Cup in 2023 was estimated to have generated AUS$1.32bn for the economy in Australia and New Zealand. We are working closely with UK Sport, the FAs and Devolved Governments to assess the potential benefits of hosting to inform our collective bid.Following confirmation that the UK would be the sole bid for 2035, our bid is due to be submitted by the end of November, with a final decision by FIFA expected in April 2026.
Media and Sport, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of hosting the 2035 women's football world cup on the level of participation by women and girls in sport.
Hosting the 2035 FIFA Women’s World Cup has the potential to be a transformational opportunity for the women’s game, and for women’s sport in the UK more generally. Following the 2022 Women’s EUROs, we saw a 140% increase in participation among women and girls with over 519,000 new grassroots opportunities were created specifically for women and girls across England.Creating a strong legacy, including boosting participation levels, will be a core aim of delivering the tournament. Should the UK’s bid to host the FIFA Women's World Cup in 2035 be successful, planning will begin on developing the legacy programme, drawing inspiration from events such as the recent Women’s Rugby World Cup as we embark on a decade of women’s sporting moments in the UK.
Media and Sport, whether the Government has sought legal advice in relation to the US President's planned legal action against the BBC.
This is a matter for the BBC, whose lawyers are now dealing with the issue. The BBC is independent of the UK government and so it is a matter for them and the US President.