Written questions by Hayes.

Media and Sport, with reference to the Supreme Court ruling published on April 16, what plans her Department has to amend its policy on the use of women-only spaces in its buildings by transgender women.

The Supreme Court ruling made it clear that the provision of single-sex spaces is on the basis of biological sex. Providers should note and follow the ruling.It is important that we ensure dignity and respect for all. Trans people should have access to services they need but in keeping with the ruling.The Equality & Human Rights Commission, as Britain’s Equalities watchdog, is developing updated guidance to support service providers. Ministers will consider the EHRC’s updated draft once they have submitted it following further work in light of this ruling.The Government is considering the implications of the Court’s judgment, including what this means for Government buildings.

Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to support creative industries in (a) South Holland and the Deepings constituency and (b) Lincolnshire.

The creative industries sector is one of eight growth-driving sectors identified in the government’s Industrial Strategy. We will publish a Creative Industries Sector Plan to drive growth across the whole of the UK in the late spring.Businesses across Lincolnshire, including South Holland and The Deepings, are able to benefit from support from DCMS and its arms-length bodies.At the Creative Industries Growth Summit in January, the Secretary of State for DCMS announced a series of measures aimed at driving growth in the country’s creative businesses.This included the continuation of the Create Growth Programme, which will receive £16.3 million towards its continuation during the 2025/26 financial year to support high-growth creative businesses to scale up and become investment ready. The East Midlands Create Growth Programme region covers the Lincolnshire area and includes the University of Lincoln as a key partner.Also included was a commitment from the British Business Bank to increase the scale of its support for the Creative Industries, strengthening investment in creative R&D from UKRI, and bringing forward changes so that shorter apprenticeships are available from August 2025, recognising the particular needs of the creative industries.

Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to support emerging artists in Lincolnshire.

The Secretary of State announced a new £270 million Arts Everywhere Fund on 20 February. This will include support to museums, arts and music venues across the country and is a critical step that this Government is taking to help create jobs, boost local economies, and expand access to arts and culture for communities.This is in addition to steps already being taken to support arts and culture via Arts Council England (ACE) through various programmes, including its National Portfolio Organisation investment programme (NPO). In Lincolnshire, ACE has provided over £27 million of funding between 2021-2025 to local organisations such as the SO Festival (an NPO), a Combined Arts organisation receiving over £320,000 per annum, that brings international artists and performers to Mablethorpe and Skegness each year, increasing engagement and interest in the arts within local communities.Zest Theatre (also a NPO) is a national touring theatre company that creates work with and for young people which receives £180,000 per annum. They are particularly well known for their outdoor immersive work, including ‘The Zone’ – a pop up creative space for young people aged 11-18 in Lincoln each summer – and installations that amplify the voices of young people in the region.Within the South Holland and The Deepings constituency, ACE supports organisations such as Transported (£275,00 per annum), through its Creative People and Places programme, which is a strategic, community-focused programme which aims to get more people in Boston and South Holland enjoying and participating in arts activities.Through the National Lottery Project Grants ACE has made nine awards, since 2021, across museums, visual arts and theatre, totalling more than £241,000. Also through its Developing Your Creative Practice programme, ACE has supported three individual artists with a total of £33,324 across visual arts and music since 2021.

Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to improve access to sports facilities for disabled people in (a) South Holland and the Deepings constituency and (b) Lincolnshire.

The Government is dedicated to making sport in this country accessible and inclusive for everyone. The Government has announced a further £100 million in funding to deliver new and improved multi-sport grassroots facilities and pitches across the whole of the UK. The Multi-Sport Grassroots Facilities Programme’s aims include regular, weekly use by under-represented groups, including disabled people, so that everyone has the opportunity to participate. In 2024/25 the programme invested £3,389 in South Holland and the Deepings, and £12,931 in Lincolnshire. Sport England, the Government’s Arm’s Length Body for grassroots sport, is committed to increasing participation in sport and physical activity for disabled people and improving their access to sport facilities. Sport England runs specific initiatives like the 'We are Undefeatable' campaign, impacting directly on disabled people, and those with a long-term health condition. Sport England also has partnerships with organisations such as Disability Rights UK, Activity Alliance, Aspire, and Sense, to help more disabled people get active.

Media and Sport, if she will help fund the (a) repair and (b) reopening of Deepings Leisure Centre in Deeping St James.

The Government recognises the importance of ensuring public access to leisure facilities which are vital spaces for people of all ages to stay fit and healthy, and which play an important role within communities. The ongoing responsibility of providing access to public leisure facilities lies at local authority level. We share your ambition to ensure that people in Deeping St James can benefit from quality sport and physical activity opportunities. The Government encourages local authorities to make investments which offer the right opportunities and facilities for the communities they serve, investing in sport and physical activity with a place-based approach, to meet the needs of individual communities.

Media and Sport, what estimate she has made of the potential cost to the public purse for setting up an independent football regulator.

All relevant costs relating to the creation of the Independent Football Regulator will be recovered from clubs via a levy, ensuring that there is nil cost to the public purse.

Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to help support (a) heritage restoration and (b) sustainable retrofitting for the stock of historic buildings.

DCMS and its arms-length bodies offer a range of grants and support to restore heritage assets.The Secretary of State announced in February £15 million of additional funding for Heritage at Risk, building on Historic England's existing Repair Grants for Heritage at Risk programme - providing grants for repairs and conservation to heritage buildings at risk, focusing on those sites with most need, and a new £4.85 million Heritage Revival Fund to enable local people to take ownership of heritage they love and bring historic buildings back into use. The National Lottery Heritage Fund also delivers project-based heritage funding. Since 1994, The National Lottery Heritage Fund has distributed £8.6bn of National Lottery funds to more than 47,000 projects.Historic England has published advice online to help owners of historic buildings to streamline the installation of energy efficiency measures, and works with partners including Government to support the wider retrofit of historic buildings.

Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to increase investment in local swimming facilities in (a) South Holland and the Deepings constituency and (b) Lincolnshire.

The Government recognises that sports facilities, in communities up and down the country, help to support more people to get active wherever they live. The responsibility of providing access to public swimming pools lies at Local Authority level. The Government continues to encourage Local Authorities to support swimming facilities.

Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to support all-weather sports facilities in Lincolnshire.

The Government is committed to ensuring that everyone, regardless of background, has access to and benefits from high-quality, inclusive sports facilities. The Government provides the majority of funding for grassroots sport through our Arm’s Length Body, Sport England, which annually invests over £250 million in Exchequer and Lottery funding. We are also supporting more players in getting onto the pitch wherever they live via the Multi-Sport Grassroots Facilities Programme, which has invested £123 million UK-wide throughout 2024/25. Projects funded through the programme include artificial grass pitches, new changing facilities, and floodlights, helping sites to improve availability and increase participation all year round. Funding from the Programme continues to be invested in England through our delivery partner, the Football Foundation. This funding is designed so that areas that need it most are prioritised, taking account of deprivation and inactivity rates on a local level. The Football Foundation plans their investment pipeline based on Local Football Facility Plans (LFFPs). These plans have been developed in partnership with local authorities and are in the process of being refreshed to reflect the current landscape. The LFFP for South Holland can be found here, and a full list of LFFPs covering Lincolnshire can be found on the Lincolnshire FA website. At Autumn Budget, the Government committed to continued support through future investment for elite and grassroots sport. Further details will be confirmed in due course.

Media and Sport, what proportion of food procured by her Department is sourced in the UK.

To date the Government has not held information on where publicly procured food is sourced from.Starting right away, for the first time ever, this government will review the food currently bought in the public sector to determine the standards that it is meeting, where it is bought from and look to introduce monitoring for transparency and accountability within those supply chains to ultimately get the best food for the consumer.This work will be a significant first step to inform any future changes to public sector food procurement policies as we want to help make it an equal playing field for British producers to bid into the £5 billion spent each year on public sector catering contracts.

Media and Sport, what steps she is taking with local authorities to help maintain community libraries in Lincolnshire.

Public libraries are funded by local authorities and each local authority is responsible for assessing the needs of their local communities and designing a library service to meet those needs within available resources.I understand that Lincolnshire County Council has a network of 49 static libraries of which 15 are in the statutory service, while the remaining 34 are community run and outside the statutory service. The statutory libraries are operated, on behalf of the Council, by Greenwich Leisure Limited. GLL also provides professional support and advice to the community run libraries, who also have access to the Lincolnshire wide catalogue and stock services.The government is committed to getting local government back on its feet. The final Local Government Finance Settlement for 2025-26 makes available over £69 billion for local government, which is a 6.8% cash terms increase on 2024-25.

Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to support people with gambling addiction in Lincolnshire.

Those experiencing gambling-related harm in Lincolnshire can access specialist treatment through the NHS East Midlands Gambling Harms Service and a range of support through the National Gambling Support Network.To improve and expand the services available to tackle gambling-related harm, the Government is introducing a statutory levy on gambling operators to improve and expand research, prevention and treatment of gambling harms. This will include ringfenced funding overseen by NHS England and appropriate bodies in Scotland and Wales to commission the full treatment pathway, from referral and triage through to aftercare.

Media and Sport, for what purposes the Charity Commission has used artificial intelligence in the last 12 months.

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.The Charity Commission has used Generative AI (GenAI) in the production and editing of some video content in the past 12 months.The Charity Commission has robust internal policies in place that define acceptable and prohibited uses for GenAI modules and applications, to ensure its legal and ethical use.The Charity Commission also considers the Generative AI Framework for HM Government when making decisions concerning the approval of GenAI tools and use cases.

Media and Sport, how the National Youth Strategy will help tackle barriers to opportunity for children and young people in (a) South Holland and The Deepings constituency and (b) Lincolnshire.

The National Youth Strategy will be co-produced with young people and the youth sector to ensure it meets the needs of young people right across the country. This Government is also committed to tackling barriers to opportunity for all young people through the Opportunity Mission.

Media and Sport, how much funding her Department has provided to youth groups in South Holland and the Deepings constituency in the two latest periods for which data is available; and if she will take steps to increase that funding.

DCMS has not directly provided funding to youth groups for youthwork activities in the South Holland and the Deepings constituency. Local authorities hold the 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.The National Youth Strategy will be co-produced with young people and the youth sector to ensure it meets the needs of young people right across the country. This Government is also committed to tackling barriers to opportunity for all young people through the Opportunity Mission.

Media and Sport, for what purposes The National Archives has used artificial intelligence in the last 12 months.

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.The National Archives has used artificial intelligence for over the past 12 months and its officials have, with robust safeguards, piloted the use of AI in several areas, seeking to:Speed up office-based tasks. For example, piloting the transcription of some internal meetings and summarising texts.Improve public services. For example, investigating creating short summaries of record descriptions for the online catalogue and identifying amendments and enabling powers in legislation on legislation.gov.uk.Support the government to better manage its information. For example, investigating AI tools to aid officials in the appraisal, selection and sensitivity review of digital records before their transfer for preservation at The National Archives.Aid research into historical records. For example, transcribing handwritten and printed text in historical records.The National Archives can draw on a range of resources, published on GOV.UK, to inform AI usage. For example the Generative AI Framework, the Ethics, Transparency and Accountability Framework, the Data Ethics Framework and the AI Opportunities Action Plan.The National Archives also has access to the Government Digital Service, part of the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology, for expert advice.

Media and Sport, if she will take steps to facilitate education on gambling-related harms for young people.

We are committed to protecting children and young people from gambling harm. Since 2020, children have been taught about the risks relating to gambling as part of the statutory Relationships, Sex and Health Education curriculum in England. The Gambling Commission also publishes an annual survey on children’s exposure to, and involvement in, all types of gambling to help us monitor gambling-related harm amongst children.We are introducing a statutory levy to be paid by gambling operators raising funding for research, prevention and treatment of gambling-related harms. The levy will play an important part in the Government’s wider aim to have a better informed and protected public when it comes to gambling-related harms.

Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the availability of public libraries in rural areas.

Public libraries play a vital role in sustaining community networks in rural areas, offering a range of activities and support services to meet local needs and bring people together.Local authorities in England have a statutory duty under the Public Libraries and Museums Act 1964 to provide a comprehensive and efficient library service. They are responsible for assessing the needs of their local communities and designing a library service to meet those needs within available resources.There is a network of over 2,500 static libraries in the statutory network across England, supported by a number of mobile and home library services. Public library services are found in all types of communities, urban and rural; and are used by all demographics of people.

Media and Sport, how much was paid in bonuses to staff in her Department in 2023-24.

Departments are required to publish data related to non-consolidated performance payments on an annual basis. The publication date for the 2023/24 data is yet to be confirmed, but will happen over the coming months.

Media and Sport, what recent assessment she has made of the effectiveness of regulation of gambling (a) advertising, (b) sponsorship and (c) marketing.

There are a range of robust rules in place to ensure that gambling adverts, wherever they appear, are socially responsible. The Gambling Commission is further strengthening protections on marketing to improve customer control and ensure marketing does not exacerbate harm. However, as the Gambling Minister set out in her speech at the GambleAware conference on 4 December, more needs to be done to improve protections. The industry now has a clear task to further raise standards to ensure that levels of gambling advertising does not exacerbate harm, and this work will be monitored closely.Regarding sponsorship, all major sporting bodies have published their gambling sponsorship Codes of Conduct, setting minimum standards for socially responsible gambling sponsorships. The Premier League’s decision to ban front-of-shirt sponsorship by gambling firms will also commence by the end of the 2025/26 season. The Department will closely monitor the implementation of the Codes to ensure they have a meaningful impact.