Culture, Media And Sport
29 Jun 2026 · Commons Chamber · 34 speeches · Official record
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The hon. Lady will know that that is not a point of order for the Chair. I am sure that if the Minister wishes to correct the record, she will. Full speech
On a point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker. I think the Minister may have inadvertently misled the House a moment ago when she said that the quantum of school sports funding exceeded what it previously was. There have been cuts to school sports funding, and I would like to give her the opportunity to correct the record. Full speech
If we are serious about tackling the growing challenges facing all our young people, we must recognise that youth services are not a luxury but an essential part of the solution. For too long, youth provision has been viewed as an optional extra, but youth clubs, sports teams, arts programmes and enrichment activities give young people confidence, skills and-perhaps most importantly-somewhere they feel they belong. Many of us in the Chamber look back fondly on our childhoods and remember the sch... Full speech
Speaker
[Relevant documents: Fourth Report of the Culture, Media and Sport Committee of Session 2024-26, Game On: Community and school sport, HC 593, and the Government response, HC 462, Session 2026-27 .] Full speech
A billion pounds is going in over the next three years. I have acknowledged that it is for secondary and primary. The current system simply is not working-kids are not getting as active. I know as a former teacher how important it is for kids to be active. We are reinventing the model, and we make no apologies for doing so. In the interests of time, I am very happy to meet Members to discuss that further. I am being encouraged by the Chair to hurry up, so I will perhaps put some of my responses ... Full speech
Speaker
(2) further resources, not exceeding £618,275,000, be authorised for use for capital purposes as so set out, and Full speech
The debate will be opened by the Chair of the Culture, Media and Sport Committee, and there will be an immediate three-minute time limit on Back-Bench contributions. I call Dame Caroline Dinenage. Full speech
Further to that point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker. It certainly would never be my intention to mislead the House. I was really clear in the debate that this Government are investing £1 billion over the next three years. I have acknowledged the fact that we are changing the system; the amount includes capital and revenue, and primary and secondary schools. I appreciate that it is a different model, and we make no apologies for that. Full speech
As the hon. Member for Rossendale and Darwen (Andy MacNae) just said, sports participation underpins so much for young people, building character and resilience, acting in favour of good mental health and tackling obesity. Into old age, too, staying active has huge benefits, as I was discussing just this weekend with the brilliant, dementia-friendly Petersfield walking football group. In many ways, sports provision is probably better than ever, and national governing bodies have done a very good... Full speech
I thank the Chair of the Culture, Media and Sport Committee, my hon. Friend the Member for Gosport (Dame Caroline Dinenage), for her work, for her impressive speech and for securing the debate today. I pay tribute to her and all the members of the Select Committee from all parties for conducting the review on community and school sport that forms the basis of today’s debate. I also thank everybody for their contributions today. This important report has highlighted the concerning reality that En... Full speech
The hon. Gentleman is absolutely right, and I would be delighted to meet him. I was on a visit near his constituency recently. Leisure is a real challenge; I really want to do more on it. Of course, it is a responsibility of the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, but we are absolutely aware how important this issue is for physical activity. That is why we are investing £400 million in sports facilities. That is alongside the £250 million of Exchequer and lottery funding for g... Full speech
Partnerships are valuable, of course, and I do not oppose the Government’s approach, but the overall funding envelope is declining and being spread across both primary and secondary schools. This is resulting in a real-terms cut in the sports that are, as we are hearing from both sides of the House, so important to our children’s wellbeing and health. Moving on to grassroots sports more broadly, with Sport England losing its function as a statutory planning consultee, it is hard to see how the G... Full speech
Order. That brings us to the Front-Bench contributions. I call the Liberal Democrat spokesperson. Full speech
Young people are our future. They are the future politicians, technicians, writers, sportspeople, physiotherapists or whatever they want to be. The laws, policies and funding that we put forward must help in building their future. We must invest in them, inspire them, and give them the tools and skills for their future, so that they have the confidence and resilience to deal with whatever life throws at them. Decent access to youth services and sporting activities is an integral part of that. Al... Full speech
I call the shadow Minister, Nigel Huddleston. Full speech
I commend the investment that the Minister has already announced. In Dewsbury, our leisure centre and swimming pool were closed in September 2023, and have stood there, with no repairs or survey. Will she meet me to discuss what the Government can do to help reopen them? Maybe they could have some of the £400 million. The youth in my community are asking, “What can we do during the summer holidays?” Full speech
Speaker
(1) further resources, not exceeding £3,862,598,000, be authorised for use for current purposes as set out in HC 1855 of Session 2024-26, Full speech
I recently read Viktor Frankl’s “Man’s Search for Meaning”, which is a powerful account of life in a concentration camp. There is a poignant part of that book where victims and concentration camp prisoners, talking to each other at the end of the day when they could barely keep their eyes open, go and witness a sunset because its beauty brings out something in them that would keep them going for the next day. The reason I talk about that is that it demonstrates the importance of art, in any shap... Full speech
Could the Minister clarify one point for me? The previous PE and sport premium was just for primary schools. Am I right in saying that the new funding she has announced is for primary and secondary schools, and it is therefore being spread across far more schools, so there will be less money per school? How will that help her meet the chief medical officer’s targets? Full speech
A billion pounds over the next three years is more than was invested in the previous three years, but I am acknowledging the changes to the system. I am acknowledging that we are including all schools, and that it includes capital and revenue. The new PE and school sport partnership network will respond to calls from the sector to bring together schools, local clubs and national governing bodies to work together. That will ensure that the funding makes a real difference, tackles inactivity and p... Full speech
We are not going to continue the debate via points of order. Full speech
As we have this debate about budgets and the figures being spent on sport, one key question keeps leaping out. As has been said by colleagues, we know that sport and physical activity is one of the things that can best maintain good health and prevent ill health. However, when we look at the numbers-hundreds of millions spent on sport, and hundreds of billions on the costs of ill health and welfare-we realise that we are stuck in a cycle of spending billions on ill health and worklessness and ha... Full speech
The hon. Member is an excellent Minister, but can she please just answer this question? When we add it all up, does this equate to an increase or a cut in the total amount of school spending? Full speech
I congratulate the Chair of the Culture, Media and Sport Committee, the hon. Member for Gosport (Dame Caroline Dinenage), on securing this important debate on sport and youth services. The debate is timely because it coincides with the world cup and Wimbledon-and yes, like other hon. and right hon. Members, I will be hiding behind a sofa somewhere on the estate from 5 pm tomorrow for the England match. It is also timely because it coincides with the recent publication of the Milburn report and t... Full speech
It is a joy to speak in this estimates day debate on sport and youth services, particularly after I spent my weekend joining the Furniture Makers’ Company for its annual tug-of-war in West Park, Long Eaton. Erewash has a very long history of furniture making, and our enduring local businesses get together every year to celebrate their industry with their families over a very spectacular tug-of-war. They even let me have a go, and I am very proud to say that my side lost-and I did not do very wel... Full speech
I thank the Backbench Business Committee. I am conscious of time, so I will focus my remarks on the Select Committee’s “Game On” report, which looked at community and school sport, and the Government response published last week. The evidence was unequivocal: an active nation underpins everything else-our health, our prosperity, our social cohesion. It is not a peripheral issue, but a strategic priority, yet it has too often been treated by Governments as a discretionary choice. We are at a crit... Full speech
Many colleagues have spoken about the importance of sports, activity and physical health, and how it is not just a nice to have or an add-on, but something that is absolutely vital if we are to deliver our goals, particularly on creating a healthier ageing population and a healthier population in general. However, I would like to touch on something that is quite often overlooked: the importance of disability sport. Particularly for children and young people, the ability to take part in local spo... Full speech
Teachers and parents in South Devon are worried about the future of PE following funding cuts. Many areas already have successful school sports partnerships, with schools pooling their premium and working with organisations such as Active Partnerships. Does my hon. Friend agree that the Government need to clarify whether schools can build on existing relationships, with those partnerships continuing to operate under the new system, or will they all be forced to start from scratch? Full speech
I am going to have another go, as my hon. Friend the Member for Gosport (Dame Caroline Dinenage) did. A billion pounds over three years sounds like a lot of money. The simple mathematical question is, is that £1 billion over three years more or less than the amount for a comparable three-year period, starting just before the middle of 2024? Full speech
One billion pounds is going in over the next three years. Of course, that is capital and revenue, and it covers all schools. I do appreciate that there are some concerns. I will come on to address them, and I would be happy to meet the hon. Lady and, indeed, other Members. I understand those concerns regarding the decision to replace the existing premium. However, despite sustained investment through the PE and sport premium for over a decade, fewer than half of children are getting the chief me... Full speech
I congratulate the hon. Member for Gosport (Dame Caroline Dinenage) and members of the Culture, Media and Sport Committee on securing this estimates debate. I thank them for their efforts in scrutinising the work of this Government and shining a light on the issues that matter. DCMS is the Department that brings joy to people’s lives while focusing on driving growth, fostering civic pride and supporting our world-class sectors. From sport to arts, media and heritage, culture binds our social inf... Full speech
The need for greater sustained investment in youth services and sports and leisure facilities in communities like mine in Liverpool West Derby is something that I care deeply about. I welcome the debate, but I want to focus on one simple change that would cost not a penny and could happen almost overnight: removing the “no ball games” signs that still cover streets and housing estates across our country. At a time when mobile phones and social media dominate young people’s lives, we should be do... Full speech
Speaker
(3) a further sum, not exceeding £3,572,620,000, be granted to His Majesty to be issued by the Treasury out of the Consolidated Fund and applied for expenditure on the use of resources authorised by Parliament.- (Gen Kitchen.) Full speech
Speaker
That, for the year ending with 31 March 2027, for expenditure by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport: Full speech