Nigel Huddleston: The National Youth Guarantee is this government’s commitment that by 2025 every young person will have access to regular clubs and activities, adventures away from home and volunteering opportunities. As part of the National Youth Guarantee funding we intend to launch a Uniformed Youth Fund later this year to increase access to Uniformed Youth groups across the country. The fund will allow...
Nigel Huddleston: We recognise the importance of ensuring public access to leisure facilities, including swimming pools, which are great spaces for people of all ages to stay fit and healthy, and which play an important role within communities. We also recognise the impact rising energy prices will have on businesses of all sizes. Ofgem and the government are in regular contact with business groups and...
Nigel Huddleston: The Innovation in Democracy Programme was a £550,000, one-year joint Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport and Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government (now Department for Levelling Up, Housing, and Communities) programme that trialled innovative models of deliberative democracy to involve citizens in local decision making. We supported three local authorities (LAs)...
Nigel Huddleston: The Government is today publishing its formal response to the independent review of Destination Management Organisations (DMO) which was undertaken by Nick de Bois (Chair of the VisitEngland Advisory Board) and published in September 2021. The DMO Review was commissioned in March 2021 by the then Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (the Rt Hon Oliver Dowden CBE, MP) and...
Nigel Huddleston: It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Stringer. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Blackpool North and Cleveleys (Paul Maynard) for securing this debate and for highlighting such an important issue. He spoke passionately about not only his own constituency but the heritage ecosystem. I am also particularly impressed that he spoke eloquently and passionately about my own...
Nigel Huddleston: I am very pleased indeed that it is, and I am very pleased that my right hon. and learned Friend mentioned that in the final moments of the debate. I am also Sports Minister, and we could not have a debate without including some element of sport in the discussion. I am certainly open to having a debate about intellectual assets. At the moment, we have some reservations about what can be...
Nigel Huddleston: We recognise the importance of ensuring public access to indoor and outdoor pools and that swimming is a great way for people of all ages to stay fit and healthy. The responsibility of providing this access lies at Local Authority level, and the government continues to encourage Local Authorities to invest in swimming facilities. We recognise the impact rising energy prices will have on...
Nigel Huddleston: The Government has no intention of further amending the list of events of national interest which are included in the Listed Events Regime. Although the listed events regime exists to ensure that events of national significance are available to as wide an audience as possible, this must be balanced with the ability of sporting organisations to generate revenues to invest in their sports at...
Nigel Huddleston: The Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games will deliver a fantastic legacy for the people and communities of Birmingham. A range of programmes are helping to boost jobs and skills; encourage more people to try sport; and engage young people in the Commonwealth through a National Learning Programme. We have invested £21m in a Business and Tourism Programme to encourage investment and visitors to...
Nigel Huddleston: The Government was extremely concerned by the reports of racism at Yorkshire County Cricket Club. We are absolutely clear that racism has no place in cricket, sport, or wider society, and we expect all sports to take this seriously. We welcome the steps taken so far by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) and YCCC but expect to see clear and sustained evidence of cultural change across...
Nigel Huddleston: The safety, wellbeing and welfare of everyone taking part in sport is absolutely paramount. There will always be risks associated with participating in contact sport, but it is important that robust measures are in place to reduce the risk of major injuries and health issues. It is the responsibility of individual boxing event organisers to ensure that they protect the safety and wellbeing of...
Nigel Huddleston: DCMS provides funding to community arts projects in England through a number of our arm’s-length bodies. Arts Council England is committed to supporting community arts projects, and has identified "Cultural Communities" as a key focus of its 10 year strategy “Let’s Create”. One example of Arts Council's investment in communities is through their Lottery-funded Creative People and...
Nigel Huddleston: Destination Management Organisations (DMOs) have the power to drive investment for new visitor attractions, bring in more visitors from around the world, and boost the local visitor economy. For DMOs to reach their full potential, however, we need to address long-running concerns about the structure, funding and fragmentation of England’s DMO landscape. This is why I asked Nick de Bois...
Nigel Huddleston: We recognise the importance of ensuring public access to leisure facilities, including swimming pools, which are great 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, and the government continues to encourage Local Authorities...
Nigel Huddleston: DCMS has regular contact with Equity, and with other trade unions representing the arts and culture sector. Equity also sat on the Department’s Events and Entertainment Working Group. In May this year the Minister for Arts met representatives from Equity to discuss aspects of the Universal Credit system and their impact on Equity members. Lord Parkinson also attended a freelancers...
Nigel Huddleston: Twelve projects supporting young people in County Durham and Darlington were awarded funding from Phase One of the Youth Investment Fund. The funding has enabled local youth providers to invest in small-scale capital projects including outdoor/activity equipment, IT/Tech, a minibus, and small redevelopments that expand the reach, number and range of services they currently offer. Phase One of...
Nigel Huddleston: The Government committed, in the Tourism Recovery Plan published in June last year, to consult on a possible Short Term Accommodation Registration Scheme in England. A call for evidence, as the first stage of that consultation process, was published on 29 June and runs until 21 September. We want to hear from a wide range of stakeholders in order to build a much-needed evidence base on these...
Nigel Huddleston: The Government is clear there is no room for racism or any type of discrimination in sport or wider society. National Governing Bodies (NGBs) are responsible for the governance of their sports. We are working closely with our arm’s length bodies, UK Sport and Sport England, and NGBs themselves to ensure discrimination is tackled effectively. UK Sport and Sport England’s Code for Sport...
Nigel Huddleston: The Youth Hostel Association (YHA) helped to fund the Green Recovery Challenge Fund (GRCF), which was a multi-partner consortium project aiming to connect young people to nature. Generation Green, was a project funded by the GRCF, capitalised on the combined reach of the coalition partners of more than two million young people. It has provided more than 100,000 progressive opportunities...
Nigel Huddleston: The Government does not generally intervene in how businesses choose to conduct their activities or offer their products and services, which is essentially a commercial matter. Business should be free to compete on matters such as quality, service and product pricing. Provided consumers are not misled and able to make informed decisions, companies offering goods and services are free to offer...