Local Authorities have a statutory duty to allocate funding to youth services in line with local need. This is funded from the Local Government settlement, which is anticipated to be almost £60 billion next year (FY 23/24). DCMS is committed to working with Youth Sector organisations and Local Authorities to complete the review of the Local Authority Statutory Duty Guidance for Youth Services.

The Government recognises the vital role that youth services and activities play in improving the life chances and wellbeing of young people.The Government has committed to a National Youth Guarantee: that by 2025, every young person will have access to regular clubs and activities, adventures away from home and opportunities to volunteer. This is supported by a three-year investment of over £500 million in youth services, reflecting young people's priorities and addressing the inconsistencies in national youth spending with a firm focus on levelling up.

Over £300 million of this investment has been dedicated to Phase 2 of the Youth Investment Fund, which will enable up to 300 youth facilities to be built or refurbished over the next three years in some of the less advantaged areas of England. The fund is currently open for bids.

In addition, we are working with the National Youth Agency, who are conducting a National Youth Sector Census, a survey of all youth sector provision across England. It aims to capture an accurate picture of youth services and out of school activities.

Government is committed to supporting our grassroots music venues, which are the lifeblood and research and development centres of our world-leading music sector.

DCMS is in regular discussions with all parts of the music industry, including live venues at every level. We work with industry and across Government to improve the sector's economic resilience to future economic shocks, as we did through the pandemic, and we continue to engage with the sector on the impact of current pressures. We are also supporting the sector through the Energy Bills Support Scheme and will continue to do so through the Energy Bills Discount Scheme until Spring 2024.

We will shortly be publishing a Creative Industries Sector Vision that will set out this Government’s ambitions, shared with industry, to support all parts of the creative sector to 2030. We look forward to working with the music industry to deliver on these objectives.

The Government is committed to supporting emerging musical talent and our grassroots music venues, which are the lifeblood of our world-leading music sector.

The Government is supporting grassroots music through Arts Council England’s (ACE’s) Supporting Grassroots Live Music (SGLM) ring fenced fund of £1.5m. The fund is designed for organisations - including venues and promoters - with little or no prior experience of public funding applications.

DCMS supported culture, including grassroots music, during Covid-19 through the unprecedented £1.57bn Culture Recovery Fund (CRF). In England, the CRF provided immediate assistance to prevent 136 of our most loved and enduring grassroots music venues closing their doors for good.

In addition, the Energy Bill Relief Scheme has provided support to all businesses across Great Britain and Northern Ireland, including grassroots music venues, protecting all non-domestic consumers from soaring energy costs, cutting the cost of power bills and providing them with the certainty they needed to plan through the acute crisis this winter. We will continue to do so through the Energy Bills Discount Scheme until Spring 2024.

The Government also supports new and emerging talent through a range of export support programmes, including the successful Music Export Growth Scheme and the International Showcase Fund.

DCMS and the Department for Education jointly published the National Plan for Music Education in June 2022, which sets out the Government’s vision to enable all children and young people in England to have the opportunity to progress their musical interests and talents, including professionally.

Finally, DCMS is also developing a Creative Industries Sector Vision that will set out this Government’s ambitions, shared with industry, to support this high-growth sector to 2030.

With government support, charities and civil society organisations have shown significant resilience over the past few years, and will again be crucial in supporting communities and households through this challenging period.

Government is supporting all organisations, including those across the civil society sector, with their energy bills. This support has now been extended until March 2024 via the Energy Bills Discount Scheme. This scheme provides long term certainty for organisations and reflects how the scale of the challenge has changed since September last year.

Government’s support for energy bills sits alongside a range of existing funding that is delivered by central and local government in the form of grants and contracts. My Department will keep engaging constructively across the civil society sector to monitor the impact of rising costs, and signposting to other sources of funding where appropriate.

The Government recognises the strength of feeling about the importance of BBC Local Radio. These services help bring communities together, and play a vital role in delivering news, sports coverage and other content that is locally relevant.

While it is up to the BBC to decide how it delivers its services, the Government is clear that the BBC must make sure it continues to provide distinctive and genuinely local radio services, with content that reflects and represents people and communities from all corners of the UK.

The Government remains disappointed that the BBC is planning to reduce parts of its local radio output, and Ministers expressed their concerns to the Chair of the BBC Board and the Director General when they met towards the end of last year.

The Government understands that the BBC have made a recent announcement adjusting their previous proposal, and we will seek to understand what this means in practice for its audiences.

The Government expects Ofcom to ensure the BBC is robustly held to account in delivering its public service duties.

We recognise the value of free TV licences for over-75s and believe they should be funded by the BBC. The BBC must look at how it uses its substantial licence fee income to support older people, and deliver its public service duties.

With government support, voluntary and faith groups have shown significant resilience over the past few years, and will again be crucial in supporting communities and households through this challenging period.

Government is supporting all organisations, including those across the civil society sector, with their energy bills. This support has now been extended until March 2024 via the Energy Bills Discount Scheme. Wholesale gas prices have now fallen to levels just before Putin’s invasion of Ukraine and have almost halved since the current scheme was announced. This scheme provides long term certainty for organisations and reflects how the scale of the challenge has changed since September last year.

DCMS will keep engaging constructively across the civil society sector and colleagues in government to monitor the impact of rising costs.

Supporting grassroots sport is a key Government priority. We recognise that taking part in sport brings communities together and contributes to making people both happier and healthier.

The majority of funding to grassroots sports projects is delivered through our Arms Length Body, Sport England. Last year, Sport England received almost £350 million from the Exchequer and National Lottery.

The Government also invests £18 million a year into community sport facilities via the Football Foundation, alongside the English Football Association and the Premier League. We have committed an additional £230 million UK-wide between 2021 and 2025 to increase participation, particularly for under-represented groups including women and girls and disabled players.

Sport England’s most recent annual report and set of accounts can be found here- https://www.sportengland.org/corporate-information/annual-report.

In August 2021, DCMS commissioned the consultancy firm, Sound Diplomacy, to assess the state of the music studio market in England.

Evidence found challenges, but showed the market is responding to changes, such as technological innovation, and is maintaining or growing sources of income.

As a result, the report found the music studio market was not in need of specific government intervention.

Since then, the Government announced a new Energy Bills Discount Scheme to help support businesses, like recording studios, to tackle rising energy costs.

As I have already stated, there was a rigorous appointment process, in line with the public appointments governance code and the BBC royal charter. In addition, the House of Commons’ own Select Committee confirmed Mr Sharp’s appointment.

Does the Secretary of State believe the public think it is ever acceptable for anyone to donate hundreds of thousands to a political party and then be appointed by that same political party to a plum public post—in the case of BBC chair Richard Sharp, having been interviewed, we now learn, by a panel including another Tory party donor? Rigorous—really?

The advent of music streaming has been positive for new talent getting their stuff out there, but the big platforms and labels can hoover up all the profits, and we have heard heartbreaking stories in the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee about young musicians who cannot keep the wolves from the door in the cost of living crisis. Will the Government accept that the recorded music industry and streaming culture need a complete reset, and will they play their full part in getting all the players around the table so that we have fair pay for all?