Myself and my officials meet regularly with individuals and bodies from across the sport and physical activity sector. I regularly visit grassroots sport and physical activity providers across the country to gain insight and understanding on the fantastic work they do and the challenges they face.

As part of the development of the National Plan for Physical Activity, I have held structured engagement with several bodies including the National Sector Partners Group (whom I recently met in June) and the Local Government Association to obtain their views, and I will continue to do so in the coming months.

Further updates on the Plan will be provided in due course.

Myself and my officials meet regularly with individuals and bodies from across the sport and physical activity sector. I regularly visit grassroots sport and physical activity providers across the country to gain insight and understanding on the fantastic work they do and the challenges they face.

As part of the development of the National Plan for Physical Activity, I have held structured engagement with several bodies including the National Sector Partners Group (whom I recently met in June) and the Local Government Association to obtain their views, and I will continue to do so in the coming months.

Further updates on the Plan will be provided in due course.

Myself and my officials meet regularly with individuals and bodies from across the sport and physical activity sector. I regularly visit grassroots sport and physical activity providers across the country to gain insight and understanding on the fantastic work they do and the challenges they face.

As part of the development of the National Plan for Physical Activity, I have held structured engagement with several bodies including the National Sector Partners Group (whom I recently met in June) and the Local Government Association to obtain their views, and I will continue to do so in the coming months.

Further updates on the Plan will be provided in due course.

The requested information is not held centrally.

The information is not available as it is held centrally and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

The information requested is not available as it has not been centrally validated.

The Government recognises the importance of ensuring public access to swimming and leisure facilities, which are great spaces for people of all ages to stay fit and healthy.

Sport England, our Arm’s Length Body for grassroots sport, monitors facilities stock through their Active Places dataset. As of July 2026, 309 local authority swimming pools have closed since 2015 and 273 have opened.

The available data indicates that 24 of these facilities closed for financial reasons during this period.

The PE curriculum makes specific reference to swimming and water safety, stating that all primary pupils must learn to swim competently and confidently over a distance of at least 25 metres, use a range of strokes effectively and perform safe self-rescue in different water-based situations.

PE curriculum reforms will ensure there is a clear emphasis on swimming and water safety, and our new PE and School Sport Partnerships Network will bring the expertise of national governing bodies including Swim England directly into schools.

In addition, changes made to statutory requirements for relationships, sex and health education ensure all pupils are taught about the water safety code, supporting them to be safe in different types of water.

Furthermore, Oak National Academy offers swimming and water safety units as part of its PE curriculum, alongside sector organisations to support all schools to provide swimming and water safety lessons through teacher training and resources.

While VAT is a matter for His Majesty’s Treasury, the department recognises that the VAT status of further education (FE) providers remains an issue of interest to the sector. The government continues to look into the VAT position of FE colleges, noting my right hon. Friend, the Prime Minister’s commitment to look into this issue when it was raised at the Liaison Committee in December 2025. The government keeps all taxes under review and any changes would be announced at a fiscal event.

The BBC is a vital national institution and an engine of the nations and regions, including the North East of England. 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. The Charter Review will consider how the BBC can support the creative economy and drive growth across the UK.

The Government carefully considered the findings of the Ombudsman’s report on the communication of changes to women’s State Pension age, and a detailed response including an Equality Analysis has been deposited in the House Library.

Since we last met, we have been delighted to celebrate the sporting success of our incredible Paralympic athletes, and we have welcomed the Brits to Manchester for the first time. We have made a multimillion-pound investment in the iconic Crucible theatre in Sheffield, securing its future as a world-class venue for generations to come. Just this week, I announced almost £130 million to protect world-class theatres, museums and libraries in every part of our country. Taken together, this Government are delivering on our promise that arts, culture, sports, dance, drama and music are not a luxury for the privileged or something to be consigned to a few postcodes—they must be for everyone, everywhere.

There are no current plans to publish a national strategy on HGV parking and welfare facilities.

Work is underway in the Department to improve understanding of lorry parking capacity and demand and driver welfare needs, including a national survey of lorry parking. The survey will provide a fresh baseline on the availability of secure lorry parking and HGV driver welfare provision and is scheduled to be published in the autumn.

The survey was last conducted in 2022 and provided the evidence base for the design of the HGV Parking Matched Funding Grant Scheme. Working with industry, this scheme is delivering up to £35.7 million in joint investment to enhance truck stops across England. The scheme is helping to improve driver welfare facilities, lorry parking provision, site security and decarbonisation.

This investment is on top of up to £30 million in investment by National Highways and industry at truck stops and motorway service areas along the strategic road network.

The government is also prioritising improvements to the planning system. Strengthened policy on freight and logistics has been proposed in the recent consultation on the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) to improve the consideration of freight, including lorry parking, in the planning system.

We are continuing to consider what support we provide in this space in the future. We will make use of the outcomes of the Pathways to Work Green Paper consultation, the Collaboration Committees, and upcoming work of the Independent Disability Advisory Panel to inform the future direction of Access to Work. We recognise the importance of the National Audit Office’s findings and are carefully reviewing their recommendations. These insights will support and strengthen our work to ensure the scheme continues to meet customer needs while delivering value for money.

We are continuing to consider what support we provide in this space in the future. We will make use of the outcomes of the Pathways to Work Green Paper consultation, the Collaboration Committees, and upcoming work of the Independent Disability Advisory Panel to inform the future direction of Access to Work. We recognise the importance of the National Audit Office’s findings and are carefully reviewing their recommendations. These insights will support and strengthen our work to ensure the scheme continues to meet customer needs while delivering value for money.

Demand for Access to Work has increased significantly since 2019/20, with more than double the number of applications in 2024/25. Since March 2024 we have increased the number of staff working on Access to Work claims by 29% from 500 full time equivalent (FTE) to 648 FTE in March 2026. Case managers prioritise applications where the customer is due to start a job within four weeks, we continue to streamline processing, improving consistent decisions, strengthening quality checks and enhancing case manager calls with customers and employers. Further to this, we continue to recruit and train new case managers.

We are continuing to consider what support we provide in this space in the future. We will make use of the outcomes of the Pathways to Work Green Paper consultation, the Collaboration Committees, and upcoming work of the Independent Disability Advisory Panel to inform the future direction of Access to Work. We recognise the importance of the National Audit Office’s findings and are carefully reviewing their recommendations. These insights will support and strengthen our work to ensure the scheme continues to meet customer needs while delivering value for money.

Department for Transport ministers and officials hold regular discussions with representatives from the logistics and haulage industry to understand the sector’s priorities, including the safety of drivers and overnight facilities.

Recent engagement with the sector includes the Road Haulage Association’s (RHA) parliamentary reception on the 10 February, where I met with industry representatives and heard about their concerns, including the safety of drivers.

I also chaired the Freight Council on the 11 February where industry representatives had the opportunity to raise concerns, including the safety of HGV drivers using overnight facilities.

More recently, on the 25 February I jointly hosted a freight roundtable with the Minister for Policing and Crime, which was attended by haulage sector, trade bodies and police representatives. Both the Minister for Policing and Crime and I heard directly from the sector on their concerns relating to freight crime, including at overnight HGV parking facilities.