Asked by: David Crausby (Labour - Bolton North East)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what information his Department holds on how the Premier League has distributed its funding for grassroots football projects since the start of the 2016-17 football season.
Answered by Tracey Crouch
Between 2013-2016, The Premier League invested £183 million in total into community school sport, delivering participation programmes and creating new public sports facilities.
In 2016, DCMS agreed that grassroots football will benefit from at least £100 million a year on investment from the Premier League – double the previous commitment. This runs to 2019 and is set out in “Sporting Future” the Government’s strategy for sport.
The £100m a season currently goes to a range of activities, including investment in facilities, school sport, projects that encourage sports participation and tackle social health and wellbeing issues, that support disability and girls football, diversity and anti-racism programmes, player welfare and to organisations that give a voice to fans.
Further information on all Premier League grassroots activities can be found in their published annual report ‘available at www.premierleague.com/this-is-pl/the-communities
DCMS Ministers continue to meet with the EPL and FA on a regular basis to discuss a variety of matters, including to ensure that the grassroots benefits from a healthy proportion of the broadcast rights revenue generated by the Premier League and any commercial surplus made by the FA.
Asked by: David Crausby (Labour - Bolton North East)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what meetings he or Ministers of his Department have had with (a) the Premier League and (b) the FA on the issue of grassroots football in the last twelve months.
Answered by Tracey Crouch
Between 2013-2016, The Premier League invested £183 million in total into community school sport, delivering participation programmes and creating new public sports facilities.
In 2016, DCMS agreed that grassroots football will benefit from at least £100 million a year on investment from the Premier League – double the previous commitment. This runs to 2019 and is set out in “Sporting Future” the Government’s strategy for sport.
The £100m a season currently goes to a range of activities, including investment in facilities, school sport, projects that encourage sports participation and tackle social health and wellbeing issues, that support disability and girls football, diversity and anti-racism programmes, player welfare and to organisations that give a voice to fans.
Further information on all Premier League grassroots activities can be found in their published annual report ‘available at www.premierleague.com/this-is-pl/the-communities
DCMS Ministers continue to meet with the EPL and FA on a regular basis to discuss a variety of matters, including to ensure that the grassroots benefits from a healthy proportion of the broadcast rights revenue generated by the Premier League and any commercial surplus made by the FA.
Asked by: David Crausby (Labour - Bolton North East)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps his Department is taking to improve access to all-weather football pitches at grassroots level.
Answered by David Evennett
In partnership with the Football Association and the Premier League, the government is continuing to invest significant sums in grassroots football facilities every year. In addition to the £10million we give to the Football Foundation each year, this Government has dedicated £8million per year to the new 'Parklife' project that will double the number of 3G pitches and enable over 3,500 community sports matches to be played per week.
Asked by: David Crausby (Labour - Bolton North East)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what plans he has to encourage the Premier League adequately to contribute to the financing of grassroots football.
Answered by Tracey Crouch
I will be continuing the discussions with the Premier League about how best to support the game. Government believesthat given the size of the League's new TV deal, football's grassroots should receive greater investment than ever before, and we will work in partnership to ensure that this happens.
Asked by: David Crausby (Labour - Bolton North East)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what recent meetings he has had to discuss the role of local authorities in the future of grassroots football.
Answered by Tracey Crouch
On 7th July I met with Councillor Stephens from the Local Government Association and I am always open to engaging with local authority representatives on this important subject. Local authorities have a very important role in ensuring people from all backgrounds are able to participate in sport. They own or manage a large amount of sporting infrastructure in the country and have a responsibility to make sure that facilities and infrastructure are available and accessible. The Government, through Sport England, works closely with a wide range of local authorities, providing expert advice and funding to sustain and increase the number of people playing sport regularly.
Asked by: David Crausby (Labour - Bolton North East)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what recent meetings he has had with representatives of the Premier League to discuss that body's financial commitment to grassroots football.
Answered by Tracey Crouch
I met with the Chief Executive of the Premier League to discuss this, and other topics on the 20th May. Further discussions are planned, and together we will work in partnership to ensure that funding for grassroots football remains strong.
Asked by: David Crausby (Labour - Bolton North East)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what recent meetings he has had with local authority representatives to discuss the funding of sporting facilities.
Answered by Tracey Crouch
While there have been no recent meetings, I am always open to engaging with local authority representatives on this important subject. Local authorities have a very important role in ensuring people from all backgrounds are able to participate in sport. They own or manage a large amount of sporting infrastructure in the country and have a responsibility to make sure that facilities and infrastructure are available and accessible. The Government, through Sport England, works closely with a wide range of local authorities, providing expert advice and funding to sustain and increase the number of people playing sport regularly.