Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, how much Olympic legacy funding has been disbursed in respect of the Metropolitan Borough of Sandwell; and if she will make a statement.

This question was answered on 28th November 2017

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Through its London 2012 legacy programme, Places People Play, Sport England invested a total of £2,225,541 in 13 grassroots sports projects in the Metropolitan Borough of Sandwell. This included an investment of £1.5m of National Lottery money in the Portway Lifestyle Centre in Sandwell which opened in 2013. Portway Lifestyle Centre is an excellent example of a community wellness hub, and one of the first in the UK to bring social care, health and leisure services together under one roof, combining an NHS family practice with a range of health, social care and sports facilities. Birmingham has bid for the Commonwealth Games in 2022 and, should the bid be successful, the Sandwell Aquatics Centre would be upgraded to include an iconic diving venue and community facility. This would provide a legacy for the local community, catering for everyone from beginner swimmers through to elite divers, with the provision of much needed facilities within the Black Country and West Midlands.