Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of doubling the sport premium.

An independent evaluation report into the premium was published in December 2015. It found that:

• 87% of schools reported that the quality of PE teaching had increased since the introduction of the premium.
• The PE and sport premium had had a positive impact on physical fitness, healthy lifestyles, skills and behaviour of pupils.
• The majority of schools reported that they had introduced new sports in both curricular PE and extra-curricular sport since the premium was introduced.

We know more can be done to improve PE and sport in primary schools, which is why we have doubled the premium to £320 million a year from September 2017 using revenue from the Soft Drinks Industry Levy.

Schools must use the funding to make additional and sustainable improvements to the quality of PE and sport they offer. The premium should develop or add to the PE and sport activities that a school already offers and make improvements now that will benefit pupils joining the school in future years.