Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the reductions in funding under the new PE and School Sport Partnerships Network on PE and sport provision in primary schools from 2027 onwards.

Despite over a decade of investment via the PE and sport premium, less than half of all children meet the Chief Medical Officer’s recommended 60 active minutes a day. Inequalities persist, particularly for girls and pupils from disadvantaged and black and minority ethnic backgrounds.

On 21 May 2026, the government announced a new approach to PE and school sport funding. The decision on the future of the premium was taken in the context of wider decisions on budgets and the spending review, which enabled us to confirm investment over £1 billion for PE and School Sport over the next three years. This will fund a new approach combining both a universal offer to all primary and secondary schools, plus targeted support for those schools and pupils who will benefit from it the most. New partnership networks will strengthen links between schools and local clubs, to deliver high-quality PE for every child and remove barriers to participation for less active children. Provision will be informed by baseline and ongoing needs assessments led by a national delivery partner.

To support schools with the transition to this new approach, the government has committed to a £150 million transitional premium payment for the 2026/27 academic year. In response to longstanding calls from schools, we are also investing almost £200 million in capital funding to go towards improving school sporting facilities.