Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to ukactive’s press released entitled Up to £57 million investment received for schools to open their sports facilities to support communities to be more active, published on 8 March, what steps (a) her Department is taking to deliver and (b) schools have to take to apply for that funding.

On 8 March 2023, the Department announced that up to £57 million has been allocated up to March 2025 for Phase 3 of the Opening School Facilities programme to allow selected schools around England to open their sports facilities in the evenings, at weekends and during the holidays.

The Department has awarded a contract to a consortium led by Active Partnerships, who are identifying schools across England where the funding will have a positive effect on getting the least active pupils and wider community users to participate in more sport.

Active Partnerships will support schools to create new partnerships with sport national governing bodies and local sport providers to broaden the extracurricular opportunities being delivered in the selected schools’ sports facilities.

The Department can confirm that in year one, Active Nottinghamshire have already identified 19 schools in Nottinghamshire to benefit from the programme.