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

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the impact of increasing grassroots sport opportunities on the level of physical activity undertaken in local authority areas.

Sport and physical activity are incredibly important for our physical and mental health and this government is committed to ensuring that everyone, regardless of background, should have access to and benefit from quality sport and physical activity opportunities.

Since the government launched its sports strategy, Sporting Future in 2015, we have achieved a huge amount.

Sport England has allocated over £1.5 billion to nearly 5,000 grassroots organisations across the UK, increasing opportunities for individuals all over the country to get active.

In 2020 alone, Sport England distributed over £340 million of Exchequer and Lottery funding to support the development of grassroots sport in England, in addition to £100 million through the National Leisure Recovery Fund.

The Government also invests £18 million each year in community sport facilities via the Football Foundation. In partnership with the Football Association and Premier League, this results in £70 million being invested into community sport facilities every year.

The Government has also recently announced a £30 million package to refurbish 4,500 park tennis courts throughout the country in partnership with the Lawn Tennis Association.

On top of this, the Prime Minister has committed to delivering the grassroots pitches every community needs and this has already resulted in an investment of £25 million by the government in 2021/22 to upgrade and improve facilities across the UK. At the Spending Review, a further £205 million was pledged over the next three years, targeted at the communities most in need, with the aim of increasing participation in sport among under-represented groups, as part of the government’s levelling up plans.