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

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps he is taking to encourage children under the age of 16 to participate in extracurricular sport.

Government’s Sporting Future strategy set out how important it is for all children to have a good experience of sport and physical activity while they are young.

Sport England supports children and young people in England by ensuring there is a good sports and activity offer before and after the school day. Sport England has committed up to £194 million of investment into children and young people over the next four years, which includes the Families Fund: up to £40 million invested in projects that offer new opportunities for families with children to be active together. Sport England will also provide specialist training to at least two teachers in every secondary school in England by 2020, and will invest £28m into Satellite Clubs between 2017-2021.

DCMS are working closely with the Department for Education and the Department of Health and Social Care on a new School Sport and Activity Action plan, which will be published in Spring 2019. The plan will consider ways to ensure that all children have access to quality, protected PE and sport sessions during the school week and opportunities to be physically active throughout the school day.