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

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to help increase participation in grassroots (a) sports and (b) other physical activity by women and girls.

The Government is committed to supporting women's sport at every opportunity including pushing for greater participation.

In March this year, the Government announced a significant package of over £600 million to boost school sport, including confirmation of funding for the PE and School Sport Premium and the School Games Organisers network until the end of the summer term 2025. These programmes will improve the quality of PE and sports in primary schools to help children benefit from regular activity and ensure girls and boys have equal opportunity to play sport in school.

Sport England have also developed the Studio You PE teaching resource which aims to get young girls engaged in PE lessons, the platform offers video-based lessons covering a range of non-traditional activities, like boxing, dance, pilates and yoga. In addition, Sport England’s This Girl Can campaign has already inspired millions of women and girls to get active regardless of shape, size and ability. In May this year, This Girl Can and ukactive published guidance ‘How to make your spaces safer for women: A call to action from the 51%’ to help fitness and leisure facilities create safer spaces for women and girls to be active.

In addition, the Review of Women’s Football was published on 13 July, and supports the continued growth and development of women’s and girl’s football. The Government welcomes the work of the Review and will now consider the recommendations before providing a response in the autumn.