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

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will have discussions with (a) Cabinet colleagues and (b) employers on the potential merits of businesses providing (i) showers and (ii) changing rooms to help encourage workers to participate in sport activities prior to or during working hours.

His Majesty’s Government is committed to ensuring that everyone is able to enjoy the physical and mental health benefits that sport and physical activity provides.

We work across the Government and with Sport England to support adults to achieve 2.5 hours of physical activity a week, and the upcoming Sport Strategy will set out our ambition to make sport and physical activity a core part of everyone’s daily life, making it more accessible, more inclusive and more sustainable.

Sport England is an arm’s length body of the Government responsible for growing and developing grassroots sport and getting more people active across England. Sport England has published an ‘Active Employee Toolkit’ which offers advice, tips and shareable resources for employers to encourage their teams to build more movement into their working day.

Additionally, the Government’s Cycle to Work scheme encourages employees to travel to and from work by bicycle; guidance for employers who want to put in place a cycle to work scheme is set out here. Furthermore, the Government’s guidance for employers to offer gym memberships and sports facilities to staff can be found on gov.uk.