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

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 11 September 2023 to Question 196336 on Sports: Scotland and the stipulation that at least 40% of projects must benefit at least one other sport in addition to football on a sustained and regular basis, whether he has made an assessment of the (a) acceptability of the majority of funding being spent on astroturf pitches and (b) in that instance, the potential impact of that funding on (i) hockey and (ii) other sports that do not use fourth generation astroturf pitches.

In Scotland, funding from the Multi-Sport Grassroots Facilities Programme is delivered through the Scottish Football Association (SFA), with recipients chosen via an application process involving advice from a panel which includes Sport Scotland. At least 40% of the funding must go towards multi-sport projects, and the SFA works closely with Sport Scotland to deliver this funding.

4G pitches are not widely used - Department for Culture, Media and Sport investment is generally used to deliver third generation (3G) synthetic surfaces in line with industry standard.

As per guidance, competitive hockey cannot be played on 3G surfaces but those pitches can still be used for training purposes and for other sports e.g rugby (where shock-pads are installed).