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

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what fiscal support she is providing to local authorities to help support (a) community sports clubs, (b) swimming pools and (c) grassroot facilities in Greater Manchester.

The Government recognises the importance of ensuring public access to leisure facilities which are vital spaces for people of all ages to stay fit and healthy, and which play an important role within communities.

The ongoing responsibility of providing access to public leisure facilities lies at local authority level with funding levels set by MHCLG as part of the Local Government Finance Settlement.

The Government encourages local authorities to make investments which offer the right opportunities and facilities for the communities they serve, investing in sport and physical activity with a place-based approach, to meet the needs of individual communities.

The majority of Government funding for grassroots sport clubs is through our Arm’s Length Body, Sport England, which invests over £250 million in Exchequer and Lottery funding each year. An additional £100 million is being invested in grassroots sports facilities across the UK via the Multi-Sport Grassroots Facilities Programme.

Future funding of community sports facilities will be considered as part of the forthcoming Spending Review.