Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent steps her Department has taken to promote physical activity among school pupils.

We want all pupils to be healthy and active. That is why PE remains a compulsory subject at all four key stages in the national curriculum, and why since 2013 the government has provided over £600m of ring-fenced funding through the Primary PE and Sport Premium to help improve the quality of PE provision.

This funding is making a big impact. In independent research, schools reported almost universally that the PE and Sport Premium had had a positive impact on pupils’ physical fitness, with 84 per cent of schools reporting an increase in pupil engagement in PE and in the levels of participation in extra-curricular activities.

We know however, that there is more to do to, which is why we are using revenue from the soft drinks industry levy to double the primary PE and Sport Premium to £320 million a year from September 2017. This is part of wider government work, including the recent Sports Strategy and Childhood Obesity Plan, to help cut obesity levels and increase rates of physical activity.