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

To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to offer additional emergency financial support to non–professional football clubs whose competition participation has been suspended due to restrictions put in place to address the COVID-19 pandemic.

Sports and physical activity providers and facilities are at the heart of our communities, and play a crucial role in supporting adults and children to be active.

Government has provided unprecedented support to businesses through tax reliefs, cash grants and employee wage support, which many non-professional clubs have benefited from. This includes the Government’s £100m support fund for local authority leisure centres; Sport England’s Community Emergency Fund which provided £210m directly to support community sport clubs and exercise centres through this pandemic; and the £300m Sports Winter Survival Package which aims to protect the immediate futures of major spectator sports in England over the winter period.

Furthermore, non-professional clubs will be able to access £4.6 billion in new lockdown grants to support businesses and protect jobs which the Chancellor announced on Tuesday 5 January. Businesses in the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors are to receive a one-off grant worth up to £9,000.

We are continuing to work with sports and physical activity providers, including non-professional football clubs, to understand what they need and how we may be able to support them.