Extract from Culture,
Media and Sport questions: Multi-sport Grassroots
Facilities
(Waveney) (Con)
11. What recent progress she has made on implementing her
Department’s multi-sport grassroots facilities
programme.(901491)
The Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport ()
The Government have committed over £325 million to multi-sport
grassroots sites across the whole of the UK. This is part of our
mission to ensure that every community has the pitches and
facilities it needs. So far, 2,300 sites have been supported.
That includes funding for grass pitch maintenance at Waveney
football club in my hon. Friend’s constituency, creating many
more opportunities for people of all backgrounds to get
active.
The development of multi-sport grassroots facilities is very
often led by one sport, which then faces a variety of obstacles
in getting other sports authorities to participate in a
particular project. What steps is my right hon. and learned
Friend taking to remove those barriers, and to promote
collaboration between different sports authorities so that
much-needed facilities can be built?
I welcome my hon. Friend’s question because it allows me to
champion the fact that, as a requirement of the Government’s
investment in grassroots facilities, 40% of projects need to
clearly benefit a sport other than football, such as cricket,
rugby, basketball or netball. In England, the Football Foundation
and Sport
England work closely with the national governing
bodies of other sports to encourage the development of
multi-sport projects, to promote collaboration between clubs at a
local level.
(Bath) (LD)
Over 1 million girls lose interest in sports when they become
teenagers, mainly due to lack of confidence and feeling judged,
but we know how beneficial sports are for mental health, and
there are many other benefits. How has the Department included
gender in the implementation of the multi-sport grassroots
facilities programme?
I welcome that question. We have a national sports strategy to
get 3.5 million people more active. That is focused on trying to
get those who are currently inactive into sport. As the hon. Lady
rightly mentions, women and girls are less active in sport than
boys and men, so we are focusing in particular on that, with a
national taskforce that brings together all relevant Departments
and national governing bodies to ensure that we get more women
and girls involved in sport across the board.
Sir (Rossendale and Darwen)
(Con)
Does the Secretary of State accept that grassroots sports can
play a hugely important part in levelling up? As part of Darwen’s
£120 million town deal, we have invested in our football club,
our cricket club and our skate park, and we are about to open a
brand-new five-a-side pitch. Will she talk with the Secretary of
State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities to see what part
her Department can play in ensuring that sport plays its proper
part in enriching the cultural lives of people in areas with
levelling-up bids?
My right hon. Friend is a huge champion for his area and for the
north in general. He is absolutely right that sport, drama,
creativity—all those things—level up an area. I am very happy to
talk to my right hon. Friend in the Levelling Up Department to
consider how we can continue, across Government, to support the
north.
(Tiverton and Honiton)
(LD)
I have recently visited sports clubs in Honiton, including youth
rugby, gymnastics and football. They are all seeking support from
the local authority, East Devon District Council, on the basis of
its 2017 sports pitch strategy. The Government’s multi-sport
grassroots facilities programme is very welcome, but does the
Secretary of State consider it generous enough for youth sport,
given that the co-benefits of sport for young people include a
sense of camaraderie, good health and civic pride?
Our strategy is helping sport across the board, but I recognise
in particular the importance of getting young people involved in
sport. We have invested around £1 billion in sport for young
people, including £300 million for multi-sport pitches and £600
million in schools so that more children get the required two
hours of physical education. We are also investing across the
board in youth services to get more young children active in
constructive activities rather than in less appropriate ones.
Extract from Lords
debate on Pupil Mental Health, Well-being and Development
The (Con):...When it comes
to physical education, Sport England’s latest
survey estimated that only 47% of children and young people were
meeting the Chief Medical Officer’s guidelines of taking part in
sport and physical activity for an average of 60 minutes or more
every day. Sport and physical activity can change children’s
lives. It improves cognitive abilities, boosts concentration and
improves classroom conduct and behaviour—not to mention physical
and mental health, which in turn encourages their development as
community and family members. Physical exercise should be the
second pillar of their education...
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