Asked by
To ask His Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of
the decreasing numbers of accessible and affordable playing
fields.
(Non-Afl)
My Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question standing in my name,
and refer to my entry in the register regarding my position as
honorary president of the London Playing Fields Foundation.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for
Culture, Media and Sport ( of Whitley Bay) (Con)
My Lords, the Government are committed to ensuring that every
community has the facilities it needs so that sport and physical
activity are accessible to all. We are investing £300 million in
developing thousands of state-of-the-art community football
pitches and multiuse sports facilities across the UK. We have
committed £30 million a year for three years to school sport
facilities in England, and over £20 million with the Lawn Tennis
Association to renovate park tennis courts across England,
Scotland and Wales.
(Non-Afl)
I thank the Minister. That all sounds very good, but does he
agree that playing fields are more than just green spaces and can
help to improve people’s lives physically, mentally and indeed
socially? Unfortunately, the temptation at the moment is for
councils to get capital receipts from selling off playing fields
for more desperately needed housing. That is happening now all
over the country. Will the Government accept that real protection
will come only when local councils have a specific statutory
responsibility for sport and leisure, including playing
fields?
of Whitley Bay (Con)
I certainly agree with the noble Baroness that sport facilities
are important, not just to people’s physical health but to their
mental health and well-being. That is why we are investing the
sums that we are—£300 million—in ensuring that communities across
the UK have them in their areas. At least 50% of the funding will
go to the most deprived areas across the United Kingdom, and we
work closely with local communities, including local authorities,
in ensuring that the provision is there.
(Con)
I am sure that my noble friend the Minister will be aware that in
many areas there are privately owned sports facilities, either
private clubs or sometimes public schools. What are the
Government doing to encourage those privately owned sport
facilities and playing fields to be shared more widely with
people in the community?
of Whitley Bay (Con)
We applaud those schools that make their facilities open to the
community, and our Opening Schools Facilities programme is
providing up to £57 million to allow selected schools across
England to keep their facilities open for longer for after-school
activities. That is targeted especially at girls, disadvantaged
children and people with special educational needs. We want to
make sure that everyone has the opportunity to take part in sport
and physical activity.
(Lab)
My Lords, I declare an interest as president of Vauxhall Motors
Football Club, where 40,000 children from the age of five play in
only one football season. It has been very difficult to watch so
many council and school playing fields be sold off so that they
can pay their bills, for whatever reason. I suggest to the
Minister one or two things that could be done. First, we need to
talk to Sport
England to stop it objecting to all-weather pitches
being laid because of its mental blockage about saying that they
must be grass. Secondly, does he agree that the Football
Foundation and the Premier League should put even more money into
grass-roots football for 4G pitches, so that communities like
mine can really enjoy football or rugby throughout the whole of
the year?
of Whitley Bay (Con)
In the context of the fan-led review, we have talked through
wanting to see funding flow more equitably throughout the
football pyramid, and the work that we have taken forward in the
White Paper will follow that up. On the question of grass or
artificial sports facilities, £43 million of the £300 million I
mentioned has already been delivered, which will improve 177
facilities across the UK including 80 artificial-grass pitches
and over 20 grass-pitch improvements, so we are looking after
pitches of all types.
(LD)
The Minister says that the Government are improving the number of
pitches and putting more money in. Do they have an idea of how
many pitches and open spaces are required to get the best health
benefits out of the exercise programme? If not, why not?
of Whitley Bay (Con)
The programme is targeted and, as I say, at least 50% of the
funding will go to the most deprived areas across the United
Kingdom to make sure that we are inspiring people and giving them
the facilities in the areas that they need. We work with a range
of bodies to do that.
(CB)
My Lords, I want to press the Minister a little further on the
answer to the question of the noble Lord, , particularly on public and
private schools opening their facilities. Those schools have some
of the very best sports facilities in the country, and the lack
of access to good opportunities further exacerbates inequalities
between those children from disadvantaged homes and those who are
better off and able to afford an education at those schools. What
is the department doing to press those schools to partner more
effectively with their local communities?
of Whitley Bay (Con)
We work through the Department for Education to encourage schools
to make their facilities available to the wider community. Last
week we announced a significant package of over £600 million to
boost school sport in the state sector, including confirmation of
funding for the PE and school sport premium and the School Games
Organisers network until the end of summer term 2025, so we are
making sure that we are working with state schools as well.
(Lab Co-op)
My Lords, Labour welcomes the fact that the Government have
conceded to the Lionesses’ campaign for girls to have the right
to play football in school. However, given the continued loss of
playing fields, how will the Government ensure that playing
fields are available for the next generation of both male and
female footballers to get the start and the facilities that they
deserve?
of Whitley Bay (Con)
The £300 million which I mentioned is making sure that there are
changing rooms, facilities, and new artificial and grass-pitch
improvements; it is also being targeted toward smaller capital
projects such as floodlights and equipment. We are making sure
that we are targeting it at disadvantaged groups of people, as
well as groups who are underrepresented in sport, which of course
includes women and girls. I am delighted to say that the first of
the stadia around the country that are being named after some of
our victorious Lionesses has been announced: the Jill Scott pitch
in Jarrow in Tyne and Wear.
(Con)
What are the Government doing to discourage the sale of school
playing fields without any provision for their replacement? I
also applaud the Government for doing all that they can to
encourage further partnerships between independent and maintained
schools, to which the noble Baroness, Lady Bull, referred. There
are now many thousands of them and they are growing all the
time.
of Whitley Bay (Con)
We are working through the programmes that I have mentioned—the
PE and school sport premium, the School Games Organisers network,
and the Opening School Facilities programme—to encourage school
sporting facilities to be made available to the widest possible
group of people.
of Hudnall (Lab)
My Lords, the questions so far have focused quite significantly
on football, and to a lesser extent on other sports that require
to be played on playing fields. Could the Minister say a bit more
about what the Government are doing to support swimming
facilities, which have major health benefits, and are among the
more expensive facilities to maintain, particularly for local
authorities? Furthermore, how are the Government investing to
make sure that they are not lost?
of Whitley Bay (Con)
The noble Baroness is right to point to other sports. In regard
to the £300 million I referred to, 40% of projects will support a
sport other than football. We know that, like many organisations
and businesses, swimming pools are hit particularly hard by the
rising cost of energy. My right honourable friend the Sports
Minister has had a number of discussions with the sector to hear
about the impact of rising energy bills on swimming pools, which
we are of course feeding into colleagues at His Majesty’s
Treasury, particularly with a view to the Budget this week.
(LD)
My Lords, notwithstanding the answers that the Minister gave to
the noble Lords, Lords Lexden and Lord Kennedy, is he aware that
in the last few years over 100 schools have been forced to sell
off their playing fields, affecting something like 75,000 pupils?
Does he not believe that more should be done to provide funds to
schools so that they are not forced to sell off these valuable
assets?
of Whitley Bay (Con)
My Lords, in part, that falls to colleagues at the Department for
Education, but the noble Lord is right to point to the importance
of school facilities. Through the programmes that I have
mentioned we have support for schools to make sure that
facilities are shared with the wider community, which of course
underlines their importance and gets more people using them. The
investment that we are making in England reflects the need
identified through local football facility plans, which ensure
that we engage communities in the facilities that they need in
their area.
of Tredegar (Con)
My Lords, after the events of the weekend, does my noble friend
the Minister agree that the key thing is that public access to
playing fields and what goes on on them should be both direct and
unimpeded, and need not be mediated through the views of
opinionated and overpaid pundits?
of Whitley Bay (Con)
My Lords, we work with a variety of people in sport to ensure
that funding is available to those who need it, to inspire future
generations of boys and girls to take part in whatever sport or
physical activity they wish.
(Lab)
My Lords, the loss of these facilities is clearly unfortunate
and, as has been said, there is an issue of mental health. Can
the Minister explain to me why my mental health seems to have
been affected by the rugby football match between France and
England that has just taken place?
of Whitley Bay (Con)
The noble Lord underlines the emotional journey that supporters
go on when cheering on the teams in their preferred sport, but
also the great delight that they bring to the many people who
spectate.
