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

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to increase opportunities for (a) children and (b) young people to participate in ice hockey in (i) Surrey and (ii) Surrey Heath constituency.

The Government is committed to ensuring that everyone, including children and young people, have access to and benefit from quality sport and physical activity opportunities.

The Government provides the majority of support for community sport through Sport England, our Arm’s Length Body for grassroots sport, which annually invests over £250 million in Exchequer and Lottery Funding. Sport England’s work focuses on increasing participation in grassroots sport, including ice hockey, providing more opportunities for children and young people to be active.

In the last financial year, 2024-25, Sport England invested £314,995 into the Surrey Heath constituency to improve access to sport and physical activity. Local Authorities in Surrey received a combined total of £1.86m of Sport England Funding in 2024-25.