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

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what criteria his Department used to determine the amount of money given to the Football Association to be distributed to clubs in the National League; and on what basis the National League will distribute that money.

As part of a promotional deal with the Football Association, the National Lottery provided £10m in funding for the 66 clubs in the National League. This initiative is in addition to the ongoing support the National Lottery provides to good causes through the National Lottery Distribution Fund. Funding has been allocated to clubs by the National League using an approach based broadly on past attendance. The National League will keep allocations under review and may amend them if any club suffers acute financial hardship.

The department does not hold records on the average attendance or gate receipts of National League clubs.