Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if his Department will make it a condition of any new school funding agreement that the school in question must make its sports facilities available for public use outside the school day.

Sports facilities in schools can provide excellent opportunities for communities to be active and take part in sport. Many schools offer use of their facilities for community use outside of the school day: approximately two thirds (62%) of school sports facilities across England are now available for some form of community use.

The Department updated the Governance handbook for academies, multi-academy trusts and maintained schools in 2017 to include advice on the use of extended activities and community services, such as sports facilities.

Sport England has developed an online resource ‘Use Our School’ to support schools in opening their facilities to the community and keeping them open.