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

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of community covered (a) tennis, (b) padel and (c) multisport hubs.

The Government will invest £15 million into new delivery models across England in 2026/27, to allow more people to participate in sports they wish to. At least £2.5 million will be invested through the LTA for covered courts in England for tennis, padel and other activities, with additional funding will also enable a wider range of sporting bodies to trial innovative funding pathways. We are working closely with the sport sector, including the Lawn Tennis Association, to learn from these pathways to develop plans for future grassroots sport funding.

We are also investing £85 million across the UK via the Multi-Sport Grassroots Facilities Programme in 2026/27, funding projects such as multi-sport hubs which provide communities with access to the facilities they need.

We recognise the need for funding to target a range of sports across the country based on what types of facilities each community needs, ensuring that our investment in community grassroots sports facilities reaches as many people as possible.

We provide the majority of support for grassroots sport through Sport England - which annually invests over £250 million in Exchequer and Lottery funding into grassroots sport across England, including providing £10.2 million in funding for the Lawn Tennis Association between 2022-27.