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

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, how much Government funding has been awarded to the racing industry to support race horse welfare and race horse upkeep during the covid-19 outbreak.

On 17 April 2020, the Horserace Betting Levy Board (HBLB) and Racing Foundation agreed an immediate cash flow and hardship support package to support racing, of which HBLB contributed £20m and the Racing Foundation £8m. The Racing Foundation’s funding supported participants such as jockeys and trainers directly, while the HBLB provided grants and capital loans to courses. HBLB has also increased its contributions to prize money by 50% during the pandemic to mitigate lower amounts made available by courses due to Covid. As well as funding welfare projects directly, HBLB’s contributions to prize money enable the industry to maintain fixture lists and field sizes, which in turn facilitates investment in equine welfare.

On 19 November 2020 the Government announced a rescue package worth £300 million to help major spectator sports including horse racing which were affected by the coronavirus pandemic. As a summer sport, horse racing is also expected to benefit from a further £300m for the recovery package across all sports including horseracing that was announced in the recent budget.