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

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps his Department plans to take to encourage people to participate in indoor group sports after covid-19 restrictions have been eased.

Sports and physical activity are incredibly important for our physical and mental health, and are a vital weapon against coronavirus. That’s why we have made sure that people can exercise throughout the national and local tiered restrictions. We will continue to promote sport and physical activity and encourage the usage of indoor sports facilities such as gyms as part of Step 2 of the Roadmap.

Government has provided unprecedented support to businesses through tax reliefs, cash grants and employee wage support, which many sport clubs have benefited from. On top of wider economic support, the Government has announced a £100m support fund for local authority leisure centres to ensure these important facilities remain available once public health restrictions are lifted. This is on top of the £270m which Sport England have committed to providing to the Grassroots sports sector.

We know how important sport is for young people’s physical and mental wellbeing. That is why the Culture Secretary and Education Secretary are working closely with our national sports and Sport England on an extensive offer of activities in schools over the summer.