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

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether his Department has made an assessment of the economic benefits that major snooker tournaments deliver to host cities and towns.

Neither DCMS or UK Sport are involved in the bidding for or hosting a snooker events, and as such we do not track or assess the economic or other benefits which such events may bring to the towns and cities hosting them.

According to latest Sport England participation statistics, 23,600 adults took part in snooker at least twice in the last 28 days (May 17-18), which is 0.1% of the population.

Between 1 April 2009 and 31 December 2018, Sport England invested into 37 multi-sport projects, benefitting billiards and snooker to a total award value of £7,411,759 (£224,000 Exchequer and £7,187,759 Lottery). There are also 9 multi-sport projects involving snooker currently at various stages of assessment. These include 8 Community Asset Fund and 1 Small Grants applications.