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

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to help increase the participation of (a) girls and (b) women in sport.

The Government is committed to increasing women and girls’ participation in sport and physical activity.

Our sport strategy, Get Active, includes the target of getting 1.25 million more women and 1 million more children active by 2030. This will be supported by Government investment of over £600 million to boost equal access in school sport.

Government is delivering an historic level of direct investment of over £327 million between 2021-25, through the Multi-Sport Grassroots Facilities Programme, to provide up to 8,000 new and improved multi-sport grassroots facilities and pitches across the whole of the UK.

All projects on the Multi-Sport Grassroots Facilities Programme are assessed against their ability to deliver increased participation by under-represented groups, including women and girls, and all projects over £25,000 in England must have an equal access women and girls plan in place.

This includes the £30 million Lionesses Futures Fund, which will deliver up to 30 artificial pitches across the country, creating opportunities to play for almost 8,000 women and girls.

The Government welcomes the Women and Equalities Select Committee’s recent report on ‘Health Barriers for Girls and Women in Sport’ and accepts most of the reports recommendations. We will continue to work with the sector to remove the barriers that prevent women and girls from being active and continue to give women and girls a voice on what they want.