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

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking with Cabinet colleagues to help improve the quality of sporting facilities in (a) Bedfordshire and (b) Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard constituency.

This Government recognises that sport facilities are at the beating heart of communities up and down the country. High-quality, inclusive facilities help clubs to get more people active and by backing these clubs, the Government will support more people participating wherever they live.

We will continue to support grassroots sport including through the Multi-Sport Grassroots Facilities Programme that will invest £123 million across the UK this year.

The Government provides the majority of support for grassroots sport through our Arms Length Body, Sport England - which invests an average of £250 million in Exchequer and Lottery funding each year.

Over the last five years Bedfordshire has received over £8.8 million and Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard constituency has received over £192,000 from Sport England to support projects which facilitate participation in grassroots sport.

Additionally, Bedfordshire received £5,305,046.28 in funding across 51 facilities through the Multi-Sport Grassroots Facilities Programme, Park Tennis Court Programme and the Swimming Pool Support Fund. Of this amount, £1,798,441 was awarded across six facilities in Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard, including £1,032,533 for a new artificial grass pitch and changing pavilion at Tithe Farm Road Recreation Ground. Full breakdowns of the facilities funded through the Multi-Sport Grassroots Facilities Programme and through the Park Tennis Court Programme are available on gov.uk, and a breakdown of facilities funded through the Swimming Pool Support Fund is available on the Sport England website.