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

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she has taken to improve funding available for youth sports competitions.

This Government puts children and young people at the heart of our priorities. This includes breaking down barriers to opportunity for every child to access high-quality sport and physical activity, especially those who are less likely to be active. We are committed to protecting time for physical education in school and supporting the role grassroots clubs play in expanding access to sport.

The School Games Organisers are essential in ensuring that all children have the opportunity to take part in local and accessible sport and physical activity competitions. In the 2023/24 academic year, the country-wide network of 450 SGOs provided 2.3 million opportunities for school children to engage in local and inclusive sporting competitions across 40 different sports and activities. The Government has confirmed funding for the School Games Organisers until the end of the 25/26 Financial Year.

We provide the majority of our funding for grassroots sport through our Arm’s Length Body, Sport England - which invests over £250 million in Exchequer and Lottery funding each year and funds National Governing Bodies and sport organisations to deliver a range of local, accessible sport for young people, including competitions.