Leisure: Coronavirus

(asked on 22nd July 2020) - View Source

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

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have any plans to work with local authorities to provide additional leisure facilities, especially for young people, in areas of high unemployment following the COVID-19 pandemic.


Answered by
Baroness Barran Portrait
Baroness Barran
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
This question was answered on 3rd August 2020

Sports and physical activity facilities play a crucial role in supporting adults and children to be active. Swimming pools, indoor gyms and leisure centres (including sports halls) should now be able to reopen. These facilities will be able to offer on-site services to customers, provided they are COVID-secure and follow Government guidance.

Sport England have announced a £195 million package of support to help community clubs through this crisis. It recently boosted its Community Emergency Fund by a further £15 million to meet the demand, taking the total up to £210 million.

The income scheme announced on Thursday 2 July by the Secretary of State for Local Government, aims to support local authorities who have incurred irrecoverable loss of income from sales, fees and charge which they had reasonably budgeted for. Further guidance will follow on the principle of the scheme.

The Government is providing local authorities with an unprecedented package of support, allocating £4.3bn of support for?spending?pressures, including £3.7bn of un-ringfenced grants and the £600m Infection Control Fund.

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