Source · Select Committees · Culture, Media and Sport Committee
Recommendation 3
3
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Year on year, we continue to see persistent gaps in activity levels between different demographics.
Recommendation
Year on year, we continue to see persistent gaps in activity levels between different demographics. This issue has been exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic and certain groups in society continue to be disproportionately impacted. We acknowledge the support provided through Sport England’s ‘Tackling Inequalities Fund’ but support must be focused, as a matter of priority, on ensuring that activity levels among, in particular, women, disabled people and people from a BAME background recover and improve in the long-term. We recommend that the Government reconsider our previous recommendation to ring-fence further funds to ensure that the progress that was being made in physical activity levels within these groups is not set back by Covid-19, both by encouraging participation and by attracting leaders and volunteers from a range of communities and backgrounds across the UK.
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20
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
The Government agrees with the intentions of the recommendation in the importance of providing funding for tackling inequalities in participation. The Government has already provided a significant amount of funding in this area as set out below. The Government is committed to tackling inequalities in participation and ensuring no groups are left behind and is working with Sport England to deliver on this commitment. Sport England’s 10 year strategy Uniting the Movement is focused on providing opportunities to people and communities that have traditionally been left behind, and helping to remove barriers to activity. The Government, through DCMS has allocated £117 million Exchequer and £219 million Lottery in 2021–22 to Sport England in order to deliver on this strategy. Government Response to Committee’s Fourth Report 5 Sport England has devoted funding to specifically tackle inequalities in participation through the Tackling Inequalities Fund (TIF). TIF was set up in April 2020 to help the sport and physical activity sector through the Covid-19 pandemic . TIF was created with £20 million of National Lottery funding to try and help reduce the negative impact on activity levels in these under-represented groups, with a specific focus on: Lower socio- economic groups, Culturally diverse communities, Disabled people, people with long- term health conditions. Since its launch, it has enabled community groups to continue to exist and engage with their communities, supporting people to be engaged and active. With the first 12 months delivering some positive results, Sport England are planning for a further £20 million of investment over the autumn/winter of 2021/22. Furthermore, the Government has allocated £600 million through the Sport Survival a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. One of the packages primary objectives is to minimise the long-term damage to participation through safeguarding investment into grassroots community activity and women’s sport which is vital to tackling inequality. As such, grassroot and community sport have benefited from funding through the £36 million Rugby Football Union and £16.7 million Rugby Football League onward loan schemes as part of the package. Likewise, womens sport have received in excess of £12 million funding supporting sports such as rugby, football, netball, basketball and badminton.