Select committee: Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee
Recommendation 8
Fourth Report - Sport in our communities
Published 29 Jul 2021
Paragraph 49
Addressed to Department for Culture, Media and Sport
Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee Sport in our communities All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Recommendation (the committee's words)
We welcome the introduction of the Community Ownership Fund but, at a time where many community groups have faced unprecedented challenges, we are disappointed that the bidding process did not begin in June 2021 as the Government promised it would. Access to facilities has long been an issue for grassroots and community sport and we are concerned that the fund, in its current format, will not go far enough. We were also not persuaded by the Minister’s argument that ringfencing money for sports groups would not be a good thing. In the short-term, we recommend that the Government set out the ways in which it will support community sport groups which are successful in applying for match funding through the Community Ownership Fund. In the longer term, we recommend that the Government ringfence money, either from the Community Ownership Fund or elsewhere, to enable sports clubs and teams to purchase and upgrade their own facilities.
From: Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee, Fourth Report - Sport in our communities (HC 45), paragraph 49, 29 July 2021
Government response
The government responded to the whole report on 20 October 2021 (deadline 18 October 2021).
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The Government "wholeheartedly agrees" on the need to support community and grassroots sport, and responds to the recommendations by agreeing with their intent or aims in most cases while declining some specific measures.
- On a 'Work Out to Help Out' campaign, it agrees with the intent but says "We do not think that a financial incentive to ‘work out’ is needed", preferring investment in community facilities and existing campaigns.
- It agrees that funding models should be reviewed to ensure sustainability, and will reflect on this in the new sport strategy, while noting it does not allow funding to sports Arms Length Bodies to be "in advance of need".
- On the Community Ownership Fund, it says "purchasing and upgrading sport clubs’ own facilities is out of scope", though up to £1 million matched funding is available "in exceptional cases" for community-owned sports clubs or grounds.
- It states that organisations will be expected to publish diversity and inclusion action plans "by the end of summer 2022", and that funding withdrawal will be "actively considered" if sustained lack of progress is evident.