To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to improve sports provision in local communities for disabled children.
Answered on
3 November 2016
Government recognises the importance of sport and physical activity to disabled people. Our sport strategy, 'Sporting Future: A New Strategy for an Active Nation', published in December 2015, emphasises the importance of getting people active, particularly those groups currently under-represented, including disabled people. We also broadened Sport England's remit to be responsible for children's sport outside school from the age of five, to help people receive the best possible experience of sport and to build physical literacy and a positive attitude to sport and physical activity.
Sport England published its own strategy, Towards an Active Nation on 19 May, which sets out how it intends to deliver against the government’s sport strategy. This includes a specific focus on disabled people, who are less likely to regularly take part in physical activity. It will invest more on children, including disabled children, from the age of five to help them develop a sporting habit for life.
Since 2010 Sport England has invested £480,452 of National Lottery funding in Sunderland Central