21
Accepted
National Audit Office (NAO) analysis of the grants issued at local level showed the share...
Conclusion
National Audit Office (NAO) analysis of the grants issued at local level showed the share received by the most deprived quintile of local authorities fell from 40% in the five years before the 2016 strategy to 34% in the five years afterwards. We therefore asked Sport England how it can claim to be directing its spending towards the least active when the share of local grants going to the most deprived local authorities had fallen. Sport England told us that 27% of its investment in the last year had gone to the most deprived areas of the country. It also noted that its £40 million Together Fund had reached 6,000 local clubs and community groups in the most deprived areas of the country, 80% of which had not received public funding before.34
Government Response Summary
The government agrees with the conclusion, confirming Sport England will enhance its investment data collection, including seeking to capture the range of locations where beneficiaries reside. Sport England will also provide detailed information in its 2023-24 Annual Report and Accounts regarding the targeting of investments at deprived and less active communities.
Government Response
Accepted
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
5.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Target implementation date: October 2024 5.2 Sport England will take appropriate action to build on the substantial investment data already published and recorded its Annual Report and Accounts to date. 5.3 Sport England invests public money responsibly and transparently, recording and publishing data on all grant recipients – including location data down to postcode level. Sport England publishes an updated register of grant awards on a quarterly basis, with awards dating back to 2009 listed in full. 5.4 These records demonstrate Sport England’s commitment to providing funding to deprived communities, as 19.2% of local level investment from July 2021 to June 2022 has been for projects in Indices of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) 1 areas. 5.5 Sport England will continue to provide a breakdown of where National Lottery and Exchequer funding is invested on a quarterly basis. 5.6 In some cases, where funding supports the delivery of activity across a local authority area, counties or regions, Sport England does not currently capture the range of locations where beneficiaries may reside but will seek to capture these data moving forward. 5.7 Sport England will endeavour to set out appropriate detail in their 2023-24 Annual Report and Accounts and explain how investments are being targeted at deprived and less active communities.
Source
Committee
Public Accounts Committee
Report
Thirty-Second Report - Grassroots participation in sport and physical activity
08 Jan 2023
HC 46
Addressee Bodies
HM Treasury
Timeline
Recommendation age
3.6 yrs
Report published
08 Jan 2023