22
Accepted
Sport England told us the changes in distribution of spending reported by the NAO was...
Conclusion
Sport England told us the changes in distribution of spending reported by the NAO was due to where some of the national organisations were based rather than where the funding then goes on to be received. It explained that some organisations, such as the Football Foundation, may be distributing money nationally, but it was recorded as being distributed where they were based, in this case London.35 However, the NAO’s analysis 30 Q 59 31 Q 28 32 Qq 42, 43 33 C&AG’s report, paras 12, 2.19 and 2.24 34 Qq 45, 49 35 Qq 45, 46 Grassroots participation in sport and physical activity 15 excluded grants issued to national organisations. We therefore pointed out to Sport England in reply that the fall in the share of funding received by the most deprived local authorities from 40% to 34% only related to money spent at local level. But it continued to insist that the fall was due to grants issued to national organisations and where these organisations were based.36
Government Response Summary
The government agrees with the conclusion, stating Sport England will take action to enhance its investment data and improve the capture of beneficiary location data. Sport England also commits to providing detailed explanations in its 2023-24 Annual Report and Accounts on how investments are targeted 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