The government’s recent funding announcement has been broadly welcomed across the sector. More than £600m of funding has been earmarked for the continuation of the Primary PE and Sport Premium, with an additional £22m for the nationwide network of 450 School Games Organisers to help schools in England ensure sport is inclusive, engaging and fun for all. “The confirmation of this funding is absolutely vital to the growth and development of a vibrant school sport culture which, in turn, is fundamentally important to children’s health and wellbeing,” said Youth Sport Trust CEO Ali Oliver. “Schools in England will be relieved they now have the certainty needed to plan PE, sport and physical activity provision for the next two academic years.”The government says  girls and boys should be offered the same sports during PE and extracurricular time in schools. Schools that successfully deliver equal opportunities for girls and boys will be rewarded through the School Games Mark, which will assess parity of provision in PE and extracurricular sport. Schools are also being asked to offer a minimum of two hours curriculum PE time and the government will provide support to schools on how to do this through the upcoming refresh of the School Sport Action Plan. Alongside this work, Ofsted will be publishing a report into PE in the coming months, which will inform future inspections and set out what they believe is possible in terms of offering high quality PE and equal access to sports.

The government also announced a new one-year fund which will allow local authorities to apply for funding for leisure centres with pools that face immediate cost pressures including operational and maintenance costs, and energy bills. There are more than 2,000 public leisure centres in England, over 800 of which have pools. The new fund will be managed by Sport England. In total, £40m will be made available for investment in decarbonisation and longterm energy efficiency, while £23m will help with costs to make these essential local hubs more energy efficient. Council-run pools, pools run on behalf of councils by private companies and by charities are all eligible for support. Swim England and a coalition of other organisations have been campaigning for several months for increased financial support to help leisure facilities cope with unprecedented financial challenges caused by the energy crisis. The governing body says that since October last year, around 350 facilities had already been hit by service reductions, temporary and permanent closures. “We welcome this intervention, which is an important recognition of the incredibly challenging situation currently facing swimming pools and their value to local communities. The financial support announced will undoubtedly make a difference for a number of vulnerable pools as they battle with increased energy costs,” said Jane Nickerson, Swim England chief executive. “We will continue to monitor the situation going forward and seek to work with the government to put swimming pools on a sustainable long-term footing to support the health and wellbeing of the nation.”