Julie Elliott – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julie Elliott on 2016-10-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to encourage female participation in sport.

Tracey Crouch

Sport England’s latest Active People Survey results show that the number of women playing sport and being active in England is fast increasing, with over 7 million females aged 16 years or over playing sport once a week – an increase of 261,200 since March 2015.

However, we recognise that there are various obstacles which still exist that put women off sport and initiatives such as This Girl Can, a Sport England behaviour change campaign, have helped encourage women and girls to get active. In addition the Government’s strategy for sport and physical activity ‘Sporting Future: A New Strategy for An Active Nation’ and Sport England’s strategy ‘Towards an Active Nation’ aim to create a more physically active nation, where people of all ages and backgrounds can enjoy the benefits that sport and physical activity can provide. Both also put a strong emphasis on reaching groups that are under-represented in sport and physical activity, including women and girls, and helping them to get active in ways that suit them.