Justin Welcomes £415 Million School Sport Investment After Major Campaign

North Swindon MP Justin Tomlinson has welcomed an announcement by the Education Secretary, Justine Greening, that schools are to receive £415 million to help pupils benefit from healthier, more active lifestyles.

It follows an active campaign by Justin to use the Soft Drinks Levy (better known as the Sugar Tax) to deliver more sport in schools and promote healthier options which culminated recently with a parliamentary debate led by Justin. (You can watch this debate via https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TdDnfvr2rIE&t=4s).

As Chair of the APPG for Sport, Justin has been keen to ensure that the funds raised from the levy are not only used to improve sport in schools, but to foster a long-term, sustainable strategy for sports & recreation after school and during half-term breaks and, crucially, to open-up school facilities to community groups free of charge between 4pm & 6pm.

During the debate Justin also highlighted the huge success of Draycott Sports Camps, led by local primary school teacher Mark Draycott. The clubs are hugely popular and regularly attract hundreds of young people to try something new (you can read more about the camps below). As part of the plan for utilising the monies raised from the tax, Justin called for the expansion of programmes like the one run by Mark Draycott.

Following the debate, Ministers committed to going away and drawing up proposals based on the ideas put forward by Justin and the APPG for Sport. As a result primary, secondary and sixth-form colleges will be able to use the funding to pay for facilities to support physical education (PE), after-school activities and healthy eating.

Schools will also be able to use the new healthy pupils capital programme to improve facilities for children with physical conditions or support young people struggling with mental health issues. Alongside the funding for the PE and sport premium, breakfast clubs and universal infant free school meals, it represents over £1.3 billion investment in the 2018 to 2019 academic year to help young people live healthier lifestyles. This builds on wider government work such as the recent sports strategy. Local authorities and larger multi-academy trusts will receive an allocation for schools and will make decisions locally on how this money is invested. Smaller multi-academy trusts (MATs), individual academies and sixth-form centres will be able to bid for grants for specific one-off projects.

Additionally, the Healthy Pupils Capital Programme will build on the Government’s plans for schools to provide a longer school day by changing the focus of the scheme to provide new facilities or improve existing ones to make it easier for a range of extra-curricular activities to be provided – a clear nod to programme’s like the Draycott Sports Camps in Swindon.

Crucially, following questions raised by Justin, the Government has also pledged to ensure that the amount schools receive will not fall below £415 million regardless of the funds generated by the levy.

Justin Tomlinson MP said: “Following on from the success of my important debate in Parliament. I am delighted with this announcement. Since I was first elected, I have actively campaigned in Parliament for an increase the funding and resources available for sport in schools. I know how important being healthy & active when you are young can be - it can change lives socially as well as physically and boosts wider attainment in schools. Pupils, teachers and parents will all benefit from these much-needed proposals; from breakfast clubs to after-school sports camps, this major investment will not only deliver healthier lifestyles for children but ensure that they enjoy active lives as well. We are lucky in Swindon to have excellent examples already, like the Draycott Sports Camps, and this announcement means that we have opportunity to replicate the success across the country.”

Education Secretary Justine Greening said: “Schools can really help our children get a healthy start in life from exercise and sport, and also from knowing what a healthy diet means. It’s not only good for them while they’re in education, but the health and wellbeing benefits can last a lifetime. That’s why we’re investing £415 million in facilities to support sports, after-school activities and promoting healthy eating, so we can secure the future health of our young people.”