Government to make grassroots funding dependent on equality between boys and girls

The government will look to enforce equal access to grassroots sport, with girls still getting the short end of the stick despite extra investment at the local level, the culture secretary has said.

Lisa Nandy told the culture, media and sport committee on Wednesday, that girls were often able to access facilities only “at nine o’clock at night” due to boys teams taking priority and that future funding of sports bodies could come with conditions that require more equitable use of facilities.

“One of the challenges we are facing is that even while we are going around the country investing in new facilities, established teams are getting priority to be able to play. Those established teams are usually boys teams, so the girls are playing at nine o’clock at night when the facilities have become free.

“We think that’s unacceptable, so we’re looking at using the power we’ve got in government to attach conditions to the funding to make sure that doesn’t take place and there is equal access.”

Calls for the greater inclusion of girls’ and women’s sport have grown over recent years, in part after the inspirational success of the Lionesses and the 2021 US Open champion, Emma Raducanu.

This year, the government announced it would spend up to £400m on improving grassroots facilities, with an emphasis on making those spaces more inclusive. The Guardian understands that the conditions related to this funding would be extended to include all other sports if the government’s plans are carried out.

Last month, the government announced funding for two cricket domes, which would allow for year-round play, with one of the venues at Farington, near Preston, intended as a focal point for growing the women’s game.

“The new domes are the floor, not the ceiling, of our ambition,” Nandy told the CMS committee, arguing for the “incredible” influence cricket can have on local communities. “I want every girl in the country to get involved in all grassroots sports and of our £400m investment some will be specifically focused on including girls, such as building new changing rooms.”