Written question asked by Lord Storey (Liberal Democrat) on Monday, 15 December 2014, in the House of Lords. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 31 December 2014. It was answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble (Conservative) on Wednesday, 17 December 2014 on behalf of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.

Sports: Disability

Question: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what measures they have introduced to make sports more widely accessible for young people with disabilities.

Answer: Sport England is currently investing over £171 million to get more disabled people playing sport including young people. Since 2012 Sport England has made disability sport a key part of its strategy and 42 of the National Governing Bodies of Sport (NGBs) it invests in have specific targets for increasing the number of disabled who play their sport. Through the School Games, over 28,000 young disabled people played competitive sport at the county festival level, with meaningful competitive sporting opportunities to young disabled people at every level of the programme. Project Ability has also helped introduce around 25,000 young disabled people to competitive sport and Change4Life Clubs offer the Paralympic sports boccia and basketball as part of the ‘menu’ of opportunities for participating schools.

Secondary information