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Sports: Women

Asked by Nadia WhittomeLabourDepartment for Culture, Media and SportTabled Answered 22 January 2026UIN 106609

The question

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will make it her policy to increase funding for women and girls in sports.

Answered by Stephanie Peacock

The Government is committed to supporting every aspect of women’s sport and ensuring all women and girls, no matter their background, are able to participate in sport and physical activity.

The This Girl Can campaign, run by our Arm’s Length Body Sport England, has inspired millions of women and girls to get active. 1.6 million women are expected to be active as a result of the campaign by 2028.

We are committed to delivering best in class facilities, with the significant investment of £98 million in 2025/26 and a further £400 million over the next four years in new and upgraded grassroots sport facilities. We are expecting to more than double the share of primetime slots dedicated to women’s and girls’ teams at Government-funded facilities across England over the next five years, with a clear long-term target of reaching equal access as demand grows.

We are working to drive a Decade of Change in women’s sport, kicked off by the 2025 Women’s Rugby World Cup, and we are using the Women's Football Taskforce and Women’s Sport Taskforce to drive progress across the sector.

Further to this, we are increasing visibility of women’s sport, including delivering a drumbeat of UK hosted major events, including this year’s Women's T20 Cricket World Cup 2026 and the Tour de France/Tour de France Femmes Grand Depart 2027, while also supporting the bid for the 2035 FIFA Women's World Cup.

We want to support women and girls at every stage of their lives to get involved in sport.

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