§ 16. Mr. KhabraTo ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will make a statement on the efforts being made at the grassroots level to increase ethnic minority participation and representation in sport. [53977]
§ Mr. CabornThe Government are anxious to ensure that sport is accessible to all members of society, irrespective of age, ability, gender, race, ethnicity, sexuality or socioeconomic status, and remain committed to improving opportunities for those groups which are under-represented in sport, whether as participants, competitors, coaches or administrators.
There are a number of schemes and programmes aimed at those traditionally under-represented in sport; these include Sport England's Active Communities Programme, which targets ethnic minorities as one of its priority groups, and the Sporting Equals Programme, which receives £180,000 a year from the Government and the Commission for Racial Equality towards promoting sporting opportunities for ethnic minorities.