Sport England reveals £494m four-year funding cycle

Sport England has today (17 December) revealed the details of its £493m, four-year investment cycle which will run up to the next Olympic year (2016).

Cycling, netball, wheelchair basketball and triathlon are among the sports being rewarded for progress made in participation numbers at grassroots level, all receiving funding increases of more than 30 per cent.

Sport England chief executive, Jennie Price, said: "This investment represents years five to eight of our long term plan to get more people playing sport.

"We've learned a lot over the last four years and with a record 15.5 million people already playing sport once a week, we are on track to deliver. We've worked very hard, with the governing bodies of sport, to make these decisions, and I believe they are right."

A conspicuous legacy of the London 2012 Paralympic Games can be seen in the fact that 40 sports have now developed detailed plans to accommodate and attract more disabled people to take part in organised sport.

At least 60 per cent of the £494m investment will support young people aged between 14-25. More than £83m of this will be used to support the development of talented young athletes in 43 sports, ensuring those with podium dreams receive the best possible coaching and support in high-quality facilities.

Canoeing and sailing are among the sports receiving increased investment to further improve their strong talent programmes.

Meanwhile, swimming, tennis, basketball, table tennis, fencing and squash have only received one-year funding commitments. In each case Sport England feels the sports' national governing bodies (NGBs) need to improve plans before a longer term commitment can be made.

In total, the funding covers 46 sports. Investments will be made through the NGBs following a process to assess the quality of their plans and their ability to deliver for community sport and talent development.

Each sport will be subject to performance management through a "payment for results" approach that will see Sport England rewarding success and penalising failure.

£40m of the total funding package has been set aside in a Reward and Incentive Fund, enabling Sport England to move swiftly to help high-performing sports achieve even more.

Any governing body that fails to achieve its annual targets for increasing participation faces losing 20 per cent of its remaining investment, with the money immediately available to bids from the open market.

Jennie Price added: "For the first time we have created a specific fund to reward success by NGBs who prove they can grow their sports. This is about backing winners.

"Investment in this scale from the public purse is a big responsibility for the sector as a whole, and we are committed to a tough but fair approach of payment for results. We are determined to get good value for every pound of this funding."

To see a sport-by-sport outline of the investment plans, click here.