Chancellor’s Budget makes welcome move on playgrounds and community health, but leaves major gaps for grassroots sport

This afternoon the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rachel Reeves MP, delivered the Autumn Budget in the House of Commons.

The Budget included several announcements relevant to children, communities and the wider physical activity sector. While the Budget confirms new funding for playgrounds and outlines plans for 250 Neighbourhood Health Centres, it does not include direct investment for community sport facilities, the grassroots workforce, or active environments — all of which are essential to enabling more people to live active, healthy lives.

£18m for children’s playgrounds across England: The Budget confirms £18 million to improve playgrounds, supporting children’s access to safe, high-quality spaces to play and be active. This investment aligns with London Sport’s More Ball Games campaign and our joint work with the Play Commission, Play England, London Play and Know Ball Games to remove barriers to informal play and improve neighbourhood-level access to activity.

250 new Neighbourhood Health Centres: The Government committed to delivering 250 Neighbourhood Health Centres, with 100 in place by 2030. These centres present opportunities to expand social prescribing, integrate physical activity programmes within community health settings and support a shift towards a prevention-focused healthcare system.

Despite the pressures facing grassroots sport, the Budget contained no direct measures to address concerns facing the sector, including access to, and the sustainability of, sport facilities or addressing gaps in the community sport workforce. Investment in these areas remains critical to ensuring that people of all ages can access sport and physical activity in their local communities.

Emily Robinson, Chief Executive of London Sport said:

“The Chancellor’s announcement of £18m for playgrounds across England is a hugely welcome step, and exactly the kind of commitment our More Ball Games campaign, alongside joint efforts with the Play Commission, Play England, London Play and Know Ball Games, has been calling for.

Investment in playgrounds is investment in children’s health, confidence and connection, and it sends a clear signal that every child deserves a safe place to move and thrive.

The funding allocated to new Neighbourhood Health Centres will also present an exciting opportunity to further integrate physical activity into our healthcare system, this should be at the heart of the Government’s long-term approach to addressing health inequalities.

But we also have to be honest about the scale of need. The grassroots sport and physical activity sector is under significant pressure. Community facilities are struggling with rising costs, many unable to keep pace with the green transition required to remain sustainable, and too many people are being priced out of the opportunity to be active. 

Additional, sustained investment is essential. Supporting grassroots sport and physical activity will help the Government deliver on its five missions by: boosting productivity, building stronger communities, improving public health and wellbeing, and reducing pressure on the NHS with a shift towards prevention.

There is a real opportunity to get this right – creating a healthier and more active nation where every child and every community has the chance to flourish”. 

Beyond measures related to sport, physical activity and play, the Autumn Budget set out a wide range of economic, tax and public service policies. These included changes to personal taxation and savings, adjustments to business and employment measures, new investment in energy and digital infrastructure, and reforms across welfare, transport and defence.

• Tax and income: continued freezes on income tax thresholds, adjustments to National Insurance on pensions, changes to property, savings and dividend tax, inheritance tax reforms, and updates to ISA rules.
• Employment and wages: increases to the National Minimum Wage and Living Wage, new apprenticeship support for under-25s, and welfare changes aimed at supporting more people into work.
• Energy and environment: investment in nuclear and low-carbon technologies, the removal of legacy energy costs from bills, and additional support for electric vehicle charging and incentives.
• Health and social care: improvements to NHS technology, reinvestment of NHS savings, and new exemptions related to infected blood scheme payments.
• Transport: continuation of the fuel duty cut, new measures for petrol forecourt price transparency, and future taxation changes for electric vehicles.
• Business, tech and defence: support for scale-ups and AI growth zones, commitments on defence spending, and a range of business-related tax and relief changes.

Taken together, these measures form a broad package intended to support economic growth, address cost-of-living pressures, and modernise key sectors, though the Budget included no direct investment in community sport facilities or the wider physical activity workforce.

Leader of the Opposition, Kemi Badenoch MP, responded to the Budget, branding it a “total humiliation”, accusing the Chancellor of broken promises, rising taxes, higher welfare and unemployment, and harming business.

You can find information from the Treasury here. 

You can read the OBR’s economic and fiscal outlook here