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Sir Irvine Patnick (Sheffield, Hallam): I thank the hon. Member for Vauxhall (Miss Hoey) for that courtesy: I appreciate it. My hon. Friend the Member for Falmouth and Camborne (Mr. Coe), who was in the Chamber a moment ago, has done a lot for sport.
I want to put down a marker on behalf of Sheffield--the city in which I was born, where I live and work, and which I represent. It has not had the difficulty to which the hon. Lady referred, although I appreciate that she argued her case in great detail.
Sheffield has produced a glossy prospectus, which states:
The Minister of State, Department of National Heritage (Mr. Iain Sproat):
I thank the hon. Member for Vauxhall (Miss Hoey) for raising this important subject, and for allowing my hon. Friend the Member for Sheffield, Hallam (Sir I. Patnick) to say a few words. He has done tremendous work to promote Sheffield, especially with regard to sport, and I am grateful to him for the advice that he has given me in the past few months on a range of sporting issues. I look forward to seeing the bid from the city that he so ably represents.
On 14 July 1995, the Government published the policy document "Sport: Raising the Game", which sets out a wide range of proposals designed to rebuild the strength of every level of British sport. It highlighted three vital and linked elements of sports policy. The first was the need to restore sport and, particularly but not exclusively, competitive team games to the heart of school life. The second element was to extend the sporting culture by strengthening the two-way links between schools and local sports clubs. The final element was to ensure that talented competitors at every level received the support necessary to allow them to exploit their talents to the full--all the way to the Olympic podium.
We therefore proposed the establishment of a British academy of sport that would aim to offer the highest standards in the world in sports science, sports medicine, coaching and training facilities. Moreover, the academy would be the pinnacle of a regional network of centres of sporting excellence and academies for individual sports, which would offer more locally accessible, high-quality training facilities and support services.
We recognised that a world-class facility would not be cheap. However, the national lottery could provide the means for its achievement. The Prime Minister announced that up to £100 million of national lottery money could be available to help to fund the establishment of the academy.
Why are we doing this? The approach of other countries has become increasingly professional. They have chosen to provide the very best facilities for their athletes, and so should we. To date, our athletes have done well, and some have excelled. They have made the most of the facilities that are already available. We want to
ensure that from now on our facilities are second to none. The aim of the academy will therefore be to help our athletes to compete with, and beat, the best in the rest of the world.
A key factor in the development of the Government's proposals for the British academy of sport, and for the regional network of facilities, was the insight that I gained from my many conversations with sports administrators, governing bodies and athletes and, not least, from my visit to Australia in January 1995. I saw for myself the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra, which provides valuable lessons for our British academy of sport. I also saw and studied the New South Wales State Institute at Narrabeen and the South Australia State Institute in Adelaide, both of which provide valuable lessons for our regional institutes of sport. I saw and studied the Australian cricket academy at Port Henley, near Adelaide, and the Rugby League academy inside, as it were, the New South Wales State Institute at Narrabeen, both of which provide valuable lessons on how academies of individual sports that are owned and run by the governing bodies for those sports might work in this country.
I do not want to copy everything that I saw in Australia, because the opportunities and problems there are different from those we have, but I pay tribute to what Australia has achieved. I have learnt a great deal from its excellent example.
The policy document recognised that much of what is needed to help our sportsmen and sportswomen to develop to the highest level of achievement and sporting excellence is already in place. However, it is clear that we lack a vital asset for all national sport--a British academy of sport of world-class standards, and a coherent and unified programme to allow those with the greatest talent to use that talent to best effect.
"Raising the Game" set out the Government's proposals. We want to ensure that the academy provides a range of services for sportsmen and sportswomen and, very importantly, their coaches--top-class training facilities; expert support services in sports science and sports medicine, including advice on training techniques, nutrition and sports injuries; good-quality accommodation for short or long-stay training camps or courses; financial support for individual athletes; access to local education facilities for long-stay students; personal development programmes; use of up-to-date laboratories; and advice and access to information using the latest audio-visual techniques. The academy will be a specialist centre for the training of coaches and those in the fields of sports science and sports medicine and also a centre of excellence in research and development.
The British academy of sport will work co-operatively with the regional institutes of sport and sports-specific academies, although such regional institutes will not be owned or run by those who will own and run the British academy of sport--or if that were to happen, I should be surprised. Of course, there is nothing to stop people attempting to do that, but at the moment we are inviting bids only for the academy.
The Government are not in the business of nationalising sport or overly centralising it. The regional institutes will offer locally accessible, high-quality sports training and facilities; high standards of sports science, medicine and coaching; links to the British academy of sport for sportsmen and sportswomen and their coaches; and scholarships and sponsorships for individual athletes.
The academies of particular sports--for example, the academy of cricket, the academy of rowing or the academy of cycling--will be run by the sport's governing body; provide coaching in technical skills in their particular sport at the highest level; make use, as appropriate, of the general facilities of the British academy of sport and the regional institutes; and offer scholarships and sponsorship for individual athletes.
In December 1995, the Sports Council conducted a wide-ranging consultation exercise on the academy with the United Kingdom's top performers, coaches and administrators, to ensure that what is put in place will have a direct impact on performance on the world stage. Written responses were invited and 12 open meetings were held in different parts of the UK. Some 1,600 people attended the open meetings and about 600 written responses were received. The responses were analysed by an independent consultancy firm and confirmed wide support for the concept, set out in "Raising the Game", of the academy as the pinnacle of a network of regional institutes and academies for particular sports.
In addition, there was overwhelming support for three key functions proposed for the academy: that it should be an integral part of the existing programme for the overall development of excellence in UK sport; that it should provide what is needed by different sports, their national governing bodies and their top-level performers; and that it should focus primarily, but not entirely, on the needs of top-level performers.
On 24 July this year, just over a year after "Raising the Game" was published, the Department of National Heritage and the Sports Council jointly published the prospectus inviting bids to set up the British academy of sport. Tomorrow is the closing date for bids by different consortiums, typically comprising a couple of private sector companies, a local university, a local authority and a group of well-known sportsmen and sportswomen who might be the trustees of the charitable trust that will be set up to own and run the academy.
The prospectus is based on the proposals set out in "Raising the Game" and conclusions reached following the consultation process. It contains details of how to draw up a bid which may, at a later stage, be eligible for funding from the national lottery. The prospectus sets out a number of principles for the academy, including the following: that the successful consortium will form itself into a charitable trust, which will run the academy in the interests of British sport as a whole; that it shall have the highest standards in sports facilities and services, including training, coaching, sports medicine and sports science and other relevant matters; that it shall work closely with other sports organisations and, in particular, with the new United Kingdom Sports Council--which I hope will get off the ground as soon as the lawyers can work out the difficult details--with regional sports institutes, academies for individual sports and other bodies involved in sports-related matters; that it shall be run primarily, but not exclusively, for elite athletes, including athletes with disabilities; that it shall provide residential accommodation; and that it shall provide scholarships for athletes and encourage other bodies to provide scholarships for athletes at the academy.
What I intend to say next will answer many of the proper questions asked by the hon. Member for Vauxhall. Unfortunately, there will not be time to deal with all her questions, but if she so wishes I can respond to them in
writing. The essential point about the prospectus is that it is not intended to be rigidly prescriptive about what the academy should be in every detail. It is our expectation--from what I have heard about a number of the bids, it is an expectation about to be fulfilled--that bidders will come forward with their own innovative ideas, adding value to the original concept, on how the principles I set out earlier can best be achieved.
The hon. Lady raised important matters, such as the arrangements with local schools for young athletes. For example, young girl gymnasts reach their prime earlier than other athletes, so they are likely to be at the academy at an early age and schools must be provided for them. Depending on where the winning bid is, the winning consortium will form relationships with local authorities, grant-maintained schools, independent schools or whatever. The precise details will depend on which consortium is declared the winner.
We are dealing with unsealed bids. It may be that a consortium that we do not think will win will actually have a good idea that, with general agreement, we will mix and match with another bid. I do not want to say what the academy will be in every detail. From what I know already about the bids, people will come forward with good, innovative ideas which I do not want to shut out. That is why the prospectus is not intended to be rigidly prescriptive.
"The Sheffield-based Academy will provide all the facilities, the resources and the services necessary to achieve gold medal performances. The city's concentration on sport over the past few years has provided much of the services, the knowledge and the expertise required, along with much of the infrastructure."
It would be wrong if I did not mention the fact that many people associate Sheffield with something that went on many years ago. However, Sheffield now has major sporting facilities, and, along with many other cities, has submitted a bid. I am sure that the Minister, with his expertise, will consider that when making his decision. I hope that the academy will not be London based, but be situated somewhere in the provinces.
1.14 pm
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