| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
7.32 pm
Mr. Nicholas Winterton (Macclesfield): I am grateful to the hon. Member for Hemsworth (Mr. Trickett) for allowing me to contribute briefly to the debate. May I say to the House from the Government side that I believe that, by raising certain matters, the hon. Gentleman has done a service not only to the House and to sport in general but to cycling in particular?
The hon. Gentleman is aware that in recent months I have taken an active interest in the British Cycling Federation, and the jewel in the crown of British cycling, the Manchester velodrome. It cost a great deal of money and is an absolutely superb facility. As the hon. Gentleman is well aware, however, sadly, it has been grotesquely under-used.
The hon. Gentleman's allegations about the administration of the sport by those on the board of the BCF are entirely accurate. I believe that those who have been administering it are guilty of maladministration, neglect and abuse of their position. As the hon. Gentleman has said, there is a flagrant conflict of interest in respect of the companies that are providing services and equipment to the federation and leading, long-serving members of its board.
That matter was drawn to my attention by one of my constituents, Mr. John Kennedy, who has recently taken an active, positive and constructive interest in cycling. He has sought to promote cycling in the United Kingdom and to utilise to a much greater extent that jewel in the crown, the Manchester cycling velodrome. As a result of meetings I had with Mr. Kennedy at his office and home in Macclesfield, I arranged a meeting with the Minister responsible for sport, who is to respond to the debate. The Minister gave generously of his time to me and to my constituent, and the officials present were seized of the problems that face the sport of cycling. Those problems have been articulated and promoted accurately and absolutely down the line by the hon. Member for Hemsworth. He has not sought to decorate or exaggerate those problems; he has expressed accurately the concerns felt by many in that sport.
My hon. Friend the Minister gave me certain undertakings that the concerns that had been expressed and the information that had been provided would be fully investigated. I await his response with great interest. I have no doubt that a large sum of British taxpayers'
21 Nov 1996 : Column 1169
I seek an assurance from my hon. Friend the Minister that those who have been responsible for the maladministration, neglect and squandering and waste of public money will no longer be permitted to be part of the BCF and its board. I share the views expressed by the hon. Member for Hemsworth about the way in which the recent annual general meeting was handled. It would have been appropriate for the audit report on what has been happening in the BCF to be presented before the board elections to all those attending the AGM.
I am very interested in cycling. I want the expensive jewel in the crown, the Manchester velodrome, to be properly and fully used. I should like to see it fall down from over-use instead of deteriorating and running down from under-use as has happened recently. A number of competitions could have been held there.
The hon. Member for Hemsworth referred to the international cycling body. My constituent has had regular contact with its president, who has expressed to my constituent and to the hon. Gentleman his deep concern about what has happened and about the fact that that has prejudiced making the United Kingdom the location for major cycling events, especially international ones.
My constituent is interested in fostering the participation of young people who want to cycle. He wants a youth challenge international competition to be organised at the Manchester velodrome. I wish him success, and I shall give him every support and encouragement. When he has sought to work with existing members of the board, however, he has been frustrated from every angle and at every door and corner. That is not how senior representatives of the sport should operate. They should encourage people who are keen to provide sponsorship, administration, organisation and enthusiasm.
The hon. Member for Hemsworth has performed a great service for the sport by raising this issue in such a measured and constructive manner. I think that my comments may have gone a bit further than his. He spoke with great moderation, because of his involvement in the industry and his interest and concern for it.
The Minister of State, Department of National Heritage (Mr. Iain Sproat):
I thank the hon. Member for Hemsworth (Mr. Trickett) for raising this important issue today, for the way in which he did it and for bringing to my attention some of his concerns about the sport of cycling, the operation of the British Cycling Federation, and the use of the Manchester velodrome. I know that he has a keen interest in cycling, and I take his concerns very seriously.
21 Nov 1996 : Column 1170
Those concerns were first drawn to my attention last July, when I met my hon. Friend the Member for Macclesfield (Mr. Winterton) and one of his constituents. I pay tribute to the typically energetic way in which he has pursued this matter and to his powerful and well- argued speech in this debate. At the meeting, his constituent made serious allegations of financial impropriety against the British Cycling Federation. He also claimed that, due particularly to the federation's policy, the Manchester velodrome was being under-used.
Also in July, the hon. Member for Hemsworth--as he rightly reminded us--raised with my Department four issues about financial concerns and the federation's use of the Sports Council's grant in aid, and about the future of the Manchester velodrome.
As the House is aware, the Government provide support to individual governing bodies of sport through their sponsorship of the Sports Council, which is an independent body set up by royal charter. It is for the council, within an overall policy framework set by the Government, to dispense the resources at its disposal, according to its own detailed policies and priorities, to ensure that those are applied effectively and efficiently and to ensure that value for money is obtained from the public investment made.
Like other executive non-departmental public bodies, the Great Britain Sports Council, and particularly its chief executive, Mr. Derek Casey, is responsible for ensuring that all public funds in the council's charge are subject to financial propriety and regularity, and that they are applied only to the objects and powers of the Sports Council, as authorised by Parliament. In its use of public funds, the Sports Council must comply with the requirements of Government accounting and other standards of good administrative practice set by the Government.
The hon. Member for Hemsworth quite rightly raised the issue of reports. The Sports Council has not produced reports recently because of the restructuring that is currently under way. The Great Britain Sports Council is about to depart for ever, and the new English sports council and the new United Kingdom sports council will take its place. A new report will be published in January 1997. As he knows, however, annual accounts have already been laid before the House.
In meeting its responsibilities, and to ensure the proper accountability and propriety of the sums expended, the Sports Council awards grants to governing bodies and other sports organisations towards the cost of defined programmes that are relevant to the Sports Council's policy objectives. Conditions are attached to each grant, and may vary according to the nature of the activity supported. Among the standard conditions that apply is the need for the grant recipient to provide a concise--but detailed--annual report and forward plan covering each programme activity. The reports should focus on the extent to which the predetermined developmental and financial targets have been met, and form the basis of a formal annual review undertaken by officers of the Sports Council.
The Sports Council's liaison officers also regularly monitor the progress made by governing bodies in achieving the objectives set out in their forward plans, and have regular meetings with officials of the governing bodies to discuss progress, developments and other
21 Nov 1996 : Column 1171
Mr. Trickett:
At my meeting the other day with Mr. Casey, the chief executive of the Sports Council, he said that the reason why Mr. Dermott Collins, the cycling officer of the Sports Council, had not attended the most recent meeting of the BCF's governing committee was that he feared that the Sports Council would begin to act as shadow director of the BCF. Does the Minister agree that such a suggestion is bizarre, for several reasons? First, the Sports Council is providing half a million pounds. Secondly, the Minister himself has said that sports officers have a right to attend the meetings. Given the failure to monitor properly the organisation, would not it be appropriate for the Minister to speak to the chief executive of the Sports Council and to ensure that the grant is used properly by the BCF?
| Next Section
| Index | Home Page |