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Athletics Training
5. Mr. Bill Michie: What plans he has to provide assistance for British athletes in respect of their training programmes. [17979]
Mr. Banks: We are committed to improving the quality of training for our athletes. In particular,
the United Kingdom Sports Institute will provide our athletes with the finest training facilities possible and the English Sports Council's world class performance programme provides lottery support to our best athletes.
Mr. Michie: I welcome the statement and thank my hon. Friend. It is spreading the opportunities for athletes throughout the UK. The United Kingdom Sports Institute is a good idea. I am sure that it will be successful, and the icing on the cake to make sure that everyone knows that it will be successful is for its headquarters to finish up in Sheffield.
Mr. Banks: My hon. Friend is always keen to push the welfare of his constituency and his city. It is, indeed, a fine city of sport. However, we shall have to wait just a little longer. There will be presentations on 16 December from the three short-listed bidders--Sheffield, Upper Heyford and the Central Consortium. Now that we have put some flesh on the bones of the old British Academy of Sport, I think that we shall be able to make progress with some speed. However, we must get the decision right--I have made that point before. We do not want to rush into it and make mistakes. We shall make the announcement fairly shortly after 16 December, and I can tell my hon. Friend that, as ever, Sheffield is in there with a very good chance.
Mrs. May: Is the Minister aware of the difficulties in recent months in getting funding for disabled athletes to train for the Paralympics in Sydney 2000? Those difficulties have occurred because of long delays in getting promised lottery funds distributed to the various disabled sports associations. For example, difficulties were suffered by the Windsor and Maidenhead sports association for the disabled, which is in my constituency and of which I am a member. Is the Minister aware of those difficulties? What is he doing to investigate them and to ensure that promised funds are distributed so that our disabled athletes can train properly in preparation for the Sydney 2000 Paralympics?
Mr. Banks: I am acutely aware of the problems. On several occasions in the House, I have paid tribute to our Paralympic team. We have some of the finest disabled athletes in the world and I want this country to glory in their achievements because they do wonders for this country and for their sports.
I have been talking to the English Sports Council. There have been some problems. I am satisfied that we have eliminated most of them, but I assure the hon. Lady that we shall not allow our paralympians to go to the games without full and adequate support. If the hon. Lady wants any additional information, or if she encounters any problems, she should please let me know, and I will do my best to eliminate them.
Mr. Alan Keen:
I am sure that my hon. Friend the Minister will give his full support to the two British teams in the World cup in France next year, and look out for the rights of supporters travelling from the United Kingdom to France. The taxi driver who drove me home from the BBC studios yesterday said that he and his friends were organising trips to Europe and that they were supporting Jamaica, so there will be citizens of this country travelling
Mr. Banks:
We have a great deal of interest in the world cup next year, not only with Scotland and England, but also with Jamaica. Given the United Nations aspect of the premier league, it is fascinating to see that virtually every world cup competitor will have a British league player, which again gives us an abiding interest.
There are some problems associated with the allocation of tickets, and Ministers are considering those problems carefully. The one message that we want to send from the House today--I am sure that Conservative Members will join me in this--is that no one without a ticket should attempt to travel to the world cup finals in France next year.
6. Mr. Fraser:
What plans the Government have to change the regulations governing business sponsorship of sport. [17980]
Mr. Chris Smith:
The Government plan to end sponsorship of sport by tobacco companies and will work actively with sports, business people and others to find alternative forms of sponsorship.
Mr. Fraser:
Does the Secretary of State agree that all British citizens should be given the same treatment? If so, does he agree that other sports which rely heavily on sponsorship from tobacco companies have not been given the same treatment as formula one?
Mr. Smith:
All European citizens are being given equal treatment under the directive brilliantly negotiated by my hon. Friend the Minister for Public Health last week. As the hon. Gentleman will know from having studied the detail carefully, all countries will have three years from the date of adoption in which to implement the directive in their national law. There will then be a two-year transitional period for all tobacco-sponsored events and activities, with a further three years allowed for events or activities organised at world level.
Mr. Campbell-Savours:
I welcome the very positive way in which my right hon. Friend has gone about this matter in his statement today--[Interruption.] Oh, yes, there is a very clear change: in 1994, when the Tories faced exactly the same decision, they ducked it under pressure from the tobacco industry.
Mr. Smith:
My hon. Friend is absolutely right. Conservative Members have never accepted a ban even on tobacco advertising, let alone sponsorship, in this country. We had three objectives from the outset. The first was a complete phasing out of tobacco sponsorship. The second was protection of the interests of sports and the arts. The third was to make special provision for those sports that were particularly badly affected. We have secured all three of those objectives.
Mr. Hawkins:
Does the Secretary of State accept that no one in this country, even on the Labour Benches,
Mr. Smith:
Perhaps that is why, immediately after the announcement of the outcome of the directive, Maurice Lindsay of the Rugby Football League said:
Mr. Dafis:
Does the Secretary of State agree that sponsorship should be targeted at activities that are compatible with sustainable development and provide good role models, especially for young people? Does he further agree that formula one is the epitome of unsustainability and provides a thoroughly bad role model for young people, especially young men? Should not the fact that the celebration of travelling at high speed leads to deaths on the road among young people be borne in mind when thinking about sponsorship? Will not formula one and the Government's actions cause more deaths than, for example, the infinitesimal risk referred to last week in the statement on BSE?
Mr. Smith:
Although I agreed with most of what the hon. Gentleman said in his pursuit of the interests of sustainability, I am afraid that he made a bad point. Many of the improvements in road safety, and especially car safety, have come from the engineering expertise put into formula one in this country.
7. Mr. Bill O'Brien:
What representations he has received from organisations asking for changes to the distribution arrangement for national lottery money; and if he will make a statement. [17981]
Mr. Chris Smith:
We have received almost 600 responses to the White Paper, "The People's Lottery". Of the 354 commenting on the proposed changes to distribution, 328--93 per cent.--were positive. Nine out of 10 of those who responded backed our proposals. A copy of the analysis of the responses to the White Paper will be available in the Library shortly. The National Lottery Bill, which was introduced last week, will give effect to our proposals.
Mr. O'Brien:
I thank my right hon. Friend for that reply. Is he aware that there is a great deal of concern about the possible closure of village and community halls throughout the country? Six halls in my constituency are under threat. Will he advise us on how organisations which care for the elderly and the disabled and which arrange events for young people and other groups can obtain resources from the national lottery? If we are to save community life and provide neighbourhood schemes, it is important that some of the lottery money is used to help organisations in our communities. Will my right hon. Friend give us some advice on that matter?
Mr. Smith:
My hon. Friend is absolutely right. The Bill that we published last week includes a specific
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley:
Judging by the number of times that the Government have pre-launched, launched and relaunched their initiatives for after-school clubs and homework centres using lottery money, it is clear that the Secretary of State has been very accommodating to the Chancellor of the Exchequer in allowing the lottery to become a back pocket to support any pet cause and help a Minister in difficulty.
How will the right hon. Gentleman make up the severe shortfall for the sports, arts, heritage and charity bodies, all of which are seeing their plans to extend access and participation in ruins now that they are £1 billion short of the amount that they were expecting just six months ago?
Mr. Smith:
The right hon. Lady is wrong. Over the seven-year period of the current franchise, the existing five distributors will receive £1.8 billion--which, in each case, is precisely what they were originally expecting to receive. For existing distributors, therefore, there is no shortfall. What is clear, however, is that the hon. Lady--like the entire Conservative party--is uninterested in the welfare of kids after school. She is uninterested in tackling social exclusion and in providing healthy living advice for people throughout the United Kingdom.
On 1 May, we put those proposals to the people and they endorsed them. In July, we offered our proposals for consultation and 93 per cent. of respondents supported what we were saying. We have the people's backing--which is sadly lacking for the points that the hon. Lady made.
Mr. Maude:
I assume that the Secretary of State agrees with the Chancellor of the Exchequer, who said in his pre-Budget statement:
Mr. Smith:
No one has been robbed of allocated money. If the right hon. Gentleman seriously examines the facts--as he is singularly unwont to do--he will discover that that is the case. In July 1996, the then Secretary of State, the right hon. Member for South-West
"I am sure that the other sports will be equally satisfied with last night's announcement. We are grateful to the Prime Minister for listening to us and responding so positively".
Perhaps the hon. Gentleman should listen to Maurice Lindsay rather than to his own prejudices.
"A national child care strategy is . . . now the policy of this country's Government".--[Official Report, 25 November 1997; Vol. 301, c. 777.]
Does he agree with the Chancellor that such a strategy should be funded, at least partly, by the national lottery? How does he reconcile that with the Prime Minister's solemn pledge, quoted in the lottery White Paper:
"We don't believe it would be right to use Lottery money to pay for things which are the Government's responsibilities"?
Will the Secretary of State now apologise to the charities and communities throughout the country--to which the hon. Member for Normanton (Mr. O'Brien) referred--that, since 14 October, have been robbed of the lottery money they were expecting for their cherished projects? Specifically, will he tell the House how he justifies that raid on lottery money when the National Lottery etc. Act 1993 specifically forbids it?
"Lottery funds are not intended to substitute for funds which would have otherwise been provided by conventional public expenditure."
In their 18 years in office, the Conservatives proposed no conventional public expenditure on a national child care strategy. We are now providing funds for a strategy by ensuring that the lottery can be used for that purpose. That is what we told the electorate we would do, and--unlike the Conservative party--we believe in keeping our promises to the electorate.
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