House of Commons Hansard Written Answers for 21 Nov 2001 (pt 12)

World Athletics Championships

Mr. Yeo: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport which Minister in her Department has Ministerial responsibility for the hosting of the 2005 World Athletics Championships. [16650]

Tessa Jowell: As Secretary of State, I have overall responsibility for the hosting of the 2005 World Athletics Championships and I am supported in this by my right hon. Friend the Minister for Sport.

Mr. Yeo: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (1) what venues were considered by her Department as possible venues for the hosting of the 2005 World Athletics Championships after the decision was taken not to host the games at Lee Valley; [16653]

(3) on what date Sheffield became a potential contender for hosting the 2005 World Athletics Championships. [16648]

Tessa Jowell: Patrick Carter's report on the Lee Valley Stadium project identified the Don Valley Stadium in Sheffield and the Commonwealth Games Stadium in Manchester as the two most promising alternative venues for hosting the 2005 World Athletics Championships.

When I received and read Patrick Carter's report I issued an instruction that my right hon. Friend the Minister for Sport should not see the report and any associated papers in view of the fact that Patrick Carter discussed Sheffield as a possible alternative venue and my right hon. Friend's possible constituency interest. I agreed with my right hon. Friend that once a decision had been made on the future of the Lee Valley project or, if the decision was not to proceed, a decision had been taken on an alternative venue for the World Athletics Championships, that he would be brought into the discussions and papers would be circulated to him in the normal way. An instruction to this effect was issued in accordance with the Ministerial code on 3 September.

An evaluation of the Sheffield and Manchester options was carried out by Sport England and my officials following my meeting with Trevor Brooking, Chairman of Sport England, on 24 September to discuss the Lee Valley project and Patrick Carter's report.

Girls' Rugby and Football Teams

Dr. Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what action she has taken to encourage schools to set up girls' rugby and football teams with trained coaches. [16266]

Mr. Caborn: The Government have initiated a number of programmes aimed at encouraging and enabling schools to offer a wider range of sporting opportunities

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for their pupils. They give all pupils the opportunity to achieve high standards and those with the greatest potential the opportunity to excel at their chosen sport. The 1,000 School Sport Co-ordinators who will be in place by 2004 will have funding for, among other things, bringing sport specific coaches into schools to coach pupils and for building school-club links. Also, Specialist Sports Colleges are funded to provide the lead in innovative practice sharing resources and expertise to achieve high standards. Coaching for Teachers is a joint initiative funded by Sport England and coordinated by sports coach UK, it provides teachers involved in out-of-school-hours activities with low-cost coaching courses. Coaching for Teachers delivers governing body courses in both rugby union and football. Awards for All is a lottery-funded programme focused at four priority groups, one of those being girls and women and provides awards of up to £5,000. These awards can be used to develop out-of-hour learning opportunities, eg training courses for coaches or the hiring of coaches, in schools that preferably link with the local community.

Stadium Projects Review

Mr. Yeo: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (1) if she will publish the dates of all telephone conversations her Department has had with Patrick Carter since 1 January; and if she will state the nature of what was discussed and place a note of each conversation in the Library; [16668]

(3) when her Department had meetings with Patrick Carter since 1 January; and if she will state the nature of what was discussed; and if she will place a note of each meeting in the Library; [16667]

(4) if she will publish the (a) instructions and (b) guidelines that she has given to (i) Patrick Carter and (ii) others about aspects of his reviews into (A) the National Stadium project and (B) the Lee Valley National Athletics Centre. [16670]

Tessa Jowell [holding answer 20 November 2001]: The terms of reference for Patrick Carter's review of the English National Stadium were published on 25 June 2001, Official Report, column 37W. They were:

"In the light of the FA's announcement on 1 May 2001 about the project to develop a new English National Stadium at Wembley for Football and Rugby League, to examine if the project can be funded and managed at Wembley, or if that proved impractical, at another location in England. The review should report to the Government within eight weeks." The terms of reference for the review which Patrick Carter carried out for Sport England into the Lee Valley Stadium were published on 2 July 2001, Official Report, columns 79–80W. They were:

"In light of the Government's manifesto commitment to ensure that a first-class athletics stadium is available for the World Athletics Championships in 2005, Sport England needs to assess whether the Lee Valley National Athletics Centre project can be funded and managed in its current format and if not, what alternatives might be feasible. The review should report its findings within seven weeks."

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Following the receipt of Patrick Carter's report of his initial work on the National Stadium I asked him to undertake follow-up discussions with the Football Association about the options which he had examined in his report. That work continues.

Patrick Carter has been assisted in his reviews by officials from my Department as well as others and has therefore had frequent contact with them since the English National Stadium and Lee Valley National Athletics Centre reviews began. He has also been in contact with Ministers and Sport England on a number of occasions during the course of his work. The disclosure of the nature and content of discussions and meetings with Ministers, officials and Sport England, would fall within the exemptions on internal discussion and advice and commercial confidences that are set out in Part ii of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information.

Mr. Yeo: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (1) if she will publish the criteria by which Patrick Carter's appointment to conduct a review of (a) the National Stadium project and (b) the Lee Valley National Athletics Centre was made; [16672]

(a)

(b)

Tessa Jowell [holding answer 20 November 2001]: The Government announced on 8 May that Patrick Carter had been asked to lead a review of the National Stadium project. That decision was taken in the light of his thorough review of the Commonwealth Games which Ministers had recently considered. No other candidates were considered to lead such a review.

The decision to appoint Patrick Carter to carry out a review of the Lee Valley project was taken by Sport England and endorsed by me.

Supporters Direct

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will extend Government funding to Supporters Direct to enable them to assist supporters of Rugby League clubs; and if she will make a statement. [16289]

Mr. Caborn: I met the Chairman of Supporters Direct on 4 September to discuss a range of issues including possible assistance to supporters of Rugby League clubs. Discussions are continuing.

Gaming Board

Mr. McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what steps she will take to implement the recommendations by the Gaming Board for Great Britain on the maximum stakes and prizes in gaming machines. [17357]

Mr. Caborn: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State and I have considered the Board's recommendations very carefully. We are grateful to them and to the industry associations for the work which has gone into their proposals.

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We have also had to bear in mind the report of the Gambling Review, chaired by Sir Alan Budd, which has also made recommendations about the maximum stakes and prizes in gaming machines. These recommendations of the Gambling Review differed from those made by the Gaming Board in a number of important respects.

Having considered both sets of recommendations in detail—and in the light of the period of public consultation on the Gambling Review, which ended on 31 October—we have decided to place before Parliament an Order under the Gaming Act 1968 which would increase the maximum prize from an all-cash Amusements with Prizes gaming machine to £25 and the maximum prize from a jackpot gaming machine in a casino to £2,000. That Order will be laid before both Houses shortly.

We have decided to propose no further changes to the stakes and prizes in gaming machines for the present.

The changes which we are proposing are supported both by the Gaming Board and the report of the Gambling Review. The Review concluded however that increases in the amounts which can be paid out by gaming machines should be accompanied by changes in the law to make it an offence for people under 18 to play them or to allow people under 18 to play them. It also recommended significant strengthening of industry agreements on preventing under-age play.

We shall be considering possible changes to the law. In the meantime, we look to the industry to play the fullest and most active part in improving the present arrangements to prevent under-age play of gaming machines. I am asking the Gaming Board for Great Britain to assess whether there are practical improvements in this area, and we will take close account of their conclusions before reaching any conclusions as to further changes in the regulation of gaming machines.

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