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Simon Hughes (Southwark, North and Bermondsey) (LD): I should like to take the Minister back to the grassroots, where he began. I share his objectives, but I want to put two points to him. This lunchtime, I was at
 
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Ilderton primary school in my constituency. I asked the head how much swimming the children did, and she said that only one year goes swimming for two hours a week. Does the Minister agree that every child in every year should have the opportunity to go swimming, for all the obvious reasons?

Will he consider the idea that part of the Government's plan for an 8 o'clock-to-6 o'clock package of provision for young people should be to provide sports and swimming alternatives between 3 o'clock—or the end of the formal school day—and 6 o'clock, which would allow every primary school child to take part in those activities every week if they wish to do so?

Mr. Twigg: I thank the hon. Gentleman for his comments. On his first point, I agree that the extended school day provides incredible opportunities to enhance learning, including in the field of physical education and sport, of which swimming is a part. However, I am not in a position to make the firm commitment that he seeks.

On the hon. Gentleman's second point, the Under-Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, my hon. Friend the Member for Brent, North (Mr. Gardiner), is pioneering, with Brent council and schools in the borough of Brent, a scheme precisely along the lines that the hon. Gentleman outlined. It aims to extend the school day and to provide opportunities for sport as part of that. Additionally, earlier this year we launched a swimming charter that set out some important requirements for school swimming. The Mayor of London funded certain boroughs in east London to ensure that they can offer swimming during the Easter holidays, and he is looking to build on that for future years.

Good things are happening on the ground, and part of our job is to monitor them and to encourage other places to take up those opportunities. I certainly regard swimming as an important element of our physical education and sports strategy, and I thank the hon. Gentleman for drawing that to the House's attention.

The broad strategy on school sport is jointly led by the Department for Education and Skills and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. We seek to achieve several things. First, we want to build a national infrastructure that invests in people so that we have people who can really make a difference in physical education and sport. Evidence from Ofsted shows that the quality of PE teaching in primary, secondary and special schools has improved dramatically over recent years.

Secondly, we want to do all that we can to make a step-change improvement to the facilities for school sports.

Thirdly, we want to deliver opportunities for professional development to enhance expertise and subject knowledge.

Fourthly, we want to strengthen links between schools and sports clubs to create a culture that supports participation in clubs and, importantly, offers young people leadership and volunteering opportunities that will improve their skills and employability.
 
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Fifthly, we want to ensure that there is better support for our most talented young athletes—the Olympians of the future—to help them to excel both in sport and in their wider education.

Sixthly, we want to address an important issue that has been in the headlines for years by doing our best to protect school playing fields. I am very pleased that we recently reached an unprecedented partnership agreement with the National Playing Fields Association. In August, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Education and Skills was able to announce the strongest ever protection for school playing fields. The new arrangements build on the legislation that was introduced in 1998, which has already stemmed the tide of uncontrolled sales by making it clear that the sale of a playing field must be the absolute last resort; that the proceeds need to be used to improve outdoor school sports facilities wherever practicable; and that the new facilities must be sustainable for at least 10 years.

Mr. William Cash (Stone) (Con): Does the Minister agree that there is a real distinction between PE and other sports and that it is essential to have people with sufficient skills and qualifications to teach cricket and rugger, as well as other sports such as football? Is that not reflected in the fact that pupils at Christ Church middle school in my constituency, who have just reached the national finals at Headingley—a tremendous achievement—received coaching from outside, not inside, the school, and that that problem should be addressed within the state system?

Mr. Twigg: First, I congratulate Christ Church middle school on its success in getting to Headingley. We want to do two things: strengthen the expertise of teachers in schools and tap into resources in the wider community. I do not think that that needs to be an either/or. In some communities, people will come from clubs and coaches will come from elsewhere to work in school gyms and classrooms and on the playing field. We need both.

John Mann (Bassetlaw) (Lab): I seek clarification: are there any circumstances in which a school playing field could be sold off and the proceeds go to anything other than school sports facilities?

Mr. Twigg: The only slightly wider circumstance is the proceeds perhaps going to the broader facilities of a school. They could not be used for other purposes that go beyond sport and education.

John Mann: In other words, is the Minister saying that a local education authority could subsidise its capital programme for school buildings by selling off playing fields?

Mr. Twigg: That would be a very last resort. An LEA would have to clear a series of hurdles before it could even present an application. Such an application would then go before a panel including the National Playing Fields Association before it could even be considered by me. Ultimately, it would come to me for approval. I have not approved anything along those lines.

John Mann: I am delighted that the Minister has not accepted any such application so far. Is he aware of, and
 
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does he expect in the next three months, any application in respect of which he might consider doing anything other than allowing the proceeds of the sale of school playing fields to go into sports facilities only, rather than subsidising the capital programme of a big-spending LEA that receives a lot of rates?

Mr. Twigg: I suspect that my hon. Friend may be referring to a particular example, possibly in his constituency. I shall await any news that I might receive on that, either from him or from the applicant, rather than speculate on how I might respond to it.

I shall now try to make progress, because a number of hon. Members want to speak and only two hours remain in the debate. We have conducted a large and comprehensive survey of school sport in England, which was published on 29 April. It shows some of the progress that is being made. For example, overall, 62 per cent. of pupils in the 6,500 schools surveyed spend at least two hours in a typical week on high-quality physical education and school sport. We believe from this that we are on course to achieve the 2006 and 2008 targets. I put on record my thanks to the teachers, coaches and volunteers who have done so much to make that possible.

What we need to do now is consolidate what has been achieved, to press on and do more. For example, we need to increase participation among some of the youngest children in education and to encourage girls, pupils from ethnic minorities and those with special needs or disabilities to take up their entitlement to sport on an equal basis with everyone else.

Andy Burnham (Leigh) (Lab): While it is good that more and more schools are reaching the two-hour target, does the Minister agree that a message needs to be sent to schools that it is a bare minimum? It is not "job done" when that target is reached and schools should go on to provide many more hours of sport as well as a diverse range of sports to take part in. Achieving the two hours is the first box ticked.

Mr. Twigg: I thank my hon. Friend for that intervention. He is known for the hard work that he has done and is doing in this area, and he is absolutely right to remind me and the House that the two hours is a minimum. We shall certainly look kindly on schools that can reach a much larger figure. Clearly, with 62 per cent. of pupils achieving the two hours, we still face a big challenge in getting the other 38 per cent. to follow. That has to be our priority. I will certainly do all I can to encourage, support and recognise those schools that find themselves able to go beyond the two-hour minimum.

Sport is a powerful medium to re-engage young people. It is now widely accepted that learning should not start and stop at the school gate or at the end of the school day, and that partnerships beyond the classroom are essential if we are to enable children to realise their potential.

One programme that does that very well is Playing for Success. There are now 83 Playing for Success centres—state-of-the-art study support centres—at football and other professional sports clubs. We have set a target of at least 100 being open by 2006, and there is every sign that we will meet that target a year ahead of schedule.
 
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The centres support young people who may be struggling with literacy and numeracy, getting them back on course, strengthening their motivation to learn and improving their self-esteem and confidence. Every FA premier league club has a centre. Many clubs in the football league do too, but it is not just football clubs—rugby, cricket, basketball and tennis clubs are also involved.

I recommend that hon. Members on both sides of the House visit a Playing for Success centre to see some of the marvellous work that is done to motivate young people. It is not something woolly about motivation—the centres are having a serious impact on standards. Independent evaluation by the National Foundation for Educational Research has found that the centres significantly improve pupils' skills and motivation and that they make significant progress in independent study skills and self-image, which help them when they return to their schools.

Since 1997, specialist sports schools, the sports colleges, have been raising sporting and academic standards, establishing successful partnerships with the private sector and working with the wider community. We now have 291 schools that specialise in sport, including four of the academies, benefiting more than 250,000 pupils. We aim to reach 400 by 2006, which will represent one in nine of all secondary schools.

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