Examination of Witnesses (Questions 237
- 239)
TUESDAY 27 JANUARY 2004
SPORT ENGLAND
Chairman: Mr Carter, Mr Draper, we would
like to welcome you both very much indeed here this morning. Mr
Wyatt will start the questioning.
Q237 Derek Wyatt: Good morning. Obviously
there has been some apprehension, both this morning and last week
in sessions, about the potential Olympic Lottery and the implications
it has for Sport England. Can we just clear up this business whether
it can start before and after this Guardian story?
Mr Carter: I think I could give
you my understanding. I do not think it is definitive. My understanding
is that the IOC will resolve, because they own the brand, that
the brand cannot be used until the city where the games is going
to has been chosen. It would seem logical.
Q238 Derek Wyatt: The more interesting
question is the impact that the Olympics might have on Sport England's
budget per se. I remember we had Trevor Brooking in here
saying he needed £5.4 billion to repair the swimming pool
and that that would not be possible. At the time we were not doing
very well at swimming, but we are doing much better at swimming
now. What are your anxieties about the fact that you will lose
more money?
Mr Draper: I think in terms of
the cash flow, we have cash flow through now until 2009, and we
have built in a commitment of £158 million up to 2009. Also,
whilst we cannot project through to 2012, there would be a commitment
from Sport England in total of around £280 million. So, put
in a wider context, that is about 20% of our overall funds that
we have cash flowed through, 40% of the remaining money would
go to local community projects and around 30% going to our national
programme supporting elite athletes and national governing bodies.
So traditionally 85% of our investment has gone into local community
projects. We have to make sure there is a balance. There is no
point in having a fantastic Olympic Games if we are going to inspire
a whole nation to get involved in sport and physical activity
only to walk into their local communities and see run down facilities
with no coaches, and so on. So it is about twin-track investment,
but I think our major concern is the 63% overall decline in lottery
funding that we have seen and we have to cash flow into 2009.
Q239 Derek Wyatt: Given that some
of us on this side feel the Olympics is such a big thing it should
not be a lottery and that it breaches the additionality, how then
do we develop, as it were, in your own words, you know, more sport
when you have got less money? Is it not the responsibility of
the Government to come forward with extra money for sport?
Mr Carter: Absolutely. Sport will
only flourish if it has investment. So the question will be how
do we get that money? That is a question the Government will have
to face. Will the money therefore come from the Exchequer, if
we are to create a successful sporting nation?
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