House of Commons Hansard Written Answers for 6 Jun 2005 (pt 11)

6 Jun 2005 : Column 269W—continued

Sports Instructors

Mr. Kidney: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what proportion of schools in (a) Staffordshire and (b) England have access to specialist sports instructors to assist in the delivery of the Government's target for sporting activity in schools. [1253]

Mr. Caborn: All secondary schools in England have access to specialist PE teachers. In Staffordshire, 29 per cent. of schools are also within a School Sport Partnership (SSP) which will increase to 46 per cent. by September 2005. In England, 54 per cent. of schools are within a SSP which will increase to at least 75 per cent. by September 2005. All secondary schools within a SSP appoint a school sport co-ordinator and all primary and special schools a link teacher. By 2006, all maintained schools will be within a partnership.

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A total of 3,000 full and part-time qualified community sports coaches will also be employed by 2006 to assist with the delivery of high-quality sport within SSPs. In Staffordshire there are currently 28 coaches and 857 nationwide.

Talented Athlete Scholarship Scheme

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport whether her Department's Talented Athlete Scholarship Scheme extends to Northern Ireland. [2260]

Mr. Caborn: Sport is a devolved matter and as such the Talented Athlete Scholarship Scheme (TASS) currently operates in England only. In addition to meeting the required performance standard for their sport, TASS athletes must have a British passport and be habitually based in England, or receive the majority of their sporting services in England, in order to be eligible for the scheme. Athletes must also be able to represent either Great Britain or England in competition.

Kate Hoey: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (1) what access Northern Ireland sports people have to the Talented Athlete Scholarship Scheme programme; [1191]

(2) how many athletes from Northern Ireland have been awarded a Talented Athlete Scholarship Scheme scholarship; [1192]

(3) what the process is by which scholarships are awarded for the Talented Athlete Scholarship Scheme in Northern Ireland. [1193]

Tourism

Mrs. May: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what (a) the budget for the promotion of British tourism and (b) total public spending on promoting British tourism was in each year since 1997. [325]

James Purnell: My Department is responsible for grant-in-aid to VisitBritain, a proportion of which is used specifically to promote Britain overseas. Grant-in-aid to VisitBritain itself forms a part of wider public spending on tourism at national, regional and local levels, which in 2003–04 was estimated at over £285 million across Britain. The following figures relate only to the grant-in-aid paid, and payable, to VisitBritain, for which my Department is responsible.

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(a) VisitBritain's total available budget for the promotion of tourism over the period 2005–06 to 2007–08 was announced in December 2004, following the Spending Review. It is as follows:

£ million

2005–06 49.05

2006–07 50.05

2007–08 50.05

	£ million
2005–06	49.05
2006–07	50.05
2007–08	50.05

That represents an additional £2 million over this three-year period.

(b) The total allocations of grant-in-aid by my Department to VisitBritain (and its predecessor bodies the British Tourist Authority and the English Tourism Council up to 2002–03) were:

Grant-in-aid⁽³⁾

1997–98 44.9

1998–99 44.7

1999–2000 47.8

2000–01 48.0

2001–02 ⁽⁴⁾45.1

2002–03 47.1

2003–04 47.9

2004–05 48.4

⁽³⁾Figures for 1998–99 to 2002–03 comprise funding for BTA, ETB and ETC.
⁽⁴⁾Up to April 2001, £1.5 million per year was allocated to the BTA promotion of London as a gateway to Britain.

	Grant-in-aid⁽³⁾
1997–98	44.9
1998–99	44.7
1999–2000	47.8
2000–01	48.0
2001–02	⁽⁴⁾45.1
2002–03	47.1
2003–04	47.9
2004–05	48.4

These figures include amounts allocated to VisitBritain (and, before 31 March 2003, to the English Tourism Council) for the marketing of England within Great Britain.

Additional amounts of £14.2 million in 2001–02, and £19 million in 2002–03, were allocated to the British Tourist Authority from the Reserve to help the tourism sector to recover from the impacts of the foot and mouth outbreak, and the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001.

Volunteers (Sport)

Hugh Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what plans she has to encourage volunteers in sport. [1715]

Mr. Caborn: Sport is already the single biggest volunteering activity in England, with 26 per cent. of volunteering going on in sports related activities. Thereare an estimated 6 million sports volunteers, representing 15 per cent. of the adult population and contributing over 1 billion hours.

Volunteers are a key driver for change if we are to achieve our targets of increasing participation in sport and physical activity. The National Strategic Partnership for Volunteering in Sport was launched last October to provide a single strategic voice to drive forward, promote and develop volunteering in sport and the wider voluntary sector across Government and other partners.

Sport England's partnership with Volunteering England, the national development agency for volunteering, is aimed at ensuring a joined-up approach to volunteering

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between sport and other sectors. National Governing Bodies of Sport set targets for raising the number of volunteers within their Whole Sport Plans that are agreed with Sport England.

Step into Sport is one of the eight workstrands of the PE, School Sport and Club Links (PESSCL) strategy, which aims to provide a simple framework of opportunities for young people in leadership and volunteering through sport.

In March, the Russell Commission recommended a framework that will deliver a step change in the diversity, quality and quantity of young people's volunteering, with the aspiration to attract 1 million more young volunteers across all forms of activity. This year's Budget announced funding for the framework of up to £150 million that will include matching funds from the private sector and contributions from Sport England.

2005 is The Year of The Volunteer", a Home Office initiative run by the Community Service Volunteers and Volunteering England to promote volunteering across a range of sectors throughout the year in which August is the themed month of sport.

PRIME MINISTER

Cabinet Memorandum

Adam Price: To ask the Prime Minister what representations the Government has received from members of the United States Congress in connection with the authenticity of a document purported to be a Cabinet memorandum dated 23 July 2002. [1458]

The Prime Minister: As far as I am aware the Government have not received any representations from those mentioned on this matter.

Adam Price: To ask the Prime Minister whether the Government have instituted an inquiry into the leaking of a document purported to be a Cabinet memorandum dated 23 July 2002. [1459]

The Prime Minister: In order to safeguard security and investigative arrangements, it has been the practice of successive Governments not to comment on the conduct and outcome of leak inquiries.

Drugs (Colombia)

Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Prime Minister what discussions he has had with the Colombian government on drugs and related armed violence. [1056]

The Prime Minister: We have regular discussions with the Colombian Government at ministerial and official level. My hon. Friend the Member for Harlow (Bill Rammell), the former Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, raised counter-narcotics work with his Colombian counterparts during his February 2005 visit to Colombia, as did my right hon. Friend the Minister for the armed forces during his visit in October last year.

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