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The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (Jim Fitzpatrick): I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Middlesbrough, South and East Cleveland (Dr. Kumar) on his success in securing this debate. I will do my best to respond to all the issues that he raised.
As my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister said in this House a few weeks ago, investment in community facilities such as swimming pools should be a priority. The Government are committed to increasing sports participation, and swimming is one of the most popular forms of physical activity, with 5.5 million people swimming at least once a month. Access to good quality sporting provision, including swimming pools, is therefore an essential part of enabling people to lead healthier lives and to participate in sport. Concern about this issue has been reflected in my hon. Friend's important comments.
If I may, I will set out the national picture before turning to the specific points that my hon. Friend raised in relation to his constituency. One of the Government's public service agreement targets is to increase participation in sport by priority groups by 3 per cent. by 2008. However, one of the obstacles that prevents people from taking part is a lack of good quality sports facilities. That applies equally to all sections of the community. Our aim is that
"by 2008, most people should be no more than 20 minutes travel time from a good quality, multi sports environment such as schools, sports clubs and leisure centres".
However, the scale of that challenge is immense. There is a clear deficit in funding for sports facilities alongside the fact that the existing facility stock is in a deteriorating condition, as described by my hon. Friend. The average age of local authority facilities is about 25 years. The national stock of sports centres requires some £550 million to be spent now to bring the condition up to a good and acceptable standard, without any upgrading to take account of modern trends in sports participation and current levels of demand.
However, the Government are taking a number of positive steps to address these issues. Currently, more than 4,400 swimming facilities across England are open to the public; 72 per cent. of them are owned by the local authority or by the education sector, and more than half are pay-and-play facilities. Since 2004, 131 pools have opened across the country, and more local authority pools have opened than have closed. Since 1997, the Government and lottery distributing bodies have, between them, invested more than £3 billion in physical activity and sport. In that time, £249 million of lottery investment has gone into swimming—the largest amount given to any sport—as my hon. Friend pointed out. Local authorities themselves will invest some £1 billion in sports services—facilities and development—over the next three years.
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However, a strategic approach needs to be adopted. The problem is that many pools are old—built 25 years ago—in the wrong location and cost a lot of money to keep open. So we are challenging local authorities to put sport and swimming provision at the heart of what they do. For the first time ever, we will monitor local authority performance in sport provision through the comprehensive performance assessment, and we are committed to supporting local authorities in their efforts. Sport England has a swimming strategy in place and is working with local authorities to help them implement it. Many local authorities have also created their own strategies, so that community needs are met by the public and private sectors. We of course applaud that.
Sport England has also developed a range of strategic planning tools to assist local authorities in their strategic planning of sports facilities. They include modelling tools and demand estimators, which, together with the "active places" database of the supply of facilities, will help local authorities to identify gaps and to target resources where they are most needed; a benchmarking service that will provide rigorous and robust information on the performance of sports facilities in comparison with other such facilities; and a planning obligations kitbag that will allow local authorities, developers and other stakeholders to facilitate the provision of community sports facilities associated with residential developments.
On the situation in my hon. Friend's constituency, there are some nine swimming pools—including the Guisborough pool—located at five sites in the Redcar and Cleveland borough council area. As he said, a supply-and-demand modelling exercise undertaken in 1999 indicated that this level of provision was enough to meet demand, but it made no reference to quality or to issues specific to the local authority. I understand that the council and Sport England have since had a number of discussions about the need to update the council's swimming facilities strategy to take account of these issues, and that Sport England has offered some financial assistance to enable the council to undertake the necessary work. I urge the council to take up that offer.
I appreciate that my hon. Friend has concerns about the extent to which Sport England's facilities planning model deals with the issues of age and social inclusion, and with the condition of facilities. In response to his first request, Sport England has informed me that the services it has offered to the council can be tailored to provide a detailed local assessment. It is crucial that we provide sports facilities that are fit for the 21st century and that meet the needs of the communities whom they serve. I ask my hon. Friend to keep my right hon. Friend the Minister for Sport informed of progress on the development of the updated strategy. I know that my right hon. Friend would be happy to discuss with Sport England what other options are available to assist local authorities in planning more effectively for sport.
On funding for new or upgraded swimming pool provision in Redcar and Cleveland, I understand that Sport England has had some early discussions with the local authority; I urge them to continue that dialogue. I am informed that the results of any new modelling would be only one factor in reaching a decision on the awarding of lottery funding for the area.
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On my hon. Friend's second request, concerning planning issues, I very much endorse the view that planning policy statements can provide effective leadership in promoting the development and spread of sporting provision. Indeed, the planning policy guidance note on sport and recreation—PPG 17—does just that. It states:
"To ensure effective planning for open space, sport and recreation it is essential that the needs of local communities are known. Local authorities should undertake robust assessments of the existing and future needs of their communities for open space, sports and recreational facilities."
It goes on to say that local authorities should ensure that provision is made for local sports and recreational facilities where planning permission is granted for new developments, especially housing. It also establishes that planning obligations should be used as a means to remedy local deficiencies in the quantity or quality of open space, sports and recreational provision. In making use of planning obligations, it is essential that local authorities have undertaken detailed assessments of needs and audits of existing facilities, and set appropriate local standards in order to justify their use.
For Redcar and Cleveland, as my hon. Friend may be aware, Sport England has offered funding to the local authority to enable it to develop a supplementary
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planning document on planning obligations for sport and physical activity. That document would result in a framework for collecting developer contributions for sport and recreational provision from new development. Again, I would urge the local authority to take up that offer if it has not done so already.
The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport are in regular dialogue about how the planning system might be further enhanced in the better interests of sport. With regard to my hon. Friend's final request, I am confident that my right hon. Friend the Minister for Sport would be delighted to visit Guisborough pool to see the facility first hand.
If I may return to the national picture, it is clear that there are some very positive messages about swimming in this country, although we are under no illusions about the scale of the challenge in terms of providing better community facilities. But that has to start with local authorities ensuring that there is good local provision that meets the needs of all sections of their communities. I congratulate my hon. Friend on securing this debate on behalf of his constituents and the wider community.
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