Examination of Witnesses (Questions 80-99)
DAME
SUE STREET
DCB, LIZ NICHOLL
MBE, MR PETER
KEEN OBE,
MONDAY
6 FEBRUARY 2006
Q80 Greg Clark: On the question of
targeting, the target for the Paralympics was to come top in Athens,
was it not?
Ms Nicholl: Yes, it was.
Q81 Greg Clark: If we look at table
two, page three, we see that the gulf between us and China, who
actually did come top, is vast. They got 141 medals, we got 94.
Again, that surely undermines the case for this targeting.
Ms Nicholl: In the Paralympic
environment, it is even harder to target accurately because actually
an awful lot of athletes come out of nowhere in the immediate
period prior to the Games and can move, having had a traumatic
accident two years out, from nowhere to being potential gold medallists.
Q82 Greg Clark: So it is very difficult,
but you are going to persist in doing it.
Ms Nicholl: Very, very difficult
on the Paralympic side.
Q83 Greg Clark: What is the medals
target for London? Have we set that yet?
Ms Nicholl: We have actually looked
at the plans for London and we have acknowledged that a home Games
is an opportunity to do the very best.
Q84 Greg Clark: What is the target?
Ms Nicholl: We are unable to set
a target at this point.
Q85 Greg Clark: You do not have a
target.
Ms Nicholl: We are unable to set
a target at this point because it is linked to resources and it
is also linked to where we are post Beijing.
Q86 Greg Clark: But you have a target
to be in the top five.
Ms Nicholl: We have a target,
which was an aspirational target actually set in 2000, to be in
the top five by 2012.
Q87 Greg Clark: It is paragraph one
of the NAO Report. Presumably that is an extant target, we assume.
That continues to be your target, does it?
Ms Nicholl: We shall review the
target for 2012 when we know what resources are available to us.
Q88 Greg Clark: We seem to be having
a lot of words here to answer very simple questions. Does your
target continue to be to be in the top five in the Olympic Games
in London?
Ms Nicholl: We aspire to be.
Q89 Greg Clark: Is it your target?
Yes or no.
Ms Nicholl: The target for 2012
has not yet been set and cannot be set until we know the resources
that we have available.
Q90 Greg Clark: Why then in the NAO
Report, in paragraph one of the executive summary on page one,
does it say the "... long term aim is for the United Kingdom
to be one of the world's top five sporting nations by 2012, measured
by athletes' performances".
Ms Nicholl: The long-term aim
is to move up towards the top five.
Q91 Greg Clark: By 2012?
Ms Nicholl: By 2012. That is a
long-term aim; it is not a target. A target is specifically linked
to what resources you have, how many medals you need to achieve,
how many medallists you are supporting and whether this is a realistic
target. You talked about realistic targets and we are aiming to
make a realistic target decision when we know what the resources
are to support that.
Q92 Greg Clark: But funding is linked
to targets, is it not?
Ms Nicholl: Absolutely; that is
what I am saying.
Q93 Greg Clark: So if you do not
know what the targets are, do any of these sports know what funding
they can depend on in the run-up to the London Olympics?
Ms Nicholl: No, they do not. None
of the sports knows what funding they have beyond Beijing. UK
Sport allocates four-year funding for full Olympic cycles and
all the funding is in place until March 2009. Beyond that, we
do not know yet what resources we have for 2012.
Q94 Greg Clark: So none of the Olympic
sports, gearing up to an Olympics, very prominent here in London,
six years hence knows what kind of financial resources they can
expect for the long-term development of their athletes.
Ms Nicholl: They do not know what
resources they have beyond Beijing.
Q95 Greg Clark: When will they find
out?
Ms Nicholl: At the moment, we
have made a submission to the DCMS, to ministers and to the Treasury
for funding support for 2012 and this is now being considered
by ministers.
Q96 Greg Clark: But when will it
be announced?
Ms Nicholl: I am not in a position
to answer that.
Q97 Greg Clark: Dame Sue, it has gone
to your Department, six years, clock ticking and there is no certainty
or even knowledge of what they can expect.
Dame Sue Street: I should like
to say a couple of things. Firstly, in Athens the overall place
on the medal table target was achieved.
Q98 Greg Clark: I do not want to
talk about Athens, just the funding for London 2012.
Dame Sue Street: I wanted to get
that on the record.
Q99 Greg Clark: When can the Olympic
sports expect to know their funding allocations?
Dame Sue Street: We know that
at least £98 million will be devoted to the Beijing Olympics.
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