Memorandum submitted by UK Sport
1. INTRODUCTION
1.1 UK Sport is the Government agency charged
with leading sport in the UK to world-class success. Primarily
this mean working with our partner sporting organisations to deliver
medals at the Olympic and Paralympic Games. We are currently investing
an average of £100 million a year of Exchequer and National
Lottery funds in our sports and athletes as we seek to achieve
success at both Beijing and in particular the London Olympic and
Paralympic Games in 2012. The funds allocated to this purpose
are drawn from our existing share of National Lottery income and
are additional to and distinct from the £340 million of National
Lottery funds already allocated to the funding of the Games themselves.
1.2 UK Sport also has responsibility for sport-related
activities best delivered at a UK level—such as running
the UK's National Anti-Doping Programme and promoting British
sporting activity and influence overseas.
1.3 UK Sport is also the agency appointed by
Government to co-ordinate the bidding and staging of major sport
events in the UK. Given the focus of this inquiry specifically
away from the performance of British athletes and onto the economic,
social and cultural benefits of the Games, it is this area of
our activity that is specifically highlighted in this submission.
1.4 The National Lottery funded UK Sport World
Class Events Programme (WCEP), in place since 1997, has helped
ensure the successful delivery of over 100 international events
of European or World level across the United Kingdom. It currently
receives £3.3 million of Lottery funding per annum, drawn
from UK Sport's total allocation of 3.8%.
1.5 Since the inception of the WCEP, 26 senior
World Championships have been secured for the UK. Events secured
and staged in recent years with UK Sport support include the World
Badminton Championships (Birmingham), European Cross Country Championships
(Edinburgh), UEFA U19 Football (Northern Ireland) and the recent
World Rowing Championships (Dorney Lake, Eton).
1.6 Alongside bidding for established calendar
events, the WCEP takes an innovative look at event development
and staging. The WCEP was instrumental in providing the strategic
thinking and funding for the establishment of the Paralympic World
Cup, an annual multi-sport event staged in Manchester. This event
helps fill a gap in the competitive calendar for Paralympic athletes
between the four yearly Paralympic Games. Partnership funding
has leveraged a dedicated Disability Sport Development Officer
employed by Manchester City Council.
1.7 Having worked with 25 different sports (including
Olympic, Paralympic and non-Olympic sports), and over 100 events
of different scales and complexity, UK Sport has developed a unique
knowledge and experience relating to bidding, hosting and evaluating
the impact of events. The benefit of this experience can be demonstrated
in the robust scrutiny and selection of events securing WCEP support
which has resulted in a 75% success rate for UK Sport supported
bids.
1.8 UK Sport's objective is to ensure only the
highest quality of events are staged in the UK and that the business
planning and event delivery bring the event in on budget with
no financial loss as had been the case before the advent of the
programme. Our investment is intended to leverage the potential
that events have in furthering the development of sport and providing
economic, social and infrastructure benefits to the host community/region.
An example of this is World Indoor Athletics Championships held
in Birmingham in 2003, which were hailed by Lamine Diack (IAAF
President) as "Excellent. The best ever" resulting in
the IAAF adopting the event planning model developed by the organisers
with UK Sport support as the model for all future IAAF indoor
championships.
1.9 UK Sport has developed a standard model
for assessing the economic impact of sport events to enable accurate
comparisons across events and locations. The results of this research
has demonstrated that, from 10 of the 11 Lottery funded events
studied in July 2004, for every £1 of lottery support, additional
expenditure in host economies amounted to £7.23. Applying
this ratio across the lottery funds invested gives an economic
impact of over £100 million.
1.10 UK Sport was instrumental in leading the
Arup Olympic 2012 Feasibility Study which resulted in the government
giving its backing to the bid. Following the awarding of the Olympic
and Paralympic Games to London, UK Sport undertook a major review
of all Olympic sports' event strategies and refocused them to
ensure that they fulfilled performance and capacity building needs
for 2012. This strategy was considered by the board of UK Sport
who doubled the WCEP budget in order to deliver this vital ingredient
in preparing for 2012. The strategy has identified 145 events
(not including Olympic test events), potentially including 28
World Championships and 27 European Championships to be staged
throughout the UK up to 2012. This strategic plan will ensure
that the "right" events are secured, in suitable years
and in the most appropriate locations.
1.11 For the purpose of this submission UK Sport
would like to focus on two of the topics highlighted in the Committee's
Inquiry announcement.
2. TOPIC 1: WAYS
OF MAXIMISING
THE VALUE
OF THE
OLYMPIC AND
PARALYMPIC LEGACY
BOTH WITHIN
LONDON AND
ACROSS THE
UK
TOPIC 2: HOW
THE NATIONS
AND REGIONS
OF THE
UK MIGHT DERIVE
LASTING BENEFIT
FROM THE
STAGING OF
THE GAMES,
IN PARTICULAR
THROUGH ENCOURAGING
PARTICIPATION IN
SPORT AND
INCREASING TOURISM
2.1 The World Class Events programme has for
many years provided a vehicle for the UK to demonstrate its ability
to successfully stage major events and to "raise the bar"
in their delivery. The staging of such events during the bid for
the 2012 Olympic Games provided an opportunity to showcase to
IOC members, International Federations and indeed a global audience
the capacity and capability of the UK. The World Indoor Championships
in Athletics was critical in demonstrating to the IAAF that the
UK was serious about major athletic championships after the debacle
of Picketts Lock. The Rowing World Cup, held at Dorney Lake in
May 2005 was the first time that this event had been held in the
UK, and it took place successfully at a proposed London 2012 venue,
in the presence of several IOC members and an influential international
federation.
2.2 A strategic and extensive major events
programme has a key role to play in the delivery of a successful
Olympic Games. Events are crucial in ensuring that the UK has
a body of trained and experienced judges and officials, and also
a pool of knowledgeable and enthusiastic volunteers. Events also
provide a learning curve for the sports and key partners involved
in their delivery, with UK Sport in a unique position to ensure
lessons learned and best practices are shared across sports. For
performance, staging events is critical in developing the best
team and providing high class competitive opportunity for our
athletes and exposing them to the challenges they will face in
the Olympics and Paralympics.
2.3 The Rowing World Cup (noted above) was a
precursor to the Rowing World Championships held at Dorney Lake
in August 2006, with over 1,000 athletes competing from a record
number of countries—a 28% increase on athlete numbers from
the 2005 World Championships. Denis Oswald (FISA President) acknowledged
the quality of the World Championships, saying "I have a
feeling that Eton has set a new standard for the World Championships".
3.1 VENUES:
3.1.1 Olympic venues outside of London are already
benefiting from the interest generated by London 2012 through
the WCEP. Evidence of this has been seen at Weymouth, where the
National Sailing Academy hosted this summer the 2006 Volvo Youth
Sailing ISAF World Championships, the third most important event
in world sailing, and the European 49er Championships. Both events
secured a record breaking entry. The Youth Championships were
acknowledged by ISAF as "the largest and best event, and
I have to say best ever, youth championships to date". In
the build up to London 2012, there are plans to stage further
events at Dorney (Rowing and Flatwater Canoeing), the National
Sailing Academy in Weymouth, and the new canoe slalom facility
at Broxbourne. These are aside from the Olympic test events that
are planned.
3.1.2 As importantly, our events strategy aims
to see 28 world and 26 European championships come to UK between
now and 2012. These events will be staged across the country ensuring
that existing facilites are used and that appropriate enhancements
are made to them. These communities will be able to share in the
preparations for 2012 and the role events play in making us "Games
ready". Further, the strategic plans of the sports are for
a rolling ten-year period. This means that we are already looking
beyond London 2012, and the WCEP post-Olympics will specifically
enable a number of new and enhanced facilities to continue to
be used for sport at the highest level.
3.2 Training Personnel:
3.2.1 UK Sport has encouraged sports to
see the WCEP as a vehicle to mobilise and ensure the continued
development of personnel and officials so that, come London 2012,
the UK has a strong base of experts to offer for selection for
positions such as competition managers, venue managers, judges
and officials. The programme can play a significant role in helping
LOCOG deliver its ambition of fielding 60% of Olympic officials
from the UK, unlike Athens where it was 30%. This is aside from
the huge volunteer base (approximately 70,000 people) which will
be required by LOCOG. The WCEP always seeks ways to recruit and
train new volunteers and to transfer them into the sport system.
Practical experience of an Olympic discipline in a world level
event will help ensure that the volunteers working for London
2012 are among the best prepared and best ever.
3.2.2 The staging of major events around
the country through the WCEP establishes geographical pockets
of high-quality trained sports personnel who will be well-positioned
to help run the Games, thereby helping regions to "access"
the Games through the supply of experienced sports officials,
stewards etc. The recent staging of the World Youth Sailing Championships,
for example, not only provided a wealth of experience for the
National Sailing Academy, but also for teams from the Welsh Yachting
Association and the Scottish Sailing Institute who were involved
in the running of the event.
3.2.3 Post London 2012, the WCEP will continue
and it is hoped the benefits that have been seen to flow from
event staging will encourage other cities and regions to seek
to stage events. This ongoing programme will provide extended
opportunities for the people involved in the Games, ensuring retention
of our high-quality sports personnel who are first engaged and
subsequently can further develop their skills through world-class
events.
3.3 Public Access to the Games:
3.3.1 The WCEP strategy encompasses major
events in all of the 2012 Olympic sports (except football and
tennis), and several Paralympic sports. The comprehensive nature
of this approach will allow audiences across the UK (live at the
events and through TV and radio) to experience and access sports
and disciplines before the Games, and provide media interest to
ensure that the public are continually "signposted"
to the Olympic Games in 2012. This is especially important
for the lesser known Olympic sports that will appear in London
2012.
3.3.2 As well as seeking to attract established
World and European Championships to the UK, the impact of London
2012 has been for sports to take a creative look at their calendars
to identify new opportunities. The Paralympic World Cup in Manchester
is one such example as already referenced. The new "Sail
for Gold" event supported by the WCEP is another example,
whereby the UK is seeking to establish a new annual event for
all Olympic sailing classes ensuring the highest standard of ongoing
competitive opportunity and utilising the Olympic facilities at
Weymouth on an ongoing basis.
3.3.3 Following the Olympics and Paralympics,
the programme of World Class Events being staged throughout the
UK will give an enthused and interested public the continued opportunity
to watch elite sportsmen and women compete in a wider variety
of sports. All UK Sport funded events also have a developmental
element, through which additional opportunities for people to
take part in sport will arise. This is a central objective of
the programme in seeking partnership funding and using the "glitter"
and community pride quality of a major event to attract people
into sport or sport related activity they had not previously considered.
3.4 Spreading the Sporting benefits across
the UK:
3.4.1 The WCEP ensures a strategic oversight
of the distribution of major events across the Home Countries,
for example the Sudirman Cup (World Team Badminton Championships)
2007, will be hosted in Glasgow and the UEFA U19 Football Championships
took place in Belfast last year.
3.4.2 In addition, the WCEP takes major
world-level events in Olympic sports to communities outside of
the major cities. 2007 will see the hosting of events in Dover
(Archery World Cup), Hartpury (World Paralympic Dressage), Fort
William (World Mountain Bike Championships), Phwelli (World Cadet
Championships, Sailing) and Strathclyde (World U23 Rowing Championships).
3.4.3 Development plans running alongside
events in the WCEP give people across the UK an opportunity to
try new sports, and become further involved. Before and after
the World Indoor Athletics Championships, almost 10,000 people
in the West Midlands were targeted by UK Athletics to become more
involved with athletics using the opportunity to be part of the
championships as the hook. Prior to the World Rowing Championships,
young people were recruited and trained to act as Junior Officials
during the event.
3.4.4 These development plans also look
at helping to bring through the next generation of elite sportsmen
and women. Hosting the European Eventing Championships at Blenheim
last year enabled Great Britain to enter additional riders over
and above the national quota. As a direct result of this, Zara
Philips was entered as an individual and won gold, and has subsequently
gone on to win gold at the World Championships in Germany. In
Scotland, hosting the European Cross Country Championships (at
which GB won the women's team gold for the first time) has seen
women's endurance running flourish. Almost half of the 2006 Scottish
Commonwealth Games Athletics team were endurance athletes.
3.5 Spreading the wider benefits of events
across the UK:
3.5.1 UK Sport have commissioned a number of
economic impact studies on WCEP funded events to demonstrate the
commercial and tourism benefits events can bring to the UK, and
across the UK.
3.5.2 A study undertaken at the WCEP funded
European Eventing Championships 2005, held at Blenheim, revealed
an economic impact of £2.1 million. More than 22,500 commercial
bed nights were generated in Oxfordshire.
3.5.3 Many of Britain's top sporting events
are broadcast around the world, generating a showcase for the
UK. The 2006 Visa Paralympic World Cup highlights package, for
example, was distributed to 125 countries and provided a positive
association between Manchester and top class Paralympic sport.
This is in addition to exposure from the internet, newspapers
and radio coverage.
3.5.4 Examining broadcast coverage within the
UK also demonstrates the power and reach of World Class Events.
The World Amateur Boxing Championships, held in Belfast in 2001,
achieved a cumulative audience total of 6.6 million in the UK,
which included 330,000 young people under the age of 16.
5 October 2006
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