Previous Section Index Home Page

20 Jan 2009 : Column 1251W—continued

Sport England: Assets

Mr. Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what (a) buildings and (b) land Sport England owns; and what estimate he has made of the value of such assets. [248891]


20 Jan 2009 : Column 1252W

Mr. Sutcliffe [holding answer 19 January 2009]: Sport England does not own any land or buildings outright. The Sports Council Trust Company, of which Sport England is a member and controlling share holder, owns the following land and buildings:

The approximate net book value of land and buildings owned by the Sports Council Trust Company, as shown in the Sport England 31 March 2008 financial statements, is £107 million.

Sport England: Reorganisation

Mr. Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport when he expects the organisational changes within Sport England to be implemented. [249408]

Mr. Sutcliffe: Sport England have advised that they are planning to complete their organisational change process by the end of March 2009, and they are currently on schedule to do so. However, some posts will be externally advertised and depending on their notice periods successful candidates may not all be in place.

Sports: Children

David Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what plans his Department has to increase participation amongst under-16 year olds in (a) athletics, (b) badminton, (c) basketball, (d) cricket, (e) cycling, (f) gymnastics, (g) hockey, (h) netball, (i) rugby league, (j) rugby union, (k) squash, (l) tennis and (m) volleyball. [248592]

Mr. Sutcliffe: The Government's investment in PE and sport in schools has had significant success in increasing participation in these sports.

Schools were asked to indicate the range of sports provided by their school during the academic year. Details of the percentages of schools which provided the indicated sports are provided in the following table, highlighting the progression of school participation annually (academic year).

Percentage
2003/04 2004/05 2005/06 2006/07 2007/08

Athletics

90

91

92

93

93

Badminton

31

32

35

37

39

Basketball

65

63

67

69

69

Cricket

85

85

89

90

90

Cycling

21

27

34

42

46

Gymnastics

94

93

95

95

94

Hockey

77

74

77

78

77

Netball

84

81

81

81

81

Rugby League (inc tag rugby)

12

11

12

(1)33

34

Rugby Union (inc Tag Rugby)

67

71

74

66

68

Squash

5

5

6

7

7

Tennis

70

71

76

79

79

Volleyball

27

25

28

30

30

(1) Surveys prior to 2006/07 did not include ‘tag rugby’ in definition.
Base:
All schools (2003/04—6,574; 2004/05—11,498; 2005/06—16,898; 2006/07—21,745; 2007/08—21,631).

20 Jan 2009 : Column 1253W

The following table shows the sports or activities which schools had club links to during the academic year.

Percentage
2003/04 2004/05 2005/06 2006/07 2007/08

Athletics

32

33

38

40

43

Badminton

10

10

12

14

17

Basketball

27

25

28

28

30

Cricket

45

46

52

56

57

Cycling

4

5

6

8

10

Gymnastics

24

26

31

35

40

Hockey

20

19

22

23

25

Netball

26

26

29

30

32

Rugby League (inc. tag rugby)

10

9

10

(1)18

20

Rugby Union (inc. tag rugby)

39

41

46

44

48

Squash

3

3

4

5

6

Tennis

27

30

36

39

40

Volleyball

3

2

2

3

4

(1) Surveys prior to 2006/07 did not include ‘tag rugby’ in definition.
Base:
All schools (2003/04—6,574; 2004/05—11,498; 2005/06—16,898; 2006/07—21,745; 2007/08—21,631)

Our PE and Sport Strategy for Young People will continue that success story, and we are investing over £780 million to 2010-11 to offer five hours of sport a week. The National Governing Bodies of Sport will receive ring-fenced funding as part of their Whole Sport Plan budgets, aimed at developing further links between schools and clubs, and increasing the number of young people involved in volunteering and leadership in sport.

Badminton and volleyball are also among the four sports which will benefit from ‘Premier League 4 Sport’, a new scheme launched this month, which will drive participation among young people in partnership with the 20 Premier League football clubs.

The challenge for all these sports is to make themselves attractive to young people, so that young people choose to take them up.

UK Sport: Surveys

Mr. Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (1) when UK Sport's annual athlete survey will be carried out; and when it will report; [249357]

(2) when UK Sport's annual athlete survey will be carried out; when it will report; and for what reason it has been delayed. [249795]

Mr. Sutcliffe: UK Sport have advised that they will next carry out an athlete survey in the autumn of 2009 and would expect to report the headline findings by the end of the year. Although they had previously planned to conduct a survey early this year for March publication, UK Sport are now seeking to strategically align their athlete survey with the end of year reviews of sport that are conducted as part of Mission 2012—after the summer competition season. In addition UK Sport are now seeking to supplement findings with focus groups and other data gathering across the year.

The decision not to carry out a survey in 2008 was taken by UK Sport as a result of the uncertainty about the number and range of athletes that would be available
20 Jan 2009 : Column 1254W
to survey at that time. UK Sport will of course be able to benefit from the post-Games athlete survey carried out by the British Athlete Commission and they are confident that the other activity planned will inform Mission 2012 up to and until the next survey in 2009.

United Utilities: Sports

Janet Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (1) if he will discuss with United Utilities the effect on (a) Darwen Cricket Club and (b) other sports clubs of recent increases in water charges; [249164]

(2) what representations he has received on the increases in water charges being imposed by United Utilities on (a) sports and (b) other clubs in the north-west; and if he will make a statement. [249203]

Mr. Sutcliffe: I am aware of this issue and will—along with my hon. Friend the Under-Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, who is responsible for the natural and marine environment be seeking a meeting with Ofwat to establish what options are available to ensure community sports clubs are not disproportionately affected by these charges.

I have also asked Sport England to see whether there is any systematic help they can provide to ensure community sports clubs' water charges have been calculated correctly.

Olympics

Departmental Buildings

Mr. Baron: To ask the Minister for the Olympics how much has been spent on (a) maintaining, (b) decorating and (c) otherwise improving her Office’s buildings since its inception; how much has been spent on wallpaper since 2001; and what plans there are for further spending on departmental decoration. [248049]

Tessa Jowell: My office in 26 Whitehall was redecorated as part of the redecoration programme covering the whole of the building (26 Whitehall). Further additional costs specifically relating to the relocation into the building by the Office of the Minster for the Olympics were incurred to a value of £8,485 plus VAT.

Since then, my office has moved to co-locate with officials from the Government Olympic Executive in 2-4 Cockspur Street to enable more integrated and efficient work. Here a new office was constructed and furnished between July and September 2008, at a cost of £40,625 plus VAT. These costs cover both my own ministerial office and that occupied by my private office and special advisers.

No money has been spent on wallpaper in any of my offices since the inception of the Minister for the Olympics role.


Next Section Index Home Page