§ 4. Mr. KirkwoodTo ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage what funds she provides for the support of rugby union. [37925]
§ The Minister of State, Department of National Heritage (Mr. Iain Sproat)The Sports Council, which is funded by my Department, provided £125,558 in 447 support of rugby union football in England in 1995ߝ96, of which £80,000 went to the Rugby Football Union for the development of the game at grass-roots level and £45,558 for the development of the game in the regions. In addition, since November 1992, Sportsmatch has awarded nearly £1.4 million for grass-roots rugby union schemes in England and £201,747 for those in Scotland, which has been matched by a similar sum from businesses.
§ Mr. KirkwoodThe Minister's well-known concern for and interest in the game are acknowledged. I have even seen him recently at Border Sevens competitions and that is welcome—I am sure that it was in the course of his ministerial duties. However, the large amount of new money that has found its way into the game has come in at a national level. None has reached the junior clubs or the district level of the sport. The welcome work that the Government have done in creating new opportunities through academies of sport and all the rest has been at the elite end of the sports world. The sums that the Minister announced are welcome, but can he not do more and find more resources to produce extra facilities for the junior clubs and the district level, which after all is the level at which future stars are bred?
§ Mr. SproatI will certainly use my good offices, such as they are. Even as we speak, the home countries rugby football unions are discussing with the television authorities the money that they might get from televising games. I agree with the hon. Gentleman about wanting as much as possible of that money to go to youth and district sport and about ensuring that clubs that he knows well, such as Hawick, Gala, Jed Forest, Melrose and Kelso, do not fall out of the game because they are in towns with small populations. I hope that the professional game would never drive out their great tradition of rugby.
§ Sir Donald ThompsonDoes my hon. Friend agree that the best thing that he could do would be to knock a few heads in rugby union together? Both the professional sports association and the RFU have seriously embarrassed us in the past year. Will my hon. Friend take note of what the hon. Member for Roxburgh and Berwickshire (Mr. Kirkwood) said and ensure that the money goes to the grass-roots until the big boys learn how to behave themselves?
§ Mr. SproatI will do everything I can that is proper to ensure that the governing bodies know the view of the Government—and, indeed, of the House—that as much as possible of the money that they get from television sports rights should go into youth sport.