§ 7. Ms Oona King (Bethnal Green and Bow)What measures he has taken to ensure that children in inner-city areas benefit from Sports Council lottery funds. [62133]
§ The Minister for Sport (Mr. Tony Banks)Through measures introduced in the National Lottery Act 1998, we have taken steps to ensure that all people in inner cities will be able to benefit further from funding available from the lottery sports fund.
§ Ms KingI have come from an excellent youth action scheme project in my constituency, which, among other things, aims to increase sporting facilities in Tower Hamlets. Will my hon. Friend explain how people in deprived areas who are not able to raise the 35 per cent. of the funds necessary for a project will be able to gain access to lottery sports funds?
§ Mr. BanksIndependent studies have shown a threefold increase in the number of young people playing sport through initiatives funded by the national lottery. The new policy directions issued to the English Sports Council in June stressed the importance of lottery funds in opening up further opportunities for children and young people and in encouraging regeneration and combating social deprivation. We look forward to seeing how the ESC will tackle the matter in its lottery strategy, which will be published next spring. The ESC is aware that those parts of the country that are most in need of new or improved facilities tend to be the poorest, and its priority area initiative provides lottery funding of up to 90 per cent. instead of the usual 65 per cent.
§ Mr. Michael Fabricant (Lichfield)The threefold increase announced by the Minister is good news and demonstrates the success of the lottery funds. However, what consolation can he give those sporting bodies which have applied for moneys, only to be told by the Sports Council that, suddenly, no moneys are available? The Minister for Arts has written to me to say that, in the next two years, the Sports Council could have access to as little as 5 per cent. of the amount now available to it because money has been diverted into the new opportunities fund. The figure of 16⅔ cent. is agreed only from 2001. Why has the money been siphoned away? What moneys will be available in the next two years?
§ Mr. BanksMoney has not been siphoned away, and the 16⅔ per cent. is guaranteed to 2001 and beyond, as my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has made clear to the House. As I have said on a number of occasions, it would be quite inconceivable for us to drop sport or arts from the list of good causes. It is nonsense to suggest that. The hon. Gentleman has referred to how much money has gone from the lottery to sport. So far, sports-related projects have benefited by up to £1 billion from the lottery, and such support will continue. I do not understand the fuss that the hon. Gentleman is making. He is just being alarmist because all the evidence shows that sport has benefited enormously from the lottery, and will continue to do so beyond 2001.
§ Mr. Bill O'Brien (Normanton)I thank my hon. Friend for his encouraging response to the original question. 593 Does he accept many urban areas—particularly the former coal mining areas—suffer from deprivation following the loss of highly paid jobs? Many such areas are now losing their swimming pools because their maintenance cannot be upheld. Will my hon. Friend assure me that the Sports Council will pay serious regard to applications to rebuild swimming pools in deprived areas, particularly in mining areas?
§ Mr. BanksWe pay close attention to facilities in former mining areas through the coalfields initiative, and we have had a series of successful conferences recently to discuss the specific point that my hon. Friend has raised. It is important to make sure that we can fund people as well as projects, and we will do that following our revisions in the National Lottery Act 1998. All projects that come before the sports lottery board must show that they are viable in the long run; otherwise, we will have facilities around the country for which there is insufficient revenue funding. We are acutely aware of the need to make sure that particularly deprived areas—I specify the coalfield areas—receive the maximum support through the national lottery.