§ 7. Mr. Simon Hughes (Southwark, North and Bermondsey)What moneys his Department allocated for sports provision on housing estates in the (a) current and (b) next financial year. [57246]
§ The Minister for Sport (Mr. Tony Banks)As this is the first sports question, may I, on behalf of the House, convey congratulations to Greg Rusedski on Sunday's victory in the Paris indoor open? He is not only a good tennis player but a very nice guy.
My Department's funding for sport is channelled through the English Sports Council and the UK Sports Council. The English Sports Council works with sports governing bodies, local authorities and other sport organisations to ensure that all sections of the community—including those living on housing estates—benefit from this funding. The Government are convinced of the contribution that sports initiatives can make to neighbourhood renewal.
§ Mr. HughesThree cheers for tennis, Madam Speaker. The Minister's comment about Greg Rusedski was more specific than the answer that followed; may I push him further? He knows from his constituency and his London background that, for very little money, it is possible to provide cages, creating football, basketball and netball possibilities in urban areas, close to where people live and safe; and that if the cages are properly looked after they are secure and very good value for money. Will he consider an initiative to try to get such proposals up and running—with partners, if possible—in local authority areas where large numbers of people live in council housing? If I presented him with a proposal for the borough of Southwark, to be run as a pilot scheme, would he consider it to see whether it might be extended to other local authorities throughout the country?
§ Mr. BanksThe short answer is yes to both questions. The hon. Gentleman knows that the sports lottery fund injects a great deal of money into inner-city areas. I may risk the ire of my hon. Friend the Member for Bolsover (Mr. Skinner) by saying so, but London has received £100 million in lottery sports grants, a great deal of which has gone into inner-city areas such as my constituency in Newham. I hasten to add that that has nothing to do with me, as Sports Minister, but it is rewarding to see the amount of money that is going in.
I am certain that sports funding in inner-city areas can do a hell of a lot to motivate young people, especially those who, tragically, are unemployed or are likely to be wasting their time hanging around. We should use sport to promote social inclusion. That is a popular term at the moment, but the Government are determined to make progress on it. I should be delighted to talk to the hon. Member for Southwark, North and Bermondsey (Mr. Hughes) about his proposal.
§ Mr. John Maxton (Glasgow, Cathcart)Will my hon. Friend agree, however, that one of the best ways to improve sporting facilities—and to put money into those facilities—in housing estates and other poor areas of the country is to switch from bid-led to need-led lottery 9 funding? The Government have begun to do so and we welcome the changes that have been made, but the process could be taken considerably further.
§ Mr. BanksI agree with my hon. Friend. The English Sports Council's draft lottery strategy identifies several ways in which more help could be given—for example, by using the small grants programme and developing the priority areas initiative. We must pursue those avenues.
It is crucial that we consider needs instead of sitting and waiting for applications to come in. Repeatedly, we find that those who can work up a decent bid get lottery money whereas those who desperately need the money but lack the ability to produce such a bid lose out. That is why we wanted a strategy, and that is what the strategy is about.
§ Mr. Peter Brooke (Cities of London and Westminster)Given that a housing estate could presumably, if correctly sponsored, make an application under sportsmatch arrangements, is it true that the Government are contemplating moving the funding for sportsmatch from the Department to the appropriate lottery distributor; and how does the Minister square that with additionality, as it appears to be direct substitution?
§ Mr. BanksI do not know which council estate the right hon. Gentleman comes from, but we are looking at sportsmatch—a wonderful initiative, which we totally support—and consulting on it at the moment. There is much to be said for shifting its operation to the English Sports Council, which is doing something very similar, but in that case the money would be ring-fenced so that it went with the scheme from the Department to the English Sports Council. Money would not be lost; additional money would go to the ESC. We are still consulting on the matter and listening carefully to what people say.