§ 1. Mr. Peter L. Pike (Burnley)What recent assessment his Department has made of the contribution that arts and sport can make to tackling social exclusion; and if he will make a statement. [110596]
§ The Minister for Sport (Kate Hoey)My Department's report to the social exclusion unit, the policy action team 10 report "Arts and Sport", which was 2 published in July 1999, set out the contribution of the arts and sport to tackling social exclusion. There have been a number of initiatives since its publication, all designed to enhance the contribution of sport and the arts to this important issue.
§ Mr. PikeDoes my hon. Friend agree that people living in areas of social exclusion and poverty often cannot participate in sport or afford to watch it? Is it not vital for lottery and Government funds to be used to aid projects such as the community project launched by Burnley football club, and, indeed, to descend to the grass roots in tackling the problem of those suffering social exclusion?
§ Kate HoeyMy hon. Friend is right. The lottery has a real role in the distribution of funds to sport, especially in getting money to where it is most needed. The announcement of the establishment of 12 sport action zones marked the beginning of the process, and we look forward to such zones being widespread throughout the country.
§ Mr. John Greenway (Ryedale)Sport England revealed today that 89 per cent. of six to-eight-year-olds and 79 per cent. of nine to-11-year-olds spend less than two hours a week in physical education lessons. What kind of social exclusion is that? Does not that shocking analysis confirm the depth of the crisis affecting sport in schools, which involves children from all backgrounds?
When will the Minister publish her sports strategy? How can anyone be confident that the decline can be reversed, when school playing fields are being sold off at a greater rate than ever before, and the Department for Education and Employment is not listening?
§ Kate HoeyI welcome the hon. Gentleman to his post and look forward to a long, productive and constructive relationship with him. I know that we have things in common, which we will not go into at this stage.
We welcome Sport England's young people in sport survey 1999. It contains encouraging material, but it also raises worrying points about what is happening in our 3 primary schools. As the hon. Gentleman knows, we are taking that into account. There have been a number of developments, including the announcement of the establishment of school sport co-ordinators and of sports colleges, which are working with local feeder primary schools.
Together with the Department for Education and Employment—because action must be taken jointly—we are doing what we can to ensure that teacher training is improved for primary schools with physical education expertise, and I think that we shall see real improvement over the next couple of years.