§ 8. Mr. Neil Gerrard (Walthamstow)What plans he has for community sport activity to help combat social exclusion; and if he will make a statement. [110603]
§ The Minister for Sport (Kate Hoey)The Government are determined to ensure that all sections of society have access to sporting opportunities and that community sport activities help to combat social exclusion.
§ Mr. GerrardI thank my hon. Friend for that answer and for what she said earlier to my hon. Friend the Member for Burnley (Mr. Pike) about targeting lottery funding. However, does she agree that successful community sports schemes can still have difficulties with day-to-day running costs? Because lottery funding and much other funding is project-oriented, there can still be a problem with core running costs. Will my hon. Friend look at what the Government can do to assist community sports schemes in that situation and at what can be done to encourage local authorities to assist them?
§ Kate HoeyMy hon. Friend is absolutely right; sport and recreational activity can make a real contribution to all aspects of neighbourhood renewal and can improve the whole area of young people's activities, including their attitude to health, employment, education and the reduction of crime. I know that he has an interest in the Leyton Orient community sports programme. It is a very good project, providing a real opportunity for young people to get involved in the football club, and the football club puts something back into the local community. I hope that my hon. Friend will convey to Leyton Orient our thanks for what the club is doing. Those are precisely the kind of joint initiatives and partnerships that will be necessary, because local authorities cannot do everything on their own.