§ 4. Mr. Gareth R. Thomas (Harrow, West)What action he is taking to increase young people's access to outdoor pursuits. [144782]
§ The Minister for Sport (Kate Hoey)The Department is taking action to increase young people's access to outdoor pursuits in a number of ways. Fifty million pounds from the new opportunities fund will be devoted to programmes of activity for young people, based around challenging activities, to ease the transition between secondary school and adult life. We also expect that up to £50 million of the £750 million of new opportunities fund money for school sport will fund the refurbishment of outdoor activity centres for use by schoolchildren.
§ Mr. ThomasI am grateful to my hon. Friend for her reply. Is she aware that young people who want to take up the outdoor pursuit of canoeing, perhaps inspired by the recent success of Britain's Olympic medallists in the discipline, face genuine difficulty in gaining access either to smaller lowland rivers, or the more interesting and challenging upland waters? As there are nearly 10,800 639 miles of such waters, but canoeists have access to just 376—a paltry 2.8 per cent—what action does she think is necessary to remedy the situation?
§ Kate HoeyI know that my hon. Friend has an interest in canoeing and that he was as delighted as we all were to see Britain's best performance in canoeing since 1920 at this year's Olympic games, where two medals were won by Paul Ratcliffe and Tim Brabants. His point was absolutely correct. There are problems that affect access to water for many water users, especially canoeists. Access is only one problem; others include balance in the relationship between anglers and canoeists. Such problems can add to the difficulties for canoeists.
We are working closely with the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions, Sport England and other interested groups to consider more closely the complex issues that are involved. DETR is bringing together a working group comprising all the bodies that are involved, including the Environment Agency, the Countryside Agency, British Waterways and the Countryside Council for Wales. The group is to complete its work within the next nine months when the facts will be available and we can look towards the right solution for the access of all people to water.
§ Mr. John Greenway (Ryedale)Will the Minister explain how her proposal for a two-hour entitlement to sport and physical education in schools will work in practice? How important will out-of-school-hours provision be in achieving that entitlement? Is it not likely that, for a great many youngsters, home-to-school transport arrangements and a lack of resources, facilities and teacher time could render the entitlement worthless? Is not the reality of the Government's position that sport in schools—especially team sport, which was mentioned by my hon. Friend the Member for Banbury (Mr. Baldry)—is a major casualty of an overcrowded and over-prescriptive curriculum?
§ Kate HoeyI do not want to engage in party politics with the hon. Gentleman, but I should point out that he fails to remember just how neglected and badly run down physical education and sport facilities became during many years of Conservative government. We are trying to redress a position in many of our schools which we accept is not good. That will not occur overnight, but the measures that we have already put on track, including the new money and the recognition that we need better-qualified staff and more support for our physical education teachers, are coming together to make a difference. As we have said, we need entitlement rather than merely aspiration. That means that if it is not happening in schools, we must ensure that it does happen.
The school sport co-ordinators, along with the whole range of measures, will make a genuine difference, as they will bring together the specialist sports colleges and the schools in their areas to deliver good quality. It is not just about time, but about the provision of good-quality physical education. A great deal of such education is provided after school, and not only within the curriculum.