§ 4. Mr. Nick Hawkins (Surrey Heath)What plans she has for funding of elite sportsmen and sportswomen over the next 10 years[81371]
§ The Minister for Sport (Mr. Richard Caborn)Funding to our elite sportsmen and sportswomen is 351 provided through the national lottery. The Government are committed to maintaining lottery funding to elite athletes at the same level in the run-up to the Athens Olympics as was provided in the run-up to the Sydney Olympics.
§ Mr. HawkinsDespite what the Minister claims, I am told by leading sports administrators who speak to me and to my hon. Friend the Member for Ryedale (Mr. Greenway) that they are being briefed by the Minister's officials that, despite the successes of our sportsmen and sportswomen at the Sydney Olympics and the Manchester Commonwealth games, their funding will be cut, and removed altogether in some successful sports, because lottery ticket sales are falling. That is what we are hearing from people at the sharp end whom the Minister's officials are briefing. The Prime Minister loves basking in the reflected glory with receptions for sportsmen and sportswomen at No. 10, but is not the funding being removed?
§ Mr. CabornWhat the hon. Gentleman says is totally and utterly untrue. We give a clear commitment this afternoon that the funding was there as we went into the Sydney Olympics and that it will be there in the run-up to Athens. That is the position. The Government have given that commitment up to Athens to all our Olympic sports that received it up to Sydney. I can be no clearer than that.
§ Dr. Jack Cunningham (Copeland)Does my right hon. Friend's answer mean that the Government will guarantee to implement all the financial recommendations of the elite sport funding review group, which reported last year and which the Prime Minister described as an excellent piece of work? Does it mean that, in addition to maintaining pre-Sydney funding for Olympic athletes up to Athens, implementation of the report's other financial recommendations will also be guaranteed?
§ Mr. CabornThe answer is yes. The vast majority of the 40 recommendations given in my right hon. Friend's report—the Cunningham report—have been implemented. Beyond the 40 commitments that were asked for, we are investing £120 million in the English Institute of Sport, which I hope will be on stream in the next 18 months. That will probably give the best infrastructure for elite athletes anywhere in the world.
I have just come back from Australia. The Australian Institute of Sport is being revised and responsibilities are being devolved to the states. It involves higher education much more effectively. It is rightly revisiting its arrangements. What this country puts in place for our elite athletes in the next 18 months to two years will be unrivalled throughout the world.
§ Mr. John Bercow (Buckingham)What are the nature, extent and results so far of funding for junior tennis players who have talent but no money?
§ Mr. CabornThe Lawn Tennis Association is investing about £17 million per year in grassroots tennis. We welcome that. We have been working with the association for many years, and we shall continue to do 352 so through the English Institute of Sport and our other facilities. I hope that more elite tennis players will come through than we have now.
§ Mr. SpeakerI call Dr. Iddon.
§ Dr. Brian Iddon (Bolton, South-East)Question 5, Mr. Speaker.
§ Mr. John Greenway (Ryedale)rose—
§ Mr. SpeakerDr. Iddon, I am sorry. I call Mr. Greenway on Question 4.
§ Mr. GreenwayI am grateful, Mr. Speaker, because we would like an important issue to be cleared up. After Sydney, the Prime Minister promised that funding for our elite athletes would be increased. Despite what the Minister has just said, the only announcement that we have had was in a written answer that he gave me less than two weeks ago, which showed a 15 per cent. cut in funding from the lottery fund. As my hon. Friend the Member for Surrey Heath (Mr. Hawkins) suggested, that is why sports governing bodies are being briefed to expect a cut. I assure the Minister that we want this Conservative initiative to thrive, but we need some clear answers. If the money is not coming from the lottery, where is it coming from; and when will a proper announcement be made?
§ Mr. CabornI think Conservative Members are confused. Everyone knows that there has been a reduction in lottery income for all good causes. That is not the question that was asked. The question asked was whether there will be a reduction in the investment in our elite athletes in the run-up to Athens, and the answer is no: there will be no reduction in the investment in our elite athletes or in the commitment that the Prime Minister gave that we will continue to fund at the same level as we funded up to Sydney. We will do that up to Athens, and we will continue to do that. The money will be found from inside and outside the lottery.