§ 5. Jon Trickett(Lab) (Hemsworth)What engagements she has carried out in relation to the sport of cycle racing in the past 12 months; what funds were made available to the sport; and what steps are being taken to encourage participation by school children in the sport. [151924]
§ The Minister for Sport and Tourism (Mr. Richard Caborn)Yes—very apt. I met representatives of cycling with my hon. Friend on 1 December last year to discuss major events in the sport. I confirmed the Government's support for cycling on that occasion, and I am delighted to announce today that funding is being made available to the sport to improve links between schools and amateur clubs, under the club links programme. That will apply to another 14 sports, which we will announce later today.
§ Jon TrickettAs a passionate cyclist, I often feel that my sport is undervalued and under-recognised, yet it achieved a fantastic result of 13 medals at the Commonwealth games in Manchester. There is a vast voluntary sector comprising 1,200 clubs across every community and neighbourhood. Will my right hon. Friend undertake to pay particular attention to cycling and to the development of support, where possible, for that valuable voluntary sector, which is represented in every constituency?
§ Mr. CabornYes. We support club-to-school links, in which cycling is involved, and we support the sport's national governing body, the national coaching task force and the new coaching facility. We support the 519 modernisation of 22 governing bodies, in which cycling is involved. Through the Millennium Commission, £43 million was invested in the first phase of the national cycling network. There is real commitment not just to the sport. but to cycling for leisure and to getting more young people active in cycling, which we consider important for health reasons.
§ Bob Russell(LD) (Colchester)I thank the Minister for his personal interest in the sport of cycling. Can he assure me that some of the additional money he mentioned will find its way into cycle speedway—a largely unrepresented aspect of cycling, which is a minority sport anyway? If my right hon. Friend would like to see cycle speedway first-hand, I extend to him an invitation to come to the Colchester Stars cycle speedway club.
§ Mr. CabornI shall look in my diary and see when I can take up that invitation. It is for the governing bodies to make representations to Sport England, as I have no doubt they will do. Following its modernisation, I pay tribute to the governing body of cycling, which did a first-class job and is fitting into the development of sports colleges and promoting cycling across the spectrum. The investment to which the hon. Gentleman refers is important, as it tends to bring young people into the sport in pursuit of their icons, and that is what drives sport forward.