HC Deb 11 February 1980 vol 978 cc494-5W
Mrs. Knight

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment how much public money in the current financial year is to be paid to the sports councils, the Central Council of Physical Recreation and other bodies connected with preparing athletes and sending them to the 1980 Olympic Games.

Mr. Monro

The Sports Council and the Sports Councils for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are the only bodies through which financial support from public funds would be provided in connection with British participation in the next Olympic Games. None of these councils has contributed to the British Olympic Association's appeal fund from which the cost of sending British teams to the Winter and Summer Olympic Games will be paid.

The sports councils do grant-aid governing bodies of sport for the coaching and preparation of their athletes. It would, however, be impossible to separate the proportion of these grants spent on pre-Olympic preparation from those spent on preparation for other international and national sporting events throughout the year.