Academy of Sport (Hansard, 19 March 1997)

§ Sir Irvine Patnick
To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage what evaluation procedure was used to select the shortlist of applications for the British Academy of Sport. [18336]

§ Mr. Sproat
The evaluation was carried out in an objective and non-political way by an experienced joint Department of National Heritage United Kingdom Sports Council evaluation panel. The evaluation panel was chaired by the chief executive of the UKSC and included two officers from the UKSC and two officials from DNH. In addition, the evaluation panel was advised by four outside consultants.
There was two stages to the evaluation process. At the first stage, all 26 bids were evaluated by the evaluation panel against pre-defined criteria drawn up to assess compliance with the bid prospectus. At that stage, a list of 13 bids which should proceed to a detailed technical evaluation in stage two was determined. At stage two, there was a detailed technical evaluation of each of the 13 bids by the evaluation panel and its outside advisers. Each bidder was also given an opportunity to present their bid at an interview with the evaluation panel and advisers.
Based on the advice of the evaluation panel, the Government and the UKSC announced on 25 February that the academy would be chosen from three contenders: the Central consortium, the Heyford Consortium and the Sheffield Consortium. These proposals are now being considered in more detail by the UKSC and DNH.

§ Mr. Robert Banks
To ask the Secretary of State or National Heritage if she will make a statement on the current position regarding the establishment of the Academy of Sport and on the sites under consideration. [20682]

§ Mr. Sproat
The United Kingdom Sports Council and the Department of National Heritage completed the second stage of the evaluation process on 25 February when it was announced that the British Academy of Sport will be chosen from three contenders: the Central Consortium, the Heyford Consortium and the Sheffield Consortium. These proposals are now being considered in greater detail with a view to identifying the preferred site. An announcement on the preferred site and organisation or organisations will not be made until after the general election.