§ Nick HarveyTo ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what conditions were attached to Sport England's grant to the national stadium project; and if she will make a statement. [51763]
§ Tessa JowellThe lottery funding agreement between Sport England and Wembley National Stadium Ltd. (WNSL) and the Football Association sets out a number of conditions related to the development of Wembley as the site of the English National Stadium. WNSL is required to develop a national stadium for three sports:428W football, rugby league and athletics at Wembley. The lottery funding agreement also sets out a number of mandatory technical and operational requirements. The key requirements are:
- (i) the stadium must have the capability to meet IAAF, FIFA, UEFA, and Rugby Football League requirements; this includes obligations related to stadium capacity, design quality, playing surfaces, facilities for participants, spectators and the media;
- (ii) the stadium must have a minimum seating capacity of 80,000 seats for football and rugby league 75,000 of which must be made available at prices affordable to the general public, and 65,000 seats for athletics;
- (iii) the stadium must be made available for World Athletics Championships and Olympic games events on a cost only basis;
- (iv) the name of the national stadium will be the English National Stadium and any change, for example to facilitate the sale of television naming rights, requires prior written approval of Sport England;
- (v) the stadium may not, except with the prior written consent of Sport England, have an anchor tenant.
WNSL are also required under the terms of the lease agreements with the English National Stadium Trust to assign 1 per cent. of turnover to the trust five years after opening, for distribution by the trust to community-based sports projects.