HL Deb 27 January 2004 vol 656 cc33-6WA
Lord Moynihan

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Which school playgrounds are covered by the Sporting Playgrounds programme: and what funding each has received during 2003–04. [HL854]

Baroness Ashton of Upholland

The Sporting Playgrounds programme is supporting £10 million of capital investment, between April 2003 and March 2005. This will enhance primary school playgrounds to increase physical/sporting activities and improve behaviour. The programme has been targeted at 27 local education authority areas which have high levels of deprivation, high levels of youth crime and are developing a school sports infrastructure.

The table below sets out the 27 local education authorities, their funding allocation and the number of projects this is supporting. Each local education authority is responsible for deciding which of its schools will benefit from the programme.

LEA Funding Allocation Number of projects
Barking and Dagenham £300,000 18
Birmingham £500,000 25
Blackburn £300,000 53
Bradford £400,000 22
Brent £300,000 15

LEA Funding Allocation Number of projects
Bristol £400,000 20
Greenwich £300,000 31
Hackney £300,000 17
Islington £300,000 15
Knowsley £300.000 15
Lambeth £300,000 15
Leeds £500,000 25
Lewisham £300,000 19
Liverpool £400,000 20
Manchester £400,000 22
Newham £300,000 18
Nottingham £400,000 40
Oxfordshire £500.000 30
Rochdale £300,000 21
Salford £300,000 15
Sheffield £400,000 28
Slough £300,000 17
Southwark £300,000 15
St Helens £300,000 21
Tower Hamlets £300,000 19
Wirral £400.000 20
Wolverhampton £300,000 15

The figures for this table are based on the latest information received from the 27 local education authorities in the programme. A small contingency fund (£600,000) has been set aside.

Lord Moynihan

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Further to the Written Answers by the Minister for Sport on 6 January (HC Deb, 138W) that the Government aim to deliver "an ambitious public service agreement target to increase the percentage of school children who spend a minimum of two hours a week on high-quality physical education and school sport within and beyond the curriculum to 75 per cent by 2006", how they will judge the success or otherwise of their programme if the "information on participation rates is unavailable and could be provided only at disproportionale cost". [HL851]

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Culture, Media and Sport (Lord McIntosh of Haringey)

As my right honourable friend the Minister for Sport and Tourism (Richard Caborn) indicated in his answer on 5 January 2004,Official Report, col. 138 W, data are now being collected for the first time—for publication in April—on the number of pupils who choose to take up the entitlement to two hours of high-quality PE and school sport each week within and beyond the curriculum. This exercise will be repeated in future years so that performance against the PSA target can be assessed.

Lord Moynihan

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether they will provide a breakdown of the £1 billion they are investing to transform physical education and school sport into specified programmes; and what proportion of the £1 billion comes from (a) lottery and (b) Exchequer funding. [HL852]

Lord McIntosh of Haringey

A breakdown of the investment is set out in the following table (£ million):

Exchequer Lottery
National strategy for PE, school sport and club links
Specialist Sports College programme DfES 115.00
School Sport Partnership (formerly School Sport Co-ordinator programme; PE and School Sport Professional Development programme; PE and Sport Gifted and Talented programme; QCA PE and school sport investigation; Swimming strategy DfES/DCMS 224.00
Step into Sport programme DCMS/HO 12.00
Club Links programme DCMS 10.00
Related work
Community Club Development programme DCMS 60.00
Coaching project DCMS 28.00
Sporting Playgrounds programme DfES 10.00
Facilities
New Opportunities for PE and Sport programme (England) (NOF) 556.25
Space for Sport and Arts programme (NOF) CMF 75.00 155.00
Total 534.00 611.25
Net Total 534.00 586.25
1 Includes £25 million from the New Opportunities for PE and Sport programme (England).

Lord Moynihan

asked Her Majesty's Government:

What are the current constraints facing schools that fail to deliver a minimum of two hours each week of high-quality physical education and school sport within and beyond the curriculum. [HL853]

Lord McIntosh of Haringey

The main constraints involve the availability and training of teachers and coaches and the availability of suitable facilities.

Higher Education Student Numbers 1 in English institutions, 2000–01/2004–05
Academic Year 2000–01 actual 2001–02 provisional 2002–03 projected 2003–04 projected 2004–05 projected
Home domiciled students (thousands) 1,512 1,549 1,569 1,588 1,612
Full-time and sandwich students 852 877 895 911 928
Part-time students 661 672 673 677 684
1 Higher education in higher and further education institutions.
Totals may not equal the sum of the component parts due to rounding.

These estimates are based on a number of assumptions including:

  1. (i) The growth in student numbers due to demographic trends
  2. (ii) Funding resulting from Spending Review 2002 negotiations

The Government are redressing the availability and training of teachers and coaches through the national strategy for PE, school sport and club links and the implementation of the key recommendations of the Coaching Task Force. Within the former: (i) the School Sport Partnerships programme will pay for 2,400 school sport co-ordinators in secondary schools and 13,500 link teachers in primary and special schools to be released from timetable to develop high-quality PE and sport in their own and partner schools by September 2005; and (ii) the professional development programme will ensure that teachers have the tools and expertise that they need to ensure high-quality PE and school sport. Within the latter: (i) the Community Sports Coach scheme will create 3,000 full and part-time community sports coaches, who will work in partnership at local level with schools, clubs and other local or regional organisations supporting sport by 2006; and (ii) the introduction of the national coaching certificate will raise standards in coach education and give coaches a nationally recognised and transferable professional qualification for the first time.

The Government are redressing the availability of suitable facilities in England via an unprecedented investment of £581 million through the New Opportunities for PE and Sport programme, £130 million through the Space for Sport and Arts programme and £10 million through the Sporting Playgrounds programme.

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