§ Mr. Wolfsonasked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if in the light of the representations which have been made, he will make a statement on the future role of the Sports Council for Northern Ireland.
§ Mr. GoodhartFollowing the representations made, my noble Friend Lord Elton has been engaged in consultations with the Sports Council and other interested bodies to determine whether there were constructive alternatives which could achieve the objective of economies in public expenditure without necessarily removing all executive functions from the Sports Council. As a result it is now proposed that the Sports Council should have a general sports advisory role and a continuing executive role in sports development. Parliamentary approval will be sought to legislation to remove the function of facilities planning. This would mean that the Sports Council would no longer participate as of right in the planning of new capital sporting facilities in both the public and private sectors. It was this function which was mainly responsible for staffing duplication between the sports council, district councils and the department of Education for Northern Ireland.