§ Mr. Denis Howellasked the Secretary of State for the Environment what progress he has made in the inquiry he has conducted into the problems of drug taking in British sport; in how many sports he found evidence a drug taking; in which sports he found such evidence; what action he intends to take to disclose the identities of' sportsmen or women who take drugs in order to enhance their performance and what action he has taken to ensure that disciplinary procedures or police investigation will follow in each of these cases.
§ Mr. MoynihanI undertook with Sebastian Coe, vice-chairman of the Sports Council, a review of drug abuse in sport this summer. We published our report in September, copies are available in the Library. Investigations and discussions held during the review were confidential. We were concerned to assess the effectiveness of present controls, not to pursue individual cases of drug abuse. The report identified the need for a revised, independent testing regime and invited the Sports Council to submit detailed proposals. The report was endorsed by the ministerial group on the misuse of drugs and by the Sports Council.
The Sports Council agreed detailed proposals at its meeting on 2 November. These involve:
- (1) all testing to be undertaken by independent officials
- (2) the selection of competitors for testing to be on a random basis
651 - (3) testing out-of-competition to be introduced
- (4) adverse findings and follow-up action by governing bodies to be publicised.
§ Mr. Denis Howellasked the Secretary of State for the Environment in how many sports he has found no evidence of drug taking; and what action he proposes to take publicly to exonerate all those sports which were found to be clean of any malpractice.
§ Mr. MoynihanI refer the right hon. Member to the answer I gave him today. In the course of the review into the misuse of drugs in sport we sought the views of 213 governing bodies about their current policies and programmes. I was pleased at the welcome extended to the review and grateful to the governing bodies for their co-operation and contributions. The issue of exonerations for those sports where drug abuse is not a problem does not arise. I have not received any representations on this matter from the governing bodies.
§ Mr. Denis Howellasked the Secretary of State for the Environment what progress has been achieved as a result of the Sports Council's inquiry into drug taking in sport; what has been the cost of this investigation; and why the Minister for Sport has established his own further inquiry into this subject.
§ Mr. MoynihanThe Sports Council has not undertaken an inquiry into drug-taking in sport. I refer the right hon. Member to the answer I gave him today.
§ Mr. Denis Howellasked the Secretary of State for the Environment what action he has taken in the light of recent evidence concerning the incidence of drug taking by British sports competitors; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. MoynihanI refer the right hon. Member to the answers I gave him today.
§ Mr. Denis Howellasked the Secretary of State for the Environment how much money is to be allocated for drug testing purposes in British sport; what percentage of the Sports Council budget this represents; and upon what evidence concerning the extent of the problem the present trend of this expenditure is based.
§ Mr. MoynihanThe Sports Council's 1987–88 budget provision for combatting the misuse of drugs in sport is £365,000 representing .08 per cent. of the total budget. The council's planned provision for 1988–89 is £445,000—likely to be some 1 per cent. of the budget. Annex A of the report on the misuse of drugs in sport, copies of which are available in the Library, gives details of the number of tests each year since 1979 and the incidence of banned substances.