§ Mr. Denis HowellTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will make a statement on his policy for the provision of facilities of excellence for British sports and on the financial arrangements for them.
§ Mr. Atkins[holding answer 3 March 1992]: Our sports policy statement "Sport and Active Recreation" published in December 1991 identified, among the Government's primary objectives for sport, the achievement of higher standards of performance amongst participants and encouragement to those with potential to excel.
The continued development of the sports councils' national centres of sporting excellence will provide an essential element of this strategy. Responsibility for the centres in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland will lie with the home country sports councils, with the United Kingdom Sports Commission controlling the English centres and providing overall co-ordination. To complement these and existing world class local authority sports facilities, the Government's initial investment of £55 million in Manchester's bid to host the millennial Olympics will create major new facilities to encourage sporting excellence.