§ Mr. Harry GreenwayTo ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage what public money has been allocated to sport in each of the past three years at 1993 prices; what is proposed for the coming year; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. BrookeMy Department's direct funding of sport is its grant-in-aid to the Sports Council (Great Britain) and the Football Licensing Authority (FLA), and its support for the new business sponsorship scheme for sport, Sportsmatch.
Grant-in-aid to the Sports Council (Great Britain) and to the FLA in the current and last two financial years, expressed in 1993–94 prices, are:
£ million Sports Council (GB) FLA 1990–91 51.244 0.125 1991–92 49.973 0.775 1992–93 50.103 0.822 The grant-in-aid to each body in 1993–94 will be £50604 million and £0.9 million respectively.
Sportsmatch was launched in the current year. I expect to provide £1–17 million in this financial year, and £3 million next year (cash prices).
The Government also provide substantial support for local authority revenue spending on sport through the revenue support grant arrangements. Basic credit approvals amounting to £79 million (cash price) for local authority capital spending have also been provided between 1991–92 and 1993–94. Sport has also benefited through the Government's inner city programmes.
It is also making available a total of £73 million (cash price) in support of Manchester's bid to host the Olympic Games in the year 2000.
Furthermore, reductions in the rate of pool betting duty are contributing approximately £44 million (cash price) per year to the Foundation for Sport and the Arts and to the Football Trust.