HC Deb 18 October 1994 vol 248 cc194-5W
Ms Mowlam

To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage whether he now expects local authorities to promote mass participation in sport.

Mr. Sproat

I would expect local authorities to continue to encourage sporting and recreational opportunities for the public at large as they always have done.

Ms Mowlam

To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage what extra resources will be allocated to local authorities to enable them to develop alternative mechanisms following the disbandment of the regional councils for sport and recreation.

Mr. Sproat

Our proposal is that the present formal linkage between the regional councils for sport and recreation and the regional offices of the Sports Council should cease and we shall no longer make appointments to the regional councils. Local authorities will want to decide for the future, with other regional interests, how to develop and deliver wider regional leisure strategies and how any such future machinery should be funded.