HC Deb 28 April 1995 vol 258 cc737-8W
Mr. Chris Smith

To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage how much is spent on sport and leisure in the United Kingdom by(a) the United Kingdom Sports Commission and the sports councils and (b) local authorities. [20996]

Mr. Dorrell

The United Kingdom Sports Council will not have spending powers until it has formally been established by royal charter. We expect this to be on 1 January 1996. The grant in aid expended by the four Sports Councils in 1994–95 was:

£
GB Sports Council 49,824,000
Scottish Sports Council 8,778,000
Welsh Sports Council 6,559,000
Northern Ireland Sports Council 2,158,569
Total: 67,319,569

It is not possible to make cross-national comparisons of local authority expenditure as different definations are used. Local authority expenditure on sport and recreation in England for 1993–94, the last year for which figures are available, is estimated at £900 million.