§ Mr. SpearingTo ask the Prime Minister what consultations he has had, or intends to have with(a) the Sports Council and (b) governing bodies of individual 405W sports, concerning his proposal to establish a national academy or institute of sport; and if he intends promotion of wider participation in all sporting activity to be one of its principal objectives. [8481]
§ The Prime MinisterI made clear my policy on the British academy of sport in the policy statement "Sport: Raising the Game". The Sports Council is now consulting widely on what the structure and content of the academy might be. A copy of the council's consultation paper was placed in the Library of the House, and the closing date for responses is 31 January.
The British academy of sport will be the top of a sporting ladder involving schools, clubs and further and higher education institutions, and other sport's centres, and will enable all those who wish to participate in sport to do so at as high a level as their abilities allow.