§ Mr. SpringTo ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what awards have been made(a) by the Sportsmatch Panel and (b) by the Sportsmatch Panel to schools-related projects since 1 May 1997. [34214]
§ Mr. Banks[holding answer 16 March 1998]: The Sportsmatch Panel has made 329 awards worth a total of £2,096,445 since 1 May 1997, of which 206 awards worth a total of £1,379,676 have been to schools related projects. I have placed copies of the detailed list of the awards made by the Sportsmatch Awards Panel in the Library of the House.
§ Mr. SpringTo ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what steps he has taken to encourage business sponsorship in the field of youth and school sports. [34213]
§ Mr. Banks[holding answer 16 March 1998]: Sportsmatch, the Government funded business incentive scheme for sport, offers pound for pound matching funding for sponsorships of grass roots sport. £1 million out of the annual Sportsmatch budget of £3.2 million is reserved for schools and schools related activities. I announced last year that the minimum award for schools has been reduced to £500 to increase the opportunities for securing private sector sponsorship. In addition, the English Sports Council's Lottery Sports Fund School Community Sports Initiative (SCSI) is designed to help schools and colleges find matching funding, including private sector investment, by providing up to 80% of the total project costs. To date, 181 education establishments have been awarded £84.2 million under the SCSI.
§ Mr. SpringTo ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what steps he has taken to ensure that sport governing bodies have plans to develop school sports projects as a condition for receiving Sports Council grants. [34215]
§ Mr. Banks[holding answer 16 March 1998]: The development of sports opportunities for young people is one of the English Sports Council's key objectives.
578WThe English Sports Council's National Junior Sport Programme provides the framework which currently guides national governing bodies of sport (among others) on their role of providing sporting opportunities for young people. When assessing the development plans of sports governing bodies, the ESC will give detailed consideration to whether a sport can attract young people and offer a sustainable junior development programme. Support offered by governing bodies to the education sector, through good quality links with schools, particularly between clubs, is critical to evaluating the quality and success of governing body youth development programmes.
§ Mr. SpringTo ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what steps he has taken to encourage the Sports Council to promote links between schools and sports clubs. [34216]
§ Mr. Banks[holding answer 16 March 1998]: I met the Council on 2 March. Among many other matters we discussed the National Junior Sport Programme. I met the team who develop the programme and gave them my personal backing. Under the Sportsmark scheme, schools must demonstrate effective links with clubs. The ESC's Challenge Funding scheme invites schools to apply for up to £1,000 to strengthen existing links and to encourage the development of new links. With the Department for Education and Employment we are working up proposals for community sports co-ordinators whose role would include building and supporting school/club links.