§ Mr. WigleyTo ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if he will establish a lottery-supported fund available to organisations promoting sporting events of international status in the United Kingdom which could share the risks associated with such projects with this fund. [117633]
§ Kate HoeyThis Government recognised the importance of staging major international sporting events in this country in our manifesto for the 1997 general election. UK Sport launched its Major Events Strategy in February 1999, with Lottery funding in place, supporting events through UK Sport's World Class Events Programme. This is now providing a coherent framework of support and experience for organisations bidding for and staging events throughout the UK. One of the recent fruits of this coherent approach has been UK Athletics' successful bids for the 2003 World Indoor Championships and the 2005 World Athletics Championships.