Mr. Gareth R. ThomasTo ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what action he is taking to(a) encourage increased public participation in canoeing and (b) assist Britain's elite canoeists to prepare for the Olympic Games. [118957]
§ Kate HoeyThe Sports Councils, through which public funding for sport is channelled, are providing a total of £5.5 million to encourage participation in canoeing and to assist elite canoeists. Sport England has made 31 awards worth £4,071,474 from the Lottery Sports Fund to canoeing projects. It is also providing £220,000 in 2000–01 towards the English development programme of the British Canoe Union (BCU). This will help fund: a network of development officers whose key objective is to generate greater youth participation in the sport; the development of a network of Access Officers whose role will be to open up additional waterways for canoeing; and the delivery of the BCU' s equity programme for England which targets the recruitment of more disabled and women participants into the sport. For the period April 2000—March 2001 the BCU will receive322W from UK Sport World Class Performance Programme Lottery funding of £1,221,471, which includes support for British Canoeists preparing fro the Olympic Games.
I will be meeting my hon. Friend the Minister for Water and Coastal Policy soon to discuss how to improve provision for water-based recreation, including canoeing. In addition, my officials will be discussing these issues with the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions, the Countryside Agency, the Environment Agency and British Waterways.