§ Mr. Bob RussellTo ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what is his basis for estimating the number of people who are employed in sport; and if he will make a statement. [112639]
§ Kate HoeyResearch conducted by the Leisure Industries Research Centre at Sheffield/Sheffield Hallam Universities into the economic impact of sport in England and on behalf of Sport England, was published last month. It shows that employment in sport, including the commercial sector and central and local government, was 368,587 in 1998, an increase of over 20,000 on the 1995 figure, although the expanding employment market generally meant that the sports sector proportion of total employment fell from 1.64 per cent. to 1.59 per cent. These, and other figures contained within the report, provide further evidence of sport's existing and growing economic importance.