HC Deb 06 November 2000 vol 356 cc61-2W
Dr. Tonge

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many new(a) public playing fields and (b) school playing fields have been funded by the National Lottery. [136769]

Kate Hoey

Specific information on lottery funding directed to both new public and school playing fields is not available. However, the Sports Lottery Fund has made 35 awards totalling nearly £17.6 million for projects creating both new and upgrading existing public playing fields, so they may be brought back into use. The Sports Lottery Fund has also made 15 awards totalling nearly £14 million for creating both new, and upgrading school playing fields.

Dr. Tonge

To ask the Secretary of. State for Culture, Media and Sport what progress has been made in the development of a national register of playing fields. [136755]

Kate Hoey

The proposals for a national register of recreational land were originally put forward during the preparation of the Playing Pitch Strategy by the GB Sports Council, the National Playing Fields Association and the Central Council for Physical Recreation in 1989. The objectives of the register from the outset were; to monitor change in the recreational land resource; to assist in policy development at the local and national level; to provide information to the public. This proved to be an extensive task, surveying over 70,000 individual pitches on more than 23,000 sites across England. An independent evaluation of the register in 1994 found a number of shortcomings with the data. These shortcomings were due to a number of factors including the voluntary nature of the project, with owner and managers of sites under no obligation to provide data, and many refusing to co-operate.

A review of the effectiveness of the register in 1998 indicated that the likelihood of achieving and maintaining a comprehensive, accurate, up-to-date national inventory of playing pitches was remote. Sport England, with the support of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, the National Playing Fields Association, and the Central Council of Physical Recreation, is currently working with the Local Government Association on a suitable model of the register which can be used by local authorities to undertake assessments of playing field need and provision in their area.