§ Siobhain McDonaghTo ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what evaluation methods are in place for projects designed to nurture sporting talent among young people competing at a national level, with special reference to cricket, rugby and tennis; and what results evaluations have shown about the success of such projects. [4592]
§ Mr. CabornThe lottery funded World Class Potential and World Class Start programmes administered by Sport England are designed to support and nurture talented English athletes.
The World Class Potential programme aims to assist the development of talented athletes with the potential to win medals, or equivalent, in significant future international competitions and events within the next eight years (2 Olympic Cycles). The World Class Start programme aims to identify and nurture a specific number of English athletes who have the necessary characteristics to achieve future World Class success.
316WThe first awards to the national governing bodies under the Potential and Start programmes were made in January 2000. Funding for Cricket has been agreed but the programmes have yet to be implemented; Tennis does not receive lottery funding support from Sport England (the Lawn Tennis Association administers its own sports development programme); and Rugby has been offered funding of £8 million over 8 years, but the governing body has yet to accept the award.
As the programmes for cricket and rugby have not started, no evaluation has taken place. However, both sports have identified a performer development model to reflect the transition of the athletes through the Start and Potential Programmes. It is too early to measure the success of these programmes, but I am confident that the lottery investment will enable our talented athletes to achieve success at the highest level.