§ Lord Tebbitasked Her Majesty's Government:
What proportion of the funds provided for Olympic athletes is made available by government from tax financed resources. [HL878]
§ Lord McIntosh of HaringeyNo funds are provided directly for Olympic athletes from tax financed resources.
Funding for sport, in general, is provided from the exchequer and from the National Lottery and is distributed by UK Sport and the home country sports councils. Many Olympic sports benefit from exchequer grants which are directed towards developing the sporting infrastructure. Funds specifically for Olympic athletes are made available from the Lottery.
Our elite athletes, including Olympians, benefit from funding from the Lottery through programmes such as the World Class Performance Programme, which is administered by the Sports Council's UK Sport for UK governing bodies and includes athletes from all parts of the United Kingdom; and Sport England is responsible for English governing bodies and English athletes. In addition, the home country sports councils also provide lottery support to our top athletes in home country based sports through Wales' Elite Cymru and Scotland and Northern Ireland's Talented Athlete Programmes.