§ Mr. GreenwayTo ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what assessment she has made of the implications of the proposed restriction on coaching set out in the Charity Commissioners' Guidelines at paragraph 18 of Annex B in the Treasury's Consultation Document, "Promoting Sport in the Community for the Government's Sports Strategy". [25396]
§ Mr. CabornThe Government are currently consulting on their view that the Charity Commission's decision on charitable status would appear to offer better prospects for community amateur sports clubs than a tax relief package the Government had been considering. Responses to that consultation are requested by the Treasury by 1 February 2002. I intend to meet representatives of the Charity Commission shortly to discuss the extent of applications from sport for charitable status and the fuller guidance the Commission intends to issue on this subject in due course. These discussions will include the need for greater clarity on a range of issues in the current guidance including the treatment of different levels of skill among participants at sports clubs seeking charitable status.
886WIt is the Government's understanding that all skill levels can be catered for by a sports club promoting healthy recreation which obtains charitable status but that such a commitment will not rule out selection of teams on merit and/or different coaching offered to different ability levels. The Commission recognises that the provision of coaching to regional, national and international standards often acts as an incentive to other less able players to improve and/or to attract new people to the club.