Sports Coaching (Hansard, 12 February 2004)

§ Mr. Don Foster
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what estimate she has made of the number of(a) voluntary, (b) part-time and (c) full-time qualified athletics coaches in each year since 1997; and if she will make a statement. [154116]

§ Mr. Caborn
The final report of the Coaching Task Force published by DCMS in July 2002, noted that governing bodies of sport—including athletics—find it difficult to maintain accurate and current records of their qualified coaches, irrespective of their employment status. DCMS has funded Sports Coach UK to commission a UK wide study of coaching across the 31 sports—including athletics—invited to participate in the National Coaching Certificate. The results are expected around Easter.

§ Mr. Don Foster
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (1) what estimate she has made of the number of coaches employed through the Coachmatch scheme who will be(a) full-time and (b) part-time in each year until 2006; [154114]
(2) what measures her Department has taken to ensure the coaches employed through the Coachmatch scheme will be retained in employment after 2006. [154115]

§ Mr. Caborn
The Community Sports Coach scheme (formerly known as Coachmatch) will see a first phase of some 100 full-time coaches employed by the end of 2003–04. Decisions on the roll out of the scheme during 2004–05 will be made following evaluation of phase one. We expect that some 450 full-time and 2,550 part-time coaches will be employed by the end of 2005–06.
Future funding for the scheme is dependent on the outcome of the 2004 Spending Review.

§ Mr. Don Foster
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (1) which National Governing Body coaching awards for sport qualify for Learning and Skills Council funding; [154059]
(2) what the maximum grants available from the Learning and Skills Council to meet the cost of volunteers taking sports coaching qualifications are; and if she will make a statement. [154060]

§ Mr. Caborn
Coaching awards in swimming, gymnastics, orienteering and angling are eligible for funding from the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) in England. In addition, if a sport offers an NVQ the LSC will fund the employer and the training provider directly rather than the individual. The value of any LSC grant depends on the length of the course. Typically a coaching qualification in the above sports taking between 60–90 hours to achieve can attract funding of approximately £400 per candidate, irrespective of employment status.