HC Deb 02 March 2004 vol 418 cc903-5W
Mr. Evans

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what submissions have been made by his Department to the Activity coordination Team regarding making school sports facilities accessible to the community during school holidays. [155350]

Mr. Stephen Twigg

The Department for Education and Skills is a full and active member of the Activity coordination Team. The Department is responsible for developing the education strand within the team's action plan. This will seek to maximise the benefits from opening up school sports facilities for community use, including during school holidays. The Activity coordination Team will publish its action plan later this year.

Mr. Evans

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what steps his Department is taking to encourage schools to extend access to their sports facilities through the extended schools programme. [155351]

Mr. Stephen Twigg

The Department for Education and Skills published extended schools guidance in October 2002. The guidance covers a range of practical issues, including information and advice on providing community access to sports facilities. A copy has been placed in the House of Commons Library.

The Department has made funding available to support local coordination and management of extended services in schools, and to create up to 240 full service extended schools, with at least one in each LEA area, by 2006. These schools will provide a prescribed core range of extended services and facilities, including sports and arts facilities.

In addition, the national PE, School Sport and Club Links strategy aims to increase the percentage of five to 16-year-olds who spend a minimum of two hours each week on high quality PE and school sport within and beyond the curriculum to 75 per cent. by 2006. The strategy promotes the extended use of school sports facilities, for example the Sport Partnerships programme is delivering increased out of school hours sports opportunities. Schools benefiting from the £686 million investment in the New Opportunities for PE and Sport and the Space for Sport and the Arts capital programmes are required to demonstrate how the new school sports facilities can be shared with other schools and opened up for community use.

James Purnell

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills (1) how many schools have specialist sports status; and how they are being monitored to ensure they open their sports facilities to the wider community out-of-hours; [157764]

(2) which specialist schools open their sports facilities to the wider community out-of-hours. [157769]

Mr. Stephen Twigg

There are 228 Specialist Sports Colleges across the country. We also have three Sports Academies with another one opening in September. A further 30 Sports Colleges have been approved already for this year, and we are expecting more applications for Sports College status in the March application round.

All Specialist Schools have a community plan which spells out their commitment to their wider communities. Sports Colleges generally include the provision of out-of-hours and weekend coaching and club sports events, and these are monitored through the regular submission of progress reports to this Department. In addition, the Youth Sport Trust commissions in-depth annual reports on Sports Colleges which survey their community activities as well as their curricular and whole-school performance.

James Purnell

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills which universities allow use of their sports facilities by the wider community. [157768]

Mr. Caborn

I have been asked to reply.

All universities allow the use of their sports facilities by the wider community, although the degree to which they do so varies enormously. Sport England have commissioned a piece of research into sports provision in higher education institutions which will cover community usage of university sports facilities. The 'Audit of Sports Provision in the Higher Education Sector' will be launched on 23 March 2004.