HC Deb 07 September 2004 vol 424 cc1220-1W
Sandra Gidley

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what plans she has to improve accessibility to(a) sports and (b) arts for older people. [186450]

Mr. Caborn

My Department fully recognises the benefits participation in activities like sport and the arts can bring to older people.

Arts Council England funds a number of arts organisations which aim to encourage older audiences and engage older people in artistic opportunities. Older people were also a focus of the Arts Council's recent New Audiences pilot project. Over £250,000 was awarded to projects targeting older people. Projects designed for older people addressed barriers such as lack of transport, price and having no one to go with. Information about successful New Audiences projects will be disseminated to arts practitioners and arts organisations across the country.

On Sport, Game Plan, our strategy for delivering Sport and Physical Activity Objectives, identified older people as one of the key priority groups for increasing physical activity. Following discussions with the British Heart Foundation, Sport England's 9 Regional Plans for Sport are providing the framework for regional action. Older people are also one of the target groups for Local Exercise Action Plans (LEAPs). The Public Health White Paper due in the autumn will set out the Government's proposals for increased activity across the population.