§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Education and Skills (Lord Filkin)My honourable friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Education and Skills (Mr Stephen Twigg) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.
The Prime Minister, the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (my right honourable friend Tessa Jowell) and I are today announcing another boost for school sport.
In 2002 the Government launched the first ever comprehensive national physical education (PE), school sport and club links strategy with an investment of £459 million for delivery between 2003 and 2006. The aim—a Public Service Agreement (PSA) target shared by the Departments for Education and Skills and for Culture, Media and Sport—is to enhance the take up of sporting opportunities by 5 to 16 year-olds by increasing the percentage of school children who spend a minimum of two hours each week on high quality PE and school sport, within and beyond the curriculum, from 25 per cent in 2002 to 75 per cent by 2006 and to 85 per cent by 2008, and to at least 75 per cent in each School Sport Partnership by 2008.
Spearheading action is the creation of a national network of at least 400 specialist sports colleges and School Sport Partnerships. There are now 291 colleges—including four academies with a sports focus—and 54 per cent of schools in England are within one of the 313 School Sport Partnerships, benefiting 3.5 million pupils in over 12,000 schools. All schools will be within a School Sport Partnership by 2006.
We are well on the way to delivering the PSA target. The 2003–04 survey of School Sport Partnerships found that 62 per cent of pupils were spending two hours in a typical week on high quality PE and school sport. It also showed a 16 percentage point difference in take up of the two hour entitlement between pupils in the longest established partnerships and those newer to the programme. The results of the survey were published on 29 April and copies of the report—The Impact of School Sport Partnerships—are available in the House libraries and at http://www.teachemet.gov.uk/pe.
78WSThis is good progress, but we want to do more. By 2010 our ambition is for all children to be offered at least four hours of sport every week, comprising at least two hours high-quality PE and sport at school and the opportunity for at least a further two to three hours beyond the school day (delivered by a range of school, community and club providers). A further £519 million has been allocated—combined funding from the Departments for Education and Skills and for Culture, Media and Sport—to continue work on the national strategy from 2006–07 to 2007–08 to take us towards this ambition. That means in the five years up to 2008, including £686 million of dedicated lottery funding, government investment in PE and school sport will have totalled over £1.5 billion.
Many of our 2012 Olympic and Paralympic medal winners are at school today. We are determined to make the pathway from playground to podium a reality for these young people. As part of the additional investment, new competition managers will be put in place to work with School Sport Partnerships. These managers will strengthen the ladder of sporting opportunity by creating a competition structure across all ages, ranging from school-based festivals to national competitions. This will give all children the chance to play competitive sport whatever their age or ability. Our ultimate aim is to have one in each of our school sport partnerships by 2010.
My right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (Ms Jowell) is today announcing the allocation of government funding for sport over the next three financial years. This money, together with the measures we have announced today, represents the best ever deal for sport in schools and will help us to achieve our goal of becoming a nation of sporting excellence.