Clive Efford
MP for Eltham and Chislehurst · Labour · United Kingdom
“Thank you for allowing me to take part in this statement, Madam Deputy Speaker, given that I was not here at the beginning—I was carrying out my duties elsewhere in the House. I welcome the Secretary of State’s statement. What is she likely to do in my part of south-east London for technical and vocational places?”
“I rise to speak to amendment 97 in my name, which would remove clause 10 from the Bill. Clause 10 gives powers to the Secretary of State to vary the proportion of public and private provision of health services if they consider that to do so is in the interests of the health service.”
“Labour’s 2024 plan to make work pay set out a welcome desire to bring more essential services back into public control—something that is welcomed by health workers across the country, because so far the “biggest wave of insourcing in a generation”, as was promised, has felt more like a trickle when it comes to the NHS.”
“The explanatory notes for the Bill say that this new flexibility is necessary “where there may otherwise be a breakdown in provision of a health service.” Can we imagine a situation where the Secretary of State has concerns about a health service and that an approach to assist a local provider would be rebuffed?”
“There are ample powers to enable the Secretary of State to intervene and resolve breakdowns in the provision of a health service. On clause 10, we must balance what it adds in those situations against its potential misuse by an ideologically driven Government that are determined to privatise our NHS.”
“It was a pleasure to join my right hon. Friend at Greenwich council’s development of 435 council properties in my constituency for the launch of the social and affordable housing programme. Some 70,000 homes are planned, and that is welcome and overdue.”
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“Recently, we have seen the dispute between Chelsea fans, who hold the ownership of Chelsea football club, and the owners, who want to get that ownership back and possibly move the club. I pay tribute to the hon. Member for Portsmouth North (Penny Mordaunt) for her contribution to the debate. I was alarmed to hear that the administrator would not speak to the local community. I would like to know what the Football League is doing to ensure that the administrator talks to the local community and the fans about trying to save the club. The problems at Portsmouth are an example of where things are going horribly wrong in our game. Mr Antonov’s bank, Bankas Snoras—I have not made up that name—applied in 2006 to operate banks in the UK, but was turned down by the Financial Services Authority.”
“The green and gold campaign is not just about a dispute with the club’s current owners, but came about because many fans were shocked to discover that, despite a very successful season in 2009, their club would have been in deficit had it not been for the sale of Cristiano Ronaldo for £81 million. Manchester United Supporters Trust is the biggest in the world. Who is to say that even the mighty, internationally recognised Manchester United might not end up a fans’ co-operative some day in the future? If it can happen to Manchester United, why not to other clubs? The Spirit of Shankly is another group of supporters who were in dispute with the then owners of their club. Its ultimate aspiration, which is still on its website, is to own Liverpool football club.”
“When Wimbledon moved to Milton Keynes, it virtually just moved the management structure and a bank account—what was left in it, that is—but the heart and soul of the club clearly stayed with the local community, which exemplifies my point about football clubs being part of their community. We have a remarkable story from what was left of the club: five promotions in nine years and back in the Football League. That just shows what fans can achieve when they work together to support their club and to help in its management and running. Even some of the mighty clubs are vulnerable in this current climate. We have heard about Leeds United—I will not dwell on it—and Portsmouth. Their experiences testify to some of the pitfalls in football today. Even Manchester United is not beyond controversy over its finances.”
“Something that we can do here today with the debate and the response to the Select Committee’s excellent report is to put the case for change that will prevent a situation like the one that has affected Darlington football club from arising again. One of the best examples that I can point to of a local community-based football club is AFC Wimbledon. If we consider its history, notwithstanding the speech from the hon. Member for Milton Keynes North (Mark Lancaster)—I make no comment on Milton Keynes Dons or any criticism whatever; I wish them all the best, except for when they are playing Millwall—we have a club that started from scratch in the local community.”
“Without them, there would be no club to save. I spoke to my hon. Friend the Member for Darlington (Mrs Chapman) yesterday about the fight to save Darlington football club. The reason why she is not here speaking on behalf of her local community is that she has had to return to Darlington to try to bring together all the different parts of her community that are fighting to save Darlington football club. I urge everyone here to get behind her and the local community—those people who bought that extra time to try to save Darlington football club. Everyone needs to work together in the best interests of the club.”
“We can begin to work together to take on the tough choices over the future of governance and finance to democratise our game and bring it closer to the fans. Football is our national game because it is played in every community the length and breadth of the country. Football teams are part of the communities in which they are based, whether it is Manchester United, at the very top of the game—it is one of the biggest and most highly recognised clubs in the world—or Darlington, in the conference league, which is struggling to survive on what is, frankly, a pittance compared with what is paid to a premier league agent, player or manager or the receipts that those clubs get from TV rights. Darlington was saved from complete closure only by a couple of fans, who at the last minute were able to raise £50,000 to buy more time to save the club.”
“That applies to us all, from the FA at the top, through its executive and the council, to the county FAs. I say to the people in those particular bodies that they have to look to themselves to review the vested interests highlighted in the report, because unless all of us together, as one community of people who love football, are prepared to take on the issue of change in the governance of football, the changes that we need will not come about. It will also require the other governing bodies, the Premier League, the Football League, club chairmen, managers, players, the dreaded agents and, of course, the fans. All of us together have an opportunity to set out a course that will resolve the problems that face our national game.”
“Its leadership has been exemplary. The international football bodies could learn from the way the FA has dealt with that issue. It has acted in the best interests of football, and I sincerely wish it all the best in selecting the best replacement as England manager. If that means that the FA has to take time in doing it and allow people to finish current contracts, it should be given that time to do what is in the best interests of the England football team. This report and debate give us an opportunity at least to set out the will of Parliament to the Football Association ahead of its response to the report. They allow us to say what we feel about football governance and what we think the FA should respond to. We all have a responsibility to face up to the many challenges that the report highlights.”
“I congratulate the Select Committee on the report. I join the Chair of the Committee in the tribute that he paid to our friend and former colleague, Alan Keen. I believe that our former colleague David Cairns was also involved in the inquiry when it started, although sadly he passed away before the report was written. This is an extensive and detailed report on the future governance of football. It would have been better if we could have had this debate in the full knowledge of the response of the Football Association, but given what has gone on over the last couple of weeks in football, it has given us an opportunity at least to pass some comment on what has been going on. For my part, I pay tribute to the Football Association for showing strong leadership on these issues and particularly on the issue of racism in football.”
“Friend the Member for Hyndburn described about Blackburn, how will we ever have an early-warning system? The fans are the early-warning system to tell us what is going wrong at a club.”
“That is absolutely right. I could not agree more with my hon. Friend. What we want from governing bodies, who support Supporters Direct, is not just to hold meetings when fans can investigate decision-making processes at their club, and the decisions made, but the opportunity to interrogate the board members. If they identify something that is going wrong, they should have the means to raise that at the most appropriate level. We are not asking just for a fan on the board, or for a meeting every year when fans can come along and ask questions. We want to know what the governing bodies will do and how they will respond when fans ask questions and receive answers that cause them concern. If we do not empower fans, and allow them to investigate the sort of things that my hon.”
“I know that action is being taken following the Stevens report, which was published in 2007, and some work has been done to tighten up the activities of agents, but those figures are not justifiable. They cannot continue, and more must be done to restrict agents’ activities, and the malign influence that they still have on the game. We must address that factor in our game. Paragraph 254 of section 8 of the report states; “There is a need for a strong FA”. There is a need for a strong and robust response from the Football Association to the issues that have been highlighted in today’s debate, and in the Select Committee’s report. I hope that its shows the same strength that it has shown in the response to the issues that have occurred in the last couple of weeks. I sincerely look forward to reading its response.”
“That is absolutely right, and we need a mechanism so that the FA, the Premier League and the Football League can set up a system whereby they can hear the voice of those people at that level, and take action when necessary and when that comes under their jurisdiction. Finally, I want to consider the role of agents and their influence on the game. That was highlighted in recent court cases, and by my hon. Friend the Member for Hyndburn. In the premier league last year, more than £70 million was paid in agents’ fees, but only £10 million goes to grass-roots football from the Football Association. That cannot continue. In the Football League, the figure was £16.7 million.”
“I wanted to say that there is no quick fix. This is a huge problem that has grown up over many years, mainly since the creation of the Premier League. It is something that will take time to fix, and we must work together consistently on that.”
“When the Secretary of State was the shadow Secretary of State he respected the different roles of UK Sport and Sport England. In a press release that is still on the Conservative website, he said he would retain “the current split between UK Sport and Sport England”. He said one thing before the general election and something completely different—that these organisers should merge—after it. No one opposes economies of scale such as sharing offices and back-office services, or co-ordination where it is necessary, but these two bodies serve two very different functions. UK Sport has taken us from 36th to fourth in the Olympic medal tables. Will he say something now so that we can end the speculation about a merger of governance, not dither until after the general election and allow these organisations to get on with their jobs?”
“If the Minister has the answer now, I shall take it, otherwise he can write to me.”
“Costs are likely to rise in the current economic situation, but we must not exclude the most disadvantaged people in our communities. As the Minister knows, many people are disappointed by the cuts to school sport partnerships. He has made it clear that that is not his specific area of responsibility, but I refer him to an answer that the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport, the right hon. Member for South West Surrey (Mr Hunt) gave at Culture, Media and Sport questions. He said: “Some school sports partnerships did an excellent job but, overall, participation among young people fell under the last Government—it has fallen from 58% to 54% over the last four years”. —[ Official Report , 15 December 2011; Vol. 537, c. 915.] I have searched, but I cannot find that figure.”
“Many people have referred to problems with increasing costs, especially at private finance initiative schools. A PFI school in my constituency is just being completed. Its policy is certainly to open its doors to the local community and groups, but it must also cover the costs of doing so, which creates a problem for local organisations that want to access those facilities. We must do all we can to ensure that people are not excluded from using the excellent facilities that have been developed in many schools, as that is key to improving accessibility to sport in future. It is important that the Minister has regular discussions with his opposite numbers in the Departments for Education and for Communities and Local Government to ensure that access to sport is maintained.”
“There is an argument for sport not just for enjoyment but as a significant contributor to local economies. It also contributes to health, as the hon. Lady said. There are enormous costs to our NHS from obesity and diabetes. As she said, the cost of dealing with illnesses related to the body mass index is currently about £15.8 billion. That is due to rise by 2050 to a staggering £49.9 billion, if current trends are not addressed. It is important to recognise the potential cost to our country and economy of not tackling such issues. It is also important to recognise the value of sport and how it can contribute. In these economically straitened times, when people’s disposable incomes are stretched, it is also important that we do not exclude people from accessing sport because of cost, particularly those from more disadvantaged backgrounds.”
“The health and sport industry makes a major contribution to employment, as well as to the well-being of many of our constituents. It also offers many opportunities for communities to come together. We have heard an enormous number of examples from hon. Members today of not-for-profit organisations where public-spirited people come together to run them and make a major contribution to our local communities. I am grateful to the Sport and Recreation Alliance for providing figures. One of its reports, under its former guise of the Central Council of Physical Recreation, stated that 26% of volunteering takes place through sport and recreation; and that the economic return of volunteers outnumbers investment in the sector by a ratio of 30:1.”
“It is a pleasure to join the debate under your chairmanship, Mr Bone, for the first time, I believe. I pay tribute to the hon. Member for Bristol North West (Charlotte Leslie). She has been a doughty fighter on behalf of sport in general. She has made many contributions both in the Chamber and Westminster Hall on behalf of sport and young people, pointing out the role that sport can play in encouraging participation among young people, challenging some behaviour and turning lives around. I have certainly seen many examples of that in my constituency. I commend her for the work she has done to bring the matter to the attention of the House. Sport is a very important part of not just our society and culture, but our economy. It contributes in the region of £3.8 billion, according to the British Institute of Sport and Leisure.”
“Is the Minister lobbying hard on behalf of sports-lovers everywhere, who want our playing fields to be protected in future, to ensure that the replacement guarantee is retained? It was successful in reducing the number of school playing fields that were lost. It might surprise some Government Members to know that between 1979 and 1997, 10,000 school playing fields were sold.”
“Encouraging young people to experience that enjoyment and opening them up to as many types of sport as possible through excellent schools facilities is essential if they are to have a lifetime’s association with sport. On the national planning policy framework and the changes to planning policy guidance 17, what discussions is the Minister involved in to secure a replacement of facilities where there is an application to build on playing fields? PPG17 and the School Standards and Framework Act 1998 required developed playing fields to be replaced. Sport England and other consultees must still be consulted under the new requirements in the NPPF, but there is no guarantee of replacement in the wording.”
“I am grateful for that. I suspected that that was the answer. School sport partnerships are for school-age children, not for 14 to 24-year-olds, so the survey did not compare like with like. My concern is that the figure has been used as an example. I think someone said that “prizes for all” was the previous Government’s policy on encouraging people to participate in sport. Encouraging everyone to experience many different types of sport is in no way contrary to encouraging them to participate in competitive sport. Most people who play sport understand that the first competition they must win is the one against themselves. Whether we are playing in a team, on our own or just training in a leisure centre, we are competing first and foremost against ourselves—everything else is secondary.”
“I shall give the Minister a chance to come back; I am a fair individual. After the 1998 Act—this is available through freedom of information and is on the Department’s website and the website of the Department for Education—was introduced, only 226 school playing fields were lost. A myth has built up that school playing fields have been disappearing at an alarming rate over the past 13 or 14 years. That idea is incorrect and must be put right.”
“With that, I had better sit down to give the Minister an opportunity to respond.”
“What discussions is the Minister having with his colleagues in the Department for Communities and Local Government to ensure that problems with floodlights do not continue? Modern technology means that they are not as intrusive as they have been in the past, that they do not damage quality of life, and that many of the fears in local communities about them are misconceived. As has been mentioned by some of the Minister’s colleagues, of the about 2,400 3G—third generation—or artificial surfaces in this country, fewer than 2,000 have floodlights. Few grass pitches are floodlit—grass pitches can only be used for up to six hours a week if they are to be maintained to any standard—so it is important that we increase the provision not only of artificial surfaces, but of floodlights. What work is the Department doing in that regard?”
“Sadly, some sports clubs will be set up in sub-standard facilities, because not all schools enjoyed BSF, which would have improved, rebuilt or refurbished every secondary school in the country. Alongside that, enormous benefit would have been gained from improved sports facilities. It is worth nothing that, since 2000, in addition to what was going to be spent on BSF, Sport England has invested £1.5 billion in capital investment throughout the country and local authorities have spent up to £650 million on improving sports facilities. Therefore, although the money announced by the Government is welcome, it appears to be woefully inadequate. My final point is about planning and floodlights.”
“Is the Minister aware that, on average, 4,000 secondary schools across the country already have partnerships with 14 sports organisations? By my reckoning, that totals significantly more than 6,000. Can he explain where the existing partnerships will fit alongside the 6,000 that he intends to create? Will they be new partnerships or will they be in addition to existing ones? What is the future for existing partnerships? It is ironic that the strategy will be based around schools. I fully support the intention to open up schools. A lot of work has been done on that, as existing partnerships indicate. However, many of the best facilities in which clubs will be set up are in Building Schools for the Future schools. In my constituency, the facilities built as part of that £6.5 billion programme are state of the art.”
“I do not have much time left. The 226 figure is an answer to a question to one of the Minister’s colleagues. The 10,000 figure dates from an FOI request in 2009, so I do not know where the former Minister, Tom Pendry, comes into it. Needless to say, even if the figure is out—even, to be generous, by 50%—the difference is staggering. It is essential, therefore, that the Minister lobbies hard to ensure that the replacement requirement is included in the planning framework when it is finally agreed. I shall move on, because I want to give the Minister a decent run at answering his colleagues’ questions. I have a concern about opening up schools and school clubs under the 14 to 25 strategy announced by the Department and Sport England. Under the policy, by 2017, the Department will have created 6,000 partnerships with local sports clubs.”
“I agree with the Minister’s comments about the Football Foundation, which is an excellent organisation. It has been able to get more bang for its buck by attracting match funding. Is he suggesting that he will make money available to replace that match funding and that it will not require match funding in the future, because to go down that route means that we will get less for the money?”
“The Minister will know that from 1979 until 1997 the Conservative Government sold off 10,000 school playing fields. After the School Standards and Framework Act 1998, the number went down to just 226 between 1998 and 2010. The national planning policy framework intends to water down restrictions on the disposal of school playing fields, which is like a burglar returning to the scene of the crime. Will the Minister ensure that there is no watering down of the restrictions on the sale of school playing fields in the future?”
“Is the benchmark nine times in a school year or more?”
“The person who launched the school games was the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport—it was not the Department for Education. Ministers have been using the figure that one in five children are involved in inter-school competitive sport, and they will know that that figure comes from the PE and sport survey that is carried out in schools every year. That figure is measured on the basis of children taking part in nine competitive sport events against other schools in a school year. We know from what the Under-Secretary of State for Education, the hon. Member for East Worthing and Shoreham (Tim Loughton) said in a Westminster Hall debate that that is not an ambitious target. How is the Minister going to measure the impact of the school games on increasing participation in competitive sport?”
“Can we have a statement from the Leader of the House—or whoever he delegates it to—on how we can hold the Government to account over participation in school sport? We put questions to the Secretary of State at DCMS Question Time this morning, but he refused to answer any about how we are going to monitor participation at school age. The Secretary of State has put £11 million into school games: it was announced by him and it is on his Department’s website, so it is not unreasonable to expect answers to DCMS questions about it. Will the Leader of the House make a statement on who is going to be accountable for answering questions on this subject in future?”
“The hon. Gentleman will correct me if I am wrong, but I think I just heard him say that school sports partnerships did not drive up participation in competitive sport. Can he tell me the figures he bases that statement on?”
“How will we measure participation in competitive sports? We have a measure that has been used as a baseline, which is one in five. I have set out how that is measured, but how will it be measured in future? What is the Minister doing to protect our playing fields? What is he doing about the national policy planning framework? Will he ensure that sports bodies are consulted as part of the decommissioning of education’s playing fields? Will he ensure that the safeguards put in place by the School Standards and Framework Act 1998 will still stand and protect places? If we do not protect them, young people will not be able to play sport in future. If we are to have sport in our schools, it is essential to have quality playing fields in which to participate in sport.”
“There is a lack of planning for sport as we go towards Rio, even though there is the Olympic legacy to consider and the interest that will be generated around the Olympic games. There appears to be no concept coming from the Department for Education or from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport about how they will harness that interest and take it forward. It is all dumped on the sports governing bodies as though the Government have no role to play whatever. Can the Minister tell us how participation will be measured in future? He has told us that he is doing away with the annual PE and sport survey, so how will he measure participation so that we know what is going on? It would be helpful if we knew that the Government had a plan. Will sport be protected within the national curriculum and given the status that it deserves?”
“Whether it is participation in general sporting activity or in competitive sport, we need to know what is going on in our schools. All those things show that the Government lack any serious commitment to long-term investment in schools. If we look ahead, we know that the Department for Education has told school sports organisers to expect no funding beyond August 2013. The whole thing falls off a precipice in the next 18 months. We are concerned that the people involved in those organisations will already be starting to look elsewhere. Just when we should be increasing participation on the back of the Olympic games, the whole thing falls apart. We are concerned about the implications of making it clear that funding will end.”
“One brings our athletes at the top of their game to the podium, so that we perform well at events such as the Olympics. Sport England improves facilities and works within our communities. Consider school sport partnerships, where we saw all the money taken away at a stroke with no consultation whatever, with something having to be cobbled together, including £11 million for two years from the Department of Health. The Department is investing in competitive sport specifically, and I have asked what it is about competitive sport that improves people’s health that general participation in sport does not. I have not yet had an answer, but I am interested in the research that shows competitive sport improves health the most. Abolishing the collection of statistics is evidence that the Government do not want us to find out what they are doing.”
“Many were in schools that used the sale to improve their sports facilities in the remaining parts of the grounds. A very small number of the others were sold for development outside education. There is a great deal of concern about the Government’s approach to sport in general and how they are straight away starting to relax restrictions on the sale of school playing fields. From day one, the message sent loud and clear from the Government is that they do not value sport. The active people survey shows that active participation has gone down for the first year since the bid for the 2012 Olympics was won—small wonder with the messages going out from the Government. Consider the elite end of sport, from the merger of UK Sport and Sport England to distinctive bodies that perform very different roles.”
“They are doing away with that measure, although it is used to justify their case and to do away with the data in the first place. The Government’s policy is very confused indeed. My hon. Friend the Member for Bradford South mentioned the sale of playing fields. Fields in Trust, the Football Association and many others have expressed concerns about the relaxing of restrictions and the requirement to consult before school playing fields are decommissioned and sold off. The Government are like a burglar released from prison after 13 years who immediately goes back to their old ways. Between 1979 and 1997, the Government sold 10,000 school playing fields. We introduced the School Standards and Framework Act 1998, and between 1998 and 2010, we sold 230. Almost half were in schools that were closed.”
“While participation rates increased in areas targeted by the previous Government”— that was virtually everywhere— “the proportion of pupils playing competitive sport regularly remained disappointingly low... We have removed from schools the burden of having to fill in long, time-consuming and cumbersome sport survey returns, which was a requirement under the previous Government.” —[ Official Report , 21 November 2011; Vol. 732, c. 86W.] So there we have it. The 21% figure for the one in five pupils who are playing regular competitive sport is worthy of using to take money away from the school sport partnerships and focus on competitive sport, but it is not a figure that is worth continuing to collect. If the baseline is 21% participation in competitive sport, how will we ever know whether the Government have improved their performance?”
“In fact, records were broken when Jessica Applegate broke the 50 metres freestyle swimming world record for her age group. There was also a 100 metres running championship best and a 1,500 metres running championship best. Competitive sport has not suffered as a consequence of the previous Government’s work with the Youth Sport Trust and in our schools. The suggestion that the Government invented the national games network and that that is a triumph is frankly ridiculous. The Government have now stopped collecting statistics. The Minister answered a couple of my questions on that very subject. He said: “The annual PE and Sport Survey collected data on pupils’ participation in PE and sport.”
“It is okay to provide money for PE teacher release, but that is targeted mainly at organising school games and co-ordinating local primary schools in competitive sport; it is not intended to free up PE teachers to ferry about the competitive teams and sports people who will be involved. The Government’s policy is confusing. If secondary pupils are to play sport nine times every year to increase the figure from one in five, I would like to know where the resources will come from, where the planning is and what discussions the Government have had. We have been told that competitive sport will lead to the national games as though that is something new. The national games have taken place for a number of years, and are extremely successful. Some 1,600 pupils took part in the national school games this year.”
“That is correct; it was about 21% in 2010. But that is based on key stage 2 young people participating in interschool competitive sport three times in a year. At key stages 3 and 4, in secondary school when children have gone to another school, the requirement to be recorded is the number taking part in regular school sport nine times a year. If we are to see a significant increase in teachers regularly taking pupils out of school to qualify under those statistics, which the Government used to justify their determination to increase competitive sport, we must see an increase in the number of pupils who are taken out of school nine times every year to compete in competitive sport. That is a significant demand on resources. I would be interested to hear what research the Department has done and what consideration it has given to that.”
“Member for North Swindon eloquently suggested is the right thing to do. We did not start to measure the figures for who took part in intra-school competitive activities—competitive sport within a school—until quite late in the process, because obviously we inherited very low participation in 1997. In 2006-07, 58% of those in years 1 to 11 took part in intra-school competitive sport, and by 2010 that had risen to 78%—that was 79% for boys and 77% for girls. That was a very high figure indeed. Regular participation in intra-school sport then fell to 39% for years 3 to 11 in 2010. But let us look at the figures for interschool sport—sport between schools in a local area. In 2004, that was 33%, and by 2010 it had risen to 48%. The issue is regular sport. The Government have said that only one in five children participate in competitive sport.”
“Our target for the Olympic legacy was to achieve 60% of children in schools doing five hours a week during the curriculum period and after school, and to make sport available at that level. We did that through work with the Youth Sport Trust, and I pay tribute to the trust’s work and what it achieved for participation in our schools, and particularly to the leadership of Baroness Campbell. The Youth Sport Trust has come under attack from a number of people, and there was a ridiculous outburst from Lord Moynihan, chair of the British Olympic Association, who claimed that participation in school sport had not risen significantly. Let us look at the statistics, the focus on competitive sport and the suggestion that something acts against participation in competitive sport if sport for everyone is encouraged, which is what the hon.”
“By banishing once and for all the left-wing orthodoxy that promotes ‘prizes for all’ and derides competition we allow sport to do what it does best of all: teach children to learn about how to cope with both success and failure—and most importantly learn to pick yourself up when things don’t go according to plan.” What a home-spun homily that is. My God, in this modern day and age, what a load of nonsense. Let us return to where we started. In 1997, participation in sport in schools was one in four in years 1 to 11. After investing in school sport partnerships and so on, that rose in 2003-04 to 62%, and in 2009-10, it was more than 90%. In fact, we had virtually stopped measuring it because we had started to measure participation rates in three hours a week.”
“We have seen a 64% cut in investment in sport in schools. Not a single Department has had to suffer such a cut. The Minister will probably say that the Government have removed the ring fence, are not acting in a top-down way and will allow schools the freedom to invest where they choose, but what message is that sending about the Government’s priority for sport in schools when direct funding is cut in that way? A 64% cut is not acceptable. So what do we get then? We get an announcement that we will have school games and an amazing statement from the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport, who said: “I can sum up our sports policy in three words: more competitive sport.”