Oral Answers to Questions Debate

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Department: Leader of the House

Oral Answers to Questions

Lord Evans of Rainow Excerpts
Thursday 3rd March 2011

(13 years, 9 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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Lord Vaizey of Didcot Portrait Mr Vaizey
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It says here that that is from a statement made in August 2009 by Siôn Simon, the previous Labour Minister responsible for the creative industries. [Interruption.]

Lord Evans of Rainow Portrait Graham Evans (Weaver Vale) (Con)
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14. What steps he is taking to encourage young people to participate in competitive sport.

Hugh Robertson Portrait The Minister for Sport and the Olympics (Hugh Robertson)
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It feels a little like the aftermath of the lord mayor’s show, Mr Speaker.

The Government are committed to encouraging young people to participate in competitive sport, principally through the introduction of the new school games tournament. The school games will roll out this September and give pupils of all abilities the chance to compete regularly against each other in a wide range of sports at local, county and national level. The first national finals will take place in the Olympic park in 2012.

Lord Evans of Rainow Portrait Graham Evans
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I thank the Minister for that reply and welcome plans for the school games, which should help to provide a lasting sporting legacy for London 2012. Such a lasting legacy was under threat from the previous Government’s constant diversion of national lottery funding away from sport to other pet projects. What have this Government done to prevent that from happening in future?

Hugh Robertson Portrait Hugh Robertson
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The simple answer is that we have increased the amount of money that sport gets though the lottery back up to the 20% originally envisaged in the mid-1990s.