Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Neil Carmichael and Hugh Robertson

Tuesday 3rd December 2013 Commons Chamber

[Hugh Robertson]

I am not sure that I understand the distinction that the hon. Gentleman makes, because the Government have repeatedly condemned Israel’s announcements about expanded settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. They are illegal under international law and, as I have said, they undermine the possibility of a two-state solution. We are quite clear about that.

[Neil Carmichael (Stroud) (Con)]

15. What assessment he has made of progress on the transatlantic trade and investment partnership talks.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Neil Carmichael and Hugh Robertson

Thursday 5th September 2013 Commons Chamber

[Hugh Robertson]

We and the Department for Education are looking at the Select Committee report carefully. I was at a meeting on school sport at the Department for Education only yesterday, so I can give the hon. Lady an absolute commitment. However, I would be a little nervous about giving her an absolute commitment about her swimming pool without knowing the facts. There has been a problem that pools built in the 1950s, ‘60s and ‘70s are no longer economical, for environmental and other reasons, whereas new pools have a much better performance, so I would need to be sure that her pool was not part of that group.

[Neil Carmichael (Stroud) (Con)]

Will the Minister join me in thanking Sport England for its investment in Nailsworth tennis club and the Football Foundation for its investment in Frampton football club? He will recognise that those are examples of the investment that is making a real difference to community sport throughout my constituency.

[Hugh Robertson]

I certainly congratulate Sport England, which deserves particular credit for the way in which it runs the “Places People Play” fund, which I suspect was responsible for the first of the improvements that my hon. Friend mentioned. That fund could not have been put in place without the increase in funding that sport got from the national lottery in 2010.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Neil Carmichael and Hugh Robertson

Thursday 13th September 2012 Commons Chamber

[Hugh Robertson]

Absolutely. The key statistic is that on average a grass pitch provides four hours’ use a week, but that rises to 90 hours on a new 3G pitch. This is not a new process: 246 school playing fields were sold off under the previous Administration.

[Neil Carmichael (Stroud) (Con)]

7. What steps she is taking to build on the success of the London 2012 Olympics in local community sport.

[The Minister of State, Department for Culture, Media and Sport (Hugh Robertson)]

Through Places People Play, Sport England is investing £135 million in community sport facilities and local community sport, and to date over 700 community sport facilities have benefited from the programme. In addition, the new youth sport strategy includes funding to help local authorities improve sport provision and investment to enable schools to open up their sporting facilities for use by local communities.

[Neil Carmichael]

I thank the Minister for that reply. The Paralympics received a fantastic response, but can we extend those good things to ensure that wherever possible everybody has access to community sport—obviously with a focus on disabled people?

[Hugh Robertson]

That is absolutely the intention. Three initiatives are worth looking at in that respect. The new whole sport plans will include for the first time specific disability targets, as will Places People Play, and an inclusive opportunities fund is being run for the first time by Sport England to address exactly that issue.