Oral question asked in the House of Lords, by Earl Attlee (Conservative). It was answered on Wednesday, 17 December 2008.

Sport: Anti-doping Agency

Question: My Lords, if increased government funding is required, does that not indicate that we are not doing enough at the moment.

Answer: No, my Lords, it indicates the possibility of improvement. We have one of the best anti-doping organisations in the world and it is highly respected, but at least two other countries have shown that, if the organisation has close links with the law enforcement agencies, there are improvements in performance. Customs and Excise and the police have a lot of information at their disposal which helps with the accessibility of the drugs which athletes might be suborned into using. Because we want to forge those links, there are additional costs, for which we have not yet settled the budget.

Secondary information