Written question asked by Hugh Robertson (Conservative) on Monday, 8 November 2004, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 15 November 2004. It was answered by Richard Caborn (Labour) on Monday, 15 November 2004 on behalf of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.

Dept for Culture Media and Sport

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what estimate she has made of the number of people in England who participated in sport in each of the past 10 years. - Inc figures. (Holding answer 11 November 2004).

Answer: Hugh Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what estimate she has made of the number of people in England who participated in sport in each of the past 10 years. [197458] Mr. Caborn: [holding answer 11 November 2004]: Year-on-year figures for the number of people who participated in sport in England in the past 10 years are not available. Figures taken from the General Household Survey (CHS) for 2002 show that 43 per cent. of adults participated in at least one activity, excluding walking in the four weeks before interview compared to 46 per cent. in 1996. The figure, including walking, was 58 per cent. in 2002 and 64 per cent. in 1996. The apparent drop in participation may, in part, have resulted from a change in the wording of the question in relation to walking between the 1996 and 2002 surveys. Although in both surveys walks of two miles or more were asked about, the 2002 survey only asked for `recreational walks.' Figures taken from Sport England's Young People and Sport in England Survey (2002) shows that 86 per cent. of young people between the ages of 6 and 16 participated in at least one sport at least 10 times outside of school lessons in a year, compared with 87 per cent. in 1994.

Secondary information