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Address in Reply to Her Majesty’s Most Gracious Speech

My Lords, I begin with the alleged words of King Henry VIII to all his wives, ““I will not detain you long””. However, I do wish to welcome this debate, which relates to the weighty issues of health, education and social affairs. These are priority areas for any government, and I am pleased to have the opportunity to support the Government, who have retained their commitment to these vital policies throughout their first and second terms, and now their third historic term. There are of course great challenges ahead that result from this commitment, and I would like to bring to the fore one aspect that unites these policy strands, and yet is often forgotten in their debate: the development of sport and physical activity. The gracious Speech states that,"““Education remains my Government’s main priority””," and that the Government will,"““build on the progress already made to improve educational standards for all””." Standards are already improving up and down the country, as we know, and with record investment in the form of the Building Schools for the Future programme, we can expect further progress in the years ahead. The Government are also addressing the need to improve sport provision in schools. I particularly welcome the commitment of £250 million a year for PE, School Sport and Club Links. As the House will be aware, the Government are working towards all schools, primary and secondary, being part of 400 school sports partnerships. Each partnership will be centred on a specialist sports college and will have approximately eight secondary and 40 to 50 primary schools. Currently, there are 350 specialist sports colleges and 311 school sports partnerships. By September 2006, all 400 will be in place and will be delivering tangible results. The national summit on physical education highlighted the potential which investment in quality programmes of physical education and sport can have   on behaviour, attendance, retention and even academic achievement. That has since been replicated by a report from the Institute of Youth Sport at Loughborough University, which specifically illustrates the potential of school partnerships in,"““Improving motivation, attitude and self esteem””," among pupils. Indeed, there are also encouraging illustrations of the potential that sport has in encouraging educational interest from pupils. Sport provides role models for the young, and programmes such as the Premier League Reading Stars, in which footballer stars promote the virtues of reading to children, are a great illustration of the power that role models can have beyond the field of play. Sport does not detract from academic work but encourages, even forces, the participants to be highly driven, organised and efficient in pursuing long-term goals as well as short-term ones. I hope that noble Lords will join me to unite around the Government’s aim to ensure that by 2010 all children will receive at least two hours high-quality PE or sport per week at school and further access to sport in the community. A number of noble Lords, not least the noble Lords,   Lord Coe, Lord Moynihan, Lord Higgins, Lord Monro and Lord Glentoran, have all excelled in   their respective sports. Alongside their own commitment and drive, they would not have been able to achieve those sporting heights without support and access to facilities, starting with their respective schools. Therefore, the PE, School Sport and Club Links is an important mechanism for this development and will help integrate schools and clubs into providing and extending participation by widening the scope of accessibility for young people. Through club links and promoting out-of-school activity, as well as the physical education curriculum and increased competitive school sport, this integration will develop sport, the emerging talent and encourage lifelong participation and activity. Increasing sports participation at school and in the community also has a tremendous opportunity to increase public health, particularly for those in deprived areas. Obesity costs the National Health Service at least £500 million per year, with additional direct and indirect economic costs of £2 billion per year. Research conducted by the National Centre for Social Research found that in 2001–02, 16.4 per cent of children aged two to 10, living in the most deprived areas were obese, compared with 11.2 per cent in the least deprived areas. With increased sporting access at school, children will have more opportunities to participate and in consequence improve their health, particularly in those deprived areas. Sports participation will be beneficial to the health of our children, but it will also have many positive benefits on the lives of everyone who participates, as well as having long-term advantages. The physical activity can reduce the chances of suffering from a range of health problems, as we know, which include heart problems and strokes. That leads me to a concern in sport which is not given the prominence that it deserves; namely, the issues facing women in sport. The Women’s Sport Foundation has produced a report on female participation. Interestingly it highlights that,"““exercise does not even register on the radar for many young mothers””." That is reinforced by the General Household Survey 2002, which indicated that there was a drop in the number of women who participated in sport from 38   per cent in 1996 to 36 per cent in 2002. According to the Game Plan, published by the Cabinet Office in 2002, women are 19 per cent less likely to take part in physical activity than men. In my opinion, these are worrying trends and I would like to know what solutions the Government see to those declining figures. Perhaps the Minister might comment on that at the end of the debate or write to me on the subject. Both the Football Association and the Premier League are to be commended for their encouragement of women’s football, which is the fastest growing women’s sport in the country. The Government are right to pledge to work with the FA, the Premier League and the Football Foundation, to find ways of raising the standard and level of participation in community sport, particularly among women. As we consider the wider questions of social inclusion, I would like to draw noble Lords’ attention to a project run by Loughborough University to foster relations with, among others, the Muslim population. This project, entitled Widening Access Through Sport, has set up a totally female environment for young girls, providing them with more opportunities and confidence to take into their studies. Even with such initiatives being tested and used, it is important that more measures should be considered or implemented to promote female participation in sport. For each of the areas that I have touched on, there is one common theme: sport is a good in its own right. It is also a tremendously powerful tool in ensuring that wider social aspirations are met, from education through to health and even social inclusion. The challenge is quite simple. In order to ensure that participation is high, and that we engender the benefits about which I have spoken briefly, it is essential that funding is made available to   provide opportunities. That comes through new facilities, access to high-quality coaching and then getting the necessary structures in place to engage and retain community involvement. Your Lordships may know that I am the president of the Football Foundation, which the Government recognised in their manifesto as being the model from   which to develop a national sports foundation. The Football Foundation and the Football Stadia Improvement Fund have invested over half a billion pounds in the past five years to create a new generation of community facilities and ground-breaking initiatives. Happily it is not football alone that is meeting the many challenges. I was privileged yesterday to be at the launch of a campaign to rejuvenate cricket in schools in England and Wales. The scheme is called a Chance to Shine, which seeks to raise £50 million from both public and private sectors. Its aim is to regenerate competitive cricket in the state schools by 2015. So, by way of conclusion, I reaffirm my support for the gracious Speech and look forward to the progress that can be made in this historic third consecutive term of a Labour Government.