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School Sports Funding

I shall not give way. We must acknowledge the reality regarding school playing fields. There cannot be effective school sport without school playing fields. A number of hon. Members have made the point that Labour has an at best ambiguous record on this matter. In 1997, the Labour party manifesto stated:"““A Labour government will take the lead in extending opportunities for participation in sports; and in identifying sporting excellence and supporting it.""School sports must be the foundation. We will bring the government's policy of forcing schools to sell off playing fields to an end.””" That was an admirable aim. However, in January 2000, it was revealed that of 103 applications to sell playing fields, 101 had been approved. Elsa Davies, director of the National Playing Fields Association, said that the previous Government did not even pay lip service to their election pledges:"““They have said one thing and done precisely the opposite. It is a very sad U-turn. These pieces of land are disappearing forever and they are part of our children's heritage.””" In November 2000, the sell-offs had still not been stopped. Elsa Davies pointed out that 190 applications had come forward, and that only four had been refused. In February 2002, after more than 18 months in which £125 million had been due to be handed out to 12 partner organisations to support school playing fields, the Daily Mail and the BBC revealed that they had contacted all of those groups and found out that not a single one had opened new playing fields with the money. Kate Hoey, the then Minister for Sport said:"““Trying to stop the sale of playing fields was another uphill battle. No one wanted to admit””—"