More sport for kids in Ryedale

New spending will mean in the five years up to 2008, investment in PE and school sport, including lottery funding, will total over £1.5bn.

Paul said:

“This announcement means every child in Ryedale’s schools will be doing a minimum of two hours PE and sport at school by 2010, and more facilities and staffing will be put in place to give young people the chance to take part in a further two to three hours of sport outside school hours.

“This new funding will pay for the completion of the network of 400 specialist sports colleges and school sport partnerships, as well as bringing new coaching expertise into schools, developing a fresh generation of gifted athletes and ensuring all children can learn to swim.

“Increasing the amount of sport that pupils are involved in will have a real impact in our work to tackle obesity amongst young people, and address some of the causes of crime and anti-social behaviour.”

“In contrast to Labour’s plans for more sport in and out of school, the Tories are reaching new depths of hypocrisy on school sport. School sport was decimated during the Tories 18 years in power, and the savage spending cuts proposed by Oliver Letwin would cost Department of Culture Media and Sport a massive £78 million each year.”

Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, Tessa Jowell MP, said:

"After the years of decline we inherited, school sport is on the up again. This investment will mean that we hit our targets for increasing participation for all and that we'll be able to provide the competitive framework for the stars of this generation to perform at the highest level - making them ready, we hope, to shine at a London Olympics in 2012."

Notes for editors

In 2002 ministers announced an investment of £459m to deliver the Government's school sports strategy up to 2006. Today's announcement injects a further £519m of Treasury funding from 2006-07 to 2007-08. Among improvements it will pay for are:

· Completing the network of 400 sports colleges and 400 school sport partnerships and maintaining them (£361m)

· Improving the quality of coaching provision and bringing in more outside coaches to work in schools (£43.5m)

· Enhancing community sports clubs and improving their links with schools (£49m)

· Training and developing PE and sports teachers' skills (£11.6m)

· Increasing volunteering and sports leadership opportunities for teenagers (£8m)

· Employing new competition managers with responsibility for school-based festivals through to national matches and events (£6.75m)

This new spending means that in the five years up to 2008, investment in PE and school sport, including lottery funding, will total over £1.5bn.

2. There are 12,000 primary, secondary and special schools in England in 313 school sport partnerships, serving 3.5m children. These are built around a hub school - usually a sports college. These families of schools receive extra funding - around £270,000 a year - to increase opportunities in sport. All schools will be in a partnership by 2006.

3. The first survey of partnership schools found that 62 per cent of pupils were spending two hours in a typical week on PE and sport. Those schools longest in a partnership recorded the greatest take-up of sport - 68 per cent, against 50 per cent in new member schools. The full report is available from http://www.teachernet.gov.uk/pe