PARLIAMENTARY EARLY DAY MOTION
SCHOOL SPORTS PARTNERSHIPS (15 November 2010)

That this House recognises that the School Sports Partnership (SSP) has in recent years successfully transformed the quantity and quality of physical education within and beyond the school day, which also helps tackle child obesity; further recognises that the SSP has provided millions of hours of coaching, creating thousands of links between schools and clubs, introduced over a million more young people to competitive sport and significantly lifted the level of inter-school and intra-school competition; believes that other merits of the SSP include organising mentors and sustaining the primary school Playground Buddies scheme to prevent bullying and building leadership qualities in those who do not want to partake in sport but who want to volunteer to promote events and activity in others; strongly deplores the Government's devastating decision to end all direct funding, worth 162 million a year, for the SSP; fears that ending the ring-fencing of funds will encourage hard-pressed schools to divert such monies; regrets removing the need for schools to plan and implement their part of the five hour sport offer as well as collect pupil information for an annual survey; further believes that plans for an annual Olympic-style school sport competition will reduce the number of events and exclude all but the most avid sports people; shares widespread concerns that the overall impact will endanger the prospect of a lasting Olympic legacy; urges schools to maintain school sports and their inclusive nature; and calls on the Government to reconsider this decision.

Sponsored by:
Ian Mearns (Labour)