UK sport hit hard by spending cuts 21/10/2010 |
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Sport will lose about one-third of its funding as a result of the UK Government’s spending review – but the 2012 Olympics has escaped the axe.
Having already delivered over £700m in efficiency savings, including £27m as recently as May, the London Games’ overall budget of £9.3bn remains intact, with most of it already spent or committed.
However, Sport England, the body responsible for community sport, sees its funding cut by 33 per cent over four years, while UK Sport (elite athletes) faces a 28 per cent reduction.
Jeremy Hunt, the secretary of state for culture, Olympics, media and sport, said: "To deal with an unprecedented financial deficit we have been forced to make some incredibly difficult decisions. But, in the current economic climate, this is a good settlement for the DCMS's sectors. We will deliver a safe and successful Olympics in 2012 when the eyes of the whole world will be upon us.
"And by cutting bureaucracy and waste and prioritising the services valued by the public, we will be able to protect our sporting and cultural core for the long term."
School sport has been hit particularly hard by the cuts, with funding for the 450 School Sport Partnerships currently running in England completely withdrawn by the Department for Education, a decision the Youth Sport Trust has described as "devastating".
"It's a black day for us but we'll get over it and carry on," YST chief executive Steve Grainger told the BBC.
"But what upsets us is what this means for the seven million kids we've started to help – they deserve better, frankly.
"The most shocking aspect of this is that we were just starting to get somewhere. We were expecting cuts but to lose all our funding [£160m a year] is staggering.
"Some of the partnerships will continue because that particular area will be able to fill the funding gap. But there will be lots of areas that cannot do that and that's where the need is greatest."
Sport England described its 33 per cent cut in funding as "significant" and "tough", voicing particular concern about the 40 per cent reduction in capital funding – cash for bricks-and-mortar projects.
Sports minister Hugh Robertson added: "This hasn't been an easy process but it's the best possible result for sport under the circumstances.
"Let's be clear, the country's deficit is so large that the daily interest payments are the same as Sport England's annual budget."
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