Ftsis 2007: Sutcliffe Targeting Schools Sport Quota

In his first public address to the sport industry, new Minister for Sport Gerry
Sutcliffe told the FT Sport Industry Summit that one of his chief priorities
will be that the schools curriculum includes 5 hours of compulsory sport a week
by 2010.

He said: ‘5 hours is the absolute minimum that our children should be doing
in terms of sport in schools. My predecessor Richard Caborn stated this process
and I will ensure it continues to plan.

‘We have the backing of Gordon Brown and we will have this in place by 2010
but it’s not just the schools who can make this happen. We need the support of
all clubs, organisations, companies to make it happen.’

Sutcliffe stated that he would provide schools with financial incentives to
ensure that this target was met.

Sutcliffe also defended the government stance on tax breaks for those
companies who have invested in sport.

‘There’s no doubt that we’re doing this. We gave back £22m to companies last
year through various programmes that reward investment. To say that we don’t do
this is wrong.’

The new Minister for Sport also highlighted an increase in female
participation in sport as a main issue but said that there was a need for the
country to create role models if this number was going to increase more rapidly.

He also criticised the salary structure in football by claiming Premier
League player wages are ‘obscene’.