Member

For me, and I am sure for the Minister, the tragedy behind the figures I have just given is the reality that there are so many talented young people in our state schools who are capable of representing the country at national and international level, but whose talent is never recognised or developed and who have no access to good sports facilities and good coaching and thus miss the opportunities that every country in the western world that we compete against provides. This is not a party-political point. The role of sport has dropped down the political agenda over recent years. We continue to lose playing fields, and on 10 March the Government announced that Sport England will be removed from the list of statutory consultees on planning applications that impact playing fields as part of a broader overhaul of the planning system, raising additional concerns about the impact on sport and physical activity in the communities at large.