Half PM's £750 school sports fund unspent six years on - Foster

2.02.00pm UTC (GMT +0000) Fri 28th Jul 2006

The Government is failing to spend the money it pledged to Britain's next generation of athletes, four months past its own spending deadline and six years after Tony Blair announced the initiative.

Bath's MP and Liberal Democrat Shadow Culture, Media and Sport Secretary, Don Foster, revealed new figures showing that, of the £750m promised to Labour's flagship school and community sport scheme, over £360m (48%) of the original sum remains unspent.

Speaking on the Today Programme this morning, Don said:

"The government simply haven't delivered on their promises.

"This year some 360,000 children leaving school will no longer take part in sport. It's hardly surprising when sport facilities in schools and communities clubs are inadequate."

The new figures come with now less than 6 years until the London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics (opening ceremony 27 July 2012).

Don Foster said:

"The 2012 Games offer a golden opportunity for talented kids. But without the cash on the ground, our young stars won't get the chance they deserve to become future Olympic champions.

"It's also essential that we defuse the time bomb of childhood obesity now. Sport has a key role to play but we must spend the money that's already there."