Number 10 Press Briefing - Afternoon From 1 December 2010
From the Prime Minister's spokesperson on: World Cup, school sports and Mervyn King.
World Cup
Asked whether the Prime Minister had any thoughts on Vladimir Putin’s comments suggesting there was corruption at the heart of the World Cup voting process, the PMS said that the Prime Minister was focussed on the England bid.
Asked whether the Prime Minister would take part in the bid team’s presentation, the PMS said that he would take part.
School Sports
Asked what had prompted the rethink on school sports partnership, the PMS said that the Prime Minister had been saying for some time that he wanted to see more competitive sport in schools, that the Government’s assessment was that the present system was not achieving that, and that a decision was taken to withdraw the £162million central funding stream for the PE and sports strategy.
Asked whether dismantling the current system was wise given it has support from some teachers, the PMS said that there was widespread recognition that the current system was excessively bureaucratic, that it needed to be addressed and that the Government would announce shortly about how it intended to do that.
Asked whether there would be a specific sum that would go towards competitive sport, the PMS said that the £162m funding had been withdrawn but that there would be no further detail until a further announcement was made.
Asked why Michael Gove had not mentioned the issue of school sports, the PMS said that the Government was withdrawing the fund, was simplifying the funding streams to give headteachers more control, and was committed to seeing more competitive sport in schools.
Asked whether any cash would be ringfenced as some headteachers do not place such value on competitive sport, the PMS said that PE would be a central part of the curriculum, that within that curriculum there would be a new emphasis on competitive sport, and that more detail would be announced in due course.
Mervyn King
Asked why the Governor of the Bank of England was so vocal on fiscal policy during the Coalition talks, the PMS said that it was not unusual for the governor to speak to opposition politicians or comment on fiscal policy.