Policy paper

2010 to 2015 government policy: elite sports performance

Updated 8 May 2015

This was published under the 2010 to 2015 Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition government

This is a copy of a document that stated a policy of the 2010 to 2015 Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition government. The previous URL of this page was https://www.gov.uk/government/policies/maintaining-and-improving-britains-elite-sports-performance. Current policies can be found at the GOV.UK policies list.

Issue

Our sporting success in the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games was partly the result of a system that nurtures outstanding talent from an early age.

We want to continue to identify our best athletes and and help them train, give them more opportunities to compete in the UK before the next Olympic and Paralympic Games, and make sure that UK elite sport continues to be free from doping.

Actions

We are:

• funding UK Sport, the national high performance sports agency, to help elite athletes achieve their potential
• bringing major sporting events to the UK
• working to prevent the use of drugs in sport
• improving the governance structures of sport in the UK to make sports bodies more transparent and accountable
• funding the Sports Ground Safety Authority (SGSA) to set guidelines and carry out inspections that make sports grounds safer

Background

Team GB’s performance has improved as a direct result of our investment in elite sports in the last 20 years. We rose from 10th place and 28 medals in Sydney 2000 to 3rd place and 65 medals, including 29 gold, at London 2012 - our biggest gold medal haul since 1908.

The Paralympic movement started in the UK, and we have a long tradition of making sure disabled sportspeople have access to high quality training and development.

We have invested nearly £175 million in training elite disabled sportspeople since Sydney 2000 and to Rio 2016, including the Vancouver and Sochi Winter Games. Thanks in part to this investment, our ParalympicsGB athletes have finished within the top 3 places in the medal table at the last 2 Paralympic Games.

Total funding for UK Sport ahead of Rio 2016 will be £335 million, up from the £265 million provided to support athletes ahead of the Beijing Games in 2008.

Between 2010 and 2012, we changed the amount of money that went from the National Lottery into the original ‘good causes’ of arts, heritage and sport. This meant that the proportion of National Lottery money going toward sport increased from 16.66% to 20%.

Appendix 1: funding UK Sport to support elite athletes

This was a supporting detail page of the main policy document.

We provide funding for UK Sport, the UK’s high performance sports agency. It supports the UK’s elite athletes by:

• investing most of its funding into the World Class Performance Programme and working with the national governing bodies of sport to make sure they are run as effectively as possible
• working to develop the people and systems that support our leading athletes through coaching, talent identification and sports science and medicine
• researching and finding solutions for sport challenges

UK Sport will give £125 million to the UK’s elite athletes every year before the next Olympic and Paralympic Games at Rio 2016, so they can train full-time in their sports and concentrate on performing at future competitions.

Appendix 2: keeping drugs out of UK elite sport

This was a supporting detail page of the main policy document.

We fund UK Anti-Doping, which is the National Anti-Doping Organisation and our main advisor on drug-free sport.

UK Anti-Doping is responsible for protecting sport from doping. It enforces and monitors the UK’s anti-doping policy and manages other effective anti-doping programmes.

It also makes sure sportspeople and sports bodies in the UK comply with the World Anti-Doping Code as set out by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).

UK Anti-Doping works toward drug-free sport by:

• testing athletes for substances on WADA’s banned list in more than 45 Olympic, Paralympic and professional sports
• conducting scientific research to identify new types of doping
• gathering and sharing information with law enforcement agencies to find people who traffic and supply performance enhancement drugs
• managing drug test results and helping to decide when anti-doping rules have been violated

UK Anti-Doping also works to educate athletes about their role and responsibilities toward anti-doping, and to inspire future generations of sports people to compete in doping-free sport.

Appendix 3: improving the governance structures of sport in the UK

This was a supporting detail page of the main policy document.

We want to make sure that the way sports are run is open, representative and responsible.

Both UK Sport and Sport England require sports that receive public funding to review their board structures and to recruit independent members.

All sports National Governing Bodies (NGBs) are encouraged to have at least 25% women on their Boards by 2017.

Sport England’s National Governing Body 2013-17 WSP Investment Guidance and UK Sport’s Rio Performance Investment Process Guide include each organisation’s governance requirements. These have been developed so that the 2 organisations have consistent governance arrangements.

National Governing Body 2013-17 WSP Investment Guidance

Appendix 4: bringing major sporting events to the UK

This was a supporting detail page of the main policy document.

We work with UK Sport, the UK’s high performance sports agency, to bring major sporting events to the UK.

Working with sports’ national governing bodies, local and devolved governments and agencies, UK Sport invests around £5 million every year to attract and stage significant events primarily of world and European status.

Through the Gold Event Series, launched in 2012, UK Sport is investing £27 million of National Lottery funding to bid for and host these internationally important events. The Gold Event Series will aim to bring over 70 of the world’s most prestigious sporting events to the UK over the next 4 years, including 36 World and European Championships.

The events will help to support British athletes’ preparation and qualification for Rio 2016. We also expect that bringing these sporting events to the UK will generate around £287 million in extra spending for the communities hosting the events.

For larger events, DCMS works directly with the sports governing bodies to co-ordinate the government’s support, from the bidding phase to successfully staging the competition.