Labour will bring back two hours of sport for primary school children

Harriet Harman will today announce plans to reintroduce a minimum two hours of sport a week for primary school children. The policy was first introduced by the last Labour Government, but a study last summer showed that the number of children receiving at least two hours of sport education a week had halved under the Coalition.

Harman’s speech, which coincides with the opening of the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow today, will be given at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in London, and she is pitching Labour’s new ten year sports agenda as building on the Olympic legacy. She will say:

“People across the country are passionate about sport whether it’s them or their children taking part or watching it at events or on television. It’s also important to public policy because of the many physical and mental health benefits that it provides people of all ages.

“We were all proud to host the Olympics and Paralympic Games in London two years ago but instead of seeing increased participation, things have got worse especially amongst young people as a result of the government axing School Sports Partnerships.

“Labour wants to help everybody to do more sport and physical activity – from children to the elderly, girls and well as boys and people from all backgrounds and regions.

The speech will include a raft of new policies aiming to widen participation in sport. They include new targets for increasing female participation, and increasing the number of women on major sporting governing bodies.

Labour will also use the lucrative nature of the Premier League to improve investment of grassroots football, with a levy on television rights that will go into grassroots projects. A levy will also be introduced on sports betting, with the money raised invested into community sports projects and campaigns to raise awareness of problem gambling. On these topics, Harman is expected to say:

“Our consultation looks at a number of ideas which aim to boost investment in community and grassroots sports by getting tough with the Premier League and betting companies, bringing back two hours of sport at schools a week and encouraging more people to take part – girls as well as boys.”