School sports policy launch delayed by dispute between Gove and Hunt

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2012/dec/20/school-sports-policy-launch-delayed

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The unveiling of a £100m government school sport policy designed to combat criticism over the Olympic legacy has been delayed due to a dispute between the health secretary, Jeremy Hunt, and the education secretary, Michael Gove.

The standoff between the Health and Education departments over a replacement for the £162m school sport partnerships controversially axed by Gove in 2010 has caused them to miss a pre-Christmas deadline to announce the new scheme.

It had been hoped the strategy would be unveiled this week, coinciding with announcements on investing £492m in grassroots sport and £347m in elite Olympic sports ahead of the Rio Games in 2016.

Gove is believed to be unwilling to force schools to spend the money on specific schemes, such as ensuring there are PE specialists in primary schools, because it contradicts his belief that headteachers should be free to choose how to spend.

PE specialists fear that unless schools are mandated to spend the money on sport, there will be a patchwork of provision across the country.

The future of school sport became a political issue during the Olympics, with many athletes and coaches calling for an overhaul of government policy. The prime minister, David Cameron, defended the decision to axe a minimum requirement of two hours of PE a week, controversially claiming some schools met it with "Indian dance".

The London 2012 chairman, Lord Coe, said the row about competitive versus non-competitive sport was a red herring and he was more concerned with raising the standard of coaching and expertise to inspire children to participate in more sport inside and outside school.

Coe now has a role as the government's Olympic legacy adviser and is believed to have made school sport a priority.

Gove recently held a series of discussions with ministers and other interested parties, plus a summit meeting with sports organisations, in an effort to find a way forward.

When Gove axed the successful school sport partnerships in 2010, he was forced to reinstate £65m of funding to release a PE teacher one or two days a week to work in primary schools.

But that funding runs out at the end of this academic year. The School Games, a nationwide inter- and intra-school competition, is funded jointly by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and the Department of Health.

Earlier this week, the Sport and Recreation Alliance (SRA), which represents governing bodies, warned that Gove's plan for a new Ebacc qualification risked marginalising school sport and bemoaned the lack of a "proper plan".

Others have warned the lack of focus on sport and physical literacy in primary schools makes a new focus on 14-25-year-olds in grassroots sport, funded by Sport England money, far less effective because children may already be turned off sport.

Labour has been trenchant in its criticism of the decision to axe the school sport partnerships and this week published a new action plan, which recommends Ofsted plays a greater role in monitoring sport in schools and that the two-hour requirement be reintroduced.

It claims the proportion of pupils doing at least two hours of sport and exercise a week at school has fallen from 90% under Labour to about 50%.

Whitehall sources confirmed the delay but stressed the need for a long-term strategy that works, and said talks were continuing, with an announcement expected in the new year. A government spokesman said: "We are working on a variety of measures to improve school sport as part of the Olympic and Paralympic legacy. We will announce our plans in due course."