Notifiable Transaction Under Standing Order No. 21 - Cardiff County Council’s Bid To Host The Uk School Games In 2009

I make a statement under Standing Order No. 21 regarding a notifiable transaction that I have made in relation to the UK School Games.

Everyone knows that Britain will host the Olympic Games in 2012. Cardiff will be hosting part of the football tournament—the first time an Olympic competition has ever taken place on Welsh soil. The Olympic Games provide a huge opportunity to make a decisive increase in participation in sport by our young people. Not every Welsh child can win an Olympic gold medal, but they can all enjoy the health benefits of regular participation in sport and active recreation. That is the context for my decision to underwrite the Welsh bid, led by our capital city, to host the UK School Games.

The UK School Games provide an important opportunity for young people from all over the UK to compete in a major event leading up to the 2012 Olympics. It is possible that a teenager winning an event at the UK School Games could find herself or himself on the Olympic podium in London; however, engaging the interest of millions of young people in sport is the aim.

The UK Government is providing £6 million towards the costs of staging the games up to 2012. The lottery, via the Millennium Commission, will also be supporting the games through a newly established UK trust, set up to promote and support a wide range of projects, including the UK School Games, in the build-up.

The first games took place in Glasgow, but the event will grow rapidly in scale each year up to 2012. In Glasgow, five events were staged along with two events for athletes with disabilities. I am pleased to say that our Welsh team of young athletes played a big part and performed well. Our total medal haul was an impressive 18 medals in 18 separate events, with five gold medals, nine silver medals, and four bronze medals.

As I have said many times in this Chamber and elsewhere, I am determined that, through my ‘Climbing Higher’ strategy and the detailed next steps framework for delivery, announced earlier this year, we will increase the nation’s physical activity levels to more normal European levels.

Normally, a single city will bid to host the games, but I want to spread the benefits as widely as possible, and I am pleased that a consortium of cities has been assembled: Cardiff, Swansea and Newport. Our capital city will lead the bid, our national pool in Swansea will host the swimming, and Newport’s velodrome will host the cycling competitions. I would like other local authorities to support the bid, which will inevitably face stiff competition from other parts of the UK, and to come forward with offers to host events.

On 6 October, I agreed to underwrite the cost of the Welsh bid to host the UK School Games in 2009 to the value of £500,000. As this is a future commitment, I am required by Standing Orders to notify Members. Ordinarily, I would do so ahead of agreeing the transaction but, in this instance, I was required to make a decision in a short space of time to enable the bid partners to have the reassurance that the Assembly Government would financially underwrite the bid. Without that assurance, the bid would not have gone forwards.

I know that I can rely on the support of my Welsh Labour colleagues on this matter, and I hope that all parties will support the Assembly Government’s intention of using the games not only as a celebration of elite sport but also as a means of activating a step change in the health and wellbeing of the Welsh population, whom we are all privileged to serve.