© CCPR 2005
CHAPTER THREE
SPORTS COUNCILS IN THE UNITED KINGDOM:
UK SPORT
UK Sport's purpose is to lead the UK to sporting excellence by supporting:
The aim of UK Sport is that the UK will be in the world's top five sporting nations by 2012, measured by athlete performances at world championships, Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Background
Established
by Royal Charter in 1996, becoming fully operational on 1 January 1997, UK
Sport is the agency charged by the Government with responsibility for creating
a strategy for developing high performance sport in the UK.
Council
UK Sport's Members are
appointed by the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport and include
the Chairman, the four chairmen of the home country sports councils and up
to 11 independent members. The Council provides strategic direction and considers
funding recommendations from two panels of independent experts covering Awards
and Major Events.
Staff
The Chief Executive heads UK Sport and is supported by a five-strong Business Management Group. Around 80 staff work in six main directorates: Drug-Free Sport; International Relations and Major Events; Performance Services; Corporate Services; Communications; and the UK Sports Institute.
Panels
The Council's work is supported by a number of Panels, each chaired by a Council member. Panels include other individuals of relevant expertise and experience who advise and make recommendations as appropriate to Council.
Lottery Funding
UK Sport awards Lottery funding through its World Class Performance and Events Programmes. World Class Performance funding accounts for approximately £25 million per year and consists of:
Each year, UK Sport distributes £1.6 million of Lottery funds through its World Class Events Programme. The overall strategy is aimed at securing events of strategic importance that deliver lasting sporting, economic and social/cultural benefits:
Exchequer Funding
Exchequer funding assists governing bodies and partner organisations in providing services to athletes. It is intended to complement and support Lottery funds by focusing on corporate governance and underpinning governing body performance development programmes. Exchequer funding helps support: staffing and management structures; safety and ethical standards; non-Lottery funded elite squads; coach education and development; and modernisation of governing bodies. UK Sport also targets Exchequer funding at partner organisations such as sports coach UK and the National Sports Medicine Institute.
Winning Athletes
UK Sport invests over £25 million of Lottery funding each year in Britain's top sportsmen and women through the World Class Performance Programme, providing them with the expert back-up and support they need to win medals on the world stage. In addition, UK Sport co-ordinates a network of expertise delivering tailored solutions to individual sports and athletes.
World Class Events
UK Sport is responsible for co-ordinating major events - distributing £1.6 million of Lottery funding each year to support their bidding and staging costs. UK Sport also provides technical and specialist support to bodies seeking to bring major events to our shores.
Ethically Fair and Drug-free Sport
Around £1.6 million of Government funds are provided each year for UK Sport to run the nation's antidoping programme, which sees over 6,000 tests carried out across more than 40 sports. A full range of education and information services are also made available to athletes and their support personnel.
Modernisation Programme
Launched in April 2001, the Modernisation Programme aims to help national governing bodies of sport to improve the quality of their organisation, the skills of their people and the standards of their policies and procedures, with the overall goal of increasing participation and developing talent.
International Representation
UK Sport's International Representatives' Grant Aid Programme offers financial support to elected British post holders and governing body delegates attending formal meetings of international sporting bodies. UK Sport invests over £400,000 each year to the Programme which has two core benefits: to maintain and advance the UK's influence in the international sporting arena, bringing benefits for domestic sports and athletes; to help ensure that high ethical standards, strong anti-doping policies, fiscal transparency and good governance is in place across all sports.
International Development
UK Sport plays a key role in the global development of sport through ongoing exchange visits and information sharing with other nations. Five countries have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with UK Sport- Cuba, China, Saudi Arabia, South Africa and Russia.
Communication
UK Sport's ongoing communications programme is focused on creating knowledge and understanding of, and commitment to, our purpose, goals and programmes. Key messages have been developed in each area of UK Sport's work and a variety of tools are used to deliver these. These include: Performance- a quarterly magazine aimed specifically at the world class sporting community; the UK Sport website - www.uksport.gov.uk - and weekly electronic newsletter; and branded clothing for all World Class Performance Programme athletes.
PERFORMANCE DIRECTORATE
The Performance Directorate within UK Sport provides technical support and advice to governing bodies, to assist in the preparation and management of their respective World Class Performance Plans and makes comments on related applications for Lottery funding. World Class Performance is about the pursuit of success, leading to investment in sports of significance, and in individuals deemed to have the potential to win medals either now or in the foreseeable future.
Across the four year Olympic cycle between Sydney 2000 and Athens 2004 UK Sport administered approximately £100m of National Lottery funds to support the delivery of the World Class Performance Programmes. In developing and delivering strategies designed to significantly improve the performance of UK/GB teams and athletes on the world stage UK Sport has given priority to the sports investment will focus on.
In order to target funding the sports are prioritised across four groups.
OLYMPIC SPORTS
Priority One
Athletics
Sailing
Rowing
Cycling
Priority Two
Canoeing
Equestrian
Judo
Modern Pentathlon
Shooting
Swimming
Priority Three
Alpine Ski
Diving
Gymnastics (including
Trampolining)
Speed Skating
Triathlon
Tailored support for
individual athletes - Priority Four
Archery
Bob Skeleton
Figure Skating
Snowboarding
Taekwondo
Weightlifting
PARALYMPIC SPORTS
Priority One
Athletics
Swimming
Priority Two
Archery
Equestrian
Powerlifting
Shooting
Priority Three
Boccia
Cycling
Judo
Table Tennis
Priority Four
Fencing
Sailing
Wheelchair Basketball
Wheelchair Rugby
Wheelchair Tennis
NON-OLYMPIC SPORTS/DISCIPLINES
Orienteering
Sport Acrobatics/Tumbling
Water Ski
SPORTS FUNDED BY HOME COUNTRY SPORTS COUNCILS
Badminton
Basketball
Beach Volleyball
Bowls
Boxing
Curling
Hockey
Karate
Lacrosse
Netball
Squash
Table Tennis
Volleyball
UK Sport- as part of its overall sporting excellence remit - is committed to promoting ethically fair and drug-free sport, ensuring that the UK produces athletes who are competing and winning fairly.
The drug-free sport team at UK Sport concentrates on four key areas of work: testing, education and information, results management, and the overseeing of the doping control officers. Around £1.6 million of Government funds are provided each year for UK Sport to run the testing programme. In addition to these funds, a number of governing bodies pay for UK Sport to carry out additional tests on their athletes.
In December 2002, UK Sport's Drug-Free Sport Directorate achieved not only the transition of its quality management certification from ISO9002:1994 to ISO 9001 :2000, but it also extended the scope of its certification to include all stages of the International Standards for Doping Control (by adding test distribution planning and result management to its process responsibilities). Education standards, which presently fall outside the ISDC were also included in the scope of the ISO certification. In doing so, the Directorate became only the fourth organisation worldwide to achieve the ISO certification to this level.
The Testing Programme
UK Sport - as the national anti-doping organisation - is responsible for the implementation and running of an effective drug testing programme in the UK. The testing programme acts to: protect (the athletes who want to compete drug-free); deter (the athletes who consider cheating by the misuse of prohibited substances); and detect (the athletes who do cheat).
During 2002/03, 7,240 tests were conducted across 41 sports. The number of findings reported to governing bodies for further action was 100. This amounts to 1.38% of all tests - well below the worldwide average for adverse findings of 2%.
All tests are carried out by a team of 91 doping control officers (DCOs) who are coordinated centrally by UK Sport. Tests are carried out both in competition (at events) and out-of-competition (at training sessions and, in some sports, at the athlete's home). During 2002/03, 35.4% of the 7,240 tests were conducted out-of-competition. All samples are analysed at the International Olympic Committee (IOC) accredited laboratory at King's College London - one of only 27 such laboratories in the world.
Testing at Major Events
Over the years, UK Sport has been responsible for testing at a host of major events staged in the UK including the World Indoor Athletics Championships in Athletics held in Birmingham in March 2003, and the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester where over 900 tests were conducted and analysed during the ten days of competition.
For the Commonwealth Games, UK Sport was also responsible for overseeing a comprehensive pre-Games testing programme covering athletes selected for the individual national teams in the UK. In total, almost three-quarters of UK competitors were tested as part of this programme.
UK Sport provides athletes and their support personnel (coaches, medical staff, NGBs, etc) with information that encourages and allows them to compete drug-free. The aim is to educate athletes about the services available to help them make the right decisions about what substances they can and cannot use. This not only emphasises the importance of checking all medications before taking anything, it also focuses on how athletes can find and interpret drug information. A number of tools are used to achieve this aim:
UK Sport's Drug Information Database
The Drug Information Database (DID) is a huge success with athletes, their support personnel, medical professionals and students. Launched in January 2002, figures for the first year of operation showed a total of 32,673 enquiries received - an average of 91 enquiries a day. The database - available via UK Sport's website at www.uksport.gov.uk/did - allows athletes to check whether or not licensed UK products they wish to use are permitted according to the Olympic Movement Anti-Doping Code list of prohibited substances and methods. The database is updated monthly to allow for the ever-changing market and draws on information from 102 sports and contains around 3,000 substances and 5,200 products, making it one of the world's most comprehensive and up-to-date online drug information services for sport.
Freephone Drug Information Line and E-mail
DID is complemented by UK Sport's drug information line (0800 528 0004) or drug information email at drug-free@uksport.gov.uk which can be accessed for advice about the status of substances in sport and to answer questions on the anti-doping programme in the UK. The Drug Information Line is a freephone number.
Printed Material
UK Sport produces a series of regularly updated resources. These include:
Most of these resources are available to download from the UK Sport website, and a number can also be ordered in high visibility print for the visually impaired and in other formats on request.
The World Anti-Doping Code
Agreement was reached on the World Anti-Doping Code at a meeting of international sporting bodies and governments in March 2003. The Code - which was implemented by sport in time for the 2004 Olympics and Paralympics in Athens - sees the harmonisation of anti-doping activities and processes across different sports and countries, creating one definitive set of anti-doping rules and regulations covering testing procedures, prohibited substances and disciplinary sanctions.
More Information on Drug-free Sport
UK Sport's website - www.uksport.gov.uk - provides more information of UK Sport's work in drugfree sport.
As the organisation responsible for co-ordinating major events, UK Sport distributes approximately £1.6 million of Lottery funding each year through the World Class Events Programme to support their bidding and staging costs, as well as providing technical and specialist support.
Research undertaken by UK Sport shows that major sporting events not only generate significant economic benefits for the host city and nation, but also do much to deliver social and sporting benefits on a local and national level. Since the creation of the World Class Events Programme in 1997, UK Sport has been involved with the staging of more than 70 events of World, European or Commonwealth status on home soil.
UK Sport's overall Strategy for Major Events is aimed at securing events of strategic importance that deliver lasting sporting, economic, social and cultural benefits:
Each part of the UK has a Sports Council with staffing and resources for providing funding and certain areas of leadership for sports, from grass roots up to national (e.g. Scotland) and international level.
Each Council distributes Lottery (Lotto) funding (under UK government policy directions) within their own country.
Whilst the English Sports Council is funded through the UK government, the other three receive their funds through their own devolved administrations. It is because of its bigger population and previous role as the GB Sports Council that Sport England has in place the main part of both UK and English research, documentation and information on sport.
There is however, information, research, etc which has been carried out in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland which reflects the position and needs within those parts of the UK.
Background
Structure
Funding
Activity
Performance
directorate
Drug-free
sport
Athlete
services
Events
Home Countries
CCPR acknowledges the work of Ken Gill in preparing this information and Mel Welch for editing and completing the text.
Thanks
are extended to the individuals, voluntary and statutory organisations - especially
the Sports Councils - who provided information.