Economic and International Affairs Panel Sports

Witness: The Minister for Infrastructure

Thursday, 12th June 2025

Panel:

Deputy M. Tadier of St. Brelade (Chair) Deputy M.B. Andrews of St. Helier North Deputy D.J. Warr of St. Helier South

Witnesses:

Connétable A.N. Jehan of St. John, The Minister for Infrastructure and Assistant Minister for Sustainable Economic Development with responsibility for Sport

Mr. H. Harvey, Head of Local Economy, Department for the Economy

Mr. B. Harvey, Operations Director, Sports Division

Mr. D. Kennedy, Chief Executive Officer, Jersey Sport

[10:38]

Deputy M. Tadier of St. Brelade (Chair):

Minister, good morning. Welcome to the panel. Thanks for joining us and thank you to your team for also coming in. So I am just going to introduce ourselves for the public record meeting. It is obviously public. It is being live streamed. We have got members of the public. Welcome also to our meeting. This is a public hearing of the Economic and International Affairs Scrutiny Panel. We are joined today by Deputy Warr . I will let him introduce himself in a moment, but he has been co- opted because a lot of the issues that we are looking at span both our panel and his panel, which deals with infrastructure, so you will know him in a different capacity, Minister. For our purposes today, you are very much here in your capacity as Minister for Sport, which is an area that we scrutinise as a panel. So I am Deputy Montfort Tadier . I chair the panel.

Deputy M.B. Andrews of St. Helier North :

I am Deputy Max Andrews . I am a panel Member.

Deputy D.J. Warr of St. Helier South :

I am Deputy David Warr , also as a panel Member at the moment, co-opted.

The Minister for Infrastructure and Assistant Minister for Sustainable Economic Development with responsibility for Sport:

Constable Andy Jehan , Assistant Minister for Sustainable Economic Development with responsibility for sports and also Minister for Infrastructure.

Deputy M. Tadier :

Just introduce your team, please.

Chief Executive Officer, Jersey Sport:

I am David Kennedy, the Chief Executive Officer of Jersey Sport.

Head of Local Economy, Department for the Economy:

Good morning, Chair. I am Heath Harvey, Head of Local Economy within the Department of Economy where Sports Policy sits.

Operations Director, Sports Division:

Morning, Chair. Barclay Harvey, Head of Sport for the Government of Jersey. I run the Government's sports facilities.

Deputy M. Tadier :

Thank you. Welcome. So we have got a lot of questions for you. There seems to be a lot of public interest in some of the questions that we may be asking today. But, Minister, we wanted to give you an opportunity early on in the hearing to maybe set out your vision for sport in the Island, which might include also challenges, opportunities for the sporting community, and also how that affects you as Minister.

The Minister for Infrastructure and Assistant Minister for Sustainable Economic Development with responsibility for Sport:

Yes, of course, thanks, and thanks for the opportunity. I think it is great to see so many people outside who show an interest. If it was on a weekend, we would see far many more people and, if the weather was nice, we would have seen far many more. But it is great to see the interest in sports locally. We are blessed in Jersey with sport. That does not mean to say we cannot do more and we could not do better, but I think we do very well in terms of most sports. We have got challenges, there is no doubt about that, and with my other hat on, infrastructure, we have got challenges right across when it comes to infrastructure, whether that is roads, drains, or sports facilities. We have got some amazing facilities on this 9-by-5 Island serving 100,000 people. But we need to continue to improve. But what we have also got to do is to maintain what we have got, because in some cases we have been very bad at that and last year we saw a lot of challenges at the Les Quennevais for example. So Les Quennevais is coming towards the end of its workable life, so we are looking at plans of what we can do there.

Deputy M. Tadier :

When you say Les Quennevais, which part, the sports centre?

The Minister for Infrastructure and Assistant Minister for Sustainable Economic Development with responsibility for Sport:

The sports centre, yes. So it is a fantastic facility, but we cannot have interruptions like we have seen in the last 12-18 months. So we are working on plans there. We have also got swimming pools that have got to be maintained and unfortunately our swimming pools are all of a similar age. So that becomes a problem when you have got to repair and update swimming pools at a similar time. There are opportunities, both within the public estate, but also I am encouraged by the amount of people I talk to seriously about investing in sports. But what they want is some kind of surety. They do not want to be putting a planning application in for a sports facility when there is no indication of whether they are going to get that passed or not. We saw that in the Island Plan debates. There was a cricket centre proposed at St. Martin s. It was supported by the independent panel that reviewed that site. But, unfortunately, it did not get enough support in the States.

Deputy M. Tadier :

How do you get around that issue, because you are not suggesting that sports clubs should be able to short-circuit a planning process?

The Minister for Infrastructure and Assistant Minister for Sustainable Economic Development with responsibility for Sport:

Not short-circuit a planning process at all, but I am looking at how could we help financially, if a sports club puts in an application, they are paying a lot of money in terms of fees, and I have worked personally with one organisation who spent tens of thousands of pounds, they have had support from a planning officer, they had support from the Architects Jersey Commission. The planning officer has changed and said that they would not support the application. So the investor just walked away and that was a significant investment in a sports facility, which is much needed on the Island. So I am looking at how we could support organisations, individuals who wanted to invest in sports

by, almost, could we do something with the planning fees, because if they do not get approval, they have not spent all that money on planning fees to get knocked back. I think if we can encourage private investment, and there are significant sports looking to invest private money, but they want surety. What we have got is land on the Island, and the Government owns land, which we could utilise better perhaps with a partnership approach. So those are the kind of areas we are working on.

Deputy M. Tadier :

Is it a question of zoning though? Is zoning also an issue?

The Minister for Infrastructure and Assistant Minister for Sustainable Economic Development with responsibility for Sport:

Not always, but in some cases it has been. So the cricket was a zoning issue, and it was very disappointing that colleagues in the Assembly did not support that.

Deputy M. Tadier :

Can I bring you back, so I think you have touched on it, but could I bring you back to the question of vision? Do you have a vision as effectively Minister for Sports on the island as to where you would like to get to?

The Minister for Infrastructure and Assistant Minister for Sustainable Economic Development with responsibility for Sport:

I think we are making reasonable progress in sport, and I was pleased to read the submission by the Sports Council recognising the progress made by Jersey Sport in the last 12-18 months. In terms of facilities, we are working hard behind the scenes looking at upgrading facilities that are currently in our ownership, and that is where our focus is currently. We want to provide facilities and also open up the school estate. I heard one lady saying that a single court was not sufficient. Government of Jersey has probably got 13 indoor netball courts, and we have got Oakfield just coming online, and Netball were involved in the concept design of that and have been involved as recently as about 3 weeks ago with the design of Oakfield because they have changed some of their requirements. So we can hold training on 3 courts, but we need to utilise the school estate in a much better way than we currently do.

[10:45]

Deputy D.J. Warr :

Can I just say about that, I mean, this lady, the comment you made there was she was talking about the standalone courts. One of the problems with all the education facilities, as it occurs to me outside there, is they are very fragmented, so you cannot have groups of people together. So they were talking about 50 or 60 youngsters coming out to train, you cannot exactly put them across 5 different school estates, can you?

The Minister for Infrastructure and Assistant Minister for Sustainable Economic Development with responsibility for Sport:

No, you cannot, Dave, but what you can do is play school matches. So if school A is playing school B, they could play at one of the schools.

Deputy D.J. Warr :

Training, I am talking about training and building the netball community and building from there.

The Minister for Infrastructure and Assistant Minister for Sustainable Economic Development with responsibility for Sport:

If you look around the country, at the U.K. (United Kingdom), you will find very few 4-court sites for netball. You will find one in Bath, I think you will find one in Nottingham. I am not sure ...

Deputy D.J. Warr :

But this is Jersey, we are not talking about Bath.

The Minister for Infrastructure and Assistant Minister for Sustainable Economic Development with responsibility for Sport:

No, this is what I am saying, so to ask for a 4-court solution, we are not necessarily going to achieve that. We have got a 3-court solution at Oakfield and we are looking to utilise that as much as possible for netball. We have also got to help other sports, cricket and basketball to mention a couple. But some of these games, we are busing young people from Le Rocquier, for example, to Les Ormes, and then bringing them back, where we could be utilising a court at Le Rocquier to play against another school. So I think it is about scheduling and we are meeting with Netball next week sometime again. We have had a number of meetings with Netball and we will continue to liaise with them to try to accommodate their schedule.

Deputy M. Tadier :

Minister, I think we will come back to some of the issues about the specific sports and maybe challenges that they are facing later on in our questioning. Minister, a review of sports and physical activity was undertaken in 2023. Can you tell us what progress has been made since that review?

The Minister for Infrastructure and Assistant Minister for Sustainable Economic Development with responsibility for Sport:

I can, significant progress, and the Simon Cooper review was a very welcome addition to our sport and of the 21 recommendations made, 14 recommendations have been completed, 2 of the recommendations were rejected both by my predecessor and myself, and 5 recommendations are ongoing, and recommendation 7, which is about distributing lottery funding, I will be bringing a proposition to the Assembly, and recommendation 16 is with C.Y.P.E.S. (Children, Young People, Education and Skills) in terms of strengthening up the local P.E. (physical education) provision.

Deputy M. Tadier :

Are there any other recommendations that are outstanding? Could you just say what the other ones are, you mentioned 5, I think you have spoken to 2 of them, is that right?

The Minister for Infrastructure and Assistant Minister for Sustainable Economic Development with responsibility for Sport:

Yes. I do not have the detail. I can write to you with the 3 that are outstanding.

Deputy M. Tadier : That would be welcome.

The Minister for Infrastructure and Assistant Minister for Sustainable Economic Development with responsibility for Sport:

But I think that report was a very welcome report and I would be keen to welcome Simon back in early next year to look at it, review it, see the progress that has been made.

Deputy M. Tadier :

One of the recommendations, I think recommendation 6, is the Government of Jersey should secure additional funding for sport and physical activity. How do you interpret that and have you accepted that recommendation?

The Minister for Infrastructure and Assistant Minister for Sustainable Economic Development with responsibility for Sport:

Absolutely. We have got a workshop next Wednesday with the Council of Ministers looking at the Government Plan for next year and I will be making a bid for additional funding so that we can ensure that our facilities in particular are up to speed and up to date and well maintained, as well as looking at capital investment in replacement or new facilities.

Deputy D.J. Warr :

Can I just, on that note, I see in the commentary here we give Jersey Sport just over £2.14 million and infrastructure has cost around £4.6 million. Where do these numbers come from? How do you identify what the level of demand is and what is the real need as opposed to what you can get?

The Minister for Infrastructure and Assistant Minister for Sustainable Economic Development with responsibility for Sport:

I think it is like everything in Government, if we were given more we could do more, but I think we have got to be realistic. As I said earlier, I have also got responsibility for things like roads and drains and we need money for those things. Health is a priority, education is a priority.

Deputy D.J. Warr :

But health benefits from sport being better funded.

The Minister for Infrastructure and Assistant Minister for Sustainable Economic Development with responsibility for Sport:

Absolutely, we recognise that, and I am working with both the Minister for Health and Social Services and the Minister for Education and Lifelong Learning. We have got a group, the 3 of us meet with officers on a regular basis and we continue to try and make improvements. We absolutely recognise the benefits of sport for young and old alike in terms of public health benefits.

Deputy D.J. Warr :

Still, capacity-wise, to get that number of 2.14, is that a fair allocation of funding to sport? Does that keep sport upright, or should it be nearer double that or I do not know how you identify a number?

The Minister for Infrastructure and Assistant Minister for Sustainable Economic Development with responsibility for Sport:

If you look at what we spend in sport on the Island, if you include a depreciation on buildings, the amount of money we spend on sport is very significant. The amount of money we spend on sport I would say is greater than a lot of jurisdictions of similar size. That does not mean to say we do not want more, of course we would like to do more. The man on my right would be able to spend twice as much I am sure if I gave him twice as much. We have seen a significant increase in travel grants following Deputy Kovac’s proposal, which we warmly embraced, and that has been well received by Sports.

Deputy M. Tadier :

Does it include, sorry to interrupt, but does it include when we are having comparators about additional funding that the U.K. for example can get through lottery funding if you talk about the global amount of funding that sports get elsewhere, not just Governments?

The Minister for Infrastructure and Assistant Minister for Sustainable Economic Development with responsibility for Sport:

I do not think we have details on how much is invested in sport locally because we are very grateful to all of those individuals and organisations who sponsor and support clubs, individuals, programmes and we do not have a value to that currently, I do not believe. So it is significant investment in sport from private individuals and organisations.

Deputy M. Tadier :

What I am saying, I mean that presumably is good, but that happens everywhere. So if we were looking to the U.K. as a comparator, the U.K. obviously you get local funding, Government funding, but there will be a big access to national lottery, which Jersey does not have. So, in terms of the funding formula in Jersey, what are the levers that you think we have in terms of if we want to increase funding, is it either Government or private sector?

The Minister for Infrastructure and Assistant Minister for Sustainable Economic Development with responsibility for Sport:

I think we can work harder with private sector. That does not mean to say the Government cannot do more, but I do think the Government does a lot in terms of sport provision on the Island, but also there are people who are willing to invest in sport as I mentioned at the outset of this discussion and people are willing to invest more in sport if they had surety of a facility and the facility would be used for the sport of their choice.

Deputy D.J. Warr :

Can I ask a question about data, what data do you collect because you have obviously said we do not really know what the numbers are because some of its contributions are free, there is a lot of different ways in which sport is provided. Do you collect any data on that? Is there a database about saying this would be the overall cost if we had to pay for it all ourselves? Do you understand what I am saying?

The Minister for Infrastructure and Assistant Minister for Sustainable Economic Development with responsibility for Sport:

So I have been asking for the last 12 months or longer to get figures in terms of, not only what we spend, but what we receive and what it costs us to run sports. So we have got sporting facilities, for example the gymnastics in the Rotunda at Fort Regent pay less than £16 an hour to rent that space. That is not fair on other sports who are paying 3 times as much as that fee. So what I am trying to do, and I have done this when we have renewed leases on clubhouses, we have got a single rate which we use as a multiplier, so at least it is fair and consistent. We have got some legacy agreements with organisations and we need to find a way of getting out of those legacy agreements. So, in terms of what we do to fund sport, I can assure you it costs more than £16 an hour to run the Rotunda.

Deputy D.J. Warr :

The language you are using here is you are using cost. I would have thought it is investing in sport is the better turn of phrase. So I just wonder how it becomes an economic model as opposed to an investment in sport because at the end of the day it may cost £13 whatever an hour, or whatever your figure is, but what is that benefiting in terms of the bigger health picture, in terms of keeping those people fit and active and healthy? So you are obviously making a massive saving by keeping lots of people healthy, so I do not believe you can focus on a number and say it is costing this much, we have got to say how much are we investing, surely that is the question.

The Minister for Infrastructure and Assistant Minister for Sustainable Economic Development with responsibility for Sport:

I did not tell you what it was costing, I was telling you how much we were receiving for that space.

Deputy D.J. Warr :

Okay, receiving, okay, well, yes.

The Minister for Infrastructure and Assistant Minister for Sustainable Economic Development with responsibility for Sport:

So what I have asked for is exactly that work you have suggested, is what is it, what is the investment that the Island is making? So, if we are receiving a third back or half back, or whatever that is, we can then identify that. But it has taken far longer than I would have hoped to get those numbers. But the team within Sport are working on that for us. It is really important that we understand that and also working with colleagues in Public Health that we understand the benefits. So a number of the programmes that we do that help people keep out of hospital, there is a fantastic benefit to that, and so we work hard to try and find the numbers.

Deputy M. Tadier :

Just staying on that same report about the Review of Sport and Physical Activity, recommendation 8 recommended having coordination across Government, that it should be strengthened by the involvement of Ministers and officials in a new sports and physical activity network group. Can you tell us about that group; does it already exist and have you accepted that recommendation?

The Minister for Infrastructure and Assistant Minister for Sustainable Economic Development with responsibility for Sport:

Absolutely. That was the group I was mentioning earlier, where the Minister for Health and Social Services and the Minister for Education and Lifelong Learning and myself meet on a quarterly basis with officers, and the officers meet without us at times. So that work is underway and that is some of the work we are doing in terms of making cases for capital investment as a result of that team working together.

Deputy M. Tadier :

Okay, thank you. Is that the group that was established in June 2024, is that the same group that we are talking about?

The Minister for Infrastructure and Assistant Minister for Sustainable Economic Development with responsibility for Sport:

Yes, about then, yes.

Deputy M. Tadier :

That is fine. Finally, for my part, and then I will hand over to Deputy Andrews , can you explain what the Government oversight of sports in Jersey consists of?

The Minister for Infrastructure and Assistant Minister for Sustainable Economic Development with responsibility for Sport:

There is a number of things. Clearly, we work closely with Jersey Sport. We have provision within schools. Then we also do things like anti-doping, et cetera. So we have a whole range of responsibilities for sports. We work right across the piece with different partners. That is why the 3 Ministers working together is a useful forum.

Deputy M. Tadier :

When you say anti-doping, is that to do with education around anti-doping or is that testing?

The Minister for Infrastructure and Assistant Minister for Sustainable Economic Development with responsibility for Sport:

Predominantly, it is around education. We recently had a visit from an international panel whose name escapes me. U.N.E.S.C.O. (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation), thank you. They gave us a favourable report. So, for example, we are going to have athletes in a month's time going to the Island Games. They all have to be aware of the responsibilities they have as an athlete, but we have got many athletes performing on a national and international stage who equally have to be aware of their responsibilities. So it is an ongoing programme. I was recently at an event at Highlands for elite sports people and one of the centres there was around anti-doping.

Deputy M.B. Andrews :

Thank you very much, Chair. Minister, I just wanted to ask you a question regarding whether you are of the opinion that there is a sufficient level of infrastructure for sport in the Island and, if not, which areas are most affected?

The Minister for Infrastructure and Assistant Minister for Sustainable Economic Development with responsibility for Sport:

If you look at the provision of sport on the Island, I think we have got fantastic facilities and we should recognise that. We should be very proud of what we have got. I think one of the challenges is access to those facilities, Government facilities, because we do have a number of halls that lie empty night after night, week after week and are not utilised. For example, we are playing pickleball on a 5-a-side court when pickleball could be played in a primary school hall. We could get out into the parishes more where people could just travel a short distance to do that. We have also got fantastic private provision. We have got some fantastic facilities. I was involved in one of those for many years and I know the effort that people make to keep these things running. In my parish we have got motocross, we have got go-karting. So for an Island 9-by-5 to be able to provide those sports, because they are not very friendly to neighbours, but I am very proud that my parish support both of those sports and the clubs themselves work hard with us to minimise disruption and help our community.

Deputy M.B. Andrews :

Do you feel, following the discussions you have had with sports clubs and organisations, that those sports clubs and organisations feel that they are sufficiently funded in the Island?

The Minister for Infrastructure and Assistant Minister for Sustainable Economic Development with responsibility for Sport:

Well, you know, it is the old problem. I think what we desperately need is some more 3G pitches, all-weather pitches, and again access to the 3G pitches we have got at schools in a more coordinated way. But I am actively talking to a number of football clubs who are interested in doing something themselves. We are also working with the Jersey Football Association and the Football Foundation who have provided funding to a number of clubs on the Island in the past. But the more all-weather facilities we can get the better because we can get better usage and we are really keen in the Government Plan to have a plan for Le Rocquier to have a 3G pitch with separate entrance, separate changing rooms, so it can be used throughout the week, throughout the holidays, with the school having priority in the school day.

Deputy M.B. Andrews :

Yes, thank you very much, Minister.

Deputy D.J. Warr :

Just in terms of capacity there, you have talked about 3G pitches and sort of acknowledging that there is a massive demand for that. How do you acknowledge these demands? Because obviously if you know 3G, is this people banging on your door with emails and telling you we have not got facilities? Because what I am concerned about is the smaller sports, obviously, do not have quite the levels of voice and we have heard this from some of the Fort Regent groups, seem to be put on the back burner, whereas the resource is attempted to be found for the louder voices. So how do we hear those voices in an even way so that we make sure the relevant investment is made in each of those sports?

[11:00]

The Minister for Infrastructure and Assistant Minister for Sustainable Economic Development with responsibility for Sport:

There is a huge amount of minority sports played in Jersey and played to a good level. We are really keen to help the climbing club for example.

Deputy D.J. Warr :

But how do you identify that demand?

The Minister for Infrastructure and Assistant Minister for Sustainable Economic Development with responsibility for Sport:

We have liaised with the local climbing fraternity.

Deputy D.J. Warr :

So how do they communicate with you though?

The Minister for Infrastructure and Assistant Minister for Sustainable Economic Development with responsibility for Sport:

They contacted us and asked us about that. But in terms of football, there has been a number of views. In a previous life I was part of a Jersey Football Association Grounds and Facilities Committee  and  I  have  continued to  work  with  the  J.F.A.  (Jersey  Football  Association),  as  I mentioned, and the Football Foundation. The Football Foundation are experts in this and what they have identified is how many teams currently play football in Jersey, how many people are involved, and therefore what the typical demand would be. So I am sure every club would like a 3G pitch or most clubs would like a 3G pitch. The reality is that we probably need another 3 3G pitches on the Island.

Deputy D.J. Warr :

But for me that is still not identifying the demand. I mean there does not seem to be a clear framework about how you identify demand for sport in general on this Island.

The Minister for Infrastructure and Assistant Minister for Sustainable Economic Development with responsibility for Sport:

In respect of the football, there has been a huge amount of work done in terms of demand ...

Deputy D.J. Warr :

Football is one sport though.

The Minister for Infrastructure and Assistant Minister for Sustainable Economic Development with responsibility for Sport:

... and I think ...

Deputy D.J. Warr : A noisy sport.

The Minister for Infrastructure and Assistant Minister for Sustainable Economic Development with responsibility for Sport:

I do not know if it is a noisy sport ...

Deputy D.J. Warr :

I mean noisy in terms of their ability to generate interest. I am just curious to know should there not be a framework that says we identify the demand of sport in this Island regardless of whether you are a one man band or whether you have got a thousand footballers playing every week.

The Minister for Infrastructure and Assistant Minister for Sustainable Economic Development with responsibility for Sport:

I think it would be great to do a gap analysis to see what is missing. But ...

Deputy D.J. Warr :

But one is not currently done, that is my point really.

The Minister for Infrastructure and Assistant Minister for Sustainable Economic Development with responsibility for Sport:

No we have not done a gap analysis necessarily, but the Government has something like 48 outdoor netball courts. We have got ...

Deputy D.J. Warr :

Okay, I am not worrying about netball particularly, this is just in regard to sport.

The Minister for Infrastructure and Assistant Minister for Sustainable Economic Development with responsibility for Sport:

I just want to explain because ...

Deputy D.J. Warr : Yes, sure, sure.

The Minister for Infrastructure and Assistant Minister for Sustainable Economic Development with responsibility for Sport:

... we have got 11 indoor netball courts, or will have when Oakfield is finished. So we have got significant availability for sport. Gymnastics is going to have, for the first time ever, a purpose-built gymnastics facility.

Deputy M. Tadier : Where is that going to be?

The Minister for Infrastructure and Assistant Minister for Sustainable Economic Development with responsibility for Sport:

At Oakfield, in the old Oakfield Sports Hall . So it is going to have pits, they will not have to move the equipment in and out ...

Deputy M. Tadier :

We did an outreach stall on Friday. We heard from gymnasts saying that they were concerned that they have currently got Olympic standard equipment that they cannot now use. They are not going to be able to transfer that, that floor was not appropriate, that it is too small. Have those concerns been taken on board?

The Minister for Infrastructure and Assistant Minister for Sustainable Economic Development with responsibility for Sport:

They have absolutely been taken on board. The equipment that we are going to be providing at Oakfield is manufactured by the exact same company. It will not have the Paris logo on it. The gymnastics equipment at Fort Regent we understand belongs to the International Gymnastics U.K. Association. So it does not belong to the local club. I think we have asked about buying that equipment but I do not think that was possible. So we have agreed and signed off the design of the gymnastics facility at Oakfield with the clubs. We have also been working with the British Gymnastics Association in terms of the layout because they have got responsibility for dozens, if not hundreds, of gymnastics clubs around the U.K. and they facilitate up to a thousand people in a similar space.

Deputy M. Tadier :

They have told us that they are losing a third of their floor space which is going to be difficult for floor work. Is there a way around that?

The Minister for Infrastructure and Assistant Minister for Sustainable Economic Development with responsibility for Sport:

Barclay wants to come in on the design.

Operations Director, Sports Division:

Yes, when we started designing Oakfield, they currently occupied for many years a small space at Fort Regent of about 290 metres squared, so we are doubling that at Oakfield and, as the Minister said ...

Deputy M. Tadier :

You said when they started they had 290 but what have they got now, what are they leaving?

Operations Director, Sports Division:

They are currently using almost the entirety of the Queen's Hall . That is just not possible to replicate that amount of space. But certainly for ...

Deputy D.J. Warr :

What is the implication then for the sport by not replicating that space?

Operations Director, Sports Division:

I think they have a 13 metre squared, 13 by 13 floor at the moment. They will get a 12 by 12 floor at Oakfield.

The Minister for Infrastructure and Assistant Minister for Sustainable Economic Development with responsibility for Sport:

So I think the important thing is that the British Gymnastics Association have worked with us and have signed off the design of the facility we are going to be providing. They are the national experts in provision. I think what has happened is we have got a club who have grown into a space in the Rotunda and have enjoyed that space. We are trying to do more in terms of viewing, so we are looking at the potential to provide viewing from the studio as a potential. I was at Oakfield only last week to see the work and I would encourage you to go and visit Oakfield to see the quality of the provision we are going to be providing there, both in the new sports hall and in the gymnastics facility. We liaise with local clubs. We talk to national governing bodies, and the national governing body is telling us that this equipment, this design is sufficient for up to a thousand users a week and I think that is significant for ...

Deputy D.J. Warr :

So you do not believe what the local users are telling you?

The Minister for Infrastructure and Assistant Minister for Sustainable Economic Development with responsibility for Sport:

No, we have listened to what the local users are telling us and if you ask me if I would like to have a shed twice the size, I would say great. The reality is we have also offered the gymnastics club the same rates for the next 2 years that they have been paying at Fort Regent while we review the costs and the charges for sport across the board.

Deputy D.J. Warr :

Can I just come back on this gap analysis thing because it is really bugging me that, if you do not understand the level of demand right now, because you do not collect the data, so my question is how therefore can you ever hope to work out how much funding sport needs? I am struggling to find an answer to that question because it is kind of a bit like a finger in the air.

The Minister for Infrastructure and Assistant Minister for Sustainable Economic Development with responsibility for Sport:

We liaise with the governing bodies locally and nationally at times because they can give us guidance in that. There are some sports which I am sure could grow, but let us look at shooting. We have got a number of shooting ranges around the Island which are underutilised because the amount of people participating in shooting is sadly declining at present. We are ...

Deputy D.J. Warr :

But is this not about more effective use of the resources we have got?

The Minister for Infrastructure and Assistant Minister for Sustainable Economic Development with responsibility for Sport:

I think what you have got to do is you cannot just take a commercial view on it because if we took a ...

Deputy D.J. Warr :

No, absolutely, no, I am not asking, I am not asking you to.

The Minister for Infrastructure and Assistant Minister for Sustainable Economic Development with responsibility for Sport:

... commercial view on it we would have one bowling centre, we have got 3 bowling centres on the Island, we have got 2 indoor bowling facilities, we have got Grainville and one at Trinity . But if you took a commercial view you would only have one bowling centre. So you have to take into account the feedback from the community, from the users, from the sports, and that is what we try to do as best as we can.

Deputy M. Tadier :

So, Minister, we were not necessarily intending to go down this route, although maybe ...

Deputy D.J. Warr : Sorry.

Deputy M. Tadier :

No, it is fine, but maybe it was a question we would have asked later. Is there an issue around fragmentation in your mind of some sports clubs in terms of, if there are relatively small numbers spread out?

The Minister for Infrastructure and Assistant Minister for Sustainable Economic Development with responsibility for Sport:

In some sports there is more politics than in politics. So there are sports which are fragmented, there is no doubt about it, and where shared use would be a good thing to see. Unfortunately, people are not keen on shared use in some sports because of history, because of relationships, whatever that may be. But I think in general, when you see organisations like the Island Games, the Commonwealth Games, the Sports Council, Jersey Sport, they do pull sports together. If you want to go to the Island Games you have got to be part of a recognised body. Cycling is a sport that I have been involved when I was chairman of the racing committee 40 years ago for the cycling club locally. There are very few races held locally currently. There are more people cycling now than ever and there are more clubs than there has ever been. The Cycling Association is trying to pull them together, trying to organise more competitive events. It is a challenge.

Deputy M. Tadier :

Clearly, shooting is an interesting one, because there are so many different disciplines within shooting. Could you give us an example, and feel free to bring in some of your other Panel, if a particular sport is making a bid for Government funding, let us say it was netball, and there were many different clubs within that, how would you ensure that the money is attributed differently and that you are not having to deal with multiple representations from different clubs? Netball is probably not a great example, by the way.

The Minister for Infrastructure and Assistant Minister for Sustainable Economic Development with responsibility for Sport:

We do our best, as I said earlier. We provide a huge amount of facilities for a huge amount of people. I do not know the amount of people that participate, I should know, at our facilities each week. It is significant. Do you have that number, Barclay?

Operations Director, Sports Division:

It is almost impossible, on the basis that a lot of our facilities are open ... we do not count how many people ...

The Minister for Infrastructure and Assistant Minister for Sustainable Economic Development with responsibility for Sport:

Gyms, for example, we provide gyms. I am keen to get the gym at Oakfield open to the public, not during school hours. We have a great facility there. When we open Oakfield in October, the plan is to open up that gym. We are looking to get the Langford gym for junior Active members. We want to encourage more and more people to participate. In terms of when a sport comes to us ... that is also a challenge, because a lot of sports provide their own facilities; sometimes with Government support, sometimes without Government support. David was outside with his tennis racquet. We have private clubs. We have organisations that run tennis courts. Paddle is another example. I was asked, when I became Minister, to provide paddle courts. I said: “Why would the Government provide paddle courts when it is a commercial operation?” and we have seen that.

Deputy M. Tadier :

There are knock-on effects. I understand that what is happening at Les Ormes is to accommodate paddle as paddle has taken off. However, it means that the netball is going to be displaced from Les Ormes. They now feel that they do not have a home for their sport.

The Minister for Infrastructure and Assistant Minister for Sustainable Economic Development with responsibility for Sport:

Netball have had an arrangement with Les Ormes, which is a private relationship. We supported them last year with around £15,000 towards the rent, because the rent went up. We also supported them financially to go a tournament they participated in. We do try to work with the different sports. Netball, when I first became Minister, were in discussions with a private operator about building their own centre, which shocked me, because I knew we were building a 3-court facility at Oakfield and they had been in discussions about the design of that. As I said earlier, we have a meeting with netball next week to talk about scheduling and trying to find solutions.

Deputy M. Tadier :

Do you accept that it is one thing to say: “We are not going to invest in one particular sport, paddle, but then that might have a knock-on consequence”? Paddle might be commercially viable without Government interventions, but there are other sports which do need Government support.

The Minister for Infrastructure and Assistant Minister for Sustainable Economic Development with responsibility for Sport:

We have seen the facility at Les Ormes has provided facilities for tennis at one time, it provided football facilities at another time, it has provided netball for a long time. They are an operation which needs to ensure ... they had a rolling agreement with netball. Netball were talking to another private provider, which most people knew about, so they have had to make a commercial decision. We are going to try our very best to help netball with a solution.

Deputy D.J. Warr :

Can I carry on about the fragmentation, because this is one of the things which does concern me a lot, about this dispersion of sports. If you are thinking about your youngster ... I got into tennis because my dad was a tennis player and so therefore I carried on and picked up that sport. However, if I had been walking around ... and we will bring up Fort Regent later on, but if I had been walking around the halls and seen other sports taking place, at the moment it is table tennis, but it could be judo or something like that, that opportunity to look at another sport, which you may not have considered before ever and you might be brilliant at it and you did not know that. By that fragmentation, surely that is to the detriment of opportunity for young people who want to experiment in new sports and try out new sports. This is the beauty of having stuff under one roof. I appreciate Oakfield does that to an extent, but it is extraordinarily done at Fort Regent. As I say, I am not going to pick on ... my point about that general collective nature is beneficial to society.

The Minister for Infrastructure and Assistant Minister for Sustainable Economic Development with responsibility for Sport:

This weekend, the Jersey Sports Council are going to be holding what I would describe as a sport- for-all day. I am not sure if that is what it is called. We are sponsoring that, because we are providing Les Quennevais free of charge for the day. I am sure Jersey Sport are going to be there. That is an opportunity for sports to demonstrate their facilities. Last year, Serena Kersten did something very similar at Grenville, which was well attended. It was a great event. People are complaining because some sports are not included. All of the sports that are members of the Sports Council were invited to attend. It may be because they have an event on themselves. It may be because they do not have volunteers. Not all sports that are covered by the Sports Council will be represented at the sport-for-all day. That is a practical example of the Government supporting sports in general via the Sports Council by providing the facilities, additional parking at Les Quennevais School and the airport playing fields. Hopefully that will be needed. Hopefully the weather is better than this morning. Where people can go along and they can have a taster. They can talk to people involved in sports A, B and C. We are more than happy to do those kinds of things to help people. That is an example of where an organisation which represents various sports has not been able to get all the sports they represent to attend the same event. On Sunday, the event moves to the nautical theme and so they are St. Aubin doing sailing and sports like that. I would like to see that become an annual event. I can remember those events taking place at Les Quennevais 40 years ago. I really hope that becomes an annual event with partnership from the Government, from Jersey Sport and the Sports Council, so that people can get a taster. Last weekend, we saw 100s of children taking part in the triathlon at Les Quennevais; they swan, they ran and they cycled.

[11:15]

What a fantastic thing for people to be able to do to get a taste. Do they want to do all 3 sports? Do they enjoy cycling more than swimming or vice versa? There are lots of things and opportunities for people. The youth programmes that are available in Jersey today far outweigh anything we have seen in the past. I enjoy watching football. I can tell you the technical ability of young boys and girls, particularly girls, has improved dramatically over the years. We have to work on strength and conditioning of younger athletes potentially. There are some fantastic coaches available that never used to be available on the Island.

Deputy M. Tadier :

Thank you. I am going to refer to Deputy Andrews now. He is going to turn to some questions for and about Jersey Sport.

Deputy M.B. Andrews :

Thank you very much, Chair. David, I wanted to start off by asking you about whether you feel that Jersey Sport is appropriately funded and, if not, what areas would you like to see investment in particular services that you would like to offer?

Chief Executive Officer, Jersey Sport:

In the first instance, I am never going to say that we receive enough funding. As the Minister suggested earlier on, if they give me twice the amount of money then we are going to do twice the amount of things. It was one of the things which was highlighted in the Review of Sport that there was a lack of clarity around the role of Jersey Sport. As I have described previously, Jersey Sport at that time as trying to be 100 things to 100 people. Hence the reason that was quite clear in the review. The last year has been quite transformational. We focused on strategic priorities. We have made some difficult decisions. As highlighted in the pack, we are now in a position where I believe the sports community are recognising the difference in Jersey Sport. To answer the question, in the first instance it was about ensuring that we maximise the funding that we got from Government and how we deliver that through a partnership agreement and our regular partnership meetings with Government of Jersey colleagues. Secondly, and also to highlight, going right back to 2016 when at the time, the sports division included facilities and it also included sport development. As sport development moved from Government of Jersey to quite simply doing things outside of Government that it could not do when it was inside of Government, particularly around that philanthropic area of ensuring that we can raise our own funds to then reinvest back into sport.

Deputy M.B. Andrews :

You spoke about your strategic priorities and I wanted to ask about whether you have had to make some tough decisions, potentially bring about cuts to certain areas within Jersey Sport and, if so, what areas have been impacted?

Chief Executive Officer, Jersey Sport:

Yes, as I said, that was a very difficult exercise that we had to undertake. As I say, it was clear that we could not fulfil the remit of being 100 things to 100 people. In the first instance, we had to look at our services and look at how we are delivering them. We had to identify if there were potentially duplications in the private sector. Ultimately that drew a number of conclusions. The first conclusion was that we pulled back from toddler play in November of last year. The reason for that is that we believe  that  there  were  other  providers  currently  delivering  that  service. Secondly,  that  the programme itself was not delivering the impact that we would hope. In my years of experience of sport development it is important that whatever you do you deliver impact. With that particular programme, we reinvested the funding into a community outreach programme, which you may have seen in the media in the last few weeks. We are doing a significant amount of work down at St. Clement s around skateboarding and footballing projects. That particular programme has been funded from the toddler play funding. You will see it hopefully this summer. We will be back doing things such as Friday night sport at Millennium Park. We will up at Les Quennevais in the winter. For me, it was about making sure that we are using the money effectively for maximum impact.

Deputy M.B. Andrews :

As Chief Executive Officer, what are the main issues that Jersey Sport currently faces and what has to be done to address those issues?

Chief Executive Officer, Jersey Sport:  

The biggest challenge, obviously, is sustainability of funding. As I say, we have a partnership funding from core funding from Government of Jersey. We have signed in for a 3-year partnership deal which allows us that sustainability. However, that is pretty fixed, so the ultimate challenge that we have at this moment in time is ensuring that we are sustainable as an organisation for the next 2 to 3 years. That is something that we are currently looking at just now.

Deputy M.B. Andrews : Thank you.

Deputy M. Tadier :

Can I ask, either the Minister or yourself, Mr. Kennedy, about what actions are being undertaken to ensure that there is inclusivity in sport? By greater inclusivity, we are talking about different age ranges, genders and nationalities. Talk to us first of all if there is an issue in reaching certain groups in Jersey for certain sports and what Government or yourselves might do to address that?

Chief Executive Officer, Jersey Sport:

In the first instance, it was highlighted in the Review of Sport that Jersey Sport were required to develop and public an inclusion policy that was absent at the time. That is now in place. More importantly ... policy is one thing, it is just in black and white, but ultimately it is about how that policy is brought to life. In the first instances, strategically, we developed an Inclusion Advisory Group with a number of people who work across the charitable sector in various areas around disability. We have people that are continually advising us on our own services. In terms of our own areas of inclusion, we have recently had access to a pot of funding specifically for those young people who cannot access sport for purposes of funding. We know it is a continual challenge for a lot of families in this day and age that they are making some very difficult choices in terms of the activities of children. We now have a pot of funding that families can access, whether that be for club memberships, kit, equipment, holiday courses. We are in a position to finally say that Jersey Sport is a funding body and we will make sure that sport is inclusive.

Deputy M. Tadier :

How do you measure the inclusion in different sports?

Chief Executive Officer, Jersey Sport:

We have our own metrics, in terms of what inclusion means. We have seen netball as an example this morning. Inclusion in netball would be more around about male participation as an example. It is a very female dominated sport. Similarly in football you would say the opposite. It is about breaking down what inclusion means for each sport.

Deputy M. Tadier :

Outside of school age, is there difficulty in reaching certain nationalities are there certain groups in Jersey which may find it more difficult to engage or do not necessary feel welcomed, shall we say, in certain sports?

Chief Executive Officer, Jersey Sport:

It is part of the reallocation of the toddler play funding into the community outreach programme. We have very much taken a strategic approach to that. We are looking at the partners that we would need to work with. We deliver things such as an Islamic project. That has been going now for 6 months and is a successful project. Females of that origin are taking part in many different activities. That was funded through the Connect Me funding. We have many, many different examples of targeted inclusion work. As I say, it is something that we want to continue to develop, as are things such as reducing antisocial behaviour. We are working a lot with the police just now. We have recently delivered projects down at Havre des Pas and at St. Brelade . It is an area that, certainly when I came in, I was extremely passionate about, to make sure that we were seeing all demographics covered.

Deputy M. Tadier : Thank you.

The Minister for Infrastructure and Assistant Minister for Sustainable Economic Development with responsibility for Sport:

What is also interesting is understanding the requirements of facilities. There is a big push to get more girls playing football. Traditionally football changing rooms are designed for men. There is a better understanding now of what is needed. A challenge for most sports is to keep young people involved in sport as they evolve. It can be challenging. There is a much greater awareness with coaches. The improved education around safeguarding has also helped from an inclusion perspective.

Deputy M. Tadier :

Thank you. We are going to move on to some specific questions that will touch partly on the decant from Fort Regent and also more generally about current facilities for current sports. I will ask Deputy Warr to lead.

Deputy D.J. Warr :

There is a letter from you answering questions regarding relocation of clubs and tenants from Fort Regent. You have acknowledged that a number have been unsuccessful in identifying a new location to operate in. What actions are being undertaken to ensure that as few sports as possible do not have to cease operations as a result of the decant?

The Minister for Infrastructure and Assistant Minister for Sustainable Economic Development with responsibility for Sport:

We have dedicated resource working on the decant. We have somebody in the public gallery from skating and I am delighted to say that skating is going to move from Fort Regent to Haute Vallée. The Chief Officer of Infrastructure has written this morning to confirm that is the case. That is encouraging. We meet on a fortnightly basis with the people that are still using Fort Regent. It was explained to somebody in the square who said there were 40 people being evicted that there are not 40 clubs at Fort Regent. We have unfortunately got some people who rent space from us who appear to be subletting to other people although their lease does not permit that, so we are not aware of those people. We have some people who are using areas of Fort Regent for massage, for example. I do not think that is the Government’s responsibility to provide space for those organisations. We have to work our hardest with the clubs where it is volunteer led ...

Deputy D.J. Warr :

The most noise seems to be coming from the martial arts sector. They seem to think that they are basically being shoved into one facility when they require a series of different rooms. What would your response to their challenge be?

The Minister for Infrastructure and Assistant Minister for Sustainable Economic Development with responsibility for Sport:

I will let Barclay give you some of the detail, but we have, only last Saturday, showed people around the facilities at Oakfield and I reiterate the invitation to you all to go and have a look. These are purpose-built facilities of a very high standard. We are looking at whether or not some of those organisations can go back to the Fort once it is available for people to go in there. We are moving people out of tunnels into a purpose-built facility. As I said earlier, we need to look at the school estate to see if some of those clubs would be better suited in a school facility.

Deputy D.J. Warr :

Sorry, you made mention there about moving some of the sports back into the Fort. That has not been articulated particularly in the public domain. It has all been about the new vision for the Fort and the decanting of all sports facilities. You think then that there will be an opportunity for some sports to move back into Fort Regent?

The Minister for Infrastructure and Assistant Minister for Sustainable Economic Development with responsibility for Sport:

A big part of Fort Regent is to have what I describe as a show court. In the concert hall there will be the ability to have The Jets playing their league games there and also basketball, volleyball and other sports. That should be a flexible space that we can utilise. We are going to have a pump track. We are looking at another area in St. Clement s for a pump track as well. A pump track has been asked for for many years on the Island. We are looking at providing some skating facilities there. Climbing, as I mentioned earlier, is very under-resourced on the Island. We are looking at providing a purpose-built climbing facility. We are looking to work with all of those organisations to develop what those designs will look like. If there are rooms for some of the martial arts clubs to return to then we would look to do that. Once you have been into the facility at Oakfield, you may be a little reluctant to go back to a tunnel. Barclay, did you want to explain anything about the consultation?

Operations Director, Sports Division:

Yes, we have engaged constantly with those who wanted to engage. Some of the martial arts clubs have not, so that is their own choice. As the Minister said, we have some incredible facilities being built up there. There are sprung floors, natural lighting, air handling, et cetera. It is a very different ...

Deputy D.J. Warr :

Sorry, I want to come back to your point about saying they are not engaging with you. I would say they would feel they were not engaged with.

Operations Director, Sports Division: We reached out to all of them.

Deputy D.J. Warr :

You dispute that you have not attempted to engage with some of these sports?

Operations Director, Sports Division:

We have reached out to all of them and those that have engaged in the process, we continue that process of engagement. Equally they will sign off all the drawings for the studios up there and ...

Deputy D.J. Warr :

Why do you feel that there is this disconnect between their communication and what you are telling me now?

Operations Director, Sports Division:

We have made every attempt to connect with those clubs and one or 2 have not engaged in the process and therefore we cannot store that. We need to move forward.

The Minister for Infrastructure and Assistant Minister for Sustainable Economic Development with responsibility for Sport:

Some of those clubs may not be known to us, because they may be subletting from somebody who rents the space from us.

Deputy M.B. Andrews :

Minister, the Panel received a submission. In the submission, one of the martial arts clubs raised concerns that there will be 6 different martial arts clubs having to share one single room. They specifically mentioned that with some of the martial arts they need to be using a wooden floor, whereas some of the others need to use a mat. This is obviously going to be a huge concern to them. I want to know whether you are aware of this and, if so, what are you going to do about it?

The Minister for Infrastructure and Assistant Minister for Sustainable Economic Development with responsibility for Sport:

We are aware and that is why I said that we are also looking at the school estate, because it may be appropriate for one or 2 of those organisations to use a school hall, which has a firmer floor, than the provision we are providing.

Deputy D.J. Warr :

Is there capacity within the infrastructure that we currently have at some of the school sites?

The Minister for Infrastructure and Assistant Minister for Sustainable Economic Development with responsibility for Sport:

There is significant capacity at some of the school sites; significant capacity.

[11:30]

Deputy M. Tadier :

Minister, I was going to ask, essentially following on from what Deputy Warr was getting at, we are hearing a lot of concerns, certainly from a lot of sports clubs. If it was just one, we would not dismiss it, but it would carry less weight. We are hearing from skating, for example, that the floor surfaces are not sufficient in the new areas that they are going into. We are hearing from gymnastics that they have smaller areas. You have partly covered that already. We have heard from the martial arts. Are they wrong in what they are saying?

The Minister for Infrastructure and Assistant Minister for Sustainable Economic Development with responsibility for Sport:

I believe in part they are wrong. We have identified Haute Vallée as being suitable for skating, with a floor that is suitable for skating. Oakfield is not suitable for skating, but Haute Vallée is. We also provide skating at Les Quennevais. I believe that we have a solution for the skaters. As I said earlier, the Chief Officer has written to the skaters this morning to confirm that.

Deputy D.J. Warr :

I want to come in on that point about saying you think in part they are wrong. I am a tennis player and tennis players tend to know if they have the right surface on which they are going to play tennis. I would trust the skaters to say: “This is the right surface for us to skate on.” I am a bit concerned when I hear you saying they are wrong and you have people on the ground who do this sport on a daily basis saying: “No, this is what we require.” How do you resolve that disconnect? Why is there that disconnect?

The Minister for Infrastructure and Assistant Minister for Sustainable Economic Development with responsibility for Sport:

Absolutely, Oakfield is a multisport surface, so it is not appropriate for skating. Barclay, can you explain about the floor at Haute Vallée?

Operations Director, Sports Division:

Yes. We have to accommodate a number of disciplines there: basketball, volleyball, netball, tennis for the school, badminton, et cetera. There must be about 8 - 10 sports. Obviously, as the Minister said, you have to have a multiuse floor for that. We cannot take a single sport necessarily, that is potentially a niche sport, and accommodate that niche sport. Those floors simply do not exist.

Deputy D.J. Warr :

Therefore, we cannot accommodate skate elsewhere? Having decanted it from the Fort, we are struggling to decant them into a fit-for-purpose facility, is basically what you are concluding?

Operations Director, Sports Division:

We are putting skating into Haute Vallée and we have skating at Les Quennevais currently at the moment.

Deputy D.J. Warr :

Are they fit-for-purpose surfaces?

Operations Director, Sports Division:

They are currently fit-for-purpose surfaces, yes. The new facilities are obviously multiuse, so we struggle with those niche sports.

Deputy M. Tadier :

Let us talk to the issue of multiuse. When skating is going on, other things cannot go on. When basketball is taking place at Les Quennevais, other sports cannot go on. There is only one main hall at Les Quennevais. Circuit training happens at Les Quennevais. Is there an issue about what sport clubs, especially for ones that need a bigger surface area about how much exclusive use and what kind of time they get? There has been an issue about timeslots that was conveyed to us on Friday at the outreach. There is a general concern that the slots may not be at the right times or for the right number of hours, that is certainly what Jersey netball was saying, for example.

The Minister for Infrastructure and Assistant Minister for Sustainable Economic Development with responsibility for Sport:

I will repeat, we are meeting with Jersey Netball again next week to look at the scheduling. I am trying to get access to Oakfield earlier in the afternoon for netball. It is a 3-court facility. The school currently have a one-court facility. We should be able to have youngsters playing netball at the same time the school are doing an afterschool club. We are working with colleagues in Education to come to that solution. Clearly scheduling is a challenge for any sport. As I said, I have experience of running sports facilities. During the day, it is a challenge getting people to use facilities. In the evening, when people are not working, when they are not at education, then more people want to play their sport. Clearly, there are timings. Some organisations do different prices to try and encourage people out of hours, rather than using the peak hours. There is a challenge to provide sports at peak hours. We do our level best. For me, it is a simple logistics challenge. By having a centralised booking system for our whole estate, that would alleviate a lot of the problems.

Deputy D.J. Warr :

In terms of the capacity, I know we are talking an awful lot about why Government is not providing this capacity, and we talk about paddle and a private facility for paddle, is there any sort of thought within Government which says: this element can be outsourced or this could be done by the private sector? What kind of conversations take place in that respect? Clearly if netball, for instance, has massive demand, that suggests that there may be a commercial opportunity there, as opposed to Government trying to find facility. I wonder how you balance those and how you work that strategy out.

I will reiterate that I am in discussion with a number of sports about the potential for private-public partnerships. We have to encourage more of that. We have sites which are underutilised. We also have people who have their own land, but will have challenges with planning. We have to try and become an enabler, rather than necessarily running all the facilities for everyone, because you cannot do everything for everyone. What you find happens in sports occasionally is there will be divisions within a club and then they will have 2 clubs and they do not want to share the same facility. What we have to do is our best and we do our best each and every day. We have to do better, we acknowledge that. By having a centralised booking system, we can make big improvements.

Deputy M. Tadier :

Can I ask about the relocation of the gym at Fort Regent to Springfield? How do you measure and have you measured the impact that has had on potential users, for example, people who work in town who might have gone to Fort Regent for a class or to the gym at lunchtime? I count myself as one of those. Is there evidence that that behaviour has changed and there are those who have stopped doing that completely because Springfield is too far away?

The Minister for Infrastructure and Assistant Minister for Sustainable Economic Development with responsibility for Sport:

I am going to pass you to Barclay in a moment, but I am just going to say before Barclay answers you, is that we have a gym at Oakfield, which is hugely underutilised, which we are trying to add to our Active offering. That is going to ...

Deputy M. Tadier :

Why is it underutilised? It is not assessable or are people not aware of it?

The Minister for Infrastructure and Assistant Minister for Sustainable Economic Development with responsibility for Sport:

There have been issues with staffing and also with technology, but once we resolve those as part of the upgrade to Oakfield then people who may be using Springfield and live at Five Oaks may go to Oakfield.

Deputy M. Tadier :

Do you accept that if you work around here, if you work in the centre of St. Helier , it is a bit trickier to get to Oakfield in your lunchtime, especially if you only get one hour, than it might have been to get to Fort Regent?

Oakfield will not be open at lunchtime, because the priority will be for the school.

Deputy M. Tadier :

That is another issues, is it not?

The Minister for Infrastructure and Assistant Minister for Sustainable Economic Development with responsibility for Sport:

Yes, but we have many private gyms within St. Helier and outside of St. Helier .

Deputy M. Tadier :

That does not help the Active cause, does it? You have a great product with Active. It is publicly available. People subscribe to it. You do not want to be telling members of the public to go to a private gym because we have shut our one in central St. Helier .

The Minister for Infrastructure and Assistant Minister for Sustainable Economic Development with responsibility for Sport:

I will let Barclay answer that, around the Active numbers.

Operations Director, Sports Division:

Yes, the Active card is performing well. Income is up. We set ourselves some targets this year of improving income and we are very close to hitting those. We keep a number of K.P.I.s (key performance indicator) for the Active card scheme and we are more than happy to share those with you. I have them here.

Deputy M. Tadier :

What do the figures look like over that period of time, has it been going up, down or static?

Operations Director, Sports Division:

COVID-19 was a challenge, obviously, but we are slowly recovering from that piece.

Deputy M. Tadier :

Closing the gym was a challenge? What happened after 2023, did you see a dip or an increase or was it static?

Operations Director, Sports Division:

We saw a dip in income definitely, yes. As the Minister said, there are 15 plus private gyms that absorb a lot of the heat out of the gym market, as it were. Springfield was very well received. I know we have a far more female-friendly environment there, because some of the big weights that we had at Fort Regent, we did not put back in. As the Minister said, we are more than happy to show you those facilities. The classes are absolutely full there. We have a great group exercise occupancy rate here of about 76 per cent. Our classes are pretty full and we would love to put more classes on. As the Minister said, once Oakfield is staffed, we have a fantastic little gym up there and the intention is to open it up to Active card members outside of community time.

Deputy M. Tadier :

Can I just ask on that, when you say the classes are full, that is good in one sense, but is not good if you are a user? There may be a frustration from some Active users that certain classes are always full. As soon as you go on the app at a certain time, you can never get into them. Is there a way around that? Could there be an option for a premium that you can pay a small contribution more to get a fixed number of classes every year?

Operations Director, Sports Division:

It is a good question. We have not explored that. We are constantly trying to make sure that those who sign up attend and those who do not attend are asked to cancel their class. Yes, certainly the class programme is very popular and we are constantly trying to improve it, both from a product perspective, so it is not the same thing every year, so bringing in new classes. We have the addition of Oakfield now to potentially run some more classes there in the evenings, which is good news.

The Minister for Infrastructure and Assistant Minister for Sustainable Economic Development with responsibility for Sport:

On average we have 24 per cent capacity, as we are 76 per cent full, so there will be some classes that are fully booked, but things like spinning you can do almost any time.

Operations Director, Sports Division:

Correct. We have a virtual studio, so you can go and press a button and do a class. As I say, the Active card product is doing well and is certainly on the up and we would like to continue to expand it.

Deputy D.J. Warr :

I want to pick up on Chair’s commentary around locations. Free facilities, cost of living issues as we have today, people cannot afford maybe to have that gym membership and all the rest of it, so free facilities in the right places, certainly in terms of town and St. Helier is concerned, are really important. If Springfield is near capacity, the question then has to be: where else is there to go for

people who want to have an indoor free facility? Are there any thoughts around that now that the Fort is closing?

The Minister for Infrastructure and Assistant Minister for Sustainable Economic Development with responsibility for Sport:

Springfield is not a free facility.

Deputy D.J. Warr :

It is an Active membership, it is an Active card, is it not?

The Minister for Infrastructure and Assistant Minister for Sustainable Economic Development with responsibility for Sport:

You pay for you ...

Deputy D.J. Warr :

You pay a contribution though, you do not pay the full cost, you do not pay the full price of it. It is not like a private gym.

Operations Director, Sports Division:

You contract with us to have a gym membership there.

Deputy D.J. Warr : You do pay something.

Operations Director, Sports Division: Yes, correct.

Deputy D.J. Warr :

But not the full amount, as you would do if you were part of a private members’ gym.

The Minister for Infrastructure and Assistant Minister for Sustainable Economic Development with responsibility for Sport:

Other providers charge more.

Deputy D.J. Warr :

Charge more, significantly more. Maybe instead of using the word “free”, I should say “more affordable” offerings.

The Minister for Infrastructure and Assistant Minister for Sustainable Economic Development with responsibility for Sport:

That would be part of our review in terms of what things cost us and what we charge people. We are also mindful of the benefits of people using those things. Some of the classes are free for a short period of time, when people are getting back on the road to health. There has been quite a lot of work done around that piece as well. We are trying to encourage people to continue exercising.

Deputy M. Tadier :

Talking about exercise referrals, can non-Active members still get referred to exercise classes, is that what you are saying?

Operations Director, Sports Division:

Move More referrals have nothing to do with the Active card. They are 2 totally separately things.

The Minister for Infrastructure and Assistant Minister for Sustainable Economic Development with responsibility for Sport:

Dave will answer that.

Chief Executive Officer, Jersey Sport:

Yes, Move More referrals is a Jersey Sport programme, of which we receive referrals from doctors and other relevant people who are dealing with people who have some sort of ailments or conditions that require an exercise programme.

Deputy M. Tadier :

Talk us through the nuts and bolts of that. Do people get referred to you who need exercise like a prescription, effectively, from the doctor?

Chief Executive Officer, Jersey Sport:

Yes, you would go to, primarily, your doctor, where you may feel you have a condition. The doctor would decide if exercise would benefit that condition. The doctor would then refer on to us and then we would then take on the client for our referral programme.

Deputy M. Tadier :

Who provides the facility and the guidance for the activity?

Chief Executive Officer, Jersey Sport:

In 2024, we moved that programme up to Strive. We felt we needed a bigger facility to accommodate. That has worked well for us, in that we are ...

Deputy M. Tadier :

How does the funding work for that? Do you pay Strive money?

Chief Executive Officer, Jersey Sport:

Yes. The programme itself is funded from our core budget, from Government of Jersey. That allows us to then hire the facility of Strive. We have that all day, so it allows us to deliver the number of classes that are required to meet the demands of ...

Deputy M. Tadier :

Is that just for exercise referrals or is it a mixed class? Is it a class that is going on anyway?

Chief Executive Officer, Jersey Sport:

What would happen on exercise referral is that clients would go on a 12-week programme. After that, they would then go on to a pay-as-you go option, of which is open to other people.

Deputy M. Tadier :

Previously that was done, in-house, it was done through the Active Scheme; is that right?

Operations Director, Sports Division:

They would have used the Active facilities, but we would not have delivered the programme.

Deputy M. Tadier :

Ultimately, Active would have been getting the money, if you like, or the wooden dollars, if they were any. At the moment we have to pay Strive, which is a private business.

Chief Executive Officer, Jersey Sport:

Yes, and likewise, when we transferred the programme to Jersey Sport, Jersey Sport was then paying the Government for the hire of those facilities.

[11:45]

Deputy M. Tadier :

Jersey Sport was getting its money from Government, effectively, and then paying Government back.

Chief Executive Officer, Jersey Sport: Yes.

Deputy M. Tadier :

What I am saying is that money is now lost. It is going into a private business rather than going back into the States of Jersey.

Head of Local Economy, Department for the Economy:

The programme was deliver from Communicare in St. Brelade and Salvation Army in St. Helier . There were a lot of inefficiencies in the programme. If we took the individual who delivered it, who was an employee of Jersey Sport, they would arrive at a venue half an hour beforehand, set up, deliver a class to their patients for an hour, take half an hour to break down, then take 40 minutes to drive across the Island, then take half an hour to set up in another venue. The efficiencies were such that not a lot of people were getting through the programme. The programme was paused in Jersey Sport. People could not get on to their 12-week programme. Say you have had a hip replacement, you get referred and now you have a 14-week wait before you can start your 12-week referral programme. What we have done by moving it to Strive ... Strive is a 2-part venue. There is the public-facing gym where people pay a monthly membership and there is the academy bit is used by the British and Irish Lions and high performing teams when they come to the Island once or twice a year. That is a massive area, underutilised day in day out. The capacity in the G.P. (general practitioner) referral programme has been increased by 93 per cent. It has been unfrozen. It is on a bus route. There have been one or 2 people who have said: “It is not as convenient as Salvation Army,” but we have increased the capacity and there is no wait list anymore. When you look at all the things that are important to somebody coming out of an operation and being referred by a G.P., we have taken those things on board and the move to that venue is not denying other venues income. The cost ...

Deputy M. Tadier :

You are saying it is good value. You will be able to tell us the amount that is paid to Strive?

Head of Local Economy, Department for the Economy:

Yes. If it is not commercially sensitive, we will be happy to share that with you. You will be blown away by the value for money, on a pound per square foot, which is what you measure value for money on.

The Minister for Infrastructure and Assistant Minister for Sustainable Economic Development with responsibility for Sport:

We did a lot of work before making the decision to move. We are very pleased with the results, very pleased.

Deputy M. Tadier :

Am I right in saying there was previously an Active Scheme where free passes were given to certain groups of people? I do not know whether that was to do with age or infirmity. That has been stopped for a few years.

Operations Director, Sports Division: You might be referring to the over-80s.

Deputy M. Tadier :

I would have to go back to that. I do not think it was the over-80s.

The Minister for Infrastructure and Assistant Minister for Sustainable Economic Development with responsibility for Sport:

We will write to you.

Deputy M. Tadier :

It could even have been to do with means testing and lower paid income support, that kind of thing. Long-term incapacity might have been linked to that. Deputy Andrews , do you have a couple of questions?

Deputy M.B. Andrews :

Yes, I do indeed. Thank you, Chair. Minister, I want to go back to Fort Regent and the relocation of some of the sports, organisations and clubs. Do you think there is a danger that we could see some of the sports, clubs and organisations that we have known for many years disappear because there is not a suitable alternative location for them?

The Minister for Infrastructure and Assistant Minister for Sustainable Economic Development with responsibility for Sport:

I hope that is not the case, but ultimately it will be down to the operators. Some are, as Heath mentioned, run as clubs and some are run as businesses and some people may make a business decision. As I said earlier, we have frozen the rates for 2 years for the move. We have one of the team who spends a lot of time with these people discussing alternatives. After the move, I am hoping to see increased participation in these sports, when people see the facilities they have to practice in.

Deputy M.B. Andrews :

Thank you, Minister. I noticed you used the word “hope”. I wanted to know when the Jersey Development Company launched their public consultation, was it something that you considered that if we are to see the redevelopment of Fort Regent go ahead then there potentially could be some implications for some of the sports clubs and the organisations in our Island were you confident that there is the infrastructure in place to house all of those organisations accordingly?

The Minister for Infrastructure and Assistant Minister for Sustainable Economic Development with responsibility for Sport:

We are the third Government to make the same decision. There has been a lot of work done previously. We have, as I said earlier, lots of sport provision locally. I hope that the existing providers continue to be providers. However, if people are not able to participate with club A then perhaps they will move to club B. It is around the participation, rather than the amount of operators we have. There are very different sports played there, of a similar nature, but there are many different martial arts. I am hopeful that we can find solutions with these people, as I said earlier, either at Oakfield or within our estate or within the private area. We know that there are martial arts practiced around the Island, not just at Fort Regent and I am sure that will continue to be the case.

Deputy M.B. Andrews :

Speaking to one owner of a martial arts organisation, they spoke about their concerns that they might not have any alternative in place. I want to know: what is your response to that member of the public’s concern about their martial arts club potentially not having an alternative?

The Minister for Infrastructure and Assistant Minister for Sustainable Economic Development with responsibility for Sport:

I do not know whether that is one of the clubs that is or is not engaging with us. If it is one of the organisations, and there is only one or 2, that are not engaging with us, I would encourage them to engage with us as soon as possible. We are keen to find solutions wherever that is.

Deputy M.B. Andrews :

Does that mean, potentially, Minister, that you may have to be part of the process that involves work with the private sector if need be?

The Minister for Infrastructure and Assistant Minister for Sustainable Economic Development with responsibility for Sport:

I am more than happy to meet with any of these organisations, as I have repeatedly stated. Unfortunately, I was not available on Saturday when they did their tour of the Oakfield facility, because I would have liked to have been in attendance.

Deputy M.B. Andrews :

Yes, thank you very much, Minister. Chair.

Deputy M. Tadier :

Yes, I wanted to progress around this idea of sporting development. Some of the questions around the Island games are towards the end of this. Could you walk me through how we deliver elite athletes? As we have been talking a lot about netball, what is the line that goes from a 5 year-old picking up a ball and throwing it around to someone becoming a Serena Guthrie in netball? Is there a structured process or approach to that or is that just serendipity?

The Minister for Infrastructure and Assistant Minister for Sustainable Economic Development with responsibility for Sport:

It depends on the sport. Dave can talk to you about the performance pathway we have. I was contacted at the weekend by the father of a girl who has just been signed by one of the large U.K. football teams to play women’s football. It is very different in different sports. This person has gone out of their way to promote themselves to various clubs to try and find a pathway. In other sports there may be a national programme. On the radio this morning, they were talking about a fantastic swimmer we have who is hoping to go to the World Junior Championships after the Island Games. It is very different for different people. I will ask Dave to talk about the performance pathway, please.

Chief Executive Officer, Jersey Sport:

Yes, as the Minister says, it is very much down to individual sports in terms of what that pathway can look like. There are many factors in everyone’s journey. Facilities, we have touched on already. I also emphasise, high-quality coaching is a massive factor in determining ...

Deputy D.J. Warr :

The infrastructure is a major part?

Chief Executive Officer, Jersey Sport: Yes, 100 per cent.

Deputy D.J. Warr : Quality of infrastructure.

Chief Executive Officer, Jersey Sport:

Yes, to ultimately allow an athlete to achieve a potential. Obviously in 2024, the Government invested £120,000 into the Performance Sport Strategy, which Jersey Sport initiated. That process saw us going out to all athletes across the Island for expressions of interest. The reason we did that is that we felt if we were to identify athletes on our own there was a potential that we would miss a number of athletes because sport is obviously so broad across the Island. We received 91 initial

expressions of interest from athletes across the Island. Then we had a process to go through to develop criteria in terms of what performance looked like. We required the development of a committee, a very knowledgeable committee when it comes to sport. We had our eye on top sports people; people such as Serena Kersten, Nathan Jegou and Scott van Breda, who came together, who are our advisers into that process. At the end of 2024, we were able to distribute funding to 24 of those athletes. Those athletes were what we classed as podium athletes. People on that particular programme are near the top of their individual sports; people such as Aaron Canavan in snooker. Aaron did really well there not so long ago and finished second in the World Seniors. We have seen Hannah Silcock excelling. There have been a number of athletes in that programme. That then takes us into 2025 where, in our second year of that funding, we identified almost a new generation of athletes, so the more up-and-coming athletes. Again, that criteria to get on to that programme was very clear, in terms of what each athlete would have to achieve. That was slightly different from year one funding, in that we did not specifically put all the funding into the athletes themselves. We invested in services that would support that next generation of athletes. Things such as ...

Deputy D.J. Warr :

Thanks for that big explanation. My question then is: ultimately, how do you align the resource, the infrastructure with that programme? How do you align those 2 together? In other words, you may have a programme which is trying to produce world-class athletes, however, if we do not have the infrastructure to deliver those world-class athletes we cannot deliver them. How do you strategically align those 2 requirements?

Chief Executive Officer, Jersey Sport:

The reality is when you talk about world-class athletes ...

Deputy D.J. Warr :

National athletes or elite athletes; let us use the word “elite”.

Chief Executive Officer, Jersey Sport:

The reality is that they will be going off Island to compete. Not just because of facilities, but because of levels of competition. That development via levels of competition will only take place outside of the Island, clearly. A lot of the funding that we put towards that particular programme enhances the travel provision for the majority of those athletes. I then add in the additional travel grant allocation, which was part of the proposition, which has allowed us to invest up to £300,000 in travel grants for athletes as well. Overall, we have managed to reduce that burden of top athletes to get off Island.

Deputy D.J. Warr :

Sure.

Deputy M. Tadier :

Minister, we are coming towards the end of the time allocated for our hearing. I wanted to ask 2 questions. First of all, to round off the questioning we have about sport facilities and the great representations we have had from clubs. For the record, we have had about 90 submissions so far in the last week since we have been leading up to this. There has been public interest. Can you confirm that you are listening to all of those sports clubs who have been making representations that you will work with sports clubs to take into account their concerns?

The Minister for Infrastructure and Assistant Minister for Sustainable Economic Development with responsibility for Sport:

Absolutely, I am more than happy to confirm I am listening. What I cannot do is make false promises. What we cannot deliver is all of those 90 clubs or commentators’ aspirations. We have to be realistic. As I said earlier, Jersey has some great facilities on the Island. We need to provide more, but we have to make sure that the facilities we current provide are maintained to a top standard. We are working on refurbishments and replacement facilities and I look forward to being able to share that with yourselves and the sporting community. There is a huge amount of work being done. The team work very hard, within Jersey Sport and within the Government. Yes, we are listening, but what I cannot do is sit here and make false promises.

Deputy M. Tadier :

Will you undertake to at least facilitate to make sure that what Government cannot provide, and of course Government does provide what it can, but it will facilitate conversations and opportunities for development in those sports?

The Minister for Infrastructure and Assistant Minister for Sustainable Economic Development with responsibility for Sport:

Absolutely. As I mentioned earlier, we missed a massive opportunity with cricket by not supporting the cricket centre at St. Martin . It was disappointing that Members voted against that proposal. That not only would have provided facility for cricket, but would also have reduced the pressure on other facilities.

Deputy M. Tadier :

That was in the last Assembly.

The Minister for Infrastructure and Assistant Minister for Sustainable Economic Development with responsibility for Sport:

Yes, that was in the last Assembly. I was pleased to support that proposition, but unfortunately not everybody did.

Deputy M. Tadier :

There were questions about the process there, not necessarily about the vision.

Deputy D.J. Warr :

The only thing I was going to say was, obviously there are nets facilities at FB Fields at the moment which are in tatters. Is this not another case in point where facilities are available, but they are not being used effectively?

The Minister for Infrastructure and Assistant Minister for Sustainable Economic Development with responsibility for Sport:

I would be shocked if the nets at FB are in tatters, because they have just been refurbished.

Deputy D.J. Warr :

I drove past them a couple of weeks ago.

Operations Director, Sports Division: They are brand new.

Deputy D.J. Warr :

They have been replaced, have they?

Operations Director, Sports Division:

About 6 weeks ago. They were in tatters. Storm Ciaran destroyed them.

Deputy D.J. Warr : Good to hear that.

The Minister for Infrastructure and Assistant Minister for Sustainable Economic Development with responsibility for Sport:

Also the nets at Granville and Les Quennevais were refurbished at the same time.

Deputy D.J. Warr :

Okay. So money has been spent, good.

Deputy M. Tadier :

This partly follows on from my last question and perhaps that one to an extent. We are the Economic Scrutiny Panel, ultimately, and that is the capacity in which we are having this hearing, Minister, of course everything that we have said up until now is also important, but could you tell us what you think the growth areas and opportunities are in terms of sport? In terms of (a) what growth opportunities there are for different sports in Jersey, in particular, what you might have identified, and (b) economic growth in the opportunities that are available if we get it right in the Island?

[12:00]

The Minister for Infrastructure and Assistant Minister for Sustainable Economic Development with responsibility for Sport:

There is significant opportunity and perhaps Heath will talk to the shoulder months’ programme that we are looking to support, not only existing events, but new events. Last weekend we saw the motoring festival, which is a long-standing event in the calendar. It brings over lots of people, often with disposable income. We have other events planned, such as the marathon. The marathon course is in place. The marshals are in place. We might need to provide some more toilets at the weigh bridge, but we can increase the participation in the marathon significantly without a lot of additional resource and infrastructure. Heath, do you want to briefly touch on the shoulder months’ programme.

Head of Local Economy, Department for the Economy:

Certainly, Minister. We have talked for many years about the opportunities around sports travel and sports tourism. We have also identified the shoulder seasons as a time of year where hotel rooms are not full. They are bursting at the seams in July and August, but seemingly not performing to levels they could do in the 2 months either side of the peak season. As part of a pilot this year, we have invested a small amount of money in exploring new and existing events on the Island, 13 events in total. Exploring how we can support, as the Minister says, existing on-Island events that have capacity. If you look at the marathon, we close the roads for 6 hours for 497 runners. What if we added a zero to that? What would that do for our economy, hotels, restaurants and what have you? You might need half a dozen more stewards and you might need a couple dozen more portaloos. We have identified a number of on-Island events that we think are good events, capable of fulfilling more in that regard and then some new events to bring to the Island. We also recognise that we want to breathe life and vitality into the shoulder months and have events that are a reason for young people to travel to the Island. Functional fitness is a massive industry in the world of health and fitness. Seemingly 30-somethings do not go to nightclubs and bars anymore, they want to go to the gym and they want to perform in competitions like HYROX. We have been talking to those sorts of providers about whether they will bring their competitions to Jersey. To do that, they would bring 5,000 people here for a weekend, which is a nice problem to have. It may be too big a problem for us, but we are exploring the edges of those conversations and possibilities. We started that this year. We are happy to write to you and give you some detail on that.

Deputy M. Tadier : That is good to hear.

Head of Local Economy, Department for the Economy:

We have not stuck our head massively above the parapet, because, to the Minister’s point, we do not want to be overpromising and under-delivering, so we are supporting a number of events financially this year to grow.

Deputy M. Tadier :

That is exciting to hear. Minister, that is one thing to bring in events, as one-offs or repeats every year, but in terms of the sports provision that is already in Jersey. If we think about netball in particular, because that is one that we have had a lot of submissions from, it seems that they have a vision for developing netball in the Island, not just for local growth, but also so that they can have a centre where they can welcome in clubs to train here, potentially all through the shoulder months, to get visitors and sports practitioners into the Island. Of course, they will need an inside facility to do that if it is in the shoulder months where it is raining. Is that also something that you would support, that kind of vision? It could, of course, apply to shooting as well. There are visions in a lot of these sports, but they need a particular home where they can develop and grow. Is that something you would support?

The Minister for Infrastructure and Assistant Minister for Sustainable Economic Development with responsibility for Sport:

Absolutely. The netball example you give would massively benefit from the new hall that we are going to build at Fort Regent. We want to put a show court there. We want it to be available to take different sports. It is not just about the participation, it is also about the amount of people that can watch these events. I do not know if you have watched many Jets matches, but they are fantastic, high standard, good quality participation. The girls have gone up a league. We have to do everything we can to support them. At Oakfield, we had agreed with Jersey Netball where the show court was going to be. Less than a month ago they have asked for a different court to be used as a show court. The goal posts keep moving, which makes it very difficult for the shooters. We have accommodated their requirement, so you will be able to sit and watch the Jets in Oakfield on court 1, which is the one that is at the bottom of the hall, rather than one of the ones at the side of the hall. That is a direct response to the request from Jersey Netball.

Deputy M. Tadier :

I am going to ask my Panel Members if they have any comments or questions. Minister, have you or your Panel got anything for us?

The Minister for Infrastructure and Assistant Minister for Sustainable Economic Development with responsibility for Sport:

We are working hard for sport. I am personally passionate about sport. I have a background in sport, particularly administration. It is a long time since I participated. We cannot promise everyone everything. We have to be realistic. We will do our level best and we are happy to talk to all the correspondence that you have had to your Panel. We want to do our best. I would encourage people to go to Les Quennevais on Saturday to see the range of sports that will be available there on the day and be mindful that there are many other sports available on the Island. Thank you.

Deputy M. Tadier :

Minister, gentlemen, thank you for attending upon the Panel today. I am going to bring these proceedings to a close. I am going ask for the public recording also to be stopped. Thank you and thanks again.

[12:06]