The two sporting bodies are to be combined as one unified organisation with the aim of creating a more coherent and cost-effective structure as part of the Government's 2012 Olympic Games legacy plans.

The Sports Minister said he is "very open to persuasion" on where the new headquarters should be, but admitted he would not favour a Central London building.

Both organisations currently occupy separate offices in the area.

Robertson said: "We haven't settled on a location yet and the promise I have given [to UK Sport and Sport England] is that I will consult them about it along the way.

"I don't have a particular view on where this new body should be and I'm very open to persuasion.

"I just don't want them paying Central London rent because the home of UK Sport and the home of Sport England doesn't necessarily mean sport to me.

"You obviously have chairmen and chief executives there but the sport itself actually takes place elsewhere, so if they can save money on unnecessarily high rent, that money can be re-invested back into physical sport."

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport is also working with the Youth Sport Trust to explore how they could be brought into the new structure.

Robertson also said the Government plan to cull 200 quangos and merge another 150 agencies in a major-cutting exercise to save up to £1 billion ($1.6 billion), is particularly vital in the current financial climate, with sport's annual budget set for a 30-40 per cent cut as part of a major spending review on Wednesday (October 20).

He said: "It is the Government's policy to reduce the number of quangos because there are simply far too many of them.

"We have to remember that the more money that gets swallowed up by quangos, the less money goes to athletes.

"If you look at the amount of money those two bodies [UK Sport and Sport England] currently receive, it is a huge figure."

Sport England are based in Bloomsbury Square (pictured) while UK Sport are located in Bernard Street, a 10 minute walk away.

Robertson said: "At present, they both occupy separate Central London offices, paying expensive Central London rates, while they also have separate back-office functions.

"You stand to save an awful lot of money by moving them to a location where the rent is less expensive and where they can share a certain number of functions."

A plan to locate UK Anti-Doping in Coventry when it was launched earlier this year was shelved when they were instead given headquarters at Cockspur Street in Central London.

Robertson plans to use the money the Government saves by not having UK Sport and Sport England in Central London reinvested into the athletes.

He said: "The money saved can then be invested directly back into the frontline so I can give more money to our athletes and to the people running our sports participation programmes.

"When you have less money to spend it is really the responsibility of the Minister to make sure the maximum amount of money is spent on actual sport.

"I also believe that having UK Sport and Sport England working more closely together under one roof will create a more unified, coherent and cost-effective structure for sport."

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