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Exclusive: Prime Minister set to announce U-turn on school sports funding
By David Owen
December 16 - Prime Minister David Cameron is expected to make a key statement on the Government's sports and Olympic policy on a visit to the Olympic Park next week.
The Prime Minister is thought likely to use the visit - understood to have been scheduled for Monday (December 20) to coincide with the switching on of the lights for the first time at the Olympic Stadium - to make a general statement on why London 2012 will be good for Britain.
Included in this, however, may be confirmation of a partial U-turn on the Government's controversial policy of removing ring-fencing from £162 million ($260 million) of funding for some 450 School Sports Partnerships.
insidethegames understands that a commitment to retain some sort of designated funding for school sports may be given, although the sums involved are likely to fall well short of £162 million.
It looks unlikely at present that Cameron's statement will include a proposed name for the Olympic-style school sports event with which the Government plans to replace the current UK School Games after next year.
Talks on the subject with the British Olympic Association are understood to be still ongoing.
The planned cuts to school sport funding have been heavily criticised in sporting circles since their announcement in October following the Government's Comprehensive Spending Review.
Baroness Sue Campbell, chair of the Youth Sport Trust, a children's sports charity, has described the proposals as "devastating news for the future health and well-being of our young people".
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