To ask Her Majesty's Government how much has been spent on sport and recreation by local authorities in England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales in each year since 1997. [HL478]

The expenditure on recreation and sport by local authorities in England since 1997 is tabled below.

Source: Communities and Local Government Revenue Outturn (RO) returns and Capital Outturn (CO) returns.

Information for Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales is a matter for the Scottish Government, the Northern Ireland Executive and the Welsh Assembly Government.

Revenue expenditure from 2003-04 onwards has been collected on a Financial Reporting Standard 17 (FRS 17) basis. Under FRS 17 most of the pension schemes covering local government employees are classed as defined benefit schemes. The main implication of defined benefit status is that retirement benefits are accounted for on the basis of the retirement benefit entitlement to which employment in the year gives rise, rather than the cash amounts of employer's contribution or pension due for the year. As a result comparisons between FRS 17 data and data on a non-FRS 17 basis may not be valid.

Comparisons across years may also not be valid owing to changing local authority responsibilities.