Brooking issues Sport England parting shot

Trevor Brooking departed as chairman of Sport England yesterday with a final cry of frustration over Government delay and indecision, particularly over the redevelopment of Wembley.

The former England midfielder, who is stepping down after four years in the position, endured some criticism himself for being too trusting with Sport England money after delivering £120m Lottery funding to those responsible for developing Wembley before the final plans were clear.

Brooking now believes that Wembley, which was given the go-ahead last month at a cost which had risen to £757m, could have been delivered far more quickly and cheaply had the Government acted upon the advice of sporting bodies rather than waiting for last year's report by their troubleshooter, Patrick Carter.

"We have wasted a lot of time and money for someone outside to come in and say what we had been saying," Brooking said. "We have the expertise but generally it is not there in the Government."

Brooking also expressed anxiety that he was leaving without a named successor, or any indication about the 2003-04 sports budget.

"You could be something of a cynic and reckon that in the next few months it will quietly slip out that the Exchequer funding will be around £35m."

A spokesman for the Department of Culture, Media and Sport would neither confirm nor deny Brooking's contention, but added: "The overall budget for sport for 2003-04 is £102m and it may be that Sport England won't get any more money than before."

Responsibility for school sports has shifted to the Department of Education, and the DCMS spokesman said that, while Sport England's annual share of Lottery money had fallen from £300m to £200m, there was fresh Lottery funding of £250m a year for school sports facilities.

He added that Bridgid Simmonds, one of the Sport England vice-chairmen, would be acting chairman until the post was filled, hopefully by the end of the year.