Hunt calls for greater disability participation

Culture secretary Jeremy Hunt has used the government's first Disability Sport Summit to call on the UK sport sector to do more to boost participation levels among disabled people.

Hunt urged governing bodies to use the 2012 Games to integrate disability sport provision into their respective Whole Sport Plans and attract more people to take part in their sports.

Sport England is to invest £8m from its Places People Play scheme to help remove some of the barriers currently preventing disabled people from taking part in sports.

Hunt said: "In the year that the Paralympic Games come home, I want to see a transformation in sport for people with disabilities. Now is the time for everybody to up their game, creating real sporting opportunities for disabled people.

"That's why within the School Games I'm delighted that we now have disabled children playing competitive sport alongside their peers."

The Disability Sport Summit took place at London's Emirates Stadium on 19 April and is the first event of its kind to focus solely on the provision of sport for disabled people.

Details: www.culture.gov.uk