Six ministers, 13 departments but no single leader

Andy Burnham, the head of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, plays a key role in delivering the 2012 sports legacy but relies on the co-operation and budgets of Cabinet colleagues.

The DCMS has delegated half the burden to a handful of other departments and details of whether targets are being met have been slow to emerge.

Much depends on schools secretary Ed Balls and Hazel Blears at the Department of Communities and Local Government. Their departments are responsible for school sports participation and any improvement in public sports facilities, such as swimming pools, tennis courts and running tracks.

Olympics minister Tessa Jowell is nominally tasked with cross-Government Olympic policy but has no dedicated budget for legacy while her team of civil servants is occupied with cost controls.

A report from research group sportsthinktank.com showed that 13 Whitehall departments are involved in sports policy, four sports ministers (one for each home nation), a secretary of state and an Olympics minister.

There are four national sports councils plus UK Sport for elite performance and the Youth Sport Trust for school-club links.

The report said Government influence over sport policy has increased "despite claims of an arm's length relationship" and with excessive power given to quangos such as the grassroots agency Sport England.

Mr Burnham recently dismantled the regional structure of Sport England after research by the Liberal Democrats revealed operating costs of £29million compared to the £20 million it spent on its community club development programme.

Liberal Democrat shadow culture secretary Don Foster said: "Too much money is still being wasted on unnecessary bureaucracy. It's hardly surprising that the Government has no chance of meeting its numerous sporting targets. When there's such an enormous number of organisations involved it is impossible to tell who is responsible for what."

Brigid Simmonds, chairman of the Central Council of Physical Recreation, said: "There are myriad organisations involved in organising and funding sport and it must sometimes be difficult for someone wanting to become more active to know where to turn."

A DCMS spokesman said: "The system for delivering grassroots sport is simple. There is one department (DCMS) and one agency (Sport England). Our school sports system was recently praised by the European Union as a model to follow. We need to make more progress on the Olympic legacy work to deliver participation targets across government."