Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 9
9
Acknowledged
In 2015, the Department published a new cross-government sporting strategy, Sporting Future.
Conclusion
In 2015, the Department published a new cross-government sporting strategy, Sporting Future. The strategy promised to target funding at less active groups of the population, believing this would deliver the biggest gains for public spending.13 Sport England told us that, since 2015, it had adopted a variety of approaches to increase activity levels, from national media campaigns to working with local partners in 12 different UK cities as part of a pilot program to understand and address the barriers to getting people active. It explained that there had been some positive signs from this work and that insight from the pilots is helping it to make decisions at a national level. Its evaluation of the community pilots showed that, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, inactivity reduced at a faster rate in local delivery pilot areas than in areas without the pilots. However, Sport England conceded it had found it hard to translate successes at local level and with specific groups into gains nationally. It explained that it expected that this will take time, particularly if tackling some of the most stubborn inequalities in society.14
Government Response Summary
The government acknowledged that population activity levels were at an all-time high prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, and that Sport England's strategy seeks to mobilize a cross-sector movement to collectively support more people to be active.
Government Response
Acknowledged
HM Government
Acknowledged
2.2 Population activity levels were at an all-time high prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, and Sport England’s strategy seeks to mobilise a cross-sector movement to collectively support more people to be active in the way that best works for them.