Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Thirty-Second Report - Grassroots participation in sport and physical activity
Public Accounts Committee
HC 46
Published 8 January 2023
Recommendations
2
Accepted
Sport England’s focus on local initiatives and encouraging those who are least active to take...
Recommendation
Sport England’s focus on local initiatives and encouraging those who are least active to take part has not yet resulted in meaningful change in national participation rates. The government’s 2015 strategy for an active nation committed to focusing on those …
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Government Response Summary
The government agrees and states that Sport England invests money in five broad areas, each with specific objectives and a robust 'theory of change', and measurement and evaluation plans to evidence progress and the contribution they are making to the organisation's overall objective.
HM Treasury
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3
Accepted
The Department has not yet set out how it will determine whether its efforts to...
Recommendation
The Department has not yet set out how it will determine whether its efforts to tackle persistent inactivity levels are a success. The cost-of-living crisis risks further 6 Grassroots participation in sport and physical activity reductions in activity as households …
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Government Response Summary
The government agrees and will set out the specific outcomes it is aiming to achieve with inactive groups, what targets it is working towards, and how it will measure progress in the new Sport Strategy.
HM Treasury
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4
Acknowledged
Sport England has not yet translated its understanding of the barriers to participation into action...
Recommendation
Sport England has not yet translated its understanding of the barriers to participation into action to enable inactive groups to participate in sport and physical activity. Sport England recognises three key requirements to get inactive groups to participate: motivation, confidence …
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Government Response Summary
Sport England will continue to support people to be active and cross-government working will be crucial, saying the barriers are complex and vary from person to person.
HM Treasury
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5
Accepted
It is unacceptable that Sport England does not know where in the country its grants...
Recommendation
It is unacceptable that Sport England does not know where in the country its grants are spent or whether these are genuinely helping those most in need. Sport England distributed £1.5 billion in grants in the five years starting 2016–17, …
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Government Response Summary
The government agrees and states that Sport England invests public money responsibly, recording and publishing data on all grant recipients with awards dating back to 2009 listed in full, and will endeavour to set out appropriate detail in their 2023-24 Annual Report and Accounts and explain how investments are being targeted at deprived and less active communities.
HM Treasury
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6
Accepted
The Department’s approach to working in partnership with other organisations to encourage people to take...
Recommendation
The Department’s approach to working in partnership with other organisations to encourage people to take part in sport and physical activity is not yet effective. The Department recognises the importance of working with a variety of government departments, local organisations …
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Government Response Summary
The government agrees and states both DCMS and Sport England are committed to working together to build greater collaboration from all parties, and that Sport England has made a clear commitment in Uniting the Movement to influence change and the new measurement framework will provide clear evidence on the impact of Sport England's distribution of public money.
HM Treasury
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7
Accepted
The Department does not know if leisure facilities are financially sustainable or are delivering the...
Recommendation
The Department does not know if leisure facilities are financially sustainable or are delivering the sports facilities that communities need. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Sport England and the Department distributed over £900 million to support sports clubs and leisure centres. …
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Government Response Summary
The government agrees with the recommendation and highlights the Energy Bill Relief Scheme, the Energy Bills Discount Scheme, and the £63m Swimming Pool Support Fund. DCMS will provide an update in June 2023 and is working on a facilities strategy.
HM Treasury
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Conclusions (24)
1
Conclusion
Acknowledged
On the basis of a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General, we took evidence from the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (the Department) and Sport England on their efforts to increase the population’s levels of physical activity.1
Government Response Summary
The government agrees that major sporting events should have a positive impact on participation, but notes that participation outcomes will vary from event to event, and the events also drive economic growth, improve infrastructure, instil civic and national pride, and spread the UK's international influence.
8
Conclusion
Acknowledged
Prior to the pandemic, between November 2016 and November 2019, the percentage of adults who were active increased by 1.2 percentage points, from 62.1% to 63.3%. Participation rates then fell to 61.4% in the year to November 2021, the lowest on record, as measures to control the spread of the …
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.
9
Conclusion
Acknowledged
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 …
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.
10
Conclusion
We asked Sport England why there had only been a modest increase in participation between 2016 and 2019. Sport England said it felt this was actually a meaningful increase because physical activity is an inconsistent, discretionary part of people’s lives. It asserted that it therefore must maintain activity levels among …
11
Conclusion
Under its previous strategy, Sport England agreed with the Department three numeric targets to increase activity levels among women, lower socio-economic groups and the population as a whole.16 As part of its 2021 Strategy, published in January 2021, it committed to developing key performance measure to monitor progress against its …
12
Conclusion
The Department plans to publish a new strategy to replace Sporting Future, which will include as a priority greater joining up between government departments and the wider sector. The Department originally intended to publish this in Summer 2022.19 We therefore asked the Department why the new strategy had not been …
13
Conclusion
We asked the Department for details about its new strategy and how it planned to ensure that the strategy would spark activity. The Department provided little concrete detail, only revealing that its new strategy would have the same overall aim and would focus on tackling persistent inactivity, with an emphasis …
14
Conclusion
We received written evidence from the Local Government Association which highlighted concerns that the cost-of-living crisis will adversely affect the participation rates of more deprived communities and rural communities.22 Written evidence we received from the Lawn Tennis Association also told us that 27% of UK adults are cutting back on …
15
Conclusion
Sport England’s 2016–2021 strategy, Towards an Active Nation, aimed to understand and address the barriers to activity for the least active by working with a broader range of partners and encouraging local collaboration. Sport England pledged £250 million, or 25% of its budget, over the four years from 2017 to …
16
Conclusion
Sport England’s research has shown that certain groups have tended to be less active, such as women, disabled people and those in lower socio-economic groups. It agreed targets with the Department to increase activity levels between 2016 and 2020 for women aged 16–60 by 250,000 and lower socio-economic groups in …
17
Conclusion
We questioned Sport England on the limited progress in increasing activity levels among women aged 16–60. Sport England acknowledged that the figure was low but told us that it had a significant programme of activity had lined up for the final year of the target period which had to be …
18
Conclusion
Sport England did not have a target for other less active groups, such as the over-75s, disabled people or those in Black or Asian ethnic groups. Prior to the pandemic, between November 2016 and November 2019, activity levels among the over-75s and disabled people saw statistically significant increases of 7.1 …
19
Conclusion
We asked Sport England how it can spark activity among the least active. It told us the answer was a combination of three key characteristics: motivation, confidence and opportunity. It noted that in the past government had over-relied on opportunity side, with a focus on building facilities and opening up …
20
Conclusion
Sport England sought to rebalance its grant funding towards the inactive in line with the objectives of its 2016–2021 strategy. Sport England distributed £1.5 billion in grants in the five years starting 2016–17, supporting a range of organisations from National Governing Bodies to local community sports clubs. While Sport England …
21
Conclusion
National Audit Office (NAO) analysis of the grants issued at local level showed the share received by the most deprived quintile of local authorities fell from 40% in the five years before the 2016 strategy to 34% in the five years afterwards. We therefore asked Sport England how it can …
22
Conclusion
Sport England told us the changes in distribution of spending reported by the NAO was due to where some of the national organisations were based rather than where the funding then goes on to be received. It explained that some organisations, such as the Football Foundation, may be distributing money …
23
Conclusion
The Department told us that it had invested significantly to build and upgrade sport facilities in locations hosting major sporting events, such as the Olympic Stadium in Stratford and the Sandwell Aquatics Centre in the West Midlands. Using the NAO’s breakdown of Sport England grant funding per head in Committee …
24
Conclusion
While the Department plays the lead role in increasing physical activity, it told us other government bodies also have responsibilities in this area: the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities leads on local sports facilities and leisure centres; the Department for Transport oversees the newly established body Active Travel …
25
Conclusion
Accepted
The NAO found that there were signs that system-wide collaboration on sport and physical activity may be increasing following the COVID-19 pandemic, and that the Department was seeking to build on this increased collaboration.39 The Department said its new strategy will include an action plan that is aligned across the …
Government Response Summary
The government agreed to set out in its new strategy what it and Sport England will do differently to ensure sustained integration and collaboration with other bodies to achieve increased levels of physical activity, targeting implementation by June 2023. They also mentioned working to establish a new measurement framework and a partner evaluation framework to track the impact of spending.
26
Conclusion
Accepted
Sport England increased the number of organisations that it awarded grant funding by six-fold in 2020–21 compared to 2019–20, from 1,666 to 9,538. We asked Sport England how increasing the number of grant recipients will help improve participation in sport 38 Q 35 ; C&AG’s report, paras 9, 1.16, 3.10 …
Government Response Summary
The government agreed to set out in its new strategy what it and Sport England will do differently to ensure sustained integration and collaboration with other bodies to achieve increased levels of physical activity, targeting implementation by June 2023. They also mentioned working to establish a new measurement framework and a partner evaluation framework to track the impact of spending.
27
Conclusion
Accepted
We pressed the Department and Sport England on how they were working with businesses and other organisations to incentivise them to engage with increasing participation and activity rates, such as making sports equipment available in the workplace, or introducing a tax relief on gym membership. Sport England acknowledged that its …
Government Response Summary
The government agreed to set out in its new strategy what it and Sport England will do differently to ensure sustained integration and collaboration with other bodies to achieve increased levels of physical activity, targeting implementation by June 2023. They also mentioned working to establish a new measurement framework and a partner evaluation framework to track the impact of spending.
28
Conclusion
Accepted
As part of measures to control the COVID-19 pandemic, sports facilities were closed multiple times by the government. During the pandemic, Sport England distributed £271 million to the grassroots sport and physical activity in financial support and the Department provided £700 million for organisations affected by the loss of spectator …
Government Response Summary
The government agreed to review the condition of leisure facilities, working with other departments, and take action to ensure their financial sustainability, aiming to provide an update by June 2023; they also mentioned providing support through the Energy Bills Discount Scheme and the Swimming Pool Support Fund.
29
Conclusion
Accepted
Sport England told us that lots of sports facilities providers had used their organisational reserves to stay afloat during the pandemic and were now in a precarious financial position. The Department also recognised that “many clubs are coming out of a really difficult period and many clubs are struggling”.51 We …
Government Response Summary
The government agreed to review the condition of leisure facilities, working with other departments, and take action to ensure their financial sustainability, aiming to provide an update by June 2023; they also mentioned providing support through the Energy Bills Discount Scheme and the Swimming Pool Support Fund.
30
Conclusion
Accepted
We therefore asked the Department how it intended to address the short-term and long-term sustainability challenges facing sports clubs and facilities. The Department told us that the primary responsibility for leisure provisions sits with local government.55 Similarly, it said that it was not responsible for government’s energy policy, but noted …
Government Response Summary
The government agreed to review the condition of leisure facilities, working with other departments, and take action to ensure their financial sustainability, aiming to provide an update by June 2023; they also mentioned providing support through the Energy Bills Discount Scheme and the Swimming Pool Support Fund.