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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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 (6)
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.