Recommendations & Conclusions
4 items
3
Recommendation
Fourth Report - Sport in our communities
Accepted
Year on year, we continue to see persistent gaps in activity levels between different demographics. This issue has been exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic and certain groups in society continue to be disproportionately impacted. We acknowledge the support provided through Sport England’s ‘Tackling Inequalities Fund’ but support must be focused, …
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Year on year, we continue to see persistent gaps in activity levels between different demographics. This issue has been exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic and certain groups in society continue to be disproportionately impacted. We acknowledge the support provided through Sport England’s ‘Tackling Inequalities Fund’ but support must be focused, as a matter of priority, on ensuring that activity levels among, in particular, women, disabled people and people from a BAME background recover and improve in the long-term. We recommend that the Government reconsider our previous recommendation to ring-fence further funds to ensure that the progress that was being made in physical activity levels within these groups is not set back by Covid-19, both by encouraging participation and by attracting leaders and volunteers from a range of communities and backgrounds across the UK.
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Government response AI summary
The government agrees with the intent to tackle participation inequalities, citing substantial existing funding to Sport England and the Tackling Inequalities Fund (TIF). It confirms an additional £20 million investment for TIF in 2021/22, directly addressing the call for further targeted funds.
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Department for Culture, Media and Sport
4
Recommendation
Fourth Report - Sport in our communities
Accepted
Community and grassroots sport is heavily reliant on a relatively small volunteer workforce who have worked tirelessly through the pandemic to keep their clubs going. This shrinking workforce is one of the biggest challenges facing community sport post-pandemic. Sport England has placed an important focus on the issue in its …
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Community and grassroots sport is heavily reliant on a relatively small volunteer workforce who have worked tirelessly through the pandemic to keep their clubs going. This shrinking workforce is one of the biggest challenges facing community sport post-pandemic. Sport England has placed an important focus on the issue in its new ten-year strategy, Uniting the Movement, but the sports groups affected by the declining number of volunteers need help now. In addition to our proposed ‘Work Out to Help Out’ scheme, we recommend that the Government should set out, in its response to this Report, how else it will work with Sport England over the next 18-months to encourage people to volunteer across the community and grassroots sport sector and reduce drop-out rates among existing volunteers. (Paragraph 26) Funding and facilities
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Government response AI summary
The government agrees on the value of encouraging sports volunteering and states it will continue to support Sport England's existing ambitions and strategies, such as 'Uniting the Movement'. It highlights ongoing work including research into innovative volunteering practices and Sport England's involvement in wider consultations, …
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Department for Culture, Media and Sport
7
Recommendation
Fourth Report - Sport in our communities
Accepted
School facilities have the potential to help solve the facilities crisis currently facing community and grassroots sport. Renting out school facilities at a fair, affordable rate not only benefits the sports groups but also creates an additional revenue stream for the schools. In its response to this Report, we recommend …
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School facilities have the potential to help solve the facilities crisis currently facing community and grassroots sport. Renting out school facilities at a fair, affordable rate not only benefits the sports groups but also creates an additional revenue stream for the schools. In its response to this Report, we recommend that the Government set out the ways in which it intends to encourage schools across the country to make their facilities more available to community and grassroots sports clubs at a fair rate.
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Government response AI summary
The government agrees on the need to use school facilities for community sport and outlines existing initiatives, including a £1.5 million programme for 230 schools and a further £10.1 million investment announced in 2021, to help open school sports facilities outside school hours.
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Department for Culture, Media and Sport
10
Recommendation
Fourth Report - Sport in our communities
Accepted
The lack of diversity in the upper echelons of sports governance is striking. We acknowledge the work being undertaken by Sport England and UK Sport to Sport in our communities 31 address the issue, including the recently completed review of the Code for Sports Governance, but we are concerned that …
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The lack of diversity in the upper echelons of sports governance is striking. We acknowledge the work being undertaken by Sport England and UK Sport to Sport in our communities 31 address the issue, including the recently completed review of the Code for Sports Governance, but we are concerned that governing bodies are still experiencing such a lack of diversity seven years after the original Code was first launched. We recommend that Sport England and Sport UK should be required to publish, at least annually, information about the diversity of candidates for all advertised roles in their organisations and the boards that make those appointments. (Paragraph 58) 32 Sport in our communities
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Government response AI summary
The government details changes to the Code for Sports Governance, requiring publicly funded sports bodies to publish detailed diversity and inclusion action plans for their boards, senior leadership, and wider organisations by summer 2022. UK Sport will also publish its own annual diversity and inclusion …
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Department for Culture, Media and Sport