S&PAProfessional / Winter 2021-22
CALL FOR NEW NATIONAL PLAN TO CHANGE LIVES The Committee on a National Plan for Sport and Recreation (NPSR) has published a report calling on the government to establish a national plan for sport, health and wellbeing. The aim is to turn around failings in sport and recreation policy, along with fragmented delivery, that have resulted in little progress being made in tackling levels of inactivity, particularly in certain groups including women and
girls, disabled people, ethnic minorities, senior citizens and people from less affluent backgrounds. “A national plan for sport, health and wellbeing will set clear goals and better co-ordinate departments to deliver real change,” said a statement accompanying the report from the House of Lords’ NPSR Committee. A key recommendation calls for a new role of Minister for Sport, Health and
Wellbeing, with responsibility for sport policy to move to the Department of Health from the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS). The chair of the Committee, Lord Willis of Knaresborough, said: “Sport and physical activity can change lives. The pandemic has made abundantly clear the pressing need to get the country fitter and more active. However, participation in sport and recreation is flatlining. The Olympic legacy did not deliver the more active population we were promised, and the latest figures show activity levels have declined since the pandemic. Something needs to change and now is the time to do it. “It is time for a new national plan for sport, health and wellbeing. That plan needs to be ambitious and coordinated,” said Lord Willis, “and carry the weight of the government and prime minister behind it.” He went on to say: “That cannot be delivered if it is led by DCMS, a small department with an increasing focus on its digital portfolio. “There is currently a Health and Care Bill making its way through the House of Lords. Members of our Committee will now explore where we can propose suitable amendments to that Bill to deliver the changes we think are needed on this vital issue.” The committee set out a range of recommendations spanning education, duty of care and safeguarding, and the workforce to establish key areas which need to be covered by the national plan. The committee’s recommendations include: ● A new statutory requirement for local authorities to provide and maintain adequate facilities for sport and physical activity. ● Funding for sport should coalesce around the new national plan. This will include reviewing the tax environment for the sport and
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