ANDY REED
Spending the Sugar Levy
W
Funds from the Sugar Levy won’t solve our children’s obesity problems if we fail to use the money effectively, warns Andy Reed hen the government first
distribution through individual schools
announced its Sugar Levy
simply won’t achieve the results we need.
proposal, I gave it the
I believe the solution is giving much
thumbs up, but wondered
clearer guidance on outcome and targets,
if it would survive the legislative path
and enabling greater cooperation across the
through Parliament unscathed. There was
partnerships at local level. Not the rebirth
certainly no lack of ‘noise’ surrounding the
of the old School Sport Partnership system,
issue at the time but generally the policy has
of course, but something that builds on the
remained intact and the promised money
best of the old with some fresh new thinking.
(£415m) will soon be arriving to be spent on school sport and physical education.
SWEET SORROW
Anything that gets the sugar lobby
I genuinely fear we’ll look back on this time
screaming is good enough for me. However,
in a decade and wonder how on earth we
the main problem has been the fractured
managed to waste such an opportunity. An
nature of the debate around the health and
injection of £320m into school sport and PE
wellbeing of our children. We know complex
should really be a time for celebration.
Andy Reed we adopt a genuine whole systems approach
issues cannot be dealt with through single
In addition to the increased Sugar Levy
to looking after the health and wellbeing of
policy solutions, yet still across our sector
funding, we now have funds from Sport
our young people, then most of what we do
it’s often suggested that the solution is
England that are targeted at younger
will be a sticking plaster over the problems
yet another programme. We’re constantly
children – £191m going to children and
which cause them in the first place. ●
locked into debates about what outcomes
families, including the £40m Families Fund.
will be delivered through sport, physical
I don’t disagree with any of these
education and physical activity.
individual strands of policy and believe that, overall, funding will help in places. But until
Andy Reed is a former MP for Loughborough and the founder of Sports Think Tank. sportsthinktank.com
AN INEFFECTIVE APPROACH The Sugar Levy will enable the doubling of the PE and Sport Premium, so those of us who campaigned against the £160m cut to School Sports Partnerships back in 2010 should be excited. But I can’t summon this excitement because I have been underwhelmed by the approach taken to spending what is a significant investment into schools and the health of our children. Put simply, I don’t think that distributing monies at £9,500 per school will lead to I’ve seen many examples of good practice during the CSP (County Sports Partnership) Appraisal – usually where schools work in partnership to invest in the long term sustainability of PE within the school. It’s not a case of individual schools not using the money sensibly – but the system of sportsmanagement.co.uk
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the most effective use of the investment.
We’re about to waste the opportunity of a lifetime, through lack of focus Issue 131 May/June 2017 31