MPs call on the Government to launch nationwide campaign to get children active again

The Government must renew efforts to get people exercising, concludes a Report by the DCMS Committee, after indications that the Covid-19 pandemic has caused weight gain and a fall in activity levels in children.

MPs say data from Sport England which showed 100,000 fewer children met the recommended level of activity in 2020 than in 2019 is ‘of significant concern’.

The DCMS Committee’s Report into Sport in our communities recommends the Government launch a sports equivalent to the 5 A Day campaign before the end of the year to educate children on the 60 minutes of activity per day recommended by the Chief Medical Officer. The Report warns of the yet unknown impact of the third lockdown on people’s fitness and urges the Government and Sport England to pre-empt consequences with a ‘Work Out to Help Out’ campaign.

MPs heard how the Covid-19 pandemic left grassroots sports finances in a ‘precarious’ situation, with several clubs at serious risk of closing. Witnesses told the inquiry that the pre-existing ‘facilities crisis’ and lack of financial reserves were compounded with the impacts of the pandemic such as a declining membership, volunteer workforce and loss of important venue hire revenue. To ensure the long-term survival of the sector, MPs call for the Government, Sport England, UK Sport and the National Lottery to revise funding models to enable accumulation of greater reserves.

The Report’s Annexe describes discussions held with local sports clubs on their experiences and concerns when pandemic restrictions shut down clubs and halted competitive sport. One concern expressed was that young people who may have had the ability to compete at elite level “may fall through the gaps and miss out”.

DCMS Committee Chair Julian Knight MP said:

“This last 18 months has left the already perilous finances of grassroots sport in tatters.

“Community sports clubs nurture Olympic medallists and bring joy to people young and old, we cannot let them go to the wall. That is why delays to support schemes such as the Community Ownership Fund are so disappointing and unhelpful.”

“Today we’ve made recommendations to the Government on how to better protect the spaces we exercise in and put grassroots sport on a more sustainable financial footing.

“The Government must also play its part in getting people active again following the pandemic or risk consequences for public health in the future.”

ENDS

Key findings and recommendations:

• Government to launch a sports equivalent to the 5 A Day campaign as well as a Work Out to Help Out campaign to increase activity levels following the pandemic
• Government work with Sport England, UK Sport and the National Lottery to review and revise the current funding models to enable sports organisations to accumulate greater reserves
• Implement a standardised application methodology for grassroots and community sport funds
• Government to ringfence funds to tackle inequalities in sport participation and Sport England and Sport UK to publish information about diversity of candidates for advertised roles

A full list of conclusions and recommendations can be found in the attached report (attached)

Launch a nationwide equivalent to ‘5 A Day’ for sport

Children’s activity levels have suffered during the pandemic. The Report registers concern that 100,000 fewer children met the recommended level of activity in 2020 compared with the same period in 2019. Written evidence from the Mayor of London told the Committee that some clubs had reported “an estimated 3-6kg average weight gain” for 8-10 year olds in 2020. MPs recommend that before the end of this year, the Government should initiate a nation-wide communications campaign, similar to that of the ‘5 A Day’ campaign, to emphasise the importance of children and young people engaging in at least 60 minutes of moderate activity every day.

Initiate a ‘Work Out to Help Out’ campaign

The Government and Sport England must renew their efforts on encouraging people back into sport

to pre-empt any further drops in participation during ‘Lockdown 3’ states the Report. MPs recommend that the Government initiate a sporting equivalent of the ‘Eat Out to Help Out’ campaign, entitled 'Work Out to Help Out', to incentivise volunteers and participants to get involved, participate in organised sport and support the sporting infrastructure across the UK.

‘Precarious’ community sport finances

Many National Governing Bodies and other sports groups and organisations were not financially stable enough to fully support themselves through the economic shock that was caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. Many witnesses to the inquiry said that grassroots and community sports clubs, teams and organisations have little or no financial reserves. The report recommends that funding models be revised to allow for the accumulation of reserves and, as a result, have more of a cushion to support themselves.

Facilities crisis and concern with Community Ownership Fund

The Report notes the Committee is ‘disappointed’ that the bidding for the Community Ownership Fund bidding didn’t start in June 2021, as promised by the Government, but in July. Access to facilities has long been an issue for grassroots and community sport and MPs are concerned that the fund, in its current format, will not go far enough. The Report also asks the Government to set out the ways it intends to encourage schools across the country to make their facilities more available to clubs at a fair rate.

Persistent inequalities affecting grassroots sport

MPs are concerned about the ‘striking’ lack of diversity amongst the upper echelons of sports governance. They 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 and the boards that make those appointments. The Report also highlights how Covid-19 has exacerbated the lower activity levels seen in women, disabled people and people from a BAME background. It recommends the Government ring-fence further funds for encouraging participation and attracting leaders and volunteers form a range of communities and backgrounds across the UK.

Note to editors:

- The DCMS Committee scrutinises the spending, policies and administration of the government Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. We are not a government committee but a select committee of the House of Commons with a key role in holding ministers to account. Any of our inquiries would correctly be described as a ‘parliamentary inquiry’.

- The DCMS Committee launched an inquiry called What’s next for the National Lottery? on Monday 26 July.

- The report is attached to this email.

Further information:

Committee membership:

Julian Knight MP (Chair) (Conservative, Solihull); Kevin Brennan MP (Labour, Cardiff West); Steve Brine MP (Conservative, Winchester); Alex Davies-Jones MP (Labour, Pontypridd); Clive Efford MP (Labour, Eltham); Julie Elliott MP (Labour, Sunderland Central); Rt Hon Damian Green MP (Conservative, Ashford); Rt Hon Damian Hinds MP (Conservative, East Hampshire); John Nicolson MP (Scottish National Party, Ochil and South Perthshire); Giles Watling MP (Conservative, Clacton); Heather Wheeler (Conservative, South Derbyshire).