SPORT SURVEY
A Local Government Improvement and Development (LGID) survey of children’s services commissioners revealed that sport and culture were not aligned to the re- quirements of the commissioning system and consequently opportunities were be- ing lost. It is not enough to say “we are here – use us”. Sports managers need to seek out the commissioning process and those who are in charge of that process.
Reducing costs and increasing productivity It’s clear that the subsidy available to sport and leisure, whether promoted di- rectly by a council or through a trust or private sector provider, is being reduced – and will be reduced further over the next few years. A traditional response to the reduction
of subsidy is to reduce opening hours of facilities, increase charges or look at others to run a service. But sports managers will need to look at new ways of addressing
Sport needs to work harder to overcome
the barriers to regu- lar participation by
wider sectors of the population
New partnerships with both the private and community sector can help break down barriers and create more business opportunities for sport locally
the loss of subsidy. These could include: • Combining leisure trusts • Sharing services across council boundaries • Looking to the third sector • Including volunteers to run services Partnership working will be the key to
keeping services running. An example of working with the private sector is Wigan Leisure trusts partnership with Slimming World, which has proved mutually ben- eficial with clients of Slimming World seeing opportunities for sustained physi- cal activity in Wigan’s centres. The National Governing Bodies of
sport (NGBs) will be considering their plans for 2014-2017 under the next round of Sport England lottery funding. Many people involved in local govern- ment sport were disappointed that the 2010-2013 Sport England funding passed them by. Perhaps a better model for the future would be a much more joined- up local approach, which involved NGBs, local authorities and County Sports Partnerships (CSPs). There are 49 CSPs in all, which cover
all parts of the country and are uniquely placed to be the brokers between all or- ganisations providing sport in their area. During the past two years, the County Sports Partnership Network (CSPN) has provided a national as well as local per- spective on sport. The CSPN has earned the respect of Sport England which has funded its activities, recognising that there needs to be an effective organi- sation, which can provide local leadership and connectivity. The reduction in funding
for school sport through the Youth Sport Trust means that we will need to find new ways of encouraging school sport – CSPs can play a key role here. Volunteering has al- ways been central to sports clubs and without it much of community
sport would sim- ply not exist. But
26 Read Sports Management online
sportsmanagement.co.uk/digital
as many readers who are sports volunteers will know, volunteering is fragile and we need to support our volunteers better. One way we do this is to reduce the bur- den of regulation on volunteers. The Sport and Recreation Alliance (formerly CCPR) has recently reported to the Sports Min- ister, Hugh Robertson, on how red tape and bureaucracy can be reduced while still safeguarding those involved in sport.
CONCLUSIONS
Sport in this pre-Olympic and Paralympic year has a great opportunity. The Lon- don Games will showcase sport to the world and at home provide a huge boost in public interest. The transfer of public health to local authorities, with ring- fenced budget up to £7bn, offers the opportunity for mass sport and physi- cal activity programmes to make a real impact on preventable diseases – such as obesity and heart disease. The modified GP Commissioning framework also offers opportunities to get people more active and healthier. But sport needs to move with the
times and work harder to overcome the known barriers to participation by those who might try but, for various reasons, do not ‘cross the threshold’. New partnerships with the private and community sector can break down barriers and create more busi- ness opportunities for sport locally. The brokerage role of CSPs with NGBs
and other sports providers such as local authorities and schools, can offer joined- up local solutions. And CSPs can assist with accessing the commissioning pro- cess, with advice from LGID and
CLOA.So, despite an era of austerity, sport can have a future – if we all rise to the challenge. ●
Based on the CCLOA document Culture and Sport Impact Survey, drawn up by Richard Hunt, chair of CCLOA and on pre- sentations made by Martyn Allison, LGID national adviser on culture and sport
John Bell is Honorary Secretary at CCLOA, a director of the Sport and Recreation Alliance and chair of Merseyside Sports Partnership
Issue 3 2011 © cybertrek 2011
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