INTERVIEW He expects the reforms to have a
big impact on the way public health is integrated into local authority plans. Reminded that, according to the Local Government Association, councils spend £935m a year on sports and leisure – including leisure centres across the country – Fenton says he expects canny public health directors to be placing a greater link to health into other core areas of local investment, rather than simply spending their own budgets in isolation. “Why couldn’t the local leisure
operator take on the management and “We simply are not connecting the dots… We’ve got the
fact that physical activity improves your health across loud and clear. Now’s the time to accelerate”
programming of parks and open spaces for exercise in the same way that they do for their exercise studios?” he asks.
“They have the expertise. They have the staff. They have the motivation. Let’s empower them to do it. That’s exactly the type of innovation we want to see.” Fenton also welcomes the work
that ukactive is doing to support local authorities to deliver on their new public health responsibilities. The Turning the Tide report publicly benchmarks local authorities on their levels of inactivity in a way that enables them to compare themselves nationally, regionally and against (demographically)
similar local authorities. The report
also includes insights from interviews with public health directors and the results of over 122 Freedom of Information requests about the levels of spend on physical inactivity compared to other common public health challenges such as smoking, alcohol and obesity. The report was inspired by PHE’s own
work in publishing a league table of local authorities when it comes to premature mortality – a move that provoked a mixed reaction from some local authorities who were concerned about the spotlight that was being shone on their record. But Fenton believes this approach will
Fenton says
gyms should aim to redress the gender balance in their facilities
inspire progress. “Benchmarking using data and intelligence helps to improve, to challenge and to nudge behaviour,” he explains. “However, it’s not enough just to provide the information – you have to prompt new conversations at a local level. That’s where the trends are being observed. Local authorities need to ask the question ‘why are we where we are?’ and take on ownership for developing new strategies. That’s what this work will prompt – new conversations that need to be converted into new action.”
Shared responsibility Fenton sees local authorities as having a key role to play in driving the physical activity agenda, but recognises they are not the only actors, given more recent prioritisation and investments targeting success in elite sports, or getting people to play 30 minutes of sport once a week, or promoting physical activity in schools.
38 Read Health Club Management online at
healthclubmanagement.co.uk/digital He strikes a cautionary note by saying:
“It’s very difficult to allocate responsibility to specific levels. Ultimately, we all need the same goal, with an understanding of what assets we have at each level. Local authorities have a unique role, but so too do national government and other sectors. We have to establish how PHE helps to tie this together, identifying the gaps and helping make a difference where it’s needed. We’re only eight months into our life and, while we didn’t have a standing start, there’s lots more we plan to do.” I ask him to reflect on the unique
role that he spoke about at the start of the interview and provide some advice for health club and leisure centre operators to implement. It’s clear that it’s local partnerships where he believes the most progress can be made. He urges operators to “recognise their unique space. Link up with local directors of public health. Understand the priorities of health and wellbeing boards. Understand their goals – that it’s the inequalities that drive the public health systems, the needs of deprived communities – and approach the system based on how you share those goals”. I close our discussion by giving him
an opportunity to send out a request for one thing he feels operators could do to make a major impact. Forever the campaigner, he urges operators to consider what they could do to tackle the marked gender differences on the gym floor. “Why are there certain spaces on the gym floor that are dominated by men? Would women not benefit from a greater understanding of how strength training benefits their health, for example? “Operators have to take a broader view
of their health and wellbeing responsibility, and using their spaces better to correct this gender imbalance would be a great place to start and easy to do. Does the current gender imbalance mean I’ll do less to promote the fitness sector? No. But does it have to do more to broaden its appeal – yes it does.” ●
Steven Ward is development director at ukactive. Tell him what you think about this article on twitter @wardsteve
February 2014 © Cybertrek 2014
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