Policy Advisor Leigh Thompson blogs his thoughts on what the election results mean for sport and recreation.
After the polls predicted a tight contest it’s fair to say the prevailing mood following the election of a Conservative majority is one of surprise.
So what does this mean? Well, it almost certainly means that the steep reductions in public spending earmarked before the election – some £25bn in total, of which £13bn will come from cuts to departmental expenditure – will be imposed.
In addition we will almost certainly see continuing uncertainty over the future of both the union and the UK’s position in Europe; the SNP will flex its new-found political muscle on proposals for Scotland and the right wing of the Conservative Party (along with UKIP) will push for Cameron to deliver on his promise of a referendum on membership of the EU by 2017.
In terms of the impact on sport and recreation, while these broader political shifts may seem somewhat remote at this point in my view they will all have profound effects on the sector in the coming years.
As I’ve blogged before, severe cuts to departmental budgets – particularly outside protected areas like health and education – will put expenditure on sport at both national and local level under real pressure, with every likelihood of radical cutbacks.
For example. a recent Institute for Fiscal Studies analysis suggests the Conservative plans will mean a real terms cut of 18% in unprotected departments between now and 2018-19.
Similarly, further reform in the relationships between England, Scotland and Wales could presage big changes to the way sport is funded, organised and delivered with a move towards greater devolution of budgets and, potentially, the formation of new home country structures.
In addition, an exit of the EU would bring huge changes which would inevitably have significant impacts on sport; while these impacts are difficult to foresee in detail, I’ve tried to sketch out some of the issues in a previous blog.
All of this points to the importance of ensuring that the sport and recreation sector is ready to face the challenges ahead. At the Alliance we are already embarking on a major piece of work looking at how our members can be ‘fit for the future’ and we’ll be discussing some of our thinking in more detail at the Sports Summit on 4 June. Which leads me on to say: what are you waiting for?
