The National Sector Partners Group (NSPG) has issued the following response to the Active Lives Adult Survey from Sport England.
The latest Active Lives Adult Survey shows a continued and steady increase in physical activity levels across the country and is a further reminder of the essential role the sport, recreation and physical activity sector plays in supporting the nation’s physical activity levels. However, despite the headline numbers, much more needs to be done to ensure more people can reap the benefits of engaging in physical activity and ensuring our sector can play its fullest role in driving this uptake.
As evidenced by the National Sector Partners Group (NSPG), the UK is currently 11th out of 15 comparable European nations for activity levels, and small increases such as this are not enough to make the UK the most active nation in Europe, with all the associated health and economic benefits that this would bring.
Our sector is responsible for generating £107.2bn in social value in England each year, including £10.5bn in secondary value by reducing cases of disease and relieving the huge pressure on health and social care every year. Studies show that physical activity helps to prevent 20 chronic conditions, including type 2 diabetes, obesity, heart disease, many types of cancer, MSK conditions, depression and anxiety, and dementia.
However, the new findings show that significant inequalities remain in physical activity levels across demographics, and an alarming decrease among younger people aged 16 to 34. It is clear the current policy approach is failing to deliver meaningful increases in physical activity.
The outcome of the Government’s upcoming Spending Review, due to be announced in June, is pivotal to ensure the sport, recreation and physical activity sector can drive up these levels and provides the Government with an opportunity to demonstrate the value it places on the nation’s health and wellbeing and reducing the pressure on the NHS.
The NSPG remains committed to working at pace with this Government to ensure it delivers an ambitious and practical strategy for increasing physical activity levels among people of all ages, abilities and backgrounds, for the sake of the nation’s health, wellbeing and economic growth.
Lisa Wainwright MBE, CEO of the Sport and Recreation Alliance, said:
“The Alliance welcomes the increase in the number of adults taking part in sport and physical activity.
“However, a number of inequalities remain stubbornly persistent including activity levels among women relative to men - which have still not recovered to their pre-pandemic peak - those from less affluent areas, and Black, Asian or minority ethnic groups are still less likely to be active. Crucially, there is also significant variation in activity levels depending on where someone lives, making clear more needs to be done to ensure everyone has the same opportunity to play sport and be active.
“It is encouraging that there has been an increase in volunteers giving up their time to support sport and physical activity – as we know, they are the lifeblood of the sector. However, these numbers are still significantly down in the long term with 1.7 million fewer volunteers than in 2016/17. As the Alliance has repeatedly made clear on behalf of its members, many of whom are concerned about the impact of further regulatory burden and time spent on administrative duties, the Government must do more to ensure we support volunteers and the wider workforce.
“Building on this latest set of figures, we need an urgent and ambitious strategic plan from the Government to harness the power of the sport and recreation sector, including our members who are already doing fantastic work driving up participation across the country. However, this can only be achieved with a strong commitment from the heart of Government to invest more in our sector. In the upcoming Spending Review, the Government has a vital opportunity to demonstrate its commitment to the sector and the role it can, and must, play in getting people active while forging a more prosperous and healthier nation.”
The National Sector Partners Group consists of:
Active Partnerships
The Chartered Institute for the Management of Sport and Physical Activity (CIMSPA)
The Sport for Development Coalition
Sport and Recreation Alliance
ukactive
The Youth Sport Trust
Through our collaborative work as sector partners, we aim to engage decision makers to improve the operating landscape for the sector and embed sport, recreation and physical activity as a key contributor to wider public policy objectives.
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