The Sport and Recreation Alliance – the independent voice for sport and recreation – has received a response from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) regarding the media speculation around its possible abolition.
Following a series of reports suggesting that the DCMS would be dismantled following the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, the Alliance’s chair, Andy Reed, swiftly wrote to the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, Jeremy Hunt MP, asking for clarification on his department's future.
Andy Reed said: “For obvious reasons, the Sport and Recreation Alliance would be set against moving responsibility for sports policy to a department where it was a secondary concern or a tool to achieve a single, specific aim.
"We firmly believe that given its proven effectiveness in contributing to a wide range of public policy objectives – like crime reduction, higher educational attainment and improved social cohesion, for example – shoehorning sport into a department where primacy lies elsewhere would do it, and the nation, a great disservice.
Hugh Robertson MP has now provided reassuring clarification, stating in his response letter that:
“I hope you have now seen that the department and Number 10 quickly dismissed the story….it is completely without foundation."
This afternoon, the Chancellor delivered her Budget speech to Parliament, outlining decisions on tax and spending.
Read more
Ahead of the Chancellor’s Budget statement on 26 November, we take a look a look at the key areas to be aware of and the work the Alliance has been doing lobbying on behalf of members.
Read more
Government has today formally launched a consultation on reforming the role of statutory consultees in the planning system. The consultation runs for eight weeks, closing on 13 January 2026.
Read more
Joining the Sport and Recreation Alliance is pretty simple, but worthwhile!
Register now
