General debate on sport following the Olympic and Paralympic Team GB success, 10 October

• The Local Government Association (LGA) is the national voice of local government. We are a politically led, cross party membership organisation, representing councils from England and Wales.
• Our role is to support, promote and improve local government, and raise national awareness of the work of councils. Our ultimate ambition is to support councils to deliver local solutions to national problems.

The success of the Olympic and Paralympic Team GB athletes has been outstanding. This is a combination of their excellent performance throughout the games which provided exciting viewing, numerous medal wins and ongoing action from athletes to inspire communities and further social impact. Through UK Sport’s investment we are seeing the delivery of its three ambitions to: keep winning and win well, growing a thriving sporting system, inspiring positive change.

However, while these outcomes are positive and are producing results on the national and international level, UK Sport’s narrow focus on elite sports presents a missed opportunity for delivering on multiple policy priorities that can deliver beyond elite sports.

If grassroots sports and public leisure facilities were given a fraction of the investment elite sports is given, it would result in a dramatic improvement in population health outcomes, increase productivity, create thousands of jobs, deliver wider social value like cohesive communities and reduce the country’s carbon footprint.

It would positively support, fast track and potentially outperform UK Sport’s strategic aims whilst also delivering on four of the Government’s missions to: Kickstart economic growth, Take back our streets, Break down barriers to opportunity and Build an NHS fit for the future. The benefits to communities, elite sports and to the public purse could be huge.

These services are relied upon by everyone, from people who want to be more active; to the NHS delivering healthcare programmes; to organisations delivering targeted interventions to the least physically active groups; to the 75 per cent of grassroots clubs who rely on public facilities to undertake their activity; and to elite athletes training to compete.

Research is needed on how intersectionality creates multiple barriers for an individual to be active. UK Sport could invest in research to help understand these barriers which could help to get individuals from diverse backgrounds into sports and ultimately into elite sports. Helping to increase the number of UK Sport funded athletes from diverse backgrounds which has either declined or remained static over the past year, suggesting a rethink is needed on how and where it invests and attracts diversity into elite sports.

Public leisure facilities create 585,000 jobs, of which just over 60 per cent are aged 35 or under, and it adds £39 billion to the UK’s economy, from the sale of sports equipment, gym memberships or pay match fees. The sector contributes to many wider social, economic and health outcomes. £85.5 billion is the annual contribution community sport and physical activity makes in social and economic benefits (2018 prices).

However, since UK Sport launched its strategy in 2021, there has been several major events that have threatened the sector’s sustainability including COVID-19, rising energy costs and the cost-of-living crisis, thus threatening the pathway for elite athletes.

Despite the challenges the sector is determined to survive and thrive but it cannot do this without investment. Now is the time for UK Sport to reassess its strategic direction and investment and to consider how supporting the public sport and leisure infrastructure can greater support its own aims around equality, diversity and inclusion, reducing the sector’s carbon footprint and creating future elite athletes and the workforce to support them at all stages of their career pathway.

Grassroots facilities and sports clubs are the entry point for many future elite athletes and are used throughout their career. Public leisure facilities provide affordable opportunities for people of all ages and backgrounds to try sports and to develop a passion for them, this may result in attending spectator events and investing in sporting equipment which boosts the economy and creates jobs across the sector.

There is a risk that the number of elite athletes the country can produce declines if we lose our national infrastructure. This could have an adverse impact on the number of elite athletes from diverse backgrounds as access to universal sporting opportunities will decline meaning only people who can afford private opportunities or live in an area where public leisure facilities still exist are able to participate.

Statistics of the demographics of UK Sport funded athletes has either declined or remained static over the past year, suggesting a rethink is needed on how and where it attracts diversity into elite sports. For example, in March 2023 45 per cent of funded athletes were female compared to 47 per cent in 2022. The number of disabled athletes remained at 27 percent the same as in 2022. The number of Asian or Asian British funded athletes was 1.2 per cent in 2023 compared to 1 per cent in 2022 and Black / African / Caribbean / Black British athletes was 3.4 per cent in 2023 compared to 3.2 per cent in 2022.

Our research on women and girls activity levels shows a lack of data on intersectionality (intersectionality considers people’s overlapping identities and experiences, it is a framework for conceptualizing a person, group of people, or social problem as affected by a number of discriminations and disadvantages). Understanding intersectionality helps organisations to develop more effective policies and interventions to help address all the potential barriers an individual faces. UK Sport could invest in research to help understand the barriers to getting individuals from diverse backgrounds into elite sports.

• Councils are the biggest public funder of public sport and leisure services, spending £1.4 billion a year in England. This sustains our civic infrastructure and keeps vital universal services running including 2,727 leisure centres, 27,000 parks and green spaces. 
• Sport England estimates that 63 per cent of main sports halls and 60 per cent of swimming pools are past their expected lifespans or overdue refurbishment. As a result, the public leisure estate accounts for between 10 to 40 per cent of a council’s direct carbon emissions.
• When our critical leisure infrastructure comes to the end of its life; it is unable to be replaced by councils facing a £6.2 billion funding gap over the next two years Around 350 facilities nationally have already seen service restrictions, temporary and permanent closures since October 2022 (ukactive). Addressing the crumbling infrastructure, through long term investment, needs to be a priority.
• LGA research in 2021 demonstrated a need for an additional £875 million capital investment in leisure facilities, pitches, and parks. This strategic investment would help build/refurbish 25 new facilities per year over three years, creating a network of hubs to help people become more active and grow future sporting talent. 
• Three quarters of grassroots sports clubs rely on affordable public facilities to operate, without them they would not survive. 
• Public sport and leisure services support a wide array of sports that cannot be provided to scale by the private sector because it is not financially viable to do so. This includes swimming pools, rock climbing walls, skating rinks, skate and BMX parks. Swimming provision and programmed activity provided by councils is unique and without it most swimming activities and swimming clubs would not exist. Our future Olympic successes would be at risk due to the devastating impacts on the pathway of participation into performance sport.
• Public sport and leisure facilities provide affordable opportunities for people of all ages and backgrounds to try sports and to develop a passion for them, which for some can lead to the elite sport pathway. 

A radical rethink in how we support elite sports is needed. At the heart of this new approach must be protecting, nurturing and sustaining our core national infrastructure for public sport and leisure services. Doing this will in the longer term help to develop a bigger and more diverse pool of sporting talent both as professional athletes and the workforce too. But the gains to be made are much wider than our future Olympic medal success. UK Sport’s budget was £172.9 million in 2023 of this amount £82.7 million was from the Exchequer.  A more joined up and intelligent approach to investment in the sports and leisure sector can deliver on UK Sport’s priorities but also the Government’s pledge to reduce the national debt and deliver on its five missions. Investing in public sport and leisure is of benefit to the public purse as well as to the nation’s health and wellbeing. The sector contributes to many wider social, economic and health outcomes. Including: 

• £85.5 billion: is the annual contribution community sport and physical activity makes in social and economic benefits (2018 prices). 
• Of this £72 billion is in social value, created through healthier population, consumer expenditure, greater work productivity, improved education attainment, reduced crime and stronger communities
• £9.5 billion: is the value physical activity makes to the economy through the prevention of several serious physical and mental health conditions including the prevention of 900,000 cases of diabetes and 93,000 cases of dementia. Of this amount £5.2 billion is in healthcare savings and £1.7 billion in social care savings 
• £20 billion: in value is created from stronger and safer communities, including: 10,000 fewer crime incidents, improved levels of social trust belonging and community engagement. 
• Public sport and leisure services provides affordable opportunities for 8.9 million users annually to be active and is especially important for users in more deprived areas who prefer to exercise in a leisure centre over other informal settings. 
• Fourteen million swimmers a year would have nowhere else to swim without their local pool. Swimming saves the health system £357 million per year. 72 per cent of schools use public swimming pools to deliver their statutory responsibility for learning to swim and the water safety curriculum. 
• The NHS’ performance relies on leisure facilities to deliver its services - two thirds of cancer rehabilitation services and 79 per cent of social prescribing initiatives are delivered in leisure centres.
• It provides an estimated 585,000 jobs in the UK, providing opportunities for young people who make up a large proportion of the paid workforce: 45 per cent are aged 16-24 and 21 per cent are aged 25-34.
• More widely the sport and physical activity contributes £39 billion to the UK’s economy, a significant portion of this comes from grassroots sport: the millions of people who buy trainers, bikes, gym memberships or pay match fees.

Samantha Ramanah
Adviser – Culture, Tourism and Sport

Phone: 07887 503 136
Email: [email protected]