Next PM urged to increase funding for school sports
Plan launched after Telegraph’s campaign Sport leaders highlight need for lasting strategy
The next Conservative prime minister has been urged to strengthen the Government’s commitment to reversing inactivity among schoolchildren with significant new resources in the next spending review.
The School Sport and Activity Action Plan, which was launched yesterday and will be published in Parliament today, contains a range of new initiatives to innovate physical education in schools, especially for young girls who have become disengaged from sport and disproportionately affected by a national crisis of inactivity.
Those measures have been wel- comed by an alliance of almost 40 leaders in the sports sector, including chief executives of the national governing bodies in football, cricket, rugby, athletics, cycling and swimming, as well as the Youth Sports Trust, but with important caveats about the need to make this a lasting cross-government strategy.
“At a time of declining levels of well-being and when one third of children are inactive, young people are in dire need of a long-term, joined-up approach to youth sport,” said a letter signed by the industry leaders.
“With a new prime minister due to come into post, it will be vital that this commitment to the importance of school sport, physical activity and physical education survives and transcends any forthcoming reshuffle. The success of the School Sport and Activity Action Plan will ultimately hinge on how it is resourced and delivered and to achieve significant change it will require improved support for school sport in the Government’s next spending review.”
It has been hoped to announce a three-year spending review in the autumn, but the timing has already been affected by Brexit and is likely to depend on whether that process has reached a form of resolution.
Sport England yesterday described the new action plan as “a great step forward” following its alarming Active Lives research last year, which showed that only 14 per cent of girls aged between five and 16 were achieving the recommended daily activity level of at least an hour, compared to 20 per cent of boys.
The concern for the sports sector is that there is enough funding to implement the plan and that the commitments do not become compromised amid further political upheaval following the election of Boris Johnson or Jeremy Hunt as the next Conservative leader.
The plan has been largely driven by Damian Hinds, the Secretary of State for Education, and sports minister Mims Davies, who began in their posts last year, with further input over recent months from Seema Kennedy, the new Secretary of State for Health.
The new plan follows The Daily Telegraph’s “Girls, Inspired” campaign, which aims to close the gender gap in schools and which was credited yesterday by Hinds for helping to inspire the Government and schools in its new national strategy.
The announcement yesterday was accompanied by a specific pledge from Ofsted that, from September, school inspectors would reward schools who offer children significant opportunities to get active during the day and provide good extra-curricular activities.
The action plan also stresses that schools “will focus on ensuring boys and girls have an equal and coordinated offer of sport, competition and activity”.
It includes £2.5million to deliver additional training to PE teachers and to open school facilities during weekends and holidays. This follows research which shows that children are far less active during summer holidays.
The alliance of almost 40 leading sports organisations will meet in early autumn to discuss how best it can help implement and influence a plan the Government expects to evolve. “As a sector we welcome the update on this plan and look forward to building on it as part of a longer-term Government commitment to a youth charter,” said the alliance of sports organisations.