The Sport and Leisure Consultancy Blog

If we accept that active leisure and culture can contribute to national government priorities and that these include among others: tackling social exclusion and disadvantage; addressing poor health; improving wellbeing; regenerating and strengthening communities – arguably it is more important to invest in these facilities and services in a recession than when times are good. A recession tends to exacerbate social problems; therefore this is exactly the time when the benefits of sport, active leisure and culture can have greatest impact.

Despite this a recent survey of local councilors in the Local Government Chronicle, should set alarm bells ringing. It found that Museum Services, Tourism and Leisure came out top in the league table of those services elected members thought most likely to be cut http://www.lgcplus.com/5006526.article There is now plenty of evidence to show that sport and culture deliver. Furthermore, politicians of all persuasions regularly talk about the importance of the sector (particularly at National conferences and in the media), so the lack of value afforded these quality of life’ services is extremely disappointing but highlights the need for effective and regular advocacy at all levels.

In these challenging times it strikes me that the sector more than ever needs to speak with one voice and make the case for sport and culture. It almost seems that we have become so used to a lack of prioritisation for the sector, that we can no longer summon the energy to make our case. In 1993 ILAM ran a ‘Campaign for Leisure’. The idea was to stimulate debate and raise the sectors profile. Six months out from a general election, perhaps now is the ideal time for those entrusted with representing the industry to come together and campaign and lobby for sport, active leisure and culture in 2010 and energise their memberships. What would a manifesto look like? Better defined statutory powers in Scotland and the introduction of a Sport and Culture Act in England would do for starters. Here are some of my thoughts, published in the Institute for Sport Parks and Leisure e zine last month:

“Dear Sue

I wholeheartedly agree with your exoneration to members to “reiterate the power that sport and leisure can have”. However, it does seem that we have all been doing this for some time and even with well-researched, convincing evidence to back our cause, our claims too often falls on deaf ears – so perhaps now is the time to consider a different (or parallel) approach.

I would take issue with the suggestion that the introduction of statutory provision could mean a reduction in service levels. Surely if some best practice, beacon councils are doing great things with no mandatory requirement to do so, it is unlikely they would slam into reverse just because minimum standards were introduced. What statutory provision would offer is a degree of protection for the service and a step change in levels of provision where sadly sport and leisure has traditionally been regarded as a Cinderella service.

Last week Gordon Brown said: “Labour will cut costs, cut inefficiencies, cut unnecessary programmes and cut lower priority budgets, people will see that Labour will not support cuts in vital frontline services on which people depend.”

I would suggest that sport and leisure is still some way off being regarded as a vital frontline service, so without statutory status this does suggest there will be trouble ahead, which is likely to affect grass roots sport provision, funding for the facilities ‘ticking time bomb’ and hinder the professions ability to provide high quality services. Statutory provision does not just have to mean ‘implementing ‘minimum standards’ which is arguably a blunt instrument and out of tune with the times. Rather it can set out an entitlement and encourage further improvement. E.g. it can set out:

• The right of everyone to high quality, accessible sport, leisure and physical activity provision and opportunities
• Challenge every local authority to demonstrate how sport and leisure is being managed to meet national and local priorities and the impact it is having.
• The requirement for all local authorities to demonstrate they have planned for sport, leisure and physical activity for instance having an effective up to date sport and physical activity strategy and sport facilities strategy.

The European Charter for Sport provides further guidance about what a statutory service could be like.

Great strides have been made in the sector in recent years to demonstrate improvement, impact and the provision of high quality services, but when push comes to shove in difficult times, the worry is this will count for little – already there is anecdotal evidence of elected members and senior officers saying “if it is not a statutory service, then forget it”.

Since the beginning of time the profession has had to be creative, resourceful and do more with less, but now more than ever we need a manifesto for change which the whole profession can get behind. It will be catastrophic if the ‘golden decade’ of sport does not lead to lasting social improvement, due to a failure among leaders and decision makers to finally ‘get it’.

The Leisure Review continues to stand out among other publications with its contrarian, no-nonsense and straightforward approach to all things sporting and cultural. The recent article by Jonathan Ives on why the ‘crown jewels’ of sport should be televised on terrestrial TV, is a common sense, heartfelt plea, no doubt shared by many sports development officers http://www.theleisurereview.co.uk/ The argument advanced is a ‘no-brainer’. If young people see inspiring and exciting performances on television they will be more likely to take part in sport. This theme you may remember was the centrepiece of the successful Olympic bid video shown in Singapore, that many claim helped win the Games. Governing bodies of sport clearly need TV revenues to help fund grass root projects, but it is fair to ask, what is the point in generating additional funds by selling to the highest bidder, if so few potential participants witness the sport and become motivated to get involved in the first place?

When The Sport and Leisure Consultancy was formed two years ago we had a simple business objective for the first two years which was to survive! The good news for us is we have not only survived but are proud to have won contracts with high profile sports agencies, governing bodies and a host of local authorities to become an established part of the consultancy landscape.

Despite the tightening (or should that be throttling!) of the public sector purse, we go into 2010 full of optimism and confidence for the year ahead. Grounds for a happy disposition may initially appear weak but stem from our belief that:

• Sport, active leisure and culture services continue to be highly valued by the public if not always by politicians
• The golden decade for sport will not be cancelled – indeed 2010 will see a large number of ‘piggy back’ projects connected with major events starting to take shape
• The renewed focus on demonstrating impact and the government drive to improve services both North and South of the border will create a need for expert evaluation and external support
• Agencies with a remit for addressing social problems exacerbated by the recession will continue to look to our sector for solutions and become an increasingly important source of funding.

In addition to our consultancy work, in 2010 we will continue to make our voice heard and campaign on industry issues. This year we have met with a MSP to explore the practicalities of introducing a Sports Act in Scotland and had letters published on the issue in Sports Management, ISPAL e-zine, The Scotsman and Holyrood Magazine.