Sport England has launched a consultation process as it prepares to develop its plan to fulfil the government’s wide-ranging physical activity strategy.
Stakeholders will be asked to contribute ahead of the quango publishing its strategy in April. Existing partners, such as governing bodies, equality bodies, County Sports Partnerships and local authorities will be invited to offer a view, as well as private sector companies such as gym operators and “consumer-facing businesses”.
The consultation process will be ongoing until the end of February.
It follows the Department of Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) unveiling its
Sporting Future document last month, in which it broadened Sport England’s
remit to cover out-of-school participation for children aged five-and-above.
The body will also be expected to collect increasing amounts of data for its
Active Lives Survey – which will replace the
Active People Survey – to account for more physical activities including dancing and walking.
“What the DCMS has done is create a strategic framework and given us a long list of jobs, which is good and positive, but quite a lot of them could be executed in different ways,” Sport England chief executive Jennie Price told
Leisure Opportunities.
“We want to talk to the sector and say ‘now we know what we’re aiming for, what’s the best way for us to tackle some of this?’. That’s what the consultation is going to enable us to do.”
The consultation will be a mix of public online consultation and a number of meetings. ComRes, the research consultancy specialist which worked on UK Sport’s strategic review last year, will be overseeing the administration of the process.
“I want to make sure we’re not just broadcasting or advocating and that we’re really listening, and a professional facilitator is very good at setting that kind of thing up,” added Price. “We’d like to know what people really think and that’s often about creating the right environment for them to be able to say what they think.”
To contribute to Sport England’s consultation process, click
here.
