Currently, Councils spend over £1 billion on health and fitness facilities, leisure centres and swimming pools, greenspaces, grass pitches and health and wellbeing services per year. The range and depth of provision at all stages in life is what makes public leisure unique.
Physical activity has significant health benefits for hearts, bodies and minds. Regular physical activity contributes to preventing and managing risk of serious illness such as cardiovascular diseases, cancer and diabetes.
There are huge pressures on the NHS, social care and leisure services. The cost to the NHS for treating obesity-related ill health is forecast to rise to £9.7 billion per year by 2050. Yet, community sport and activity generate £85.5 billion of social and economic value in England. This equates to a return on investment of £3.91 for every £1 spent.
The physical activity sector has an essential role to play in Government’s levelling up ambitions. People from lower socio-economic groups are twice as likely to be inactive than the more affluent. People who are on lower incomes or unemployed depend on affordable and/or subsidised public leisure provision when they are unable to afford the monthly membership fee of private sector gyms. Only 42% of children and young people with a low family affluence score can swim 25 metres unaided, compared to 86% of those with a high family affluence score.
Repositioning sport and leisure services as strategic partners, particularly in shaping places, contributing to levelling up agenda and tackling health inequalities is an opportunity for the leisure industry to transform and be recognised as a crucial partner. Leisure and physical activity experts need to lead and be involved in key discussions such as planning and designing sports and leisure services and facilities of the future, colocation with other services, regenerating high streets and neighbourhoods and connecting services and green spaces.
As part of our work, we aim to improve coordination and strengthen collaboration with a coalition of council services and partners to reduce inactivity and address health inequalities. Whilst, highlighting the key role public leisure and sport services have to play in providing preventative services, reducing the number of long-term conditions, and addressing inequalities.
The Partnership aims to help local authorities across England to find solutions to challenges by emphasising and supporting independent, transparent and informed long-term decisions.
Our Partners
1) Developing and expanding our work on securing the future of public sport and leisure service report. Focusing on key recommendations, including identifying ways to make public sport and leisure services sustainable, to realise its potential to contribute to and deliver on health and inequalities and wider policy objectives like decarbonisation.
2) Addressing climate change, addressing the need to redesign and reshape our current leisure and cultural facility stock. Ageing leisure assets make a significant contribution to carbon emissions, investment in decarbonising assets can help to meet net-zero targets and reduce running costs in the longer term. Providing more opportunities for people to engage in sport and physical activity in a carbon friendly way to support the Governments health agenda.
3) Leadership development and upskilling the sector, understanding systems and the role of public leisure should not just be about leaders. The whole workforces should understand their role within the system, including shared language, agreed evidence base and clear outcomes aligned to local health priorities. Working in partnership with CIMPSA and investing in leadership and skills development in leisure and health partners, as well the workforce needed to develop the services that communities want and need and to support collaboration and drive integration.
4) Addressing the wider role of physical activity, leading the change for place-based approach, health prevention, health economics, social value, workplace health, our role within social prescription and building back better from COVID19. Plus, supporting the work of Sport England and Office of Health Improvement and Disparities and the role of Active Partnerships.
5) Understanding the Integrated Care System, and the role of public physical activity service provision within the system. Integrating public sport and leisure services more closely with health systems and public health teams. Developing and building on relationships with health partners so that public sport and leisure services are seen as a key strategic and delivery partner.
