“As a coalition of leading bodies across sport, recreation and physical activity, the National Sector Partners Group (NSPG) passionately believes that improving the health and wellbeing of this nation must be a central priority for this and future governments.
This is essential if we want to create sustained economic growth, support the NHS, and strengthen the fabric of our communities across all ages and backgrounds. The role of sport, recreation, and physical activity will be integral to this.
“The Government’s new sports strategy, ‘Get Active: A strategy for the future of sport and physical activity’, shines a spotlight on the essential nature of sport and physical activity in people’s everyday lives, and importantly recognises the many programmes and initiatives that contribute to this ambition to improve our national health and wellbeing.
“The collective responsibility to improve the health, wellbeing and economic productivity of the nation sits across Whitehall so we welcome the creation of a new Government taskforce to oversee the implementation of the strategy, with industry representatives collaborating with key Departments centrally.
“The inclusion in the new strategy of participation targets provides clarity around the Government’s ambitions for a more physically active population and to reduce existing inequalities.
We look forward to seeing how these ambitions translate into clear, sustainable delivery plans that focus on the growth and development of the sector.
“Only by developing and supporting a programme of delivery in conjunction with all our partner organisations and making full use of all aspects of the sector, will this strategy be able to deliver on its ambitions and unlock the full potential of the sector.
We believe with the necessary resources and working collaboratively with the sector, we can become one of the world’s most active nations and improve outcomes across society.
“We look forward to continuing to work collaboratively with the Government to develop and implement legislative changes and national initiatives to realise these ambitions together.”
Speaking on behalf of ukactive’s members, ukactive CEO, Huw Edwards added:
“ukactive is pleased to see a recognition of the essential role of facilities in delivering the Government’s sport strategy.
Our gyms, pools, leisure centres and other providers represent the engine room of physical activity in the UK, helping more than 17 million people to be active, making an enormous contribution to the health of the nation.
“Yet there is still much more that can be done to reduce health inequalities and utilise sport and physical activity in delivering on the Government’s ambitions to reduce NHS waiting lists and boost economic growth.
“We welcome the commitment towards driving physical activity as the key focus of the new strategy, and stand ready to deliver on the ambitious targets, which mirror the sector’s own.
The strategy rightly recognises this can only be achieved through attracting further investment into the sector, and we will continue to work with the Government on identifying which tax and regulatory measures can achieve this.
“To further harness the power of our members to drive activity in this country, it is crucial the Government continues to work closely with the sector to turn these ambitions into reality.
Working alongside Government we can maximise the impact of activity on health outcomes and economic productivity.”