Memorandum submitted by Central Council
of Physical Recreation
The CCPR is the umbrella body for 270 national
organisations for sport and recreation; it represents and promotes
the interest of voluntary sector sport and recreation. Membership
includes 28 national organisations for exercise, movement and
dance, within the Movement and Dance Division; and the professional
organisations responsible for physical education, whose interests
focus on dance in the school curriculum. CCPR members are particularly
interested in the inquiry, and the CCPR welcomes the opportunity
to make a submission of evidence. The major focus is on the experiences
of and provision made by voluntary organisations and the school
system.
SCOPE OF
THE INQUIRY
The remit for the inquiry seems to focus predominantly
on dance "as an art form". CCPR would suggest that it
is neither desirable nor effective for the Committee to restrict
its deliberations to dance as an art form, since the organisational
structure and patterns of participation show that there is need
for people to take part in and watch dance, in different ways
and in different roles, as their circumstances change. It
is also the case that recreational and social dance provision,
and local dance classes in the community, offer many of the starting
points for dancers who may later become professional or highly
talented amateur performers.
CCPR and its member organisations also believe
that recent evidence on the effectiveness of talent identification
and development shows vividly that the most effective way to maximise
the development of talent in any activity is to keep as many children
and young people in the system for as long as possible, so
that the rate of burn-out and drop-out is reduced and participants
have well-defined paths of progression, achievement and success.
Similarly, many of the movement and dance organisations in CCPR's
membership see their role as introducing people to safe participation,
developing talent and directing it into appropriate avenues for
further achievement. All this is achieved through high quality
instruction, teaching and leadership which encourage dance, movement
and exercise for all.
CCPR therefore suggests to the Committee that
distinction between dance as a social and recreational activity,
and dance as an art form, is artificial and is likely to lead
to partial information about the scale and range of opportunity
and progression. This is particularly important when considering
the role of voluntary organisations, which are those most likely
to be providing dance, exercise and movement at local level in
the community, at affordable prices and in friendly and welcoming
surroundings. CCPR suggests that the Committee should consider
a continuum of participation in and provision for dance, movement
and exercise, which culminates for a very few, in dance as an
art form, watched by paying audiences.
By adopting this approach, the Committee can
consider the contributions of different elements of provision
to sustained, high quality provision; and ways in which more strategic
development can ensure a wide range of opportunities, leading
to multiple experiences and outcomes; and varied entry and exit
points, which will encourage initial interest and learning, sustained
participation, progression and achievement through effective talent
development; and life-long participation across a wide range of
population groups, including older and young people, people with
disabilities and people wishing to dance within cultural or ethnic
forms. This will in turn ensure that more participants remain
in the system as instructors, teachers and leaders, both paid
and voluntary. The national organisations within CCPR's membership
provide well-regarded, high quality qualifications for people
wishing to work in this way.
WHAT IS
THE CURRENT
STATE OF
THE DANCE
ECONOMY?
One chronic problem for organisations offering
opportunities to participate in dance, exercise and movement is
that they fall between the funding parameters of the arts and
sports councils, being seen as marginal to the interests of both.
Voluntary organisations working in this area are almost wholly
dependent on member contributions, fees for qualifications and
income from shows and events—all heavily dependent upon
voluntary effort and labour. While six organisations in the CCPR
movement and dance division currently receive small amounts of
funding from Sport England annually, the prerequisites and requirements
for the funding frequently consume disproportionate amounts of
staff and/or volunteer time. Some organisations are exploring
the feasibility of working in partnership to establish shared
premises, staff and administration. The organisations perceive
this as the most useful way to utilise the money, as the size
of the six individual grants limits usefulness by individual organisations.
The other organisations receive no funding from
the sports councils and are totally self-funded, save for income
from individual grant applications that they may secure.
Evidence from member voluntary organisations
indicates that the dance economy is fragile. This, in part,
is due to increased administrative burdens and costs for voluntary
sector movement and dance organisations. Rising CRB costs, increased
administration and cost associated with obtaining insurance and
implementing rigorous "risk management" policies as
well as increased training and administration necessary to obtain
qualifications, add to the financial burden placed on the sector.
Moreover, many organisations in the division
cater for older populations as well as young. This is positive
in terms of reaching 35+ women who would be unlikely to participate
in other forms of physical activity. The sector has traditionally
also maintained excellent retention rates of participation—far
better than the commercial fitness sector. (However it does mean
that there is a slower rate of participant renewal than other
activities, which places a greater burden on long-serving volunteers.)
These organisations can make a distinctive contribution to government
targets for physical activity and health.
Dance and movement organisations have much
to offer in broad economic terms. The sector provides excellent
fitness and conditioning programmes for improved health and well-being.
Dance offers much in the way of helping to get the nation active.
In this way movement and dance helps to fulfil the government's
health agenda. The sector also helps social inclusion, community
participation in activity, civic engagement and crime reduction.
A characteristic of many members of the division is that their
activities take place in the heart of the community—dance
classes in church halls, local authority amenities and school-sports
facilities. This encourages the "harder to reach" populations
to participate and fosters real community involvement. Classes
are priced within the reach of the majority of the population
and offer valuable alternatives to the commercial fitness industry.
Dance teaches fundamental movement skills that
form the foundation of many other activities. These skills provide
a crucial basis for elite sport and aid elite athlete development.
Investing in movement and dance is good investment for the entire
sport and recreation sector.
The economic potential of dance and movement
organisations is increasingly apparent. The CCPR movement and
dance division includes among its members, the British Cheerleading
Association. The BCA faces similar financial challenges to
other organisations in the division and is totally self-funded.
Yet, annual participation growth rates continue to exceed 25%.
The BCA reports that on average, eight new clubs are joining the
governing body each month.
Thus, the economic contributions of dance in
terms of participation and public interest are significant. The
government seeks to get 70% of the population physically active
by 2020. The movement and dance sector has much to offer in helping
government achieve its target. It reaches groups that other
activities cannot and attracts a cohort of people to become active
who may be intimidated by other forms of exercise. For example,
Extend Exercise, a CCPR member organisation, has hundreds
of teachers working in care homes with the elderly, offering a
form of gentle movement, which many report eases pain and discomfort,
prevents falls and maintains mobility—thus making significant
savings for the National Health Service. There are also examples
of excellent practice in encouraging exercise amongst post-menopausal
women, thus preventing osteoporosis, and the multiplier effects
of broken bones, falls and debility which cost the NHS so much.
It is unfortunate that the poor levels of funding into this sector
means that it has been impossible to dedicate resources to monitoring
and research, to provide estimates of the value of these forms
of provision.
ARE THE
BENEFITS OF
DANCE AS
A SPORTING
ACTIVITY RECOGNISED
AND BUILT
UPON EFFECTIVELY?
CCPR and its member organisations believe that
there is insufficient recognition of and respect for the benefits
of dance, exercise and movement. It is noteworthy that several
of the CCPR member organisations see the promotion of health and
fitness as their primary purposes: this distinctive feature
emerged strongly during the consultation on modernisation, by
Deloitte Touche on behalf of UKSport. Movement and dance are great
tools for teaching young and old to move and become active in
a systematic way, using appropriate conditioning and preparation.
The fundamental skills that are taught are transferable
to many other activities and are also useful in everyday life
to move well. Movement and dance encourages good posture, balance,
co-ordination, flexibility and increased mobility. These tools
help the young to develop basic skills and the elderly live more
independently, as well as encouraging a whole raft of other health
benefits. Many professional sports clubs have recognised the desirability
of enhancing players' mobility and flexibility and have employed
dance or movement specialists to work with squads to prevent expensive
injuries and chronic conditions.
The benefits of dance as a sporting activity
are underestimated when one considers the demographic make-up
of participants. Participation data shows that girls and women
are particularly attracted to the sector. Some organisations in
the CCPR movement and dance division report success in getting
female teens involved in their activities—a group notoriously
hard to engage in physical activity.
It has been frustrating that until recently,
dance, movement and exercise have been either invisible or marginal
in national sports policy. The Physical Education—School
Sport—Club Links programme, representing major investment
by DfES and DCMS, has only recently begun to include investment
in these areas, the majority of funding being devoted to competitive
sports. Similarly, the Step into Sport programme, designed to
encourage volunteering among young people in sport, has excluded
dance and movement organisations; and implementation of the HR
strategy for sport has thus far been restricted to the Coaching
Review, which is predominantly (and appropriately) largely restricted
to the same sports. Similar investment in the development of instruction
and teaching for dance, movement and exercise (and outdoor activities)
has not yet been planned. Unfortunately, the decisions taken to
invest, only in sports which have ready capacity to contribute
to community provision, means that the development gap between
organisations which are funded and those which are not, incrementally
widens.
IS PUBLIC
INVESTMENT IN
DANCE AT
A SUFFICIENT
LEVEL?
The organisations in the CCPR movement and
dance division have achieved a great deal throughout their history,
effectively with very little public investment. The CCPR feels
that a great deal of potential contribution to raising levels
of physical activity; and establishing a more coherent system
of participation and progression through different levels of dance,
could be realised if public investment in movement and dance were
increased. We feel that in the present climate of rising administrative
obligations and costs within the sector, further investment is
crucial for the development of dance and movement organisations.
It is regrettable that the current investment being made by the
Home Office and Treasury in voluntary and community sector infrastructure
is restricted to "generic" VCS infrastructure, with
"specialist" infrastructure being seen as the responsibility
of DCMS. Currently, there is no DCMS policy on or support for
VCS sport and recreation or the arts.
CONSIDERING THE
IMPORTANCE PLACED
RECENTLY ON
ACTIVE LIFESTYLES
BY THE
GOVERNMENT, DOES
THE FUNDING
LEVEL NEED
REVISION?
The government has set a very ambitious target
to increase physical activity levels emanating from the 2002 Strategy
Unit document "Game Plan". The CCPR believes that if
the government is to stand a chance of achieving its target of
70% of the population active by 2020, then it must embrace and
encourage all forms of activity and revise the funding levels
for and infrastructure to support VCS sport and recreation accordingly.
WHAT OPPORTUNITIES
AND SUPPORT
CURRENTLY EXIST
IN ORDER
TO PROMOTE
THE INCLUSION
AND PROGRESSION
OF YOUNG
PEOPLE IN
DANCE?
See comments above and below, on dance within
National Curriculum Physical Education. The exclusion of dance
from almost all the national programmes to develop links between
school and community provision is a serious omission. The voluntary
organisations are attempting to work together more effectively,
but what is required is strategic investment in VCS infrastructure,
so that voluntary organisations can work better with education,
local authorities and the private/commercial sector.
WHAT IS
THE ROLE
OF DANCE
WITHIN EDUCATION
AT PRESENT?
SHOULD THIS
CHANGE IN
THE FUTURE?
Dance is one of the six programme areas in the
Physical Education National Curriculum, but sometimes suffers
from poor investment in teacher expertise and lack of suitable
facilities. In some departments of physical education, there may
be lack of confidence to provide dance; and non-specialist primary
teachers have reported their own lack of confidence to provide
it adequately. There has been a disappointingly low number of
bids from LEAs to the Physical Education and Sport Fund, for development
of new facilities for dance, as opposed to sport and outdoor activities.
New funding for professional development in physical education
has been made available, to be delivered by a consortium of the
physical education professional organisations (BAALPE and PEAUK),
sportscoachUK and the Youth Sport Trust; there is no information
yet of the proportion of this fund to be devoted to CPD for teaching
dance.
Movement and dance offer a foundation in the
basic skills required for all forms of physical activity and,
along with gymnastics, helps to develop core competencies best
summarised as "physical literacy". This gives
children much confidence in their physical abilities and also
provides a platform for development of motor skills which, if
neglected at certain stages of development, can never be developed
to full potential.
Movement and dance activities are versatile
and should be more valued within the education system. No specialist
equipment or space is needed for many of the disciplines, which
makes them inexpensive activities for schools to offer. The many
forms of dance and movement offer potential for meeting the interests
of a wide range of students, whatever their ability and whatever
their social, ethnic or cultural backgrounds.
The CCPR has developed guidance for dance organisations
to operate more effectively within the school system: see
http://www.batd.co.uk/drs/documents/32.pdf.
The CCPR has welcomed the opportunity to
submit evidence to the Committee as part of this inquiry. The
CCPR would welcome the opportunity to give oral evidence as part
of the inquiry. CCPR would also be happy to provide further
information, detail or clarification on any of the points raised
in the above submission.
April 2004
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