Written evidence submitted by the Local
Government Association
1. INTRODUCTION
1.1 The Local Government Association (LGA) represents
over 400 councils in England and Wales. We work with and for our
member authorities to realise a shared vision of local government
that enables local people to shape a distinctive and better future
for their locality and its communities.
1.2 The LGA Group runs a special programme of work
to enthuse and support local authorities to help spread the benefits
from the 2012 Games across the whole country. We are working with
90% of councils on this agenda. Our submission focuses on the
aspects of the Inquiry that fall within our remit, namely grass
roots participation in sport, a cultural legacy and measuring
legacy.
1.3 The LGA submission does not comment on London
or the Olympic Park because this is not within our remit. The
LGA submission focuses on three of the Inquiry's questions but
we would also like to record that we are working closely with
councils the 2012 venues outside London to maximise a lasting
legacy of social, physical and economic regeneration for the whole
country and use of venues after 2012.
2. KEY MESSAGES
We need a sports legacy plan that understands
the delivery landscape and focuses more on the local because this
is where the majority of resources and activity are. We
would like greater clarity about how the Cultural Olympiad will
be a truly UK-wide celebration of culture that fully encompasses
thriving local activity and not just national and regional showcase
projects.
There are existing mechanisms to measure
legacy and we would strongly oppose any attempt to increase the
performance management burdens councils are already under.
3. PROGRESS TOWARDS
MEETING TARGETS
TO INCREASE
GRASS ROOTS
PARTICIPATION IN
SPORT
3.1 Councils, along with local clubs, are the
principal deliverers of sport in England, and have a strong track
record of delivering quality local sporting offers. Councils invest
£1.5 billion per year in sport (including capital spend),
which is by far the largest public contribution to sport from
any one sector. It is in council-owned pools, parks and gyms that
enthusiastic amateurs and future sporting stars alike can first
encounter the thrill of sporting success.
3.2 Indeed the government's own research shows that
if councils and their partners meet their LAA targets they will
have increased participation in sport by 950,000 and increased
the numbers of the physically active by 350,000putting
us well on the way to achieving government's flagship sports legacy
target of two million people more active by 2012-13.
3.3 But our job is not just to provide the infrastructure
and environment in which sport and activity thrive. It is also
to work together locally to unlock the passion and enthusiasm
that can inspire people to change the habits of a lifetimecritical
when thinking about a sporting legacy from the Games. And as place-shapers,
councillors are able to use sport to help build healthier, stronger,
safer and more prosperous communities far beyond 2012 to encompass
a whole decade of sport.
3.4 It follows then that government, non-departmental
public bodies and National Governing Bodies (NGBs) will not deliver
increased grass roots participation on the back of the 2012 Games.
If we are to give ourselves the best possible chance of achieving
this, we need a sports legacy plan that recognises the strategic
leadership and delivery role of local councils and sports clubs
to make good the legacy promises the London 2012 Bid Team made
in Singapore in 2005.
3.5 We are encouraged that the government is
re-thinking the legacy landscape. We would like to see more focus
on local activity and a more appropriate balance with national
projects, such as free swimming. The new sporting landscape is
starting to realise the potential for closer working with NGBs
to unlock and build new capacity into existing community facilities
and club structures, but it is patchy and some NGBs simply lack
the capacity to engage with their County Sport and Physical Activity
Partnerships and through them local councils.
3.6 The answer to the question of how we can
best use the Games to encourage people to be more active must
be much deeper than national programmes and national legacy boards
to co-ordinate legacy. The day-to-day reality of delivering a
thriving sporting offer is councils' bread and butter. We think
government could be making more use of us in meeting our shared
sporting legacy ambitions and what councils are already proactively
doing.
3.7 The LGA Group is currently working on a
2012 Sports Legacy Plan for Local Government which will set out
why councils and their local partners are best placed to use the
Games to encourage people to be more active, what practical steps
councils can take to do this and what we think government and
other partners need to do to support councils. We would welcome
the opportunity to share our thinking with the Committee.
3.8 Please find attached as Appendix 1 a summary
of councils' role in relation to a sporting legacy and a snapshot
of case studies.
4. LEAVING A
LASTING LEGACY
THAT IMPROVES
CULTURAL LIFE
4.1 Councils are already getting on with using
the 2012 Games to boost local cultural participation in accordance
with what local people want. From Shropshire's "Museum on
the Move" to Kent and Portsmouth's 2012-inspired Charles
Dickens collaboration and Bradford's carnival of culture, there
are examples like these from across the country.
4.2 This reflects the fact that local authorities
are the principal delivery body for publicly funded culture outside
central London. They invest more in DCMS services than the department
and its quangos£2.2 billion in 2007-08 against £1.3
billion by the government. They own and run public libraries and
almost all of the principal museums and art galleries in England
outside London. They are at the forefront of using culture to
engage and inspire people, especially those at the margins of
society, and as a route back into training or employment. And
councils make the links with other services, such as health and
police, that can lead to real innovation and cost savings.
4.3 We do not need more central prescription
or national plans but we would like clarification about how the
Cultural Olympiad will be a truly UK-wide celebration of culture
that fully encompasses thriving local activity and does not just
showcase high-profile national and regional projects. Although
the Cultural Olympiad is the responsibility of the London Organising
Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG), government
cites the Olympiad as the main vehicle for encouraging increased
cultural participation on the back of the Games, and culture is
also a key workstream of the Government Olympic Executive's Social
Legacy Board.
4.4 The Cultural Olympiad has the potential
to be a powerful catalyst for a lasting cultural legacy across
the whole country but thus far it has focused too much on big
regional and national projects. Local cultural projects can only
be a part of the Cultural Olympiad via the Open Weekend, an annual
celebration marking the countdown to 2012, or by applying for
the Inspire Mark, giving local projects access to London 2012
collateral. The future of the Regional Creative Programmers is
also far from clear. This alone will not deliver the stated aim
of UK-wide participation and we think there is scope to be much
clearer about how local cultural activity can relate to the Cultural
Olympiad up to and beyond 2012.
5. HOW SUCCESS
IN DELIVERING
LASTING LEGACY
CAN BE
MEASURED
5.1 The LGA believes that it should be up to
local areas to determine how they track and measure local legacy
and will strongly resist any attempt to increase the performance
monitoring burdens councils are already under.
5.2 The Smarter Government White Paper sets out the
government's aim to simplify performance management from the centre,
and to reduce reporting, inspection and assessment burdens on
local areas. Discussions about measuring lasting legacy need to
be taken forward in this context.
APPENDIX 1
SUMMARY OF COUNCILS' ROLE IN RELATION TO
A SPORTING LEGACY AND A SMALL SNAPSHOT OF CASE STUDIES
Councils, working with County Sport and Physical
Activity Partnerships, have five key roles in achieving a sporting
legacy from the 2012 Games, and this applies to all councils regardless
of whether or not they have a direct involvement with staging
the Games:
Local political leadership: Locally
elected councillors know the needs of their communities and their
aspirations for a sporting legacy. They can make sure that sport
is given a high priority locally, is reflected in strategic planning
and is championed in partnerships. Councillors are uniquely placed
to reach those on the margins of society who are not reached through
traditional forms of community engagement. This is particularly
important in reaching out to young people, who are at the heart
of national sporting legacy ambitions. Councillors who understand
the potential of the 2012 Games to benefit their communities are
also passionate advocates and champions of sporting legacy, helping
to enthuse less engaged peers within their own council and beyond.
Spending power: Local authorities
invest £1.5 billion per year (including capital spend) in
sport and have historically been a passionate provider and facilitator
of sport in partnership with local, regional and national bodies.
This is by far the largest public contribution to sport from any
one sector. Councils are also at the forefront of levering in
funding from other sources, such as PCTs.
Infrastructure: As service provider,
local government is crucial to the provision and maintenance of
facilities and activities that make up a ladder of participation
that ranges from the grassroots to the elite. Councils runeither
directly or through leisure management agreements, the vast majority
of places where people play sport. It is in council-owned pools,
parks and gyms that enthusiastic amateurs and future sporting
stars alike can first encounter the thrill of sporting success.
Strategic planning and partnerships:
Local Authorities are uniquely placed at the juncture of local
communities and sport, working closely with County Sport and Physical
Activity Partnerships, National Governing Bodies and local sports
clubs. It is here that we can help realise the benefits of sport
for all. Councils also lead Local Strategic Partnerships and can
bring together partners from the public, private and third sectors
to take coordinated action in pursuit of shared goals, often including
sport.
Unlocking the wider benefits of sport:
Local government, in partnership with other agencies and the private
and third sectors, already use sport as a powerful tool to achieve
wider outcomes. The passion and enthusiasm of the Olympic and
Paralympic Games can inspire people to change the habits of a
lifetime, and legacy needs to focus strongly on how sport and
physical activity can help to create healthier, stronger and safer
communities. Sport can be used to develop positive activities
for young people, improve the well-being of children or boost
the local economy through hosting major events.
Below is a snapshot of case studies about how
local authorities are using the 2012 Games to inspire people to
be more active.
Team Essex's Ambassador's Award offers
meaningful grant aid to potential Paralympians and Olympians,
who also take on an ambassadorial role to help inspire people
to be more active;
Middlesbrough's Type 2 Diabetes Project
uses the Games to encourage people identified as being at
risk of type 2 diabetes to lead healthier lifestyles by providing
a programme of tailored support in partnership with the PCT;
Sheffield's Lighting the Flame for
Sport is a whole council strategic approach to using the 2012
Games as a springboard to increase participation, strengthen coaching
and volunteering, and attract major sporting events;
Hackney's Personal Best project
provides young people with exciting events and materials to enthuse
them to be the best they can;
Dorset's Spirit of the Sea connects
sport and culture to put on an annual festival that offers people
the chance to try new sports and boosts the local economy.
January 2010
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