Conclusions
1. The
increasing inactivity of children is, and should be, a major concern
to the Government, to parents and to society in general, and schools
are key to addressing the problem. We recommend that children's
activity levels be measured annually, and that best practice amongst
a few schools is turned into common practice in relation to encouraging
higher levels of overall participation. This will need to include
addressing specific problems such as poor facilities. (Paragraph
29)
2. Though
there have been initiatives to improve the training of teachers
in PE, more needs to be done—at both primary and secondary
levels—to ensure that PE staff are equipped to support every
child in a wide range of activities. We agree with the Education
Committee that the two-year timeframe for the primary sport premium
is too short and runs the risk of replicating previous short-term
fixes rather than providing a long-term solution to the inadequacy
of PE teaching in schools. (Paragraph 30)
3. Girls
are being deterred from participating in sport by their experiences
in school PE lessons. Unfortunately, an emphasis on competitive
sport may make this situation worse for some girls. Schools need
to be more imaginative in the type of sport that they provide
for girls: while some enjoy team games like football and netball,
or athletics, others would enjoy sampling a wider variety of activities,
such as dance or cycling, or non-traditional games for girls like
rugby. (Paragraph 31)
4. While
it is unrealistic to expect schools to provide facilities and
coaching for a wide variety of sports, there are good opportunities
for sports governing bodies to reach out to potential future players
and spectators through forging links between local clubs and schools.
While some progress is being made in this area, sports governing
bodies need to inject more urgency and enthusiasm into this task,
otherwise it is doubtful that they will meet their target of increasing
participation in sporting activity by 14-25 year olds. (Paragraph
32)
5. Whatever
the reality, there is a perception amongst pupils and others that
schools care more about, and spend more money on, sport for boys
than for girls. We do not want to add to the bureaucracy on schools,
but we consider that the decline in girls' participation in sport
is sufficiently serious that schools should be made to focus more
attention on the sports offered to girls. This might most easily
be done by an amendment to schools' Public Sector Equality Duty,
which we consider to be an effective but less heavy-handed alternative
to the USA's Title IX legislation. (Paragraph 33)
6. We
are very concerned about the lack of communication and co-operation
between Government departments, which we think presents a serious
obstacle to the DCMS in its attempts to deliver the Olympic legacy.
We recommend that the DCMS, Department for Education and Department
of Health publish a joint annual report to Parliament on school
sport, focusing on participation levels, the availability of different
types of sport, partnerships with clubs and charities, and training
for teachers. (Paragraph 35)
7. We
recognise that some progress has been made since 2005, but we
are concerned about the persistently low rates of participation
in sport by women and girls. We believe that this issue should
be higher on the Government's agenda and, to this end, we recommend
that the DCMS and Department for Health publish a joint report
annually, in the wake of the APS statistics, indicating their
response to those statistics. (Paragraph 51)
8. Sports
providers are experimenting with a number of options designed
to meet women's needs for flexible, fun sporting activity. Some
of the examples listed above are also low-cost and comparatively
easy to organise, requiring only readily-available facilities
and little or no specialist equipment. It seems likely, from the
success they have achieved so far, that these initiatives will
spread through the country. However, parkruns and cycling do not
suit everyone, and there remain difficulties in accessing suitable
facilities for other types of sport. (Paragraph 50)
9. We
look forward to the analysis of the Bury project, which appears
to be imaginative and sensitive in adapting provision of sport
to women's lives rather than expecting the reverse to take place.
We hope that it is successful in sustaining the initial level
of interest among women. (Paragraph 49)
10. We
are concerned that there are too few facilities to enable people
easily to participate in sport. We acknowledge the pressure on
local authority budgets, but we fear that a diminution in the
number and quality of sporting facilities will simply increase
the need for more expensive health and social care interventions
in a less fit population, even if one does not take into account
the loss to individuals. Provision of some basic facilities—pitches,
swimming pools, sports halls—at low cost should be seen
as a contribution to public health rather than a leisure programme.
(Paragraph 58)
11. We
recommend a review of programmes, such as the Community Right
to Bid, to enable local people more easily to defend the open
spaces and facilities that they value. (Paragraph 59)
12. Schools
also have an important role to play in ensuring facilities are
available in every community. We acknowledge the pressures on
schools because of local authority budget cuts, but nevertheless
we were disappointed to learn that some are reluctant to open
up their facilities. This should be challenged. Both publicly-funded
schools and those which claim charitable status have a duty to
serve the local community, and, if they have sports facilities,
should be required to report to the local authority, DfE or Charity
Commission, as relevant, how they make those facilities available
to local people. (Paragraph 60)
13. We
understand that the economic situation has severely limited the
financial resources that public bodies can apply to the maintenance
and improvement of sports facilities, and we acknowledge the attention
that at least some sports governing bodies are giving to updating
and improving sports grounds and clubs. However, more emphasis
should be given to the needs of women, and of different groups
of women, in the design and staffing of facilities. (Paragraph
72)
14. In
bringing so many dilapidated and outdated facilities up to standard
progress is likely to be slow. In the meantime, enterprising people
are trying out alternatives to traditional facilities, and we
commend all these efforts to bring cheap and accessible sport
to people. Sport England is already working with a number of these
people, but we recommend that Sport England draw up a strategy
to assist them with advice, small grants and to spread best practice,
as locally organized, locally promoted sport seems to us the most
promising way of increasing participation not only by women but
also by men. (Paragraph 73)
15. There
are comparatively easy ways in which the media could contribute
to reinforcing the view that women's sport is normal and worthy
of interest. One example would be for more national newspapers
to publish the results of women's matches alongside the men's.
Another would be for journalists and commentators to refrain from
discussing the appearance of sportswomen and from making derogatory
comments about the ability of women in general to play sports.
(Paragraph 83)
16. The
Sports Journalists Association concludes: "Nothing in Britain
will supplant men's football, particularly the English Premier
League." This is probably true, but the evidence we received
pointed to a number of initiatives taken by some sporting organisations
to maximise media coverage of women's sport that ought to provide
inspiration to others. (Paragraph 89)
17. However,
it is not enough just to besiege the media with demands for more
coverage. Sports are in competition for airtime and column inches,
and need to understand the factors that make sporting events more
attractive to broadcasters and newspapers. It is a matter of spreading
best practice amongst the sport governing bodies. (Paragraphs
90 and 94)
18. The
issue of the number and prominence of women journalists and broadcasters
should be irrelevant to the issue of how women's sport should
be promoted. After all, the ultimate aim is for it to be considered
completely normal for journalists of both genders to comment on
both men's and women's sport. However, a number of women have
made the breakthrough into being considered simply experts, and
we hope that their achievements inspire others. (Paragraph 101)
19. The
fact that fans of women's sport are currently a market comparatively
underexploited by commercial sponsors, and that female sports
fans offer opportunities for new sponsors to become involved,
should inspire sports governing bodies to offer imaginative deals
to companies. Greater coverage of women's sport in the media should
increase the audience for such sport, and enhance the attraction
of sponsorship. (Paragraph 128)
20. While
no one is arguing for all elite sportspeople to receive the same
pay or investment in training as premiership footballers, the
gap between the support and rewards received by those men and
almost all professional/elite sportswomen is vast. It would enhance
the respect in which women's sport is held for women to be better
supported financially; and it is likely that better pay would
enable more high quality women to continue to play sport and to
develop their potential. (Paragraph 129)
21. Having
more women in senior management and board posts is not an end
in itself: it may serve to increase understanding of women's views
and needs at the levels where decisions on the future strategies
of sports are made, and it also helps the image of sport in general
to become less masculine. We welcome the progress that has been
made in opening leadership positions in sport to women but note
that some sports have made more progress than others. We particularly
regret the fact that popular sports like swimming and tennis are
lagging badly behind, and that the FA appears to have made little
progress in this regard since our predecessors' report in 2006.
(Paragraph 135)
22. Many
of our witnesses argued that women would be encouraged to take
part, and persist, in sport were there more female coaches. The
sporting authorities are trying to encourage more women to become
involved in coaching. However, low pay and long and inflexible
hours are not attractive—though many clearly find great
enjoyment and reward in teaching and helping others. While the
poor conditions are common to both male and female coaches, and
there is only limited scope for sport governing bodies to change
them, it is very unlikely that the sexism and lack of respect
displayed to one of our witnesses would be experienced by a male
coach, and it is very disappointing that some of this behaviour
was shown by fellow coaches. If sport governing bodies are serious
about encouraging greater participation by women, then they must
take action to drive this sort of behaviour out of their sports.
(Paragraph 142)
23. We
applaud the NGBs that are succeeding in meeting Sport England's
criteria for increasing participation. We are pleased that many
of the sports that women most enjoy—dance, running, swimming,
tennis—are among the 46 sports being specifically supported
under the Youth and Community Strategy. (Paragraph 150)
24. We
believe that there should be an additional target in the Youth
and Community Strategy for increasing the participation of women
and girls, but that it should be imposed only on those NGBs that
are not seriously addressing the potential for growing women's
participation in their sport. (Paragraph 151)
25. We
support Sport England's approach of reducing funding to NGBs whose
performance is lack-lustre and giving other bodies the opportunity
to invest imaginatively in local schemes for boosting participation
in their sports. We have been given enough evidence of popular
initiatives like park runs and pop up tennis courts to conclude
that Sport England should actively seek out further opportunities
beyond sport governing bodies to work with whichever groups know
best how to reach and engage people locally. (Paragraph 152)
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