All Party Parliamentary Groups

Will Pickering, SkillsActive - 07/02/07

SkillsActive works as secretariat for the All Party Parliamentary Group on Sports, a group of MPs and Peers that meet regularly to debate the latest issues in sport and to hear from various high profile speakers.

The last meeting was attended by Derek Mapp, the newly appointed chair of Sport England who outlined his first 100 days in the post and the direction he saw for the future of the organisation.

Mr Mapp began by saying that following consultation with a wide range of people he was surprised by the lack of knowledge that people had about the organisation. An early part of his mandate was defining the remit of Sport England, particularly with regard to the Youth Sports Trust (YST) and UK Sport.

Mr Mapp informed the group that since joining Sport England he had spent a day in each of the nine regional offices to determine whether they are ‘fit for purpose’. He felt they “broadly are” and was keen to maximise the expertise and talent on the regional sports boards.

Various issues were raised by members including bureaucracy surrounding community sports coach contracts, the sport strategies of local authorities, the challenge of getting young people without active parents involved in sport, not putting the clocks back to allow increased evening sporting activity.

Mr Mapp recognised that Sport England needs a partnership with local authorities to provide intelligence about the status of local sport clubs to assist those in need. He agreed with members that planning is a massive issue and noted that a problem with the Barker Report was the proposed planning tax for development which he felt could damage sport.

All Party Parliamentary Group on Play

The agenda for the next set of meetings for the group on play are being worked up as we speak; there are plans to include topics such as the Big Lottery, play and the voluntary sector, play and school building programmes, Treasury funding for play, training for play and obesity and play.

All Party London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Group conference

SkillsActive were in attendance at the recent annual conference of the All Party Olympic Group, which was addressed by various high profile speakers including Sport Minister Richard Caborn MP, LOCOG Chair Seb Coe and BOA Chair Colin Moynihan.

The well attended meeting gave those in the sector the chance to hear what the latest news was regarding the 2012 Games.

Richard Caborn began his presentation by flagging up the sheer size of the task in hand, pointing out that in building terms alone, the Olympics is twice the size of Heathrow’s Terminal 5 and needs to be ready in half the time.

Highlighting the importance of volunteers he pointed out that 100,000 were needed and that it was key to keep people volunteering after the Games.

Caborn hoped that the UK School Games in 2012 will be held in the Olympic site following the Olympic and Paralympic events.

Manny Lewis from the London Development Agency flagged up the two main objectives for his organisation, namely the acquisition of land and driving up the social economy.

On this front, 93% of the land required had been acquired and the LDA target is 70,000 more people in work aross London by 2012, especially in the Olympic boroughs where employment is particulary low. He stressed the need to get employers on board through mechanisms including the London Employer Accord and the London Skills Board.

Sir Roy McNulty, the acting chair of the Olympic Delivery Authority outlined the roles of the ODA and LOCOG. The job of the ODA was to build the theatre and it was up to LOCOG to “put on the show”.

LOCOG Chair Seb Coe praised the cross party, national and local consensus that had helped London win the bid. He highlighted the opportunities that were offered by the Games, especially around encouraging people into sport, he remains commited to increasing participation across the board by 2012. Following the LOCOG roadshow last year on the general issues around the 2012 Games, this year’s will focus on coaching and sport at grass roots level.

Emphasising the need for an environmentally sustainable Games he said that we should “build only what we need and only what we can use after the Games”.  He also pointed out the importance of the quality of the volunteers for the Game and the importance of the pre-volunteer programme.

Colin Moynihan heaped praise on the Gordon Brown for his commitment to school sport and flagged up the importance of increasing links between school and local sports clubs as a way to identify young people with talent at an early age and then nurturing such talent.

Phil Lane from the British Paralympic Association believes that although there is still a lack of inclusion for disabled kids and sport, London 2012 will be chance for the Paralympic movement to take a huge step forward and pointed to team GB’s aim to come second to China in the medals table in 2012. He ended his presentation by commitment to “change the way people think, feel, behave”.

UK Sport Chief Executive, John Steele outlined the four main strands that he believed defined legacy: it must be relevant to London’s bid; be for all of the UK; be valid in 2020 and have sport at its heart.