Are we ready for the new government?

In four weeks time we will have a new government and if you believe the predictions it will be a Labour government whose whole focus will be ‘change’. Any new government wants to hit the road running and get on delivering what they promise. As Andy Reed said recently from his experience it’s not necessarily the policy that matters but the ability to implement it. Andy was part of the Blair lead Labour government elected in 1997 with a huge majority and a huge agenda of reform and ‘change’.

At that time I was becoming assistant chief executive at Leicester responsible for delivering Blair’s reform of Local Government but also still actively involved in sport and leisure. What I remember with great clarity is that the sport and leisure sector was behind the curve on these reforms from day one and it took us some time to catch up. I was luckily enough to move to the IDeA (part of LGA) and play an active role in helping the sector catch up and play its part in the public service improvement programme. Read Blair’s own take on that period and he tells us he wished he had gone further and faster. Then as now the sector struggled to get its voice heard. We were not seen as important let alone a priority. Andy will tell you, even convincing them to bid for the 2012 Olympics was hard work.

Next week we should see the manifestos. We will all be skimming through to see how many mentions we get. What do the parties say about us? What commitments are they making? As we realise there are none or few we will switch our attention to looking for ‘the hooks’, the opportunities on which we can build influence. In the Labour manifesto I expect to see some references to maintaining commitment to elite sport and the economic impact of major sporting events and their use as a source of soft power. I expect to see some commitments to school sport and maybe children learning to swim. In terms of hooks I hope to see a commitment to the role activity plays in the switch to health prevention and I desperately hope to see some commitment to addressing the crisis in social care and its impact on local governments own financial crisis. I am however not expecting much in terms of local governments funding of sport and leisure as we have all heard the message about no new money.

I have been tracking over recent weeks what our main leadership organisations have been saying and what they have been offering and asking of a new government. So far there have been over twenty asks from UKactive, CIMSPA, Youth Sport Trust, Community Leisure UK and an indication from the Sport and Recreation Alliance that “throughout the election period we will be campaigning and advocating for policy change on behalf of our members and alongside our wider sector partners to put sport, recreation and physical activity at the heart of the next Government’s mission to transform the country.”

If you read them all together there are some commonalities like valuing what the sector does and  building better relationships with health policy but there are some very specific and different calls for where new investment should go. CIMSPA wants investment in skills development and small businesses, UKActive wants tax and regulatory reforms including business rates and VAT; long term capital investment in facilities and the continued investment in opening school facilities. Community Leisure UK wants multi year funding in public leisure and cultural services enabling operators to pay minimum real living wages and investment in the aging stock. Youth Sport Trust are less specific on funding but are looking for more emphasis on school sport and the protection and increased spaces for co-curricular sport for all children which will require funding.

I know that since the pandemic these organisations have made real effort to speak to government with one voice and I also recognise that as independent membership organisations each one has to reflect and speak up for their own constituencies but what does this look like to a potential government and a new minister grappling with an in tray of huge challenges and competing demands on their time and energy. Who do I look to for help, what key policy changes will make the biggest impact and if I have limited new resources where should I put them?

Over recent weeks I have been trying to work with some colleagues to do just this. What is clear is that around the country there are pockets of great practice where people are collaborating in places with health colleagues and other public services, sports clubs and private operators to join up resources and deliver change. They are delivering impacts on health priorities by making more people more active and they are doing it in a way that addresses inequality and so reaching those communities in greatest need. They are starting to change the system by working differently. These people have the vision and leadership qualities to do this despite the government and despite the challenges they all face. But why not everywhere? This is what a new government will want to see and learn from. They will want to be able to support and maybe in time invest in what works not just what might work. Let’s be ready as a sector in four weeks time to show them we are already tackling their problems with some success and encourage them to help us scale up and spread the learning to others.

So as in 1997 will we confront a new government in a similar position, a disjointed sector unsure of our priorities and unable to present a coherent plan for change. We still have time to sort this and try to be ready to also hit the road running with our strategy to help and support the things the new government say are their priorities. Now is the time to switch from telling the government what they can do for us to showing them what we can do for them.

Martyn Allison