Agenda item

This report updates the Committee on progress in developing a five-year Sport & Physical Activity Strategy.

Simon Ingyon, Assistant Director Parks and Leisure,introduced the item. He explained that the draft strategy and action plan was close to completion, but that officers were seeking the Committee’s views on the five priorities of the new strategy.

He provided a presentation which covered the following aspects:

·       An overview of the five key elements, integral to the strategy

·       The strategy vision and structure

·       Successes and ongoing areas of work

·       The links to the Health and Well-Being Priorities

·       The proposed themes for the new strategy

·       Areas of work for new strategy themes

·       The next steps

Councillor Adam Peter Lang highlighted that the previous week, the Council was awarded a further Green Flag award for Wormwood Scrubs. He asked about parks and leisure, the use of open spaces by young people and how officers envisioned these areas could be used creatively as part of the sport and physical activity strategy.

Councillor Adam Peter Lang commended rowing as an activity and the goal of offering this to all young people (in the borough), however, he asked if there were any perceived gaps such as skateboarding, mountain biking and walking football that had been missed from the list of activities. In addition, he highlighted the tight timescale for the strategy going out to consultation in September 2023 and whether officers were confident this was feasible and realistic. He highlighted it was important the Council considered how it would engage the community in the consultation process, in addition to the traditional route of canvassing sports clubs and societies.

In relation to young people, Simon Ingyon confirmed the Council worked closely with Young Hammersmith and Fulham which were one of the key stakeholder and consultation groups and it was noted the Council had a good working relationship with less traditional forms of sport forms like skateboarding.  With regards to the tight consultation timeframe, Simon Ingyon confirmed officers would start the consultation process at the end of September which would last for between 4 and 6 weeks. The information which had been collected would then be consolidated in November 2023 and used to inform the final strategy. He was confident that there was sufficient time, as the Council had already been in contact with some of the consultees and they were aware of the process the Council was following. Finally, in relation to rowing, Simon Ingyon confirmed that this was a manifesto pledge and so it had been specifically included, however, he was keen that children had the opportunity to experience a widespread range of sports in the future.

Councillor Ashok Patel commented that the challenge was to try and get young people off their screens (telephones and tablets) and on to playing fields. He asked if there was any reason community sport providers list did not include any schools. He also noted that schools were being encouraged to use public parks and whether this was part of the strategy. In response, Simon Ingyon confirmed that schools were already using park facilities, and one of the recommendations from the Parks Commission was to ensure that state schools had affordable and access to local park facilities. This goal had recently become even more key with its links to the climate change agenda, with those students which needed to be bused out of the borough to use playfields. The aspiration was to try and make facilities accessible within walking distance to try and reduce the carbon footprint of some of the borough’s private schools that were transporting pupils out of borough. He explained that there were limited park facilities which needed to be shared in an equitable way and one of the challenges was the use of parks by schools and the general public. However, having brought the sports booking facility back in house, from the Grounds Maintenance Contractor, the Council was looking at the prioritisation and policy to ensure that state schools were favoured.

Simon Ingyon explained, further improvements included the investment in an all-weather pitch in Hurlingham Park, replacing the ones at Linford Christie Stadium and also, through the King’s Coronation Youth Fund, to  improve the athletics track to ensure it was fit for purpose for all schools’ sports days next summer, as well as the Thames Valley Harriers Athletics Club. With regards to the CSPAN list and the omission of schools, Simon Ingyon explained that as CSPAN meetings were usually held in the middle of the day, and difficult for school’s representatives to attend. Therefore, officers had invited the school’s games organiser to the meetings, who was responsible for all primary and secondary school inter-school competitions. However, outside the CSPAN remit, Simon Ingyon confirmed the Council was working closely with Primary and Secondary schools on a week-by-week basis to ensure schools were linked with activities such as the London Youth Games.

Councillor Jackie Borland asked what was being done to ensure there was sufficient accessible green space within the borough that was not being used for organised sport. And secondly, whether the Council had looked at repurposing brown field or industrial sites, such as placing a skateboard park under the flyover.

In response, Simon Ingyon confirmed that informal recreation within parks and open spaces along the Thames Path and using the cycle networks were vital for commuting and daily exercise. The Park Walks Programme was also an important mechanism to encourage healthy exercise and link green spaces together. He confirmed that the Council had looked at a regeneration scheme under one of the flyovers in the borough, but, unfortunately, the Council was unsuccessful in securing the Government grant. Other work streams included upgrading several of the multi-use games areas, ball parks and increasing the number of out-door gyms in parks and green spaces.

The Chair, Councillor Rory Vaughan, explained that one of goals of the committee was to ensure there was co-production with disabled residents and this was taken forward in the development of the Sport And Physical Activity Strategy. He asked what lessons had been learnt from the previous strategy which might be taken forward in the new Sport and Physical Activity Strategy, for example promoting accessible physical activity for those that had been less active and what the measurable outcomes would be.

In response, Simon Ingyon confirmed officers would take on board the lessons learnt centrally on co-production. The Committee noted that officers had already engaged with the Disability Alliance and Dementia Action Alliance within the borough and ensured they were involved in workshops and forums as part of the consultation process. In terms of the lessons learnt from the previous strategy, there were a number of targeted programmes working with a variety of community groups who had not taken part in sports before (Dance West, London Sport Trust). And continuing to engage with children through initiatives like the daily mile (walking to school), making the least active, active, and ensuring that children had a variety of positive experiences through inter and intra school competition.

Another key area was continuing to support Hammersmith and Fulham’s Community Workforce, the volunteers who helped deliver activity through the borough sports clubs, and ensuring they were valued and acknowledged through the annual / biannual sports award ceremony.  In terms of outcomes and measures, Simon Ingyon explained that the most important one was the Active Lives Survey, supported by Sport England which had highlighted that Hammersmith and Fulham was the second most active London Borough. Officers would also continue to look at a number of metrics to measure how sport and activity could be increased and enhanced further in the future.

The Chair, Councillor Rory Vaughan, confirmed it would be useful and helpful to follow up on a number of the measures to increase sports / activity participation in the future when the Committee revisited the strategy.

Councillor Rory Vaughan asked how the opportunities for sport and physical activity were currently being communicated to residents and how this could be improved in the future, such as by celebrating achievements. In addition, he asked about how the Authority was working to deliver sports and physical activity on the fringes of the borough given its geography and very porous boundaries in some places. For example, Shepherd’s Bush Cricket Club in Acton is but a 2-minute walk from the borough boundary, as well as Wormwood Scrubs bordering Brent and Acton.

In response, Simon Ingyon confirmed that as part of the new strategy, a Leisure Needs  Facilities Needs Assessment, as well as Playing Pitch Strategy (working with Sport England and Consultants) would be delivered which would assess the facilities within the borough. Sports Development Officers would also continue to improve access to sport and physical activity through various forums.

In relation to communication, he explained more could always be done, as well as ensuring as many different formats as possible were used. He agreed that resources dependant, more could be done to celebrate achievements with the Council’s partners such as GLL and Virgin Active. Improving publicity and promotion, revamping the Council’s website, as well as ensuring generic apps (as championed by London Sports) which sign posted users to where their local clubs were, were useful devices to improve access.  The Chair, Councillor Rory Vaughan stated it was important to celebrate the work being done by people, especially the Community Volunteers and for various award ceremonies to be publicised.

Closing the item, the Chair, Councillor Rory Vaughan confirmed the Committee welcomed the hard work which had been conducted on the strategy. There was clearly further work to be done on the consultation before the strategy went to Cabinet for consideration. He confirmed the Committee supported the priorities which had been set out and the committee looked forward to an update in about six months’ time.

Resolved

1.    That the Committee both note and comment on the report.