Agenda item

Briefing Note of the Head of Sport, Physical Activity and Wellbeing

The Board considered a Briefing Note and presentation of the Head of Sport, Physical Activity and Wellbeing, regarding the Sport and Physical Activity Strategy’s success and updates on the forthcoming strategy refresh.

A co-produced joint Sports and Physical Activity Strategy was currently in development and would be completed in 2025.  This would refresh the Coventry Sports Strategy 2014-2024 and the Physical Activity Framework 2019-2024 and bring them together due to many overlapping priorities.

A small working group had been convened with key partners including the council’s Public Health & Sport, CV Life, Positive Youth Foundation, Think Active and Knight, Kavanagh and Page (KKP), commissioned consultants.

Data and insight had been collated and reviewed to identify potential priorities for the strategy and these, along with the findings of other relevant needs assessments, had been used to develop an initial set of themes and focus areas.

These principles and focus areas had been socialised with a range of partners and feedback gathered to inform the next phase of the strategy development.  The available data and insight collated on physical activity and sport in Coventry, indicated some progress had been made since the last strategies including:

·  Inactivity levels for 55-74 year olds had improved, reducing from 41.5% of this age group being inactive in 2015/16, to 28% of this group being inactive in 2021/22.

·  Active travel (walking) had increased in Coventry since 2015/16 for adults.  The percentage of adults who had participate din active travel twice over the past 28 days increased from 31.7% in 2015/16 to 35% in 2021/22 (higher than England at 33%).

·  Almost 95% of Coventry’s population now live within one mile of a health and fitness facility.

Coventry had made a significant investment in sport and physical activity facilities, with over £100 million invested into a new 25 metre swimming pool at Centre AT7, The Wave waterpark, the University of Warwick’s Sport and Wellness hub and the 50 m pool at the Alan Higgs Centre.

Significant investment into parks and green spaces to enable physical activity in local communities had also been made, including installing fitness equipment in parks and walking paths to help local people access these facilities.

Coventry had been awarded the status of European City of Sport in 2019, a key highlight of the past strategy and since then, the city had been strategic in its approach to sporting events that had connected local communities, most recently, the Kabaddi World Cup 2025.

A range of funding had been granted to support sport and physical activity schemes locally to deliver against previous strategies including from Sport England, private business and the West Midlands Combined Authority.

Since the last strategy, according to Sport England’s Active Lives Survey, Coventry adults were more active when compared to 2015/16 in particular:

·  Inactivity levels between men and women were now similar in Coventry, which differed to 2016/17 and the national picture of men being more active than women.

·  There had been an increase in the number of people in the most deprived population group who were inactive.  The number of inactive people in this group increased by over 1/3^rd since 2016/17, which was more of an increase than for England overall.

Local insight had focused community place-based programmes targeting priority groups and those with highest needs to reduce inactivity levels and improve physical and mental health outcomes of residents. 

The city council had secured investment of £900,000 through Sport England’s Priority Place (SEPP) programme.  This included three communities with ongoing high levels of deprivation and poor health including Foleshill, Canley and Willenhall.  £624,624 had also been secured for the Commonwealth Active Communities (CAC) funding, part of  Sport England’s wider investment into the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games.  This investment had 2 areas of focus:  Go Parks programme to engage children and young people in physical activity in parks and greenspaces and a strand aimed at older residents in a range of care and independent living settings, alongside a citywide community programme targeting the over 50s.

Case studies had demonstrated the significant impact seen within Coventry communities through place-based community programmes.

An Equality Impact Assessment (EIA) would be carried out to inform approach and development of the strategy to ensure the actions and outcomes were fair and did not present barriers to participation or disadvantage any protected groups from participation, and where possible, was a positive addition to reducing and improving on health inequalities.  The strategy research identified particular groups where activity levels were low and would highlight the need to apply a universalism approach to reduce social health inequalities, involving resourcing and delivering universal services at a scale and intensity proportionate to need.

The Cabinet Member for Public Health, Sport and Wellbeing Councill K Caan welcomed the strategy, referring to the quality of sporting facilities within the city, the recognition Coventry had received as a city of sport, in particular being European City of Sport 2019 and the focus going forward on the benefits and accessibility for all communities in utilising  parks and green spaces within the city for sport and physical activity. 

Members of the Scrutiny Board, having considered the verbal report and presentation, asked questions and received information from officers on the following matters:

• The location and accessibility of sporting facilities for residents in the city and public transport links 

• The desire of representatives from specific communities to train to be sport coaching and whether this could widen participation in sports from excluded groups. 

• The best way to utilise park and open spaces for sport and physical activity to increase access

• Whether the strategy would include people over 75 and how this group would be included 

• Factors that contributed to low participation other than economic disadvantage, such as engagement, cultural status, transport links, and physical ability 

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The Board requested:

• Further data regarding the 5% of residents not living within 1 mile of a sports facility.

• Data relating to physical activity in the over 75’s

• Information regarding walking buses in schools.

• Footfall data for all Council sport facilities

RESOLVED that the Health and Social Care Scrutiny Board (5):

1. Recognise the impact of the Coventry Sports Strategy and Physical Activity Framework from 2014 – 2024.

2. Provide feedback as part of the development of the New Sport and Physical Activity Strategy that is currently being developed with a particular focus on how the strategy can be used to develop greater inclusion of adults and older people to support with healthy ageing.

3. Access to sport facilities including transport links to be considered as part of the new Strategy.

4. Investigate the opportunity to draw external finance to train roles in sport, such as coaches and referees from the local community.