Final Consultation on Sport England's Strategy
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January 2021 Final Consultation on Sport England’s strategy: Phase 1 Summary report prepared for consultation participants britainthinks.com BritainThinks | Private and Confidential Introduction In January 2021, Sport England will be publishing its new strategy, outlining its vision for the future of sport and physical activity in England. Over the past 18 months, Sport England has been holding conversations with a wide range of partners and other stakeholders to co-produce a framework for the new strategy. BritainThinks, an independent insight and strategy consultancy, was commissioned to run a final consultation on the emerging strategy. This final consultation is split over two phases: • Phase 1 (November – December 2020): testing the emerging strategy • Phase 2 (January – March 2021): shaping implementation plans Phase 1 of the consultation included the following elements: • A series of structured activities on an online platform, used to capture individual views of the strategy over a 4-week period. Following this, open forums were launched to continue conversations on the strategy between participants. • A series of 5 ‘live’ online workshops with a range of stakeholders, each focused on one of the priority themes in the strategy. • Weekly webinars which shared some emerging findings from Phase 1 of the consultation with participating stakeholders. • Research with the general public, through focus groups, depth interviews and a nationally-representative online survey, to explore attitudes to sport and physical activity and obtain feedback on the priority areas in the strategy. In addition, Sport England continued to have ongoing conversations with partners during this time. This note provides a short summary of the high-level findings from Phase 1 of the consultation. BritainThinks | Private and Confidential 2 Overview of participation in Phase 1 Stakeholders: online platform In total, 884 stakeholders registered on the online platform, of which 404 completed at least one of the activities. These ‘active’ participants represented a wide range of stakeholders: • Familiarity with Sport England: whilst the majority of active participants had been in relatively regular contact with Sport England in the past 12 months, 54 stakeholders had not been in contact with them and 120 only had ad-hoc contact (i.e. 1-5 times a year). • Policy background: a slim majority of stakeholders (259) selected sport and physical activity as one of their main policy areas of focus, though around half (212) selected another area, notably children and young people, inclusivity / equality of opportunity, and physical health. • Organisation type: a very wide range of organisation types were represented in Phase 1, including voluntary organisations, local authorities, national governing bodies of sport, wellbeing/fitness organisations, representative organisations and many more. A list of organisations represented can be found in the appendix. Stakeholders: workshops The combined attendance across all 5 workshops was 104 stakeholders, with around 20 attending each. Initially, these sessions were intended to be more intimate workshops but, due to significant interest, capacity was expanded and parallel ‘breakout’ sessions were held for each workshop to accommodate as many stakeholders as possible, within the scope of this consultation. General public research The research with the general public was split across three elements: • 4 online focus groups with 5-6 participants in each, drawn from 4 different regions in England and ensuring a mix of gender, socio-economic groups, ethnicity and life- stage. We conducted 2 focus groups with individuals involved in local sports and physical activity clubs/organisations and 2 focus groups with individuals not involved. • 10 depth interviews focusing on members of the public aged over 65 and those with disabilities or long-term health conditions, in order to ensure we hear from a wide range of voices, including those who might be traditionally less represented or able to participate in focus group settings. • A nationally representative online survey of 1,712 adults across England. BritainThinks | Private and Confidential 3 Overall stakeholder feedback on the strategy As well as very helpful specific and detailed input provided on the different parts of the strategy, a number of overarching themes emerged across the contributions made by stakeholders on the online platform and workshops. 1. This is seen as a critical moment for sport and physical activity – and the strategy is therefore considered to be timely and incredibly important. This is reflected in high levels of engagement and interest in the consultation process. “We believe this is an exciting opportunity for Sport England to lead a long- term generational change agenda in relation to SPA and recognise its power and potential to engage individuals and communities and positively influence life goals in a way very few other sectors can.” 2. Stakeholders generally recognise the current moment to be one of crisis, uncertainty and opportunity. This means that there is demand for an ambitious and visionary strategy – but this needs to be balanced with a commitment to short-term support of the sector and ongoing flexibility and adaptability. “It's going to take some bravery to execute this strategy, though there has never been a better time than with Covid.” 3. The strategy is generally believed to offer an ambitious, optimistic and long-term vision for the future of sport and physical activity. The breadth and scale of ambition in the strategy is welcomed by stakeholders – as is the emphasis on collaboration to achieve its objectives. “I like the purpose and vision and it looks at making a real difference in a time where sport and physical activity can play a massive role in improving the lives of people of all ages.” 4. Additionally, the strategy is praised for acknowledging the significant challenges faced by the sector as a result of Covid-19 – and striking the right balance between recovery in the shorter-term and reinvention in the longer-term. “Having time to adapt the strategy in light of COVID-19 to take account of the longer-term impact on the sports and physical activity sector will be important.” 5. There is widespread support for the five priority themes contained in the strategy, as well as the overarching focus on tackling inequalities. These are generally aligned with stakeholders’ own priorities and are seen to demonstrate a considered approach to achieving the overarching goal of increasing activity levels. “The strategy is ambitious if all of this is to be achieved over the next decade. The "what" of the strategy is clear, challenging and in the right direction.” BritainThinks | Private and Confidential 4 Whilst stakeholders are broadly very supportive of the strategy’s direction, there are several expectations of the full draft and its implementation. These include: • Ensuring that the priority areas are defined broadly and reflect the subtleties and nuances of each. • Referencing the areas of overlap and crossover between the different priority areas. • Representing a realistic approach that requires flexibility and adaptability in the face of uncertain and changing circumstances. • Demonstrating a commitment to partnership and collaboration that will be crucial to the delivery of the strategy. • Striking a balance between driving change that is perceived as necessary and continuing the good work already being conducted by Sport England and the wider sector. • Prioritising interventions that are local, place-based and bottom-up and reflect the preferences and experiences of target audiences. • Demonstrating a commitment to insight and learning – both in terms of Sport England’s decisions being led by evidence and in terms of continuing to build the evidence base of ‘what works’. • Implementing an approach to partnership that is flexible, proportionate and pragmatic. • Using language that is accessible beyond the sector and to the wider public. • Including more detail and specific examples to bring the strategy to life for a wider audience. “Active environments could be about building a bridge, as well as a sports hall.” “Ensure relevant partners and stakeholders are engaged from beyond the sport and physical activity sector. Ensure those currently under- represented are involved in shaping the future approach.” “When we’re engaging with the non-sport world, we’ve got to be careful we’re speaking their language to make it more accessible (for public, planners etc.). It’s such a complex world and the language becomes quite technical often.” BritainThinks | Private and Confidential 5 Stakeholder input on the key themes of the strategy The strategy contains 5 specific themes, in addition to the overarching focus on tackling inequality. Through the online platform activities and the workshops, we explored stakeholders’ views on the themes, including important considerations for each theme and possible roles for Sport England in delivering against each. Support levels for each of the key strategy themes were very high, as they felt aligned with stakeholders’ own challenges and priorities and were seen as part of a holistic approach to change. Active Life for a Healthy Life Common considerations included: • Sport and physical activity need to be encouraged as both a preventative tool and as a solution to health issues (e.g. via social prescribing). • A healthy life means positive mental wellbeing in addition to physical health. • The strategy