Agenda item

[Report of the Director for Environment and Neighbourhoods. To be introduced  by the Cabinet Member for Corporate and Civic Services.]

To agree the Haringey Physical Activity and Sport Strategy and two key supporting strategies - the Outdoor Sports and Play Facilities Framework and the Indoor Sports Facilities Strategy

The Cabinet Member for Corporate and Civic Services introduced the report which sought approval to the Haringey Physical Activity and Sport Strategy 2019 – 2023. The Cabinet Member summarised that the strategy set out the borough’s vision, mission, aims and objectives for increasing rates of physical activity over the next four years.

The Cabinet Member continued to seek support for the strategy which built on the Council’s partnership work over many years to create a culture of activity, further echoed in the Borough Plan which also strives to increase activity rates. Essentially, the vision was to create and embed a culture of activity and aspiration, becoming the best borough in London for activity. The far reaching benefits of increased physical activity were outlined such as good mental health and inclusion in the community.

In response to questions from Councillors: Bull, M Blake, das Neves and Cawley- Harrison, the following information was noted:

·         The Cabinet Member would be working with Cabinet colleagues to ensure that there was a joined up approach to considering both diet and activity to support increased health benefits. Health sector colleagues were already a key partner in the compilation of the strategy.

·         In relation to the provision of sporting activity for diverting young people into positive activity and involving Fusion with the increase in the take up activities after school time, the Cabinet Member for Corporate and Civic Services was happy to work with the Cabinet Member for Communities and Equalities on this issue, noting that Fusion already offer a significant programme of after school leisure activities for children and young people.  

·         With regards to the level of aspiration being taken forward with the target of 2% improvement, this required realistic consideration in light of the level of persuasion involved in advocating lifestyle changes. This often involved increasing the number of small changes to have an impact.

·         The Cabinet Member provided assurance that this was a joined up strategy which had been compiled with the different areas of the Council connected with supporting physical activity such as transport.

·         The Cabinet Member agreed that active travel with schools and introducing school streets around the borough would help tackle inactivity and this connected with the wider aim of the strategy to increase activity.

·         In relation to the charges for use of some park facilities , this was a small charge  in what were challenging times for the budget of the local authority and the priority was to ensure that parks remained accessible to residents.

RESOLVED

1.    To approve the Physical Activity and Sport Strategy 2019 – 2023 as set out in Appendix 1;

2.    To approve the two supporting facility strategies; The Outdoor Sports and Play Facilities Framework 2016 – 2026 and the Indoor Sports Facility Strategy 2018 – 2028 as set out in Appendix 2 and Appendix 3;

3.    To approve the governance arrangements detailed in 6.24 and 6.25.

Reasons for decision

In approving the Physical Activity and Sport Strategy the Council sets out a positive vision and clear way forward to achieve much improved rates of physical activity amongst our residents.

Currently Haringey experiences average rates of physical activity compared to the rest of London. According to Sport England’s annual Active Lives Survey rates of activity have improved since the development of the 2015 -19 strategy. However, we can do better, particularly in the east of the borough where rates tend to be much lower.

The clear correlation between meeting physical activity recommendations (a minimum of 150 minutes of moderate intensity physical activity weekly, along with strengthening activities) and good health cannot be emphasised enough. Not meeting physical activity recommendations increases an individual’s chances of having a major long term condition and an early death.

Physical inactivity is the 4^th leading risk factor for death in the world, according to the Lancet and recent scholarly articles have demonstrated evidence that it may be as dangerous as smoking. At present, over one fifth of Haringey adults are inactive, meaning they do less than 30 minutes of weekly activity at moderate intensity each week. It’s critical that, as a borough and a place to live, we provide an offer that encourages and enables this cohort to build activity into their daily lives.

On the positive side if someone is physically active the benefits include improved academic achievement and a reduction in:

·         The risk of Coronary Heart Disease and Stroke by 35%;

·         The risk of diabetes by 50%;

·         The risk of developing mental health conditions and dementia by 30%;

·         The likelihood of loneliness and social isolation;

·         Involvement in anti-social behaviour and crime.

Alongside having happier healthier residents, if physical activity increases, there is a substantial knock on to the public purse. It is estimated that the annual cost of physical inactivity in Haringey, related to just four long term health conditions, is £3.8M.

Placing physical activity at the heart of place shaping leads to safer more engaged communities. This can be achieved through ensuring people feel safe in public spaces through good design and open space activation as well as using sport as a positive diversionary tool amongst people vulnerable to risky behaviours through targeted interventions.

Sport England’s ‘Economic Model’ demonstrates that physical activity and sport contribute significantly to our local economy through the ‘Gross Value Added’ measure. This measure, calculated in 2013, concluded that £87.5m per annum was added to economy through sports related activity. Included in this figure is the value of around 2,500 sport related jobs in Haringey and sports volunteering which contributes £42.7m to the Haringey economy.

Increasing physical activity also has direct benefits for the local environment. For example, increasing the number of journeys taken on foot and by bicycle will lead to reduced traffic and an improvement in air quality and the overall environment.

The overall refreshed strategy is the underlying document that supports the two facility strategies. All three documents need to be adopted to give visibility for residents and external funders to have confidence in the borough’s ability to work collaboratively in a range of ways to increase physical activity.

The two supporting documents provide a sound policy and evidence base from which the borough can plan for and provide new and refurbished sport and play facilities over the next 5 to 10 years.

The Outdoor Sport and Play Facilities Framework and the Indoor Sports Facility Strategy also both substantially assist the borough to provide an evidence base to unlock external funding for facility developments. Indeed, without these documents, many external funding routes such as Sport England, would be closed to the Council and to community partners such as sports clubs.

These strategic documents are a requirement of the governments National Planning Policy Framework Paragraph 73 which states: ‘Access to high quality open spaces and opportunities for sport and recreation can make an important contribution to the health and well-being of communities. Planning policies should be based on robust and up-to-date assessments of the needs for open space, sports and recreation facilities and opportunities for new provision. The assessments should identify specific needs and quantitative or qualitative deficits or surpluses of open space, sports and recreational facilities in the local area. Information gained from the assessments should be used to determine what open space, sports and recreational provision is required’.

Alternative options considered

Do nothing

The only alternative option considered was not to have a Physical Activity and Sport Strategy and the accompanying documents. If this option was pursued, the borough would suffer from not having a clearly articulated strategic position around increasing physical activity.

Without this strategy and the accompanying documents the borough would also struggle to lever in external funding. For many external funders, such as Sport England and national governing bodies of sport, having a clear strategic position, evidence base and priority lists of facility projects that contribute to increasing physical activity, is a fundamental prerequisite before funding applications will be considered.

While there is no magic bullet to improving rates of physical activity, we can be certain that without a policy to give direction to the Council, partners and stakeholders, activity rates will not increase and indeed are likely to worsen.

As detailed in section 4, increasing physical activity delivers a multitude of health, social, environment and economic benefits and it is therefore imperative that the borough approaches this challenge in a robust and coordinated manner.