Agenda item

To report on children and young people’s access to facilities and holiday programmes from an equalities perspective.       

Andrea Keeble, Commissioning Manager for Active Communities reported that the UK’s

Chief Medical Adviser had recommended that all children and young people received 60

minutes of physical activity per day.  Evidence from Sport England’s Children and Young People’s Active Lives Survey of 2017/18 indicated that 46% nationally and 43% in London of children and young people were meeting the recommended level. The figure for Haringey was slightly below this at 41%.

There were inequalities in levels of activity, with wealthier individuals tending to be more

active.  However, there was a lack of data currently and efforts were being made to address this.  It had nevertheless been possible to obtain some data on current levels of

participation within Haringey for the report.  This had shown large increases in the number of under 16s using Council leisure centres since 2016.  The proportion of children and young people from disadvantaged groups using them was also quite high.  Many children and young people accessed centres without a membership or leisure card.   There were inconsistencies in the data from leisure centres and some areas of concern.  In particular, black and minority ethnic (BAME) children were under represented but there was an even balance between genders in accessing facilities.  It also appeared that disabled children and young people were using facilities but a lot did not have leisure cards.  The National Benchmarking Survey of leisure centres had shown that, whilst Tottenham Green performed well, Park Road needed to attract more children and young people from ethnic minorities. 

Ms Keeble stated that the report had shown that there were a number of areas where action was required.  In particular, there was a need to encourage the use of leisure cards and increase the robustness of data.  Targeted work was also required to increase use by under represented groups.  

The Panel noted that the summer programmes of 2018 and 2019 showed positive outcomes.  These included reductions in crime and referral to the Multi Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH).  However, work was required to increase participation amongst girls.  In addition, the quality of monitoring data needed to be improved and, in

particular, that relating to equalities.

Panel Members felt that the current concessionary schemes could be simplified. In addition, concerns were expressed about the quality of service provided at Tottenham Green leisure centre.  It was also felt that the centres did not always provide all the activities that people wanted.

Ms Keeble stated that it was recognised that there were challenges at Tottenham Green and Council officers were working with Fusion to address them.  Some of the Issues relating to concessions were the Council’s responsibility and there was a need for simplification.  The provision of additional activities was being considered and further work would be done regarding this, particularly in respect of the summer programme. 

Panel Members felt that some leisure centres were not being utilised as much as they could be, particularly New River.  It was also felt that the processes required to obtain the concessionary rate could be challenging for some families.  In addition, more outreach could be undertaken in schools.  It was also suggested that the level of concession could be looked at.

Ms Keeble reported that there would be a major marketing exercise when changes to the concessionary scheme were brought in.  Outreach already took place in schools and consideration could be given to signing up children and young people for leisure cards within schools.  Whilst Fusion could be encouraged to review the level of concession, care needed to be taken to not adversely affect their income levels as they needed to make enough for the contract to remain economically viable.  There was additional funding for the summer programme though and this could provide a degree of additional flexibility.