Government accused of wasting sports participation money after London 2012 Olympics: ‘Precious little to show’ | Olympics News

A new report from the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) criticized the DCMS and Sport England over money intended to increase participation in sport; The PAC chair said there was “little to show in the way of legacy” from London 2012; DCMS and Sport England dispute the claims

The government has been accused of spending money to increase participation in sports after the London 2012 Olympics.

The government has been accused of wasting money intended to boost grassroots participation and physical activity levels after the London 2012 Olympics.

A new report from the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) published on Sunday criticized the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) and grassroots funding body Sport England over what it saw as an “unacceptable” lack of oversight over exactly what and how and where. Public money is designed to get people to actively use it.

PAC chairman Dame Meg Hillier said there was “precious little to show through the legacy” of London 2012 and added: “Lack of vision and drive has seen Sport England pay £1.5billion of taxpayers’ money ‘without knowing where two-thirds of it went, and there was a paltry 1.2 percent increase in active adults to show for it (between November 2016 and 2019).

“More waste, more loss of badly needed public money. Given the cost of living crisis, DCMS needs to determine what to do differently to achieve the changes that have not been achieved.”

PAC chairman Dame Meg Hillier said there was “little to show in the way of a legacy” from London 2012

Sporting England is understood to consider the PAC’s claim that it did not know where the investment was made inaccurate.

A spokesperson for the organization said: “Sports England invests public money responsibly and transparently, recording and publishing data on all grant recipients, including location data right down to the postcode level. This is all clearly available online, with information on where every pound that we spend.”

Sport England is looking to further detail national investment for governing bodies such as the Football Association, the Lawn Tennis Association and the England and Wales Cricket Board to have a local impact without introducing red tape.

In all the report makes seven recommendations for DCMS and Sport England, which states that there has been “little progress” in tackling barriers to participation.

Sport England also contradicted this, pointing out that pre-pandemic activity levels are at record highs in the UK and that new Active Lives data shows that participation is now rapidly recovering, with children and young people returning to pre-pandemic levels. .

Sport England says its ‘Uniting the Movement’ strategy launched in 2021 is dedicated to investing in partnerships and programs to reduce inactivity and tackle stubborn inequalities.

Sport England has denied claims there has been “little progress” in tackling barriers to participation

The PAC is also not convinced that DCMS is currently working effectively with other Government departments and industries to integrate physical activity into everyday life.

However, the Sport for Development Coalition network, supported by Sport England, actively demonstrates to several Government departments the positive social and economic benefits of sport-based interventions targeted by its members.

The executive director of the Coalition Hitesh Patel said: “Our ambition is a future step to increase participation in sports and physical activity, and reduce inequalities, we must always look beyond participation alone and consider the benefits of more sports for society.”

Members of the coalition are currently working to distribute a £5 million grant from the Ministry of Justice which aims to use sport to prevent young people from engaging in crime and anti-social behaviour.

A DCMS spokesperson replied: “This government is making the health and wellbeing of the country a priority, and people’s activity levels are at their highest since before the pandemic.

“Through the pandemic, we have allocated £1 billion to support the leisure sector such as public swimming pools and leisure centers as well as grassroots and professional sport, and we continue to increase participation, particularly for under-represented groups.

“Activity levels for young people are now back to pre-pandemic levels and we continue to work with Sport England to invest in sport for all, recently announcing £320m for schools and more than £260m to build or upgrade thousands of grassroots facilities.

“We will soon publish a new sports strategy that sets out our ambition to continue to increase activity rates and will respond to the Committee’s report in due course.”