Agenda item

Councillor Murray asked the Portfolio Holder for Housing and Community Services, Councillor Doe, the following:

Given that a recent survey has shown that 56% of adults in Medway do not participate in any sport or regular active recreational activity, can the Portfolio Holder tell me what he is doing to change this in a positive way to improve public health and wellbeing, and to try to secure a real Olympic legacy for the Medway towns? 

Minutes:

Given that a recent survey has shown that 56% of adults in Medway do not participate in any sport or regular active recreational activity, can the Portfolio Holder tell me what he is doing to change this in a positive way to improve public health and wellbeing, and to try to secure a real Olympic legacy for the Medway towns? 

 

Councillor Doe responded by stating that the aim was to encourage as many people as possible to engage in active and healthy lifestyles with all the benefits that would bring. He referred to the survey which was part of the Sport England Active People survey introduced under the last Labour Government and designed to provide an annual measure of sport and active recreation in local authorities throughout the country and was flawed.

 

In March this year, no less a sporting figure than Lord Coe stated: “I’ll be open, I’m always loathe to take at face value the surveys delivered by organisations that have singularly failed in the past.” When in Opposition, Sports and Olympics Minister Hugh Robertson said: “This survey is a classic example of what is wrong with Sport England.” And the BBC sports editor blogged: “The existing Active People survey is deeply flawed”.

 

That is why, in 2009, the Council commissioned its own survey, based on the Active People questioning, but with a sample size four times larger than that used by Sport England and with a range of face-to-face and telephone interviews.

 

The results were reported to the appropriate Overview and Scrutiny Committee, with the headline figures indicating there were more than three times more people participating than those being reported by Sport England through the Active People survey. That figure rose to 68% of the adult population when the question was rephrased to ask about 90 minutes of sport and active recreation per week. These findings were taken to Sport England but their answer was that they had a system operating and they were not planning to change it.

 

So the Council had been stuck with Sport England surveys for a number of years and in the absence of an alternative he understood why Councillor Murray used this to frame her question.

 

Councillor Murray asked if Councillor Doe’s answer to her question was “nothing”, and sought clarification on the survey that he had quoted. She stated that she had taken part in this survey at the Strand, Gillingham at the time with her grandson.

 

Councillor Murray stated if what Councillor Doe had said was correct, this meant 132% of people participated in active recreational activity which could not be correct. Therefore, she stated that he was not doing anything, he was blaming someone else and that his figures did not stack up at all.

 

Councillor Doe stated that Councillor Murray had misinterpreted the figures and it would be helpful to the Member to actually indicate what the Council was doing to encourage sport, as it was very important that the public should understand this.

 

(Councillor Murray, as a point of information, stated that if 56% of adults did not participate that left 44% who did and Councillor Doe said that his figures showed that three times as many people as shown in this survey participated in active leisure that made 132%).

 

Councillor Doe stated that they were not looking at the same figures and he preferred to rely on his as his were right.

 

  • When Medway Park had been developed compared to when it was the old Black Lion the Council had an annual throughput of 255,000 people. In the last ten months the numbers going through the door of Medway Park had increased to 584,000 people, which was a pretty good success story.

 

  • The Council had introduced free swimming for under 11s and over 60s

 

  • There was the Medway Mile event which was in its sixth year and was actually likely to get more that 2,500 participants this year and probably nearer to 3,000.

 

  • There was the Medway Fesitval of Sport which again was a roaring success so much so that it had to be split it into a Winter and Summer Festival of Sport.

 

  • The Council had increased school sport which was why the Council was funding all junior schools in Medway to be able to deliver coaching sessions in ten of the most popular sports.

 

  •  The Council had established a range of new disability sports clubs including wheelchair rugby league, goldball, bokia, athletics, wheelchair football and basketball and our Medway Primary School Curriculum and Medway Coaching Academy both received National Inspire Parks from London 2012.

 

Councillor Doe stated that he could provide further examples and that the Council was working extremely hard and the Council gave every encouragement to everybody to participate in sport and it showed that the efforts were highly successful and that it was the opposition’s job to knock everything which was done.