Fewer people playing sport in Olympics city

Figures released to Parliament show sports participation in London fell by three per cent last year - the equivalent of 160,000 Londoners dropping out.

The decline is in contrast to the target of raising participation by three per cent and is an indictment of ministers' claims that the London Olympics will get more people involved in sport.

The disturbing trend has been revealed in the Taking Part survey from the Department of Culture, Media and Sport which measures the proportion of people who played sport, including "low intensity" activity such as billiards and darts, at least once a month. The most recent figures are for 2006-07 with this year's statistics, due in December, expected to show sports participation is now flat-lining.

The Liberal Democrats Olympics spokesman Don Foster, who obtained the figures, said: "Despite the fact that people are getting less active all the time the Government appears to have effectively given up on its efforts to promote sport. What we're lacking is a properly coordinated strategy to get people who've dropped out of sport interested again. But that's hardly surprising when we seem to have a new government sports initiative every year."

The department said participation would be measured in future by stripping out "light intensity" sports. Under thatmeasure, levels of activity in London have fallen by one per cent to 1.15 million Londoners playing sport for 2006-07. By the same measure participation has risen by one per cent nationwide.

London suffers from couch potato syndrome, according to a separate survey, which provides the most comprehensive nationwide picture of active lifestyles.

The so-called "Olympic borough" of Newham has the least active population in the capital and the third lowest nationwide. Only 14.5 per cent of people there took part in moderate activity at least three days a week, the measure used by researchers for the 2006 Active People Survey commissioned by Sport England. The picture was almost as bleak in Barking and Dagenham (14.7 per cent) and two other Olympic boroughs, Waltham Forest (19 per cent) and Tower Hamlets (19.7 per cent). This compared to a London average of 21.3 per cent and a 21 per cent national average.

Newham said it was enjoying an Olympic dividend since the survey, especially among young people. Thanks partly to a £2 million improvement number using borough leisure centres had increased by 7,000 in the past year. A council spokeswoman added: "We acknowledge there is an issue in relation to encouraging more adults to change their lifestyle but we are addressing this, working with the local Primary Care Trust and Sport England."

The Active People survey will be used to measure the Government's aim of getting two million more Britons involved in sport by 2012 as a dividend of the Olympics.

Confusion has surrounded the participation agenda with responsibility being split between numerous departments. Ministers for health, work and pensions and transport have all been given the task of helping to deliver the sports legacy, though it is unclear whether extra funds and personnel have been allocated.

Meanwhile, officials are unable to say what - if any - progress has been made towards the two million figure, even though the scheme was launched in November 2006 by former chairman of Sport England Derek Mapp. Sport England, which remains leaderless since Mr Mapp quit last December, has been told to focus on delivering its one million target by working with the governing bodies of the major sports. It has also been told to cut by 25 per cent the postschool dropout rate in five unspecified sports.

A Department for Culture, Media and Sport spokesman said: "Government is committed to encouraging people to do more sport. Exchequer funding has risen by over 800 per cent in the last 10 years to over £400 million a year. Nationally the number of adults doing 3 x 30 mins of sport and physical activity a week is on the rise and we will be working hard with Sport England and sports governing bodies to create a world-class community sport system by 2012."