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Minister: I will get one million more people taking part in competitive sports
Matthew Beard and Joe Murphy10 Sep 2008
Culture Secretary Andy Burnham today took personal responsibility for delivering a proper sporting legacy from the 2012 Olympics.
In an exclusive interview with the Evening Standard, he admitted he should be "held accountable" to achieve a massive increase in sporting participation and interest.
Replying to critics pressing for improvement, the minister pledged to use an overhaul of sports funding to promote traditional clubs, competition and coaching.
"The targets will be about more girls playing sport, more women, more disabled people playing sport, and more coaches," he said.
"Through this we are going to get a million more people playing in organised competitive sports."
Mr Burnham's comments come after the Evening Standard's 2012 Sports Legacy campaign highlighted concerns that too little is being done to ensure the Olympics leave behind better facilities and support, especially for young people taking up sport.
The minister, a keen footballer and cricketer, said grants will be switched away from activities like "salsa for solicitors" and into competitive events, such as athletics and cycling.
"Competition is the bit that brings about the thrill and the joy of sport, the friendship, the highs and the lows," he said.
"That's what engages people in sport and I am making no apologies at all for focusing sports development on pure sport and away from casual taster sessions. I'm talking about giving people a real grounding in sport."
On school sport, he said he wanted a major increase in sporting provision - but warned that more money would be needed to reward teachers who support after-school training.
Asked about the greater success of private schools in producing sportsmen and women, he said: "I don't think it's about ethos, it's about resources.
"If you came to my borough, Wigan, you could not find anywhere with a greater ethos about the importance of sport. It's part of the way of life there and always has been."
It is 10 years since Mr Burnham arrived in the Culture Department as a young adviser to predecessor Chris Smith.
At the time only a quarter of children received two hours of sport at school each week and he says sporting tuition was "on its backside". Now the proportion is 86 per cent, which was "genuine progress".
It is an issue he feels very personally. As a comprehensive pupil in 1985 he played in the school's football and cricket teams, including the annual Merseyside Cup.
Then, after the teachers' dispute with Margaret Thatcher's government, the extracurricular teaching stopped. "I played in the
Merseyside Cup every year and loved it. It was on Saturday mornings and it just stopped. "My brother who came afterwards had practically no after-school sport. It needled me and in politics I have been constantly working to put things right."
His two brothers are now teachers. Mr Burnham blames the then Tory government rather than the unions for the collapse.
He wants to increase the number of hours further, until most children enjoy an average of an hour a day, but is convinced that the exercise will be pointless unless youngsters are coached to a high standard, particularly in tennis and cricket - sports that have traditionally been taught more successfully in private schools.
"Unless somebody sits down and explains how to hold the racket or ball you do not stand a chance," he says. "Football can get by with more informal teaching." However, few state schools could afford such coaching and youngsters who left without enough confidence to join clubs tended to drop out of playing.
He has no truck with the Chinese education system that insists on an hour of aerobics before lessons.
"There's lots to admire in China but I don't think we should copy it. Regimenting sport does not fit with the British way of life or psyche."
The minister thinks his belief in higher quality coaching to hook people on sport is behind one of the most stinging criticisms made of his policies, that he is pushing elite athletes at the expense of mass participation.
Former Sport England chairman Derek Mapp accused him of favouring elite athletes rather than mass participation, and claimed he was chasing gold medals.
"I think they misunderstand fundamentally everything that I am talking about," Mr Burnham said.
"I'm talking about more participation and proper coaching for all who want it, so that you keep more people active for life because they have more confidence and basic ability."
His answer has been to reform Sport England, leaving Mr Mapp's job vacant and bringing in a new system of payment for meeting targets. He also points proudly to his best-known idea, which is a £140 million scheme to provide free swimming for the young and old funded, uniquely, by him twisting the arms of other Whitehall departments like health and education to share the cost.
Starting next year an estimated £70 million will be lost to community sports clubs as a result of Lottery cash being diverted to build the Olympic Park. Mr Burnham hopes a "Beijing bounce" from Britain's historic medal tally will refill their coffers.
"The success at elite level brings more resources and people at club level," he said.
He is frustrated by other criticisms he thinks are wrong, such as that swimming pools are being sold off. He says London has 14 more local authority pools now than three years ago. He insisted there was no backtracking from an overall government target of two million more people playing sport.
"The target stands - I am not backing away from it one inch," he said. "I didn't go around Whitehall badgering my colleagues to support me on swimming for nothing. We did it because we want to take this moment, this era and do something really new."
It is a commitment he will be held to in the run-up to 2012.
The Evening Standard's charter to deliver an Olympic legacy
• Create sporting inspiration and facilities "that last for the generation to come"
• Secure access to top-class sporting facilities for all
• Ringfence money to secure Olympic legacy and ensure millions more participate in sport
• No more sell-offs of school or council sports facilities
• Establish a system of "Olympic Champions" with top athletes going into schools to inspire children, teachers and parents
Reader views (13)
Sport is a well known distraction from the less salubrious activities in life today, so anything that encourages such activities is only to the good.
That said, I have to question how the powers that be can expect the youth of today to acheive sporting status that encourages effort to improve beyond a back yard kick-about with the PC protectionist attitude brought by the silly, socially encouraged and morally damaging litigation defence pratciced by the people who are in authority over the children of today in Britain.
- Rogan, DFW TX, 29/09/2008 01:57
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Lawrences comment s have a great deal of sense. UK facilities are the worst maintained in the whole of Europe (at least) as we don't see maintainance as important. Coach retention is also important, but withou the facilities for them to use to enable both their pupils and themselves to preogress then they can't be enthused and retained or developed.
There is very poor linkage between sport and schools, the 'school/club links' tend to be in the hands of people who can't be bothered to do much, apart from link with a local footbal club as thats easy!
There are hundreds of volunteers out there who would be happy to work with schools in their specialist field, but the schools can't, in most cases be bothered!
When I coached in east london i called the local borough sports co-ordinator to try and get linkage between my club and the local schools. One didn't return any calls and the other said that they didn't need any more clubs, they had linked with the local football and cricket clubs.
I'd disagree with the comment about competitive sport - taking part in any activity is important, but many paople like the competitive element - wether it's swimming faster than your mate or trying to be the next Tom Daley. Life is competitive, something that has been driven out of many areas to our cost.
- John Whitby, Peterborough, Cambs, 26/09/2008 08:54
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When will these people live in the real world. The constant fight to maintain facilities and retain coaches is impossible to win. The lack of funding and the lack of cohesion between schools, clubs and national bodies are critical. The 'Beijing Bounce' is an illusion so very few get involved in Athletics and as far as I can tell so very few people care about the Olympics.
Even if they diverted every penny being spent on the Olympics on grass roots sport they would not achieve their goals. Having world class facilities is all well and good but if no one comes to use them then what will they achieve.
- Lawrence Smith, East Sussex, England, 24/09/2008 09:19
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Sport for more ?
Let's see...........
instead of a baton in the relay , a bloody knife could be used ,
pole vaulting onto your 3rd floor balcony to break into your appartment ,
long distace stabbing using a javelin ,
the hammer used around your head ,
the 100 metre sprint away from police ,
and whilst you're out doing all these things at a sports centre , the lockers are broken into.
- Sarsfields Ghost, London , England., 23/09/2008 12:27
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How about getting 1000 politicians actually working for the money they bleed from the state?
- Lezli Taubler, London/UK, 11/09/2008 23:00
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Andy Burnham needs to honest about the numbers of people being excluded from sporting activities by the loss of affordable public provision. Labour has presided over the biggest "exchange" of private sector facilities replacing public ones that this country has ever seen.
There is nothing wrong with private enterprise in itself, but, by definition, a private health club aims for an exclusive atmosphere and prices are set accordingly. Every time a public swimming pool closes another swathe of the population are disenfranchised on economic grounds, often with disabled groups being particularly disadvantaged here.
As just one example, Fylde Borough Council shut down 50% of their public provision when St Anne's closed on 31st July. A disabled group called the Fylde Otters now have nowhere to swim and the only other public pool, Kirkham, is scheduled for closure in March 2009. (Although campaigners are still fighting to save it)
Meanwhile the Council will be meeting soon to consider renewing planning permission for a new private health club.
For hundreds of people across the country, the Govt's current offer is a "Free Swim" in a closed pool.
- Sally Wainman, Ipswich England, 11/09/2008 11:39
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Just adding to my previous comment.
My sport can't take any more pupils, the clubs there are are full, and there are no more facilities available to use. You can add to this my club which is to lose 1/3 of it's water time when two local pools close later this year.
Get more into sport??
With less facilities, less time and a dispirited teaching and coaching workforce as they can see no way to develop either the children they teach or themselves, how on earth is he planning to get more into formal sports participation?
Less swimming pools that are accessible to all is not one of the best ways into sport. And what's this about taster sessions? How on earth do you get people into sport if they can't try it? We need more facilities that have simple, affordable, local public access. Without facilities we can't have more teachers. What seems to bypass those in authority is that with facilities you can have access and develop the teaching personnel, without the facilities you cant develop the teachers!!
The test for diving facilities is that you have "an existing coaching infrastructure", now that means if you don't have them already you can't get them!! Great way to develop any sport!
- John Whitby, Peterborough, Cambs, 11/09/2008 09:09
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It's all very well to keep following the line about competitive sport and women and minority groups, but it ignores sports like mine which have lost over 3/4 of all its public facilities!!
The focus is on clubs and development aimed at medals, not about participation. The current strategic plan from the governing body merely mentions the plan to have 9 international standard regional facilities.
What we need, and London is worse than most areas of the country, is sufficient facilities to allow local access for everyone to diving facilities, not only for elite development, but also for casual use.
To make almost all sport access elitist and inaccessible is NOT the best use of the 'Olympic Legacy'.
London needs borough level access to all sport facilities possible, sadly this needs real investment that has been denied for many many years.
- John Whitby, Peterborough, Cambs, 11/09/2008 08:47
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Why does it always have to be 'Competitive Sport' ?
For some there is more and better relaxation derived from exercising he self control and determination just to do their own exercise - Long distance walking or swimming.
It gives an insight into NL's fundamental thinking that their prime target is th propagate sports that require some levels of conflict.
- Dave, Bangaloru, India, 11/09/2008 04:30
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Well, Pretty Boy Burnham, after it has taken your duplicitous McLabour Party over a decade to do 'next to nowt' in this regard, then it shouldn't be too difficult to help a million people should it, pal?
Just a little presumptious, though, if not damned cheeky, to suggest that you'll have more than two years in office in which to complete the job.
Or perhaps you'll only be able to fulfill this 'pledge' for 500,000 'citizens'.
- Dave, cumbria, 10/09/2008 13:49
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There is no statutory protection for leisure facilities of any kind: they can be neglected over long periods, closed down at a moment's notice and sold off for housing or retail use. Sport England is pushing for more PFI deals (which favour the 'close nine facilities and offer four' approach)and the Building Schools for the Future programme is actively destroying existing school pools.
The offer of 'free swimming' completely ignores these problems and has offered only minute sums for capital funding: £10 million for 2008/09 shared between all the pools that sign up to Andy Burnhams's idea and NOTHING AT ALL for the Councils who are wary of the 'free' offer: many believe that the Govt's £140 million will not cover the true costs.
All round the country there are examples of poor public provision: no public pool at all in Harlow or Minehead; Matlock's pool closed for at least seven months and its only leisure centre sold off; our Olympic-sized lido, Broomhill Pool, allowed to lie derelict for the last six years; Bradford potentially losing five pools after BSF closed Buttershaw pool and a sports consultancy firm recommended the closure of four more!
There is no national strategy for replacement/major refurbishment even though the DCMS have known since 2001 that at least £2billion of investment was needed.
- Sally Wainman, Ipswich England, 10/09/2008 12:50
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Surely it's more important to give people grounding in physical exercise that suits them, not merely about competing.
Having reached the age of 40 I recently realised I hated most school sports because a) I have poor co-ordination (can't catch balls, don't want to) and am not built for high impact stuff. Also, as sulky teenager I resented being told what to do and how to conform. I got my teamworking ethos from choir and orchestra, which are geared to working together to a win-win outcome, not vanquishing or belittling the weak.
I love country walking, and have recently returned to cycling and swimming. Competing against no-one but my own limitations, but sharing time and activity with my partner. Very few women carry on with competitive sports past school, but many enjoy other physical activities. There are more over 60s than children and the population is ageing. How about more focus on eg yoga and pilates which have a far greater benefit to the individual and society than getting schoolgirls to whack a hockey ball (fun at 13, pointless at 30).
Perhpas when he has got all schools doing sport for an hour a day he might then consider how they will fit music, drama and art into an already crowded curriculum. As Culture Secretary he knows about El Sistema and its twin achievements in tackling social exclusion, drugs and crime, and producing elite performers.
- Geraldine, Brixton, 10/09/2008 12:33
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Aren't there more pressing issues the Government should be addressing than encouraging us all to put on our trainers!! Competition seems to be all that anybody is interested now. Who cares that we got 19 Golds and stuffed Australia!! What's happened to the 'amateur' approach to sport where we actually did something because we enjoyed it. It's all about doing better than your fellow human beings and that's got to be fundamentally wrong.
- Paul Bretherton, Bordon Hampshire, 10/09/2008 12:27
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