Government should “double its investment” in physical activity

The UK government should double its investment in sport and physical activity, in order to gain the full benefits of a physically active nation.

That is among the key recommendations made in the Game On: Community and school sport report, published this week by the Culture, Media and Sport Committee (CMS Committee). The report is based on a year-long inquiry which included consultations with industry bodies, including ukactive and the Sport and Recreation Alliance. In the report, the CMS Committee says that current funding for physical activity is insufficient and “increasingly unstable”.

“Falling local authority budgets, rising operating costs for facilities and fragmented, short-term funding streams all make long-term planning difficult,” the report states.

Currently, the UK’s general government expenditure on sport and recreation is among the lowest in Europe. In 2023, European countries on average devoted around 0.8% of total public expenditure to recreational and sporting services. By contrast, the figure for the UK is around 0.3% (£3.8bn). As a result, the committee recommends that the UK government should increase the level of annual spend from the 0.3% share to at least 0.6% – which would translate to £7.6bn per year at current levels.

In addition to increased investment, the report also recommends the publication and implementation of a national facilities strategy to address ageing infrastructure and uneven provision. It also calls for improved coordination across national and local government and other bodies.