Showing the way

Stephen McLoughlin Senior public affairs and policy manager ukactive

After the excitement of a victorious general election campaign, the attentions of the new Labour Government turn firmly towards governing with the first major milestone – the Autumn Budget on 30 October. Having run the campaign on a platform of ‘change’, with a clear focus on sound finances and driving economic growth, this is the first opportunity for Labour to set out its plans to deliver on that. However, as we head into this first fiscal event, the mood is much less buoyant than in July. Instead, there is talk of budget black holes, of the need for efficiency savings, of things ‘getting worse before they get better’. This is not the change message we might have hoped for from a new Government.

The Budget this year will be accompanied by a one-year spending review, with a three-year Comprehensive Spending Review to follow in 2025, which will provide more long-term funding settlements for Government departments.

This is a critical juncture for the sector, and for the Government. We have seen the impact of indecision over the previous decade, with low investment in public leisure and lack of ambition to support the growth of the private sector. Further delaying necessary investment will not only increase the cost of change in the long term, but further set back the Government’s own ambitions to increase physical activity levels and unlock the savings and economic growth this would provide.

This is a critical juncture for the sector, and for the Government – we have seen the impact of indecision over the previous decade, with low investment in public leisure and lack of ambition to support the growth of the private sector

As part of our Budget submission, which has been developed with input from a broad range of our members, ukactive has laid out how the sector can support the Government in achieving each of its five missions. There are several projects in which the Government can invest to save in the long-term, such as MSK Hubs and Youth Futures Hubs. Through tax and regulatory reform, further collaboration with the NHS, and long-term investment in public leisure, the new Government can unlock the potential of the sector.

Now is not the time for short-term thinking, of hoping for a different outcome from the same strategies that have gone before. To deliver the change it promised, across all its policy priorities, the Government must back our sector.