Agenda item

Report of the Cabinet Adviser on Opening Up Access to Sport for Young People.

This report contains the findings and recommendations of Councillor Camron Aref-Adib in his role as Cabinet Adviser on Youth Mission.

Consideration was given to the report of the Cabinet Adviser on Opening Up Access to Sport for Young People.

Councillor Camron Aref-Adib, Cabinet Adviser on Opening Up Access to Sport for Young People, outlined the report which contained his research findings and policy recommendations. The report covered the following areas:  Camden’s current sport offer; analysis of the data comparing demographics and other local authorities; identified barriers to sports for different groups; and the recommendations from the Cabinet Advisor.

The Chair thanked the Cabinet Advisor for the report and invited questions and comments from the Committee. The following was discussed:

·       A Member stated that it would be helpful to make decisions in this area using more granular data, such as looking at the trends of children dropping out of activities between primary and secondary school and differences between ethnic groups. In response, the Cabinet Advisor stated that from his research the granular data looking at ethnicity of 147 pupils was a too small sample size to make conclusions. The Health Related Behaviour Questionnaire would be interesting to study any gradual drop-off of activities between years 6 to 7.

·       A Member stated that the shortage of space to play sports in the borough had been a long-term challenge. The Member noted that it would be good if multi-use game areas (MUGAs) were made more attractive to use, because they were often uninviting tarmacked areas.

·       A Co-opted Member noted the report moved between referencing categories of physical activity and sports in their analysis and recommendations, and there were few references to exercise in general. They noted that those categories were distinct and that sports compared to exercise tended to be male dominated and had ethnic disparities of participation. In response, the Cabinet Advisor stated that in his research and the data from Sports England focussed on sports. He agreed there was an important distinction and noted that five out of the recommendations were focussed on sport and were concretely achievable goals.

·       A Co-opted Member stated the findings and recommendations identified inequality, however there was not a specific directive to encourage more girls to be involved in sports. In the Co-opted Member’s view, MUGAs were areas where boys tended to spend time, not usually girls, and it was often particular types of boys who liked to play football in these spaces. In the report there was little focus on playgrounds for children which would increase accessibility for younger children. The Co-opted Member asked if there were any recommendations that could be made which focussed on girls, the participation of non-white girls, and were more inclusive of SEND children. The Co-opted Member noted that the resources needed to increase SEND child participation was higher, and asked if there were any ideas on how the Council could respond to that challenge. In response, the Cabinet Advisor stated there was more work to be done around MUGAs being male-dominated spaces, but noted that in reality for many children playing on estates from low-income families, MUGAs were an avenue into participating in physical activity and to play sport. Additionally, the feedback from girls was that football was the highest rated sport they wanted to participate in most.

·       The Cabinet Advsor stated that a striking piece of feedback was the number of young people who wanted astroturf on the MUGAs, which was higher quality ground, because they did not want to play certain types of sports on tarmac.  Arising from the research was that some pitches were in such bad condition they were no longer usable for activities. In terms of funding to resurface areas, there were many pressures already on the Housing Revenue Account, therefore funding streams for games spaces often had to be found in other places, potentially through the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) funding or the Football Foundation.

·       A Co-opted Member stated that Cantelowes Gardens Skate Park was a very popular park for young people and suggested that the lighting be kept on later than the current switch off time of 8pm, so that young people could use the skate park later into the evening. In response, the Cabinet Advisor agreed that lighting was important.

·       A Co-opted Member asked if there was any data on the number of children who were able swim by the end of primary school, noting that it was a critical life skill.

·       A Co-opted Member suggested the Council consider speaking to the City of London about accessing grounds for sports and activities on Hampstead Heath. In response, the Cabinet Advisor stated that discussions had taken place however the drainage on the pitches was now so poor they were not suitable for football. The Cabinet Advisor noted that Regents Park school had implemented hybrid football pitches which were more resilient to damage and weather.

·       In relation to section 6.2, the recommendation to remodel the Camden Active Mark (CAM) to help with access and affordability, a Member asked how that would impact children with special needs and disabilities (SEND). In response, the Cabinet Advisor stated that CAM would help SEND children and there were institutions such as the London Inclusion Sports Academy who did fantastic work on access. A lot of sports networks were quite informal, but as activities became more formalised, offers of priority access would improve.

·       A Member noted that access was one of the biggest challenges for children with SEND participating in activities, where it had to be considered that many SEND children required transport to activities, one-to-one support, support staying safe and support in how to make friends.

·       A Member said that parents feedback praised the offer at Talacre, however it was only held during school holidays and it would benefit from scaling up, increasing variety of activities and more consideration of the range of needs of SEND children. The Member asked if there were any additional funding streams which could be explored. The Cabinet Advisor noted that Talacre offer was paid for through ‘Levelling up’ funding and was a successful example of provision and hugely oversubscribed.

·       A Member stated there was reference to local clubs in the report when speaking about access and affordability. The Member asked if there was any microdata available about the current provision by local clubs, because it seemed they were providing a lot of access to provision and appeared to take on the costs themselves to provide free activities. The Member also asked what role local clubs could play going forward and if there should be a recommendation referencing them specifically. The Member stated there seemed to be an imbalance in how money was being spent on different provisions and there should be a review on how funding was allocated.

·       In relation to section 6.3.4-6.3.7, the Cabinet Advsor confirmed he would like to see the project scaled up to other primary schools.

·       The Cabinet Member for Young People and Culture praise the Cabinet Advisor’s research and final report, which presented the good work already taking place and areas that needed focus and more thinking. The Cabinet Member’s formal response would touch on the areas raised in the report and comments from the Committee.

RESOLVED –

THAT the Committee 

1)    note the report of Councillor Camron Aref-Adib, Cabinet Adviser for Youth Mission; and

2)    discuss and comment on the recommendations made by the Cabinet Adviser, which will be incorporated in a report to Cabinet.