Outdoor Sport and Recreation

Barbara Keeley Excerpts

Wednesday 10th September 2014 Westminster Hall

[Barbara Keeley (Worsley and Eccles South) (Lab)]

It is a pleasure to see you in the Chair, Mrs Main. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Ogmore (Huw Irranca-Davies) on securing a debate on this important subject today.

In 2012, London successfully hosted the Olympic games and Glasgow successfully hosted the Commonwealth games this summer. I was in Glasgow for a week and have to say that the fans in places such as Hampden Park were not partisan. It was good to see crowds, containing many Scottish people, cheering on athletes from all the home countries, which says something about sport as a unifying force for the Union. Those events helped to showcase a great variety of outdoor sports. This summer, Yorkshire proudly hosted the Grand Départ of the Tour de France, and the success of that event provided a boost to the sport of cycling. We can take pride in recent successes, but we must also explore new ways to encourage people to participate in sport throughout the UK.

I am co-chair of the all-party group on women’s sport and fitness and want to talk about the issues and the barriers to the participation of girls and women in sport, to which my hon. Friend has already referred. Last week, along with other Members present, I went to an event in Parliament on women and girls in rugby. The event also celebrated the success of the England women’s team in winning the International Rugby Board world cup. It was wonderful to talk to some members of the team, who are still elated at their victory. Their win was even more remarkable given that the women held down various jobs, including plumbing, working for a vet, lifeguarding and teaching, at the same time as training for their national team. A squad of 20 of the women’s team have now been put on professional contracts in the run-up to the rugby sevens at the Rio Olympics. The women told us that the contracts will mean that they can train each day and have some rest and recovery time between training sessions and matches. At Rio, the teams they will be competing against have been training and playing full-time for a year or more. I wish the team well, because they are remarkable role models.

The situation of our elite women athletes still having to hold down jobs while trying to train to the highest level that they can achieve is not always well understood. The recent inquiry by the Select Committee on Culture, Media and Sport into women in sport highlighted that as one of the problems that have remained since the Olympics. At the elite level, women’s sport gains much less sponsorship and media coverage, and the pay and prize money is lower. A report published this year by the Women’s Sport and Fitness Foundation found that women’s sport accounts for less than 0.5% of all commercial investment and only 7% of sports media coverage. When women are not paid for their achievements in sport, it is extremely difficult to encourage girls and young women to aspire to a career as an athlete.

The other issue, perhaps of more relevance to today’s debate, highlighted by the Select Committee inquiry was that women’s participation in grass-roots sport is still much lower than men’s. The most recent figures from the Women’s Sport and Fitness Foundation show that only just over 30% of women in England aged 16-plus take part in sport or fitness once a week, compared with over 40% of men, which is a difference of 2 million. Worryingly, in my local authority area of Salford the gap is even greater with 39% of men participating in weekly sporting activity but only 24% of women. I find that really concerning. Members have already discussed the health benefits of activity, and I am impressed by the range of activities that hon. Members take part in, although I must say that mine is limited to running. It is concerning that 76% of women in Salford are not active at such a level.

Research by the Women’s Sport and Fitness Foundation found that 12 million women wanted to play more sport, half of whom were inactive at the time of the survey. The participation gap persists because of practical, personal and social barriers for women and girls. The Government, together with the sport sector, local communities and the media, must do more work on removing the gap. We must ensure that any Government policy on outdoor sport and recreation helps to address the barriers that currently prevent girls and women from participating in sporting and other physical activities.

While the overall gender gap in participation is of great concern, the lack of growth in participation rates among young women aged 16 to 25 is also worrying. It is clear from many surveys and reports that young girls see sport as not for them. That perception often stems from negative experiences with PE and sport at school, which is a point that is supported by the Culture, Media and Sport Committee’s report. A survey carried out by the Women’s Sport and Fitness Foundation found that 51% of girls were deterred from physical activity by their experiences of school sport and PE. Many girls described it negatively, citing a lack of choice, overly competitive environments, a lack of confidence in their ability and a concern about body image. Changing young girls’ perceptions of sport and being active is essential if we want them to take up sport at school and get the health benefits. As has already been discussed, we should be concerned that girls and young people more generally are not taking up sport and activity at a young age. Government should do more to ensure that pupils are given the opportunity to participate from a young age in a wide range of sports and activities—wider than they are currently—to try to suit all interests.

There is an issue with funding. In the United States there is gender balance in sports funding due to title IX legislation, which requires schools and other bodies receiving public funding to ensure that expenditure on sport benefits boys and girls equally. Since this legislation was passed, the number of girls participating in secondary school athletics in the US has gone from 7% to 41%. I argue that we should adopt similar legislation, because I feel that change here will be minor until there is more equality in funding.

We must consider how we can inspire women to participate in sport throughout their lives. If we look at the figures, it is interesting that many of the sports that are most popular with women are done informally, such as running and swimming, and are therefore outside the formal funding structures. Women take part in running events such as Race for Life and will train up to run 5 km or 10 km, but then, sadly, not enough people persist in taking part in the activity after the event is completed. I did the Salford 10 km last Sunday. There were 3,500 participants. Very impressively, 1,500 were women and 2,000 were men. That is a very good balance, as we tend to see more men than women jogging on the street.

Some good work has been done by sports organisations to encourage more women to participate. Since 2008, British Cycling has led a highly successful campaign to get more women cycling. It wants to inspire 1 million more women to ride, to race and to be part of British cycling by 2020. In the first five years of its campaign, it has achieved significant gains, because it has given guidance on routes, which is important when people are starting, and on safety. It has also created clubs to introduce young people to cycling. That type of guidance and support is vital. I commend British Cycling on its campaign. I look forward to seeing and hearing more progress on that in the future. Given the facts I have touched on, Government and other sports organisations must do more to ensure there is a similar push to help increase women’s participation in other sports and fitness activities.

These campaigns will not work unless we tackle issues such as the funding imbalance, which I touched on, and the lack of coverage of women’s sport. Hon. Members have talked about people getting involved in the outdoors, particularly women. If women are taking part in activities in informal ways, but not in sport, then we have to change the perception that sport is the preserve of men. I am afraid it is not surprising that girls and young women see things that way while elite male sports take up the vast majority of media coverage, sponsorship and funding. To ensure outdoor sports and all sports thrive, we must push for women’s sport to be more adequately represented in the media and to be better funded.

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[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (Mrs Helen Grant)]

It is a great pleasure, Mrs Main, to serve under your chairmanship. I, too, thank the hon. Member for Ogmore (Huw Irranca-Davies) for securing this debate and for his contribution, and I thank other hon. Members for theirs. I have always been very lucky when it comes to the outdoors. As a child growing up on the edge of the Lake District, I was spoilt for choice with walking, kayaking, climbing and the views from Blencathra to which my hon. Friend the Member for Macclesfield (David Rutley) referred. It is a stunning part of the country. I then went on to become an MP and found myself in the heart of the garden of England in the beautiful Kent countryside. I drew the long straws there.

As the Minister for Sport and Tourism, I want to ensure that everyone has the chances I had to participate in a diverse and interesting range of sports and activities. Many Departments and many hon. Members, including my hon. Friend the Member for Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire (Simon Hart), work closely together to ensure that we are all playing our part in supporting this important sector.

There is little time available and a lot to say, but I will do my best to cover the points raised. Today, many hon. Members, including the hon. Member for Ogmore and my hon. Friends the Members for Macclesfield and for Leeds North West (Greg Mulholland), called on the Government to create a strategy for outdoor recreation. I am happy to look at that and at how we can bring together in a strategy all the good work already being done throughout the Government in different Departments.

Many hon. Members acknowledged that good work is being done, but asked for more to be done and for the Government to keep their foot on the pedal in relation to recreation and outdoor activity. That is certainly happening. VisitEngland has made a substantial investment in campaigns such as the Coastal Escapes campaign, the English Countryside campaign, the Rural Escapes campaign and the Active Outdoors campaign. Sport England has recently put £3 million into the British Mountaineering Council and there is ongoing cross-departmental ministerial involvement in campaigns in the health context such as the “Moving More, Living More” campaign, which confirms genuine support, interest and commitment in dealing with inactivity and benefiting from the various pluses of health, fun, sport and the resulting economic benefits.

The hon. Member for Ogmore, my hon. Friend the Member for Macclesfield and many other hon. Members spoke about the six key manifesto points. I have looked at them and they are all very interesting. We are already providing a lot of support for the outdoor recreation sector, but we will give all the six points due and proper consideration. Clearly, the matter is also for numerous other Departments, including the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, the Department for Transport and the Department of Health.

My hon. Friend the Member for Leeds North West (Greg Mulholland) referred to the Active People survey and various concerns involving the calculation of the participation figures. I will be happy to talk to Sport England and the Department of Health about how to measure some of the recreational activities in the Active People survey.

The hon. Member for Ogmore, the shadow Minister and others referred to the “Reconomics” report and I agree that it is very good and detailed. In a good way, it pulls together existing research. Sport England and VisitEngland will certainly build on the various reports.

The hon. Member for Worsley and Eccles South (Barbara Keeley) and my hon. Friend the Member for Chatham and Aylesford (Tracey Crouch) raised the important issues of women in sport, participation by women and girls, lack of commercial sponsorship and investment in those important sectors.

[Barbara Keeley]

In the limited time, I did not mention that there are some informal initiatives that could do with better support. In Blackburn, the Couch to 5K initiative is getting many people running. The wonderful person who runs the Twitter account, @fattymustrun, is on a mission to get 1 million larger people running. Such initiatives should receive more support.

[Mrs Grant]

The hon. Lady has made some good points. The issue of women and girls in sport is an absolute priority for me. It has always been a priority, even before I came to this place, and it will remain one, mainly because of what it did for me when I was growing up. It provides not just health and fitness, but self-confidence, self-esteem and the important life lessons of leadership, teamwork, discipline and respect. We all know that and I am determined to get as many young people as possible, not just women and girls, doing sport.

There is good news because 600,000 more women are doing sport than when we bid for the Olympics in 2005. However, there is no room for complacency and I accept that there is still an irritating gender gap of about 1.9 million between the number of women and the number of men doing sport. I want that to diminish. There are some excellent projects at the moment, including Sportivate, Satellite Community, sports clubs and the school games in which more than 60% of schools are participating. Interestingly, at county sports festival level, more girls than boys are competing. The school sports premium provides the opportunity to ignite an interest in sport among our children at an early age.

In half an hour, I will meet the Woman in Sport Advisory Board. It is working hard on the lack of media coverage and commercial investment. The board includes people such as Judy Murray, Karren Brady, Helena Morrissey, Clare Connor and others who are working hard to deal with the lack of commercial involvement and media coverage, although I believe there have been improvements in what Sky and the BBC are doing. That is partly due to great leadership by Barbara Slater and people such as Clare Balding.

I know very well the constituency of my hon. Friend the Member for Hexham (Guy Opperman), having spent a considerable time there when I was little. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for High Peak (Andrew Bingham) on his major marathon walk during the recess when he raised a phenomenal amount of money for charity. Both my hon. Friends referred to the economic benefits of recreational activity. I agree that the great outdoors is hugely important for tourism and the country’s economic well-being. Interestingly, according to VisitEngland, overnight trips in Great Britain last year, including walking, hiking and rambling, resulted in a spend of £2.6 billion.

This has been an important debate and for me a very enjoyable one to respond to. Some excellent points have been made and I assure hon. Members that I take the issues seriously. Outdoor sport and recreation are key not only to our personal well-being but to the nation as a whole. I want to maintain the good progress that has been made by encouraging even more participation in outdoor sport and recreation with all the benefits that brings: a fitter, healthier and economically stronger nation.