Sport, Health and Well-being National Plan (NPSRC Report)

Lord Holmes of Richmond Excerpts

Thursday 9th February 2023 Grand Committee

[Lord Holmes of Richmond (Con)]

My Lords, it is a singular pleasure to take part in this afternoon’s debate. I congratulate all members of the committee, and indeed the staff, who put together such an excellent, coherent report. Not least, I congratulate my noble friend Lord Moynihan on the elegant and erudite way in which he introduced this afternoon’s debate. I am only sad that I was not on the committee. As ever, I did not make the first eleven.

Sport is a tremendous thing. It is an extraordinary honour to stand on a medal podium on club, county, national or international duty, but it is as nothing when set against enabling somebody to take their first stroke in a swimming pool, their first step on to a track or a walking trail, or to get on to their first trike or bike. Switching on the light of possibility through sport and physical exercise is worth more than any gold, silver or bronze. Yet we hear that potentially, within the next quarter, 40% of leisure centres will close their doors. They will be padlocked and will be of no benefit to anybody. It is bad enough that buildings are closed, but it is a disaster for all people whose lives are legged over through not being able to access those sporting facilities. When a swimming pool closes, there is rarely a ripple at national government level.

What is happening in the department? There should be a mission control looking at what is happening across our leisure provision to prevent this becoming a leisure centre emergency.

Similarly, it is essential to promote the opportunity of sport and physical recreation in the right way. We have seen some superb examples of this. “This Girl Can” and “We Are Undefeatable” are brilliant pieces of marketing. They are connective and understand the real issues why people may not feel that sport and physical exercise are for them. That is putting a different lens, the lens of possibility, the lens of connection, in such marketing attempts.

I should declare an interest as a board member of Channel 4, which is still the UK rights-holding broadcaster for the Paralympic Games. I was delighted to be able to negotiate those rights way back when I was at London 2012 towards the end of 2009, transforming how we present disability sport, to not just the nation but the world.

Looking at the National Plan for Sport and Recreation Committee’s report, does the Minister agree that it makes complete sense to rename the office “the office for health promotion”? Would he not see it as a thoroughly good thing that the Minister is not just a Minister for sport but a Minister for sport, health and well-being? Would he not like to take those few steps across to the Department of Health?

Would he further agree that we need to look hard into what is happening across the country in social prescribing, which can do so much good? What data exists on how universal this opportunity is and on its outcomes? What more can government do to enable everybody to be able to avail themselves of this possibility to change their lives for the better forever?

On the role of technology, the negative side was highlighted by the noble Baroness, Lady Uddin, but we could have the potential positive side. Is the department working in partnership to look at some of the benefits that can be gained, particularly through wearable technology? As with all good technology, data has to be at the heart. What quality of data do the Government have across this area because it is only by having a golden bedrock of data that we will be able to drive the changes that we want in this space?

In conclusion, we are in the midst of an obesity crisis. We have a post-Covid crisis. Does my noble friend agree that physical literacy is at least as important as literacy and numeracy? What is the cost of having such parlously low levels of physical literacy right now, not how much it will cost to change that but what is the current cost—social, psychological, individual and, yes, economic? What is the economic cost to neighbourhoods, to our nation, of this lack of physical literacy right now? To that end, does my noble friend agree that the best thing the Government could do right now is accept this excellent report in full?