Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill

Lord Moynihan Excerpts

Thursday 18th September 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord Holmes of Richmond (Con)]

My Lords, in moving Amendment 492 in my name I give more than a positive nod to the other amendments in this group. For Amendment 492 I also thank my friends the noble Baronesses, Lady Grey-Thompson and Lady Sater, and the noble Lord, Lord Moynihan, for co-signing this amendment. I commend them for all the work they do in this area.

We have a physical and mental well-being crisis in this country. In previous sessions on the Bill, we have rightly discussed the mental well-being crisis. My Amendment 492 goes to the heart of the physical well-being crisis. It is costing the taxpayer in the billions, it is breaking the NHS, and at a community and—crucially—individual level, it is an absolute tragedy, which can, should and must be avoided.

My Amendment 492 simply suggests that the Government should look at a means of incorporating the Chief Medical Officer’s advice on weekly and daily physical activity into the school programme. Be in no doubt, I am not talking here about competitive sport. I am not talking even about games. I am talking about physical literacy and physical fluency: moving, dancing and being in this great physical form of our human selves which we are born with.

I look forward to the Minister’s response. It is a very simple amendment, but it could make a profound difference to so many people’s lives. I beg to move.

[Lord Moynihan (Con)]

My Lords, I support Amendment 492 in the name of my noble friend Lord Holmes, which he very eloquently summarised for the Committee. I will also couple it with my Amendment 502J. First, I will reflect on some of the key issues behind the need to improve physical education programmes of study in the UK school curriculum.

To me, physical education is not merely a subject; it is a cornerstone in the development of young people, fostering health, resilience, teamwork and confidence. Yet despite the considerable investment in PE and sport premium funding, programmes of study across UK schools remain inconsistent, underresourced and insufficiently ambitious. It is imperative that we take decisive action to ensure that every child has access to high-quality, inspiring physical education.

First, the curriculum must be rigorously structured yet flexible, ensuring progressive development from foundational movement skills in key stage 1 to more complex games, athletics and leadership opportunities in key stage 4. This structure should be underpinned by clear learning outcomes, encompassing not only physical competence but personal, social and cognitive development.

Secondly, teacher training must be enhanced and continuous. Too many schools rely on external coaches or undertrained staff, which undermines sustainability and consistency. Ongoing professional development, supported by national standards and mentoring, will equip teachers to deliver high-quality, inclusive PE lessons that inspire pupils across the ability spectrum.

Thirdly, inclusive practices must be central. The curriculum must accommodate disabled pupils, those less confident in sport and the unrepresented groups, ensuring that all children can participate meaningfully. Adapted activities, peer mentoring and differentiated assessment can facilitate this inclusivity, and inclusivity is essential.

Fourthly and finally, the curriculum should embrace innovation and breadth, incorporating non-traditional sports, dance, outdoor recreation and cross-curricular activities to engage diverse interests and build lifelong participation habits, such as participation and partnerships with local sports clubs, universities and community organisations, all of which can further enrich provision.

In short, by strengthening structure, training, inclusivity and innovation, we can transform PE from a marginal subject into a vibrant, central element of the school experience, preparing young people not only to be active but to thrive in life. With that in mind, I turn to my proposal—a call to action—for a national strategy for physical education and sport in schools.

As a former Minister for Sport and a former chairman of the British Olympic Association, I have witnessed first-hand the transformative power of sport in shaping young lives. However, it is with a sense of urgency and concern that I address the current state of physical education and sport in our schools, not just over the last year but over a number of years. The absence of a cohesive national strategy has led to disparities in access, poor facilities and too much time allocated to travelling to and from sport during the curriculum, with the outcomes undermining the potential benefits that sport can offer to every child.

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[Lord Addington (LD)]

My Lords, my noble friend has covered what happens in school, but that is just one area of activity. If it is done properly, school is merely part of a greater continuum that goes out into the community. The school sports partnerships were going to save the breakdown in the traditional links between small clubs, grass-roots sports and school, but they were not there for long enough for us to know whether they would. Many of us in both bits of the coalition Government thought that it was one of the weirdest things possible that they were kept going until the Olympics and then cancelled afterwards when we might have got some benefit. I got a small nod from the noble Lord, Lord Moynihan—a bigger one now—which says, “That’s exactly what we thought at the time”.

We also knew from that and from looking at studies that a big sporting event is great for tourism and volunteering but does not make any difference to grass-roots sport unless you back it up with something—with your inspiration. Schools have to work with the grass roots. In the amendments, we have the start of that structure, which we can go forward with. It is not just in this Bill or with this department. If we are going to lose lots of playing fields in the planning Bill, it does not matter what you do because you will not be playing anywhere else—probably not even at schools. We have to have something that goes forward. These amendments start to look slightly broader.

[Lord Moynihan (Con)]

My noble friend in sport mentioned playing fields. One of the most important roles that Sport England plays is that it is the statutory consultee for playing fields in this country. It was exceptionally worrying when, just a few months ago, the Government announced that they were putting out to consultation whether Sport England should continue that role. Does my noble friend in sport see anybody else performing that role? Will it not be even more damaging to playing fields in this country, which are so important to the public at large, if there is nobody among all the statutory consultees whose job it is to ensure their survival?

[Lord Addington (LD)]

The answer is yes, yes and yes. I hope that the Minister will make sure that her colleagues in other departments take this on board. I moved an amendment on the planning Bill seeking to ensure that this duty is still there. I know that I am asking the Minister to part the Red Sea and take the salt out at the same time, but I am hoping for two parts of government to talk to each other on this.

We want people to remain active for all the reasons that we have stated. Physical activity leads to better exam results, which we seem to forget. If schools are to provide the initial smorgasbord of finding the right form of physical activity for individuals’ physique, culture and temperament, then I hope that the Government talk across departments in support of these amendments. I would like to hear from the Minister that they are having a coherent look at this and that they will lead other departments to do something solid. The Department for Education is best placed. We could ask the Department of Health but it would get buried there. If a lead department takes this on, there is a chance of achieving some of these aims. These amendments, or ones like them, are essential to making sure that we have a duty saying, “This is what you should be doing”.

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[Baroness Smith of Malvern (Lab)]

Thank you. If you had seen how fast I did it—or how slowly—you might not have been quite so impressed.

Of course, it is not only organised sport that is important. As several noble Lords said, other ways of moving our bodies, including dancing, are also beneficial, although people who saw my performance on “Strictly” would not necessarily recognise any benefit that I gained from it—or that anybody watching it gained. However, the point is that physical activity, the opportunity to move in a whole variety of ways and the requirement to make that as inclusive as possible are really important and at the heart of what the Government are trying to do.

In June, the Prime Minister announced a new national approach to PE and school sport. This new approach will establish a PE and school sport partnership network, designed to build stronger links between schools, local clubs and national governing bodies—to the point made by the noble Lord, Lord Addington. Its aim is to identify and remove barriers to participation in PE and school sport, particularly for less active children, including girls and pupils with special educational needs and disabilities. The point made by several noble Lords, particularly the noble Lord, Lord Moynihan, about the need for this to be inclusive is very important. That is why we have recently announced a one-year grant of up to £300,000 to a consortium led by the Youth Sport Trust to deliver Inclusion 2028, a programme which upskills teachers to deliver high-quality, inclusive PE, school sport and physical activity to pupils with special educational needs and disabilities. This will be an important theme of the national approach as well.

Since the announcement on the school sport partnership network was made, the Department for Education, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and the Department of Health and Social Care—here I strongly agree with the noble Lord, Lord Addington, that, given the broader consequences, this needs to be a cross-government responsibility—have been working with the sector to co-design the partnerships, meeting with a range of organisations, including educational organisations and national governing bodies of sport, to discuss the key principles they would like to see in a new model.

Furthermore, the Department for Education is conducting market engagement events from 24 September to explore the procurement of a national delivery partner to design, implement and manage this new network from summer 2026. Procuring a national delivery partner reflects a significant investment in this approach. The market-testing phase will help shape the scope and scale of delivery, ensuring that any funding allocated is aligned with the ambition and impact we expect from a national partner. The intention is for the national partner leading the PE and school support partnerships network to distribute a significant budget each year to pay for targeted provision in local areas. The total funding for this will be confirmed as part of the department’s business planning.

In addition, we are working with experts to develop a new enrichment framework by the end of the year, highlighting best practice and considering how standardised benchmarks and tools can support schools. This will provide advice for schools on how to plan a high-quality strategic enrichment offer and how to make use of specific programmes to increase access to sport and arts.

[Lord Moynihan (Con)]

I make just two points that I am sure that the Minister will recognise. Many in the Committee this afternoon have been campaigning exceptionally hard for improved opportunities for young people in sport and recreation, irrespective of who has been in government. One of the great aspects of this House has been frequent cross-party support for making sure that we try to improve the provision of sport and recreation. I do not think it is a party-political point. I remember that, soon after the turn of the century, possibly the most important influence on Tony Blair’s decision to move forward with the bid for the Games was a debate in this Chamber which had completely cross-party support. One needs to be a little bit cautious before saying, “Why didn’t we speak out before?” Many of us have been speaking out like this for decades.

My second point is that I acknowledge—and I am grateful to the Minister for raising the fact—that the Prime Minister has indeed come forward with a whole range of initiatives on access to high-quality PE and sport for children, equal access, two hours of sport a week and a national network to build strong partnerships with clubs. We are just putting into an amendment what the Prime Minister himself said in June, to make sure that it is actually done. It has not been done by successive Prime Ministers—I must admit, of both political persuasions—but not least by Gordon Brown. There were fine words, but it was never put into practice. Will the Minister be the first to support me in coming back at Third Reading with everything that the Prime Minister said when he met the Lionesses, as clear mandates, so that we can enshrine it in legislation and make sure it happens for the young people of this country?