DD1463 Mayor’s Sports Participation Fund 2016

Background

1.1 As part of the UK’s bid to host the Olympic and Paralympic Games, the UK made a commitment to establish a sporting legacy. In order to deliver that commitment in London, the Mayor published ‘A Sporting Future for London’ in 2009 and made £15.5m available (Phase 1) to fund the Mayor’s Sports Legacy Programme (MSLP), focussing investment on infrastructure development, skills and capacity building, and initiatives designed to increase participation in grassroots sports (MD385).

1.2 Following the success of the Olympic and Paralympic Games, an additional £7m (Phase 2) was made available for the programme to invest from 2013, and a further £2.25m (Phase 3) from 2015, to ensure gains made in previous phases were sustained (MD1119 and MD1543).

1.3 Investment in the MSLP is focussed on three main categories:

• ‘Facilities’ – capital funding to support investment in community sports facilities;
• ‘Skills and Capacity Building’ – revenue funding to build capacity in the sport and active leisure sector, including training for volunteers;
• ‘Participation’ – revenue funding to support the expansion and growth of projects that provide opportunities for Londoners to take part in sport and stay active (including the ‘FreeSport’ small grants programme, and the ‘Make a Splash’ mobile pools initiative).

1.4 The Mayor’s Sports Participation Fund 2016 falls primarily under the third of these headings.

1.5 The approach to commissioning projects and objectives of the Mayor’s Sports Participation Fund 2016 were considered at the 18 August 2015 IPB meeting and subsequently approved by the Mayor under cover of MD1543.

Selection of Recommended Projects

1.6 A competitive application process for the Fund was launched in September 2015. Applicants were invited to apply for grants of between £100k and £175k to support projects taking place over two years. A funding prospectus, setting out the programme’s themes, priorities, and selection criteria was produced and made available online along with the application form.

1.7 Applicants had 6 weeks in which to apply and 33 applications were received. Applications were scored against the selection criteria set out in the prospectus. Each application was scored by two evaluators and then moderated by the Sports Team before a final process review with the Assistant Director of Health and Communities.

1.8 The 12 applications that scored highest against the selection criteria were shortlisted and invited to present to a panel chaired by the Mayor’s Commissioner for Sport and comprising two members of the London Sport Board. Independent comments on the shortlisted applications were also provided by Interactive (the strategic lead for sport for disabled people in London) and London Sport officers, again by reference to the selection criteria.

1.9 The 12 shortlisted applicants were interviewed and their applications were scrutinised in further detail against the scoring criteria. The resulting 11 highest scoring applications were recommended for funding by the panel (eight of which were recommended outright and any funding of the three further projects remains subject to clarification and further consideration and a further decision form will follow should they be able to satisfy the GLA’s requirements in this regard).

1.10 This paper seeks approval to fund the eight projects recommended outright by the panel. Negotiations continue with the three additional projects and a further decision form will follow should they be able to satisfy the panel’s proposed funding conditions.

Projects recommended for funding

1.11 The total cost of the eight projects is £1,680,000, with the GLA contributing £970,000. £900,000 will be directed from the MSLP Phase 3 budget, approved by MD1543, with the additional £70,000 and the £40,000 for project monitoring to be directed from uncommitted MSLP Phase 2 budget, approved by MD1119.

1.12 As the proposed funding stretches into the new Mayoralty, all funding agreements to be entered into will contain a break clause enabling the GLA to terminate funding agreements by serving 30 days’ notice to the projects.

Strategic Objectives

2.1 ‘A Sporting Future for London’ set out to deliver a grassroots sporting legacy from the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games by: (i) securing a sustained increase in participation in sport and physical activity amongst Londoners, (ii) using sport to assist in tackling social problems including ill health, crime, academic underachievement and lack of community cohesion. The strategy was underpinned by four goals, two of which are of particular relevance to the Mayor’s Sports Participation Fund 2016:

2.2 Goal 1 - Get more people active by tackling inactivity and inequality of access to sport and physical activity; and supporting local initiatives and innovative approaches to increasing participation.

2.3 Goal 3 - Build capacity and skills by recruiting, retaining and up-skilling the workforce; and supporting local sports clubs and volunteering.

Objectives of the Mayor’s Sports Participation Fund 2016
2.4 The Mayor’s Sports Participation Fund 2016 set out to fund the expansion of projects designed specifically with a focus on increasing regular participation in sport, with a strong focus on people who are currently classified as ‘inactive’, with all projects required to target one of two underrepresented demographic groups: women/girls and people over the age of 40 (see ‘Section 3 – Equalities comments’ for further information).

2.5 The notion of ‘expansion’ was a crucial consideration; the intention was to support established projects able to demonstrate a clear plan for growth – rather than projects simply looking to continue existing activity. In addition, projects were required to show how they will encourage participants to sustain their involvement and take part in regular sport or physical activity. With ‘regular participation’ defined as: taking part in at least one 30 minute (minimum duration) session of moderate intensity sport or physical activity per week.

Expected Outcomes

2.6 Over the two year funding term, the portfolio of eight projects is expected to deliver the following outcomes: approximately 19,000 new participants, 5,000 previously inactive participants, and 5,000 regular participants. In addition, all projects will also provide training to volunteers, and/or club development support to local delivery partners in order to aid sustainability and continuity of activity into the future. Specific targets for each project will be documented in individual funding agreements.

Project Monitoring

2.7 Objectives for each project and measures of success will be individually specified for all recipients. These will include the following indicators which will be monitored as standard:

- the number of project participants;
- the percentage and number of participants in each project who were previously classed as ‘inactive’ before joining the project;
- the percentage and number of regular participants;
- the percentage and number of disabled participants; and
- whether agreed milestones have been met throughout delivery.

2.8 The Sports Team is currently procuring for a software monitoring package that all projects will be required to use to ensure that the data we receive is as consistent, timely and reliable as possible.

2.9 Based on previous commissioning, we expect the cost to purchase a two year software license, including training, and IT support for the new portfolio, to be up to £40,000.

3.1 An equalities impact assessment has previously been undertaken on the Mayor’s Sports Legacy Programme.

3.2 Sport England research shows that rates of inactivity are significantly higher amongst women, older people, disabled people, and groups of BAME people.

3.3 According to the most recent Sport England Active People survey (APS 8 published in January 2015), levels of participation in sport and physical activity are variable across different socio-demographic groups in London. Across all 33 London Boroughs, average figures indicate that 43% of men participate in sport at least once a week compared to 32% of women. 37% of Black Asian Minority Ethnic (BAME) people participate weekly compared to 39% of people of white origin. 19% of disabled people participate weekly compared to 40% of non-disabled people. 17% of people over the age of 65 participate weekly compared to 52% of those between the age of 16 and 25. 41% of people from socio-economic groups 1 to 4 participate weekly compared to 25% from those from socio-economic groups 5-8 (based on the National Statistics Socio-economic classification system).

3.4 Projects to be funded through the Mayor’s Sports Participation Fund 2016 are required to engage with demographic groups that are traditionally less likely to participate in sport or physical exercise and all are required to target a minimum of 20% previously inactive participants.

Key Risks

Links to Mayoral Strategies & Priorities

The subject matter of the approval sought will:

• support delivery of Goals 1 and 3 set out in ‘A Sporting Future for London’, published in April 2009;
• support the aims of ‘Inclusive and Active 2’ strategy for increasing participation in sport and physical activity amongst disabled people in London;
• assist in meeting the objectives of the Mayor’s Health Inequalities Strategy;
• promote social development;
• assist the Mayor in delivering his commitment to a lasting sports legacy following the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Impact Assessments and Consultations

In writing ‘A Sporting Future for London’, the GLA Sports Unit consulted extensively with over 400 individuals from over 100 different groups and organisations including national governing bodies of sport, the Pro-Active Partnerships, senior representatives from local authorities and a wide variety of sports clubs and community organisations.

The conclusions reached received broad support from all key stakeholders and reaction to the plan itself has been very positive.

5.1 Approval is being sought for expenditure of up to £1.01m from the Mayor’s Sports Legacy Programme (MSLP) budget to support the delivery of eight projects at a cost of £0.97m as outlined in this document, and up to £0.04m for the formal monitoring of these projects.

5.2 Revenue costs of £0.90m will be funded from the MSLP Phase 3 budget which was phased over three years from 2015-16 to 2017-18 (approved by MD1543), with the additional £0.07m and the £0.04m for project monitoring to be directed from uncommitted MSLP Phase 2 budget (approved by MD1119).

6.1 The foregoing sections of this report indicate that:

6.1.1 the decisions requested of the director (pursuant to the Mayor’s delegation of powers recorded in MD1119) fall within the GLA’s statutory powers to do such things considered to further or which are facilitative of, conducive or incidental to the promotion of social development in Greater London; and

6.1.2 in formulating the proposals in respect of which a decision is sought officers have complied with the Authority’s related statutory duties to:

(a) pay due regard to the principle that there should be equality of opportunity for all people (further details on equalities are set out in section 3 above) and to the duty under section 149 of the 2010 Act to have due regard to the need to eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation as well as to advance equality of opportunity and foster good relations between people who share a protected characteristic and those who do not ;

(b) consider how the proposals will promote the improvement of health of persons, health inequalities between persons and to contribute towards the achievement of sustainable development in the United Kingdom; and

(c) consult with appropriate bodies.

6.2 Officers have indicated in the foregoing sections of this report that the expenditure proposed amounts to the provision of grant funding and not payment for services. Officers must ensure that:

6.2.1 the funding is distributed fairly, transparently, in accordance with the GLA’s equalities and in manner which affords value for money in accordance with the Contracts and Funding Code; and

6.2.2 an appropriate funding agreement is put in place between and executed by the GLA and proposed recipients before any commitment to fund is made.