1. Parliament

1.1 Alliance campaign to protect facilities from new planning proposals wins important support

The Communities and Local Government Select Committee has placed on record its support for the Sport and Recreation Alliance’s campaign to give sport and recreation facilities more protection under the proposed new National Planning Policy Framework.

In its report published today, the Committee has endorsed the idea that the framework should offer more protection for facilities by requiring that any recreation space destroyed as part of a development should be replaced by developers.

In a damning report, the Committee criticised several key elements of the Framework regarding its lack of clarity and presumption in favour of development. The department must now respond to all specific recommendations, including the Alliance’s campaign to protect recreational spaces.

The Committee’s recognition that the planning system should be a tool to enable communities to plan for sport and recreation facilities is a boost to supporters of community sport. The Department for Communities and Local Government must now respond to the recommendations of the Committee. This is likely to happen in early-2012 when it also responds to the public consultation.

Read the National Planning Policy Framework Report.

Read the Communities and Local Government Commitee Announcement.

1.2 Lighter Later

The Lighter Later campaign is reaching its next crucial stage, with the Bill’s third reading taking place on 20 January 2012. If it’s passed, the Government will be committed to researching the effect of shifting the clocks forward by one hour throughout the year.

Many of you supported this campaign at its previous stage, which resulted in 100 MPs attending in favour of the Bill at the second reading, and we are grateful for your support. We now ask you to continue to actively support the campaign at this crucial stage.

We need to remind MPs of the benefits of this once-in-a-generation opportunity and ask them to attend – as every vote in favour is vital. You can help us to make history by:

1) Contacting supportive MPs and asking them to put 20 January 2012 in their diary – remind them that their vote could make the difference.
2) Asking your clubs, groups or members to promote this online tool on their newsletters, website and Twitter which makes it much easier to write to your MP.
http://action.lighterlater.org/project/get-lobbying
3) Tweet about the Lighter Later campaign to spread the word! Use #LighterLater and share this link: http://action.lighterlater.org/project/get-lobbying.

1.3 Sports Parliamentarian of the Year

John Woodcock MP has been named the first ever Sport and Recreation Alliance Sports Parliamentarian of the Year in an award ceremony at the House of Commons. His campaign centred on a Private Member’s Bill calling for a ‘Community Right to Buy’ for bowling greens under threat from development. He gathered support from bowlers across England and caught the attention of the national media, including BBC’s The One Show.

Read more about the nominees and see the judges’ statement.

1.4 Protection of Freedoms Bill

Proposed changes to the vetting and barring system were considered by the House of Lords earlier this month as the Protection of Freedoms Bill reached committee stage. Speaking on behalf of the sport and recreation sector, Baroness Heyhoe-Flint, Lord Addington and Baroness Grey-Thompson all sought assurances from the Government on the scope of ‘regulated activity’ and which roles within clubs would be subject to criminal record checks.

In response, Lord Henley confirmed that the Government would consult sport and recreation organisations when drafting guidance specific to the sector. There was also further debate about whether criminal records information should be shared with registered bodies. While the Minister stood firm on ending the automatic sending of disclosures to registered bodies, he did agree to continue meeting with the Sport and Recreation Alliance to discuss this aspect of the Bill.

Read the full transcript of the Protection of Freedoms debate.

Contact Simon Butler for further information.

1.5 Parliamentary debates

Sport and youth crime

Damian Collins, MP for Folkestone and Hythe, held a debate in the House of Commons on how sport can be used to tackle anti-social behaviour, engage with young offenders, improve attendance and performance at school and restore confidence among the most hard-to-reach young people. He argued for a unified approach from Government and further analysis of the work which is already done by sports organisations.

Responding to the issues raised, Home Office Minister Nick Herbert said that sport had “huge value in preventing offending”, supporting the call for more research on the value of sport-based interventions.

Read the full transcript of the debate on youth crime and sport.

1.6 Debates on school sport

Two debates took place in early December on school sport. The first, put forward by Lord Addington, focused on the impact of school-age sport for participation in later life. He highlighted the high drop-out rates at the ages of 16, 18 and 21, and suggested that “we have never had a system within schools that has reached out to everybody and provided them with a basis for the rest of their sporting life.”

He also cautioned against placing too much focus on competitive sport, arguing that it should not be provided in place of an enjoyable experience. In other contributions, Baroness Heyhoe-Flint highlighted the role played by governing bodies in increasing opportunities for sport - referring to the success of the England and Wales Cricket Board’s Chance to Shine initiative - and Baroness Billingham voiced her anger about the removal of funding for School Sports Partnerships in 2010.

Baroness Grey-Thompson suggested that daily PE lessons at the end of the day would help young people to get into the habit of physical activity, and stressed that more needed to be done to engage girls and women in sport.

Read the full transcript of the debate.

In a second school sports debate in the House of Commons, former Sports Minister, Gerry Sutcliffe MP and current Shadow Sport Minister, Clive Efford MP argued that the removal of ring-fenced funding for school sports partnerships had seriously undermined the delivery of sport for young people.

This claim was rejected by Education Minister Tim Loughton, who highlighted the current expansion of school games at regional and national level, and extra funding for the promotion of disability sport.

Read the full transcript of the debate.

2. Campaigns and policies

2.1 Department for Education announces reviews of national curriculum

The Department for Education (DfE) has launched a raft of papers which analyses its current review of the national curriculum that includes:

• the report of the review’s expert panel - setting out their recommendations in relation to the framework for the new National Curriculum
• a summary of the evidence gathered about curricula for English, mathematics and science in high performing jurisdictions
• a research report looking at subject breadth in the curricula used in other education jurisdictions
• a summary report of the responses to the review’s call for evidence.

The upshot of the reviews is that DfE will announce a new timetable for implementation early in 2012 which will see the implementation of changes for English, mathematics, science and sport put back from 2013 to 2014.

The Alliance will be continue to promote the role of sport and recreation in the national curriculum when the new action plan is announced next year.

Read the DfE’s national curriculum review update.

2.2 Capital allowances for sports stadia

The Office of Tax Simplification has announced the outcome of its consultation on 36 different tax reliefs, including capital allowances for safety improvements at sports grounds.

The Alliance had discussions with HM Revenue and Customs, the Department of Culture Media and Sport, and HM Treasury officials arguing that reliefs should stand, as they were applicable to new as well as existing sports grounds that required on-going safety reviews and improvements.

However, the Government has decided that the intent of the original legislation has been achieved and that, while the letter of the law may see these allowances applied to new stadia, this was not the intent of the original legislation. The capital allowances are therefore earmarked to be repealed.

2.3 Paths for communities

The Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), has announced a funding package to support rural tourism, including a £3 million grant scheme called Paths for Communities.

Natural England will administer the scheme, encouraging local communities to work with landowners to enhance local footpaths to deliver wider benefit. It will also offer a public rights of way network with more appeal to visitors and tourists who will contribute to the rural economy.

Natural England has confirmed that the scheme will deliver dedicated rights of way rather than permissive agreements. Given the emphasis on delivering wider benefit the projects chosen are likely to include paths which allow a mixture of pedestrian, cycle and equestrian access.

The Alliance’s view
This funding package is a small amount of money given the size of the public rights of way network. However it will offer communities the opportunity to make permanent improvements. The Alliance will alert you when information about the competitive grant scheme is published.

For further information contact Martin Key.

2.4 Independent Panel on Forestry

The Independent Panel on Forestry, tasked with reviewing public policy related to all woods and forests, has launched its progress report.

The Alliance’s view
The panel has recognised the value of woodland for outdoor recreation and would like the number of actively managed woods to increase. However, the Alliance would like to see greater emphasis placed on the promotion of organised competitive events such as rallying and orienteering as they are often more attractive to land managers than allowing informal recreational access.

The report recognises the value in having a public forest estate which is managed in a way which provides public benefits. It also recognises that the public values recreational and sporting access to woodlands for a variety of activities. However, there is a long way to go if David Cameron’s promise of increasing access to woodlands is to be fulfilled.

The Alliance will be working with the Forestry Commission in 2012 to explore how opportunities for sport and recreation can be increased in the all woodlands by working with its members.

For more information contact Martin Key.

2.5 CASC update

As part of its on-going work to improve the Community Amateur Sports Club (CASC) scheme, the Alliance met with HM Revenue (HMRC) and Customs and HM Treasury officials to discuss some of the technical problems and operational issues that governing bodies are experiencing with the scheme, such as junior voting rights, payments to players and the ordinary benefits requirement.

The meeting was positive and HMRC has promised to examine several key issues. Before the end of the year the Alliance will also be meeting with the Economic Secretary to the Treasury, Chloe Smith MP, to encourage HM Treasury to make policy and legislative changes to bolster the scheme.

For more information about the Alliance’s CASC work contact David Foster.

Find out more about the CASC scheme.

3. Consultations

3.1 Charities Act 2006

A clause in the Charities Act 2006 obliged the Government to conduct a review of its legislation within five years of it coming into force. The Minister for Civil Society has appointed Lord Hodgson to conduct the official review and he will deliver his findings in mid-2012.

The Alliance’s View
A broad remit has been set with particular attention paid relating to the definition of charity – something of interest to sport in light of the Charity Commission’s desire to review advanced amateur sport as a charitable aim.

The Alliance has already met with the National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO), which has set up an advisory group to discuss the primary concerns of the sports sector, many of which were outlined in our response to the Charity Commission’s consultation on advancing amateur sport as a charitable aim.

We will also be writing directly to Lord Hodgson in the coming weeks with our recommendations on how the Act can be improved to assist charitable sport.

For more information or to feed into the Alliance’s submission to Lord Hodgson contact David Foster.

3.2 Music licensing consultation

The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) has just launched a consultation on collecting societies such as music licensers who collect money from sports clubs, dance schools and community centres. The consultation asks whether collecting societies should have codes of conducts which control how they operate. The Alliance would welcome guidelines for the industry to ensure sport and recreation is treated proportionately. The Alliance will review the topic in full in the New Year ahead of the March 21 deadline.

Read the BIS consultation.

3.3 On-going consultations

See last month’s policy update for information on on-going consultation reviews, including the Gambling Commission’s assessment of insider information and on school playing fields.

3.4 Completed consultations

See our website for the Alliance’s completed consultation responses on BBC Delivering Quality First, the Lighter Later campaign and on gambling commission fees.

4. Europe

4.1 Europe discusses governance and funding

As the Polish presidency of the European Union (EU) comes to a close, the EU sports directors met in Gdansk to hand over their work to the Danish presidency. The Polish Government’s final conference looked at governance and the funding of grassroots sport. The Sport and Recreation Alliance’s voluntary code of good governance was held up as a model of good practice by the Polish presidency and was highlighted in their concluding papers, setting it high on the agenda for the next Danish presidency.

Find out how you can implement the Voluntary Code of Good Governance in your organisation.

4.2 The EU reviews VAT

The European Commission recently published the results of its VAT Green Paper consultation, which outlines the EC’s proposals for modernising the existing EU VAT Directive. The Sport and Recreation Alliance submitted a response defending the existing exemptions and reduced rates that sport in Europe benefits from.

The Alliance’s view
The sports movement and not-for profit sectors were well represented in the consultation process and echoed the Alliance’s calls to maintain existing provisions for sport. However, the EC has reiterated in a recent paper to the European Parliament that reduced rates and exemptions should ideally be kept to a minimum to ease administrative burdens.

The paper, which sets out the principles that should guide the review of exemptions and reduced rates will guide the launch of an assessment of the current VAT rates structure in 2012, making proposals after consultation with stakeholders and member states by the end of 2013.

Even though the UK doesn’t implement all the exemptions for sport that are allowed for in the EU VAT Directive, the Alliance will continue to lobby for sport to retain these reduced rates, in the hope that they can be implemented at some time in the future.

For more information on fiscal or taxation issues in the UK and Europe, contact David Foster.

4.3 Funding grassroots sport from Europe

The European Commission (EC) presented its legislative proposals for the next structural funds period (2014-2020) in October, where sport is not mentioned in the draft regulations for the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and the European Social Fund (ESF).

The Alliance’s view
The Alliance is disappointed, as there had been very positive signs from the EC that sport would be included – meaning that more grassroots sport projects in the EU would have been able to benefit from European funding.

Earlier this year, the European Parliament called for sport to be incorporated in the regulations on structural funding in its report on Advancing the European Dimension in Sport, while it was one of the key recommendations to come from the House of Lords report into Grassroots Sport and the EU.

The Alliance takes the view that sport can contribute significantly to the objectives set out in the EC’s Europe 2020 strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth and will be writing to relevant MEP’s in the coming weeks to encourage them to look upon sport favourably when these regulations are debated in Parliament.

We would encourage our members to do the same and further information on how to do this including a template letter will be available on our website in due course. In the meantime, contact David Foster for further information.

5 Research

5.1 The economic impact of events

Major sporting events tend to bring economic benefits to the host city, and the Alliance has gathered existing research that demonstrates this.

For example, the Open Championship 2011 generated a £77m benefit to the county of Kent and the British Grand Prix generates an economic impact of approximately £39 million annually.

The Alliance will be working to provide you with an easy-to-use model for measuring the economic impact of major sporting events that can help with bidding, applying for funding and reporting on the success of an event.

If you are interested in working with the Alliance on this research contact Syann Cox.

5.2 Research in 2012

The Alliance has plenty of new projects planned for the New Year to help you and your clubs, some which are below:

The Wider Value of Sport: a literature review to demonstrate that local authority resources invested in sport and recreation is money well spent.

Licensing: a project stemming from the Unshackling Good Neighbours report, to simplify what licences a club needs to register for and how these may differ by sport.

Business rates: analysis to understand the impact that business rate changes are having on clubs, to use this data to negotiate better business rates for clubs.

For more details on any of the research projects above get in touch with Syann Cox.

5.3 Sports Club Survey 2013

The Alliance is already thinking about how to make its research even more valuable to its members, by offering a more bespoke approach and asking the questions you need to know the answers to, to your clubs.

This will mean different sports will get asked different questions, although all clubs will still be asked some of the same key questions on, for example, finances and membership. If you are interested in finding out what’s happening with your clubs in 2013, then get in touch with Syann Cox now so she can make the survey as useful as possible for you.