Sport England Sports Development Services - Case Study Example

BA (Hons) Coaching & Sports Development Developing Sport 2 Assignment Sport England No Table of contents Table of Contents…………………………………………………………………… 2 Sport England: Description…………………………………………………………...3 Sport England Sports Development Services………………………………………...5 Sport England’s Organisation Structure.......................................................................6 Role with Partner Organisation.....................................................................................8 Financial History & Analysis........................................................................................9 Political Direction..........................................................................................................12 Conclusion…………………………………………………………………………….13 References…………………………………………………………………………….14 CHAPTER 1 Sport England: Description Sport England is a public body charged with the responsibility of building the foundations of sporting success in England through the creation of a world-class environment of sports in the community in respect to clubs, coaches/ managers, facilities and volunteers. Falling under the Department of Culture, Media and Sport, Sport England works with national governing bodies of each kind of sport to increase the number of people in England engaging in sports and sustain these numbers. The history of Sport England can be traced back to 1972, when the Sports Council was established by the Royal Charter. The Sports Council was later renamed the English Sports Council in 1997, which was later branded as Sport England. The transformation just described was in line with shifts in strategies towards modernisation and better service delivery. The agency is currently under the chairmanship of Richard Lewis who has overseen the 2008-2011 strategic shifts towards influential sports development in the future (SportEngland.org, 2011). Guided by the mission statement that Sport England seeks to create a world leading community sports environment, the agency pursues a vibrant culture in sporting through partnering with several stakeholders including national governing bodies, local governments, county sport partnerships and community organisations. The agency currently invests £480 million directly to 46 national sport governing bodies, protects playing fields, advocates for community sports and provides consultancy in sport matters. Sports England’s driving aims are centred on three philosophies. First is growth, here it targets one million more individuals engaging in sport. Sustenance is the second which involves satisfaction of more people from sport and reduction of the proportion of 16-18 year old teenagers dropping out of sporting activities to less than 25%. Lastly is the improvement through the development of talent in at least different 25 sports (SportEngland.org, 2011). In the pursuit of its mission, Sport England faces several challenges. According to Houlihan and Green (2009), Sport England and its fellow sports agency, UK Sports are burdened by the fact that they generate too many and much often short term initiatives. Overlapping mandates and responsibilities also inhibit their operations just as complexity and lack of clear strategies do. The problem of changes in government policy is also a challenge, with O’Dowd (2011) reporting that the coalition government has reversed on its predecessor’s pledge to boost physical exercise and sport and instead is in consultations with Sport England for other alternatives. Some of these challenges and weakness are, however, considerably countered by Sport England’s new strategic move which was rolled out to cover 2008-2011 (National Archives, 2008). This new strategy is strength to Sport England since it clarifies its mandate from Youth Sports Trust, UK Sports and the National Governing Bodies (NGBs), which effectively enhance its focus and help to establish modalities for cooperation with such partners. Keeping to the 2008-2011 strategy is the way for Sport England to achieve its mission especially in light of the forthcoming London Olympics. The other strength is the commitment to environmentally sustainable development in design and management of sport facilities (Sport England, 2007). CHAPTER 2 Sport England Sports Development Services Sport England’s role in development of sports services takes different shapes according to its statutory functions and its set goals. It has two statutory functions, the first is sport Lottery distribution and the second is protection of playing fields. Government and Lottery money is distributed directly through 46 national governing bodies while also providing open funding streams through which other organisations may apply through (SportEngland.org, 2010; Kavanagh and Page, 2009). In terms of its playing field protection role, Sport England is consulted whenever there are cases of potential developments threatening community playing fields. Sport England also provides consultative advice to individuals or organisations interested in sport planning, facilities, coaching, volunteering in sports. For example, Sport England undertakes markets segmentation on which it bases advice on, plans for new facilities, project evaluations, funding decisions and partnering (Torkildsen, 2010). It is also committed to widening participation in sporting and physical activities, in England (Aitken, 2008). As Brentwood Borough Council (2007) attests, Sport England is helping increase participation in sports from sections of the society with low participation rates such as children, ethnic minorities, individuals with low incomes or the unemployed, women and girls and the disabled. CHAPTER 3 Sport England’s Organisation Structure Under the chairman appointed by the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, Sport England’s organisational structure consists of three main levels; a Main Board, an Executive Team and lastly, the Directorates. The Main Board is charged with determining the strategic direction of Sport England, and provision of an extra level of governance besides also supporting the Executive Team with advice. The role of the Executive Team involves the day-to-day running of the agency’s business. In doing this, Sport England has a total of eleven administrative offices in England; a central office in London, 9 local offices in each of its 9 regions, and lastly, a shared office for the reception and response to funding applications and queries (SportEngland.org, 2011). The third level of the organisation is the Directorates/teams under executive directors. This is categorised into 8 according to partners and work description. The Commercial team undertakes the search and coordination of operations with commercial partners to generate funds for community sport. The Communications and Public Affairs Directorate has the responsibility of engaging the partners and the public to give them insight on Sport England and how to partner or access funds. Facility and Planning undertakes developing, supporting and maintaining buildings and other sporting facilities. The Financial and Corporate team undertakes back-office roles such as legal services, financing and IT to ensure Sport England runs smoothly. The NGB and Sport directorate engages the NGBs to help them achieve their targets in participation, development of talent and satisfaction. The Research and Strategy Directorate generates evidence about community sports and monitors Sport England’s progress against the set goals. Finally, the Youth and Community team seeks to get more children and adults engaging in sports, developing more sports in more local places through partnering locally (SportEngland.org, 2011). CHAPTER 4 Role with Partner Organisation In order for Sport England to succeed in achievement of its goals, it has to work closely and harmoniously with several organisations. The first category of search organisations is its sister bodies in the national sporting landscape; UK Sport and Youth Sports Trust. The UK Sport is the body charged with developing and managing sports in the UK through cooperation with the home countries’ organisations, where Sport England becomes involved (Game Plan, 2008). The Youth Sport Trust has the mandate to manage school sports (Youth Sports Trust, 2005), and then cooperates with Sport England to ensure youths seamlessly migrate from school sport to community sport (Sport England 2007). The other major partners who work with Sport England in terms of funds, provision of advice, fields’ protection and other roles include; the NGBs for the various sports played in England; the local authorities who help identify areas of priority; County sports partnerships; the Higher and further education departments; players from the commercial sector and lastly the London Organising Committee for the oncoming Olympic games. Besides working with each body separately, Sport England is also involved in ironing out any differences that may arise between such bodies, for example, conflicts of interest or broken relationships between local government councils and NGBs (Audit Commission, 2006). CHAPTER 5 Financial History & Analysis Sport England falls under the Department of Culture, Media and Sports, which is responsible for the UK government’s policy on sport and thus in extension the injection of funds to develop and manage sport in the UK in terms of grant-in-aid and Lotteries (DCMS, 2003: Trimble et al., 2009). This means that Sport England gets its funding from the Exchequer (grant-in-aid finances) and the National Lottery both historically and presently, from which it has distributed hundreds of millions in grant-in-aid and billions in Lotteries, in England. Sport England is supposed to present its end year financial statements to parliament for both grant-in-aid financing and the national lottery as per legal statutes. Since the agency is mainly a distributor, its financial records are usually presented as financing rather than income over a given period. To begin with the grant-in-aid, the latest financial positions from this basis indicates that Sport England distributed £121.4m in the year 2010-11, down from £134.4m in 2009-10, with the reason for the decrease in funding attributed to the withdrawal of the Free Swimming plan. Out of this, Sport England awarded £98.1m in 2010-11 down from £111.4m in 2009-10. In the same financial year, the agency’s noncurrent assets amounted to £63.3m while its Exchequer tax payers’ equity was £50.9m. In terms of the Lottery funding, Sport England received £134.6m up from £126.9m in 2009-10, which was distributed as follows: NGB Funding £4.5m Football Foundation - County Sports Partnerships £9.8m Community Investment Fund £11.8m Small Grants £7.0m Themed Rounds £13.9m Innovation £0.9m School Games £1.2m Olympic Venues £10.5m Sustainable Facilities £6.7m Other Grants £0.7m Total £67.0m (Source: Sport England Annual Reports and Accounts, 2010-2011) It is observed that the agency is in a financially healthy position with its aggregate costs dropping to 8.1% from 8.8% as shown in below Operating Costs as a Percentage of Revenue 2010-11 2009-10 Exchequer 9.3% 9.0% Lottery 7.3% 8.5% Aggregate 8.1% 8.8% (Source: Sport England Annual Reports and Accounts, 2010-2011) CHAPTER 6 Political Direction As with any other agency in a country, Sport England also experiences the effects of political dynamics with changes in government following electioneering. The commitments and priorities of different governments differ, such that while the predecessor may prioritise sports development in the country the incoming government may reverse such policies or vice versa. This analysis will seek to establish the major points in which political influence has had an impact on the direction of Sport England or its parent bodies. The first point of consideration is the Conservative government’s policy in 1995 dubbed Raising the Game. This was to be centred on a lot of commitment and funds to the sports agencies from the National Lottery which was a proposal at that time. A paradigm shift in sport was observed when the Labour government came into power in 1997; identifying the entire organisation of national sports as the problem and thus seeking to shift radically it from the Conservative’s policy. The result of this shift was modernisation of Sport England and change of its emphasis from delivery to strategic. Here, the agency was to ensure that the funds channelled were properly spent rather than just being a tool for delivery of the funds. Accountability was also prioritised as Sport England was now required to establish outcome-driven targets upon which appraisal by the Department of Culture, Media and Sport would be done. Its roles were also defined clearly from those of UK Sport. The implications of the Labour government’s actions were transforming Sport England into an entirely modernised agency that could provide strategic leadership to English sport (Houlihan and Green, 2009). Another instance of the coalition government influence is the 2011 move to shift Sport England’s original strategy of increasing the people engaged in sports three or more times a week or by a million. Instead, the government is now in talks with Sport England to establish a different strategy to increase participation in sport (O’Dowd, 2011). Conclusion Sport England is the national agency charged with distribution of Lotteries and Exchequer finances to develop sporting activities in England. Falling under the Department of Culture, Media and Sport, it is organised into a Main Body, Executive Team and Directorates and has eleven offices across the country. The agency performs its functions through partnering with various bodies involved in sports, which it funds, cooperates with and provides advice on sport matters. Elements of political influence on its strategic direction can be observed throughout its timeline. References Aitken, H. (2008). Widening participation in sport and physical activity: Clues and tactics from the active England programme. Retrieved 30 October 2011 from http://www.aelz.org/files/documents/Widening%20participation%20in%20sport%20and%20phys%20activity%20-%20Clues%20and%20Tactics.pdf Audit Commission (2006). Public sports and recreation services: Making them fit for the future. Retrieved 30 October 2011 from http://www.audit-commission.gov.uk/SiteCollectionDocuments/AuditCommissionReports/NationalStudies/leisure_finalproof.pdf Brentwood Borough Council (2007). Sport development strategy 2001-2011. Retrieved 30 October 2011 from http://www.brentwood.gov.uk/pdf/pdf_1246.pdf DCMS (2003). Annex 3: Sport science and research. Retrieved 30 October 2011 from http://www.bis.gov.uk/assets/bispartners/goscience/docs/science-review-dcms/annex-3.pdf Houlihan, B. And Green, M. (2009). Modernization and sport: The reform of sport England and UK sport. PSA, UK. Kavanagh, K. & Page, A. (2009). Sport England: Clubmark external verification year three final report April 2009. Retrieved 30 October 2011 from http://www.bab.org.uk/downloads/EV_report_year_3__2_.pdf National Archives (2008). Sport England strategy 2008-2011. Retrieved 30 October 2011 from http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20090105001154/http://www.sportengland.org/text/sport_england_strategy_2008-2011.pdf O’Dowd, A. (2011). Government drops original pledge to boost physical. BMJ, 342: d2273. Sport England (2011). Annual report and accounts 2010 – 2011. LONDON, The Stationery Office. Sport England. (2011). Sport England: About us. Retrieved 30 October 2011 from http://www.sportengland.org/about_us/what_we_do.aspx Sport England (2007a). Sport England’s role and links to Youth Sport Trust and UK Sport. Retrieved 30 October 2011 from http://www.imspa.co.uk/news/enews/enews76/SportEngland-What_we_do.pdf Sport England (2007b). Environmental Sustainability: Promoting sustainable design for sport. Retrieved 30 October 2011 from http://www.eclipse-research.co.uk/Other/environmental_sustainability.pdf Sport England (2008). Funding sport in the community. Retrieved 30 October 2011 from http://www.rya-yorkshire.org/documents/News/SE%20Funding%20in%20the%20community.pdf Torkildsen, G. (2010). Torkildsens sport and leisure management. 6th Edn. UK, Routledge. Trimble, L. et al. (2009). Sport in the UK. UK, Learning Matters. Read More