In July 2023 the Department published an update to the school sport and activity action plan, which will support teachers and schools to deliver two hours of high quality physical education (PE) and provide competitive and extracurricular opportunities to all pupils.

The primary PE and sport premium supports all primary schools to make additional and sustainable improvements to the quality of the PE, physical activity and sport they offer, complemented by a wide range of extracurricular sport and competitive opportunities. The Department has announced over £600 million across the 2023/23 and 2024/25 academic years for the premium, along with £22 million for the school games organiser network.

New, non-statutory guidance will be published by the end of 2023. This aims to communicate a range of approaches to all schools for successfully delivering a minimum of 2 hours PE per week, equality of access to PE and extracurricular school sport and competition using examples from different types of schools and locations.

The Department is funding up to £57 million to deliver phase three of the Opening School Facilities programme, which allows schools to open their sports facilities outside of the core school day to provide more extracurricular opportunities for pupils and communities to play sport and be physically active. The programme is targeted where the funding will have the most positive impact, including for girls, disadvantaged children, those with special educational needs and disabilities and other groups who have lower participation levels in sport.

The Department is also investing up to £289 million to support local authorities and providers in England to introduce or expand childcare provision for primary school aged children as part of the national wraparound childcare programme. This could include the use of Ofsted registered childcare providers that specialise in sports provision and physical activities.

The provision of recreational and fitness facilities in each force is a matter for the Chief Constable and Police and Crime Commissioner in England and Wales.

While the health, safety and wellbeing of the police workforce is primarily the responsibility for the leaders in each force, this government is determined that no member of the police workforce should suffer detriment as a result of their job. That is why we have introduced the Police Covenant and continue to work with policing partners to ensure the workforce gets the right support and protection.

The Government published its cross-government School Sport and Activity Action Plan in July 2019, which sets out a number of actions to increase levels of physical activity for all children in England, providing them with greater opportunities to do 60 minutes of physical activity every day during and outside the school day. The Government has confirmed its intention to publish an update to this action plan later in 2021.

The Department has focused on ensuring that pupils have opportunities to be fit and active as part of education recovery. In addition to additional funding for recovery, the Department has confirmed £320 million for the physical education (PE) and sport premium in the next academic year. Schools have the flexibility to use the premium to provide additional opportunities, including engaging the least active children in PE and sport. The Department has taken steps to relax the ring-fencing arrangements for the PE and sport premium in the 2019 to 2020 academic year to allow any unspent grant to be carried forward into the 2020 to 2021 academic year. Any under-spends carried forward from the 2019 to 2020 academic year will need to be spent in full by the end of the 2020 to 2021 academic year.

The Department has also provided £10.1 million to provide support to schools to reopen sport facilities outside of the school day. We are also funding the Holiday Activities and Food Fund and Summer Schools programmes, which are targeted towards children from lower socio-economic groups and will help to maintain activity over the summer holidays.

From 17th May, over 18’s performing arts classes and activities are permitted indoors and outdoors, within the legal gathering limits. Indoors, people can take part in non-professional performing arts activities in a group of up to 6 people, or as a group of 2 households/bubbles. Activities can take place with multiple permitted groups, provided the groups are kept separate throughout the activity, and the event is organised in line with the organised events guidance for local authorities. However, non-professional singing indoors should only take place in a single group of up to 6 people.

In all settings, social distancing should be maintained between people who do not live together or share a bubble. A group made up of 2 households can include more than 6 people, but only where all members of the group are from the same 2 households/bubbles.

For under 18’s, from step 3, where wraparound and other extracurricular activities for children are taking place indoors, they will be able to take place in groups of any number. However, when considering appropriate group sizes, it will be important to take into account factors outlined in the Out of School Settings Guidance, such as the recommended occupancy levels of the premises the provider is operating from, and levels of ventilation.

In Step 3, indoor sport is exempt from the gathering limits for adults and children where it is formally organised (for example, by a national governing body, business or charity) and follows measures including COVID-secure guidance. Organised indoor sport must adhere to the relevant capacity restrictions for indoor sport facilities including allowing a minimum of 100sqft per person for all people in the venue. This applies to organised indoor (individual and team) sports, indoor exercise classes and organised sports participation events.

From 17th May, over 18’s performing arts classes and activities are permitted indoors and outdoors, within the legal gathering limits. Indoors, people can take part in non-professional performing arts activities in a group of up to 6 people, or as a group of 2 households/bubbles. Activities can take place with multiple permitted groups, provided the groups are kept separate throughout the activity, and the event is organised in line with the organised events guidance for local authorities. However, non-professional singing indoors should only take place in a single group of up to 6 people.

In all settings, social distancing should be maintained between people who do not live together or share a bubble. A group made up of 2 households can include more than 6 people, but only where all members of the group are from the same 2 households/bubbles.

For under 18’s, from step 3, where wraparound and other extracurricular activities for children are taking place indoors, they will be able to take place in groups of any number. However, when considering appropriate group sizes, it will be important to take into account factors outlined in the Out of School Settings Guidance, such as the recommended occupancy levels of the premises the provider is operating from, and levels of ventilation.

In Step 3, indoor sport is exempt from the gathering limits for adults and children where it is formally organised (for example, by a national governing body, business or charity) and follows measures including COVID-secure guidance. Organised indoor sport must adhere to the relevant capacity restrictions for indoor sport facilities including allowing a minimum of 100sqft per person for all people in the venue. This applies to organised indoor (individual and team) sports, indoor exercise classes and organised sports participation events.

The Chief Medical Officer is clear that being physically active is important to long-term health and crucial for keeping people healthy. Sports and physical activity have been shown to treat, manage and prevent a range of conditions including heart disease, cancers, diabetes, stress, depression or anxiety. It can also bring communities together and tackle issues such as loneliness. That’s why we have continued to make sure that people can exercise throughout the national and the local tiered restrictions.

Sport England’s Active Lives Adult and Children surveys provide information not only on activity levels but also on social outcomes such as physical and mental wellbeing too. The latest reports can be found here.

Furthermore, last month Sport England published its new strategy Uniting the Movement which sets out their 10 year vision to transform lives and communities through sport and physical activity. The strategy seeks to tackle the inequalities we have seen in sport and physical activity and provide opportunities to people that have traditionally been left behind including women and those with a disability, helping to remove barriers to activity.

The Department is aware that Versus Arthritis has produced a range of guidance for commissioners, clinicians, patients and the public to improve musculoskeletal health.

Commissioners draw on a range of evidence and guidance when planning and delivering for local populations, such as that produced by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, and guidance produced by charities such as Versus Arthritis.

The Health Survey for England 2012, shows that in England 33% of men and 45% of women (aged 16 and over) are not meeting the Chief Medical Officers’ (CMOs) guidelines for physical activity for adults. This survey also shows that for Boys and Girls aged 5-15 years 79% and 84% respectively are not meeting the physical activity guidelines for this age group of at least 60 minutes per day. Data for Wales is a matter for the Welsh Government.

The Active People Survey (2012), shows 34% of adults (aged 16 and over) in Havering are not achieving the CMOs guidelines for physical activity.