The on-site security company at each quarantine hotel arranges exercise breaks, which are facilitated where possible. These are prioritised based on need, so people with a health requirement or families with children are prioritised.

In summer 2020, Public Health England launched the ‘Better Health’ programme with a high-profile television, radio and digital campaign to support the nation to take simple steps to look after their physical and mental health. The Better Health programme directs people to evidence-based apps and tools to support them make and sustain changes to improve their health. This includes the NHS 12-week Weight Loss app, Couch to 5K, Mind Plan and Active 10.

In 2019, the United Kingdom Chief Medical Officers issued guidelines on the amount and type of physical activity we should aim to do at each stage of our lives. The guidelines reinforce the importance of muscle strength and cardiovascular activities across all age groups for better physical as well as mental health and wellbeing.

On 18 December 2021 the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, the Royal College of General Practitioners and the Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network published a guideline on the management of the long term effects of COVID-19. A copy of COVID-19 rapid guideline: managing the long-term effects of COVID-19 is attached. In developing the guideline, an expert panel undertook an evidence review into self-pacing and graded forms of exercise.

The panel considered the careful self-pacing of exercise to be an important element of self-management. However, they concluded that in the absence of evidence relating to people with ongoing symptoms from COVID-19, it could not make specific recommendations. A copy of COVID-19 rapid guideline: managing the long-term effects of COVID-19 (NG188). Evidence review 5: interventions is attached. COVID-19 is a new disease and therefore it is not yet clear what the physical, psychological and rehabilitation needs will be for those experiencing long term effects of the virus.

Defra recognises the crucial importance of having good access to green spaces for people’s health and well-being. The 25 Year Environment Plan sets out our comprehensive and long-term approach to protecting and enhancing our natural landscapes in England for the next generation, and to helping people improve their health and wellbeing by using green spaces.

There are a wide range of initiatives within Defra which are helping to increase access to green spaces across the whole of England. These include, but are not limited to:

• Trees for Climate programme
• Green Recovery Challenge Fund
• Green Social Prescribing Project
• Engagement with Protected Landscapes to improve access
• Nature for Climate Fund
• Schemes that reward environmental land benefits
• National Framework of Green Infrastructure Standards
• Development of the England Coast Path and a new north coast to coast National Trail

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) has responsibility for urban parks and green spaces. MHCLG is aiming to explore how it can best support all urban parks and green spaces, taking into account the Government’s environmental, social, and health priorities.

Sports and physical activity are crucial for our mental and physical health. That’s why we have continued to make sure that people can exercise throughout the national restrictions and why we have ensured that grassroots and children’s sport is front of the queue when easing those restrictions.

On Monday 22 February, the Prime Minister announced a roadmap out of the current lockdown in England. One to one coaching and personal training can continue outdoors under the same rules as during national restrictions. As part of step 2, the majority of indoor leisure facilities will be able to open for individual use including one to one coaching and personal training. As part of step 3, we expect exercise classes to be able to resume.

The Government has launched ambitious plans to boost cycling and walking, with the aim that half of all journeys in towns and cities are cycled or walked by 2030. There are various programmes to encourage people to walk more, including the Walk to School initiative and Bikeability training available to all school children. Last year, the Government launched the Better Health campaign to encourage a healthier lifestyle, including a free walking app designed to encourage adults to go for a brisk 10-minute walk.

Nearly £4.5 million is being invested in social prescribing which allows general practitioners to refer patients to various activities including working on allotments and dancing classes.

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 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, including the use of gyms, 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 and communities that have traditionally been left behind, helping to remove barriers to activity.

On Monday 22 February, the Prime Minister announced a roadmap out of the current lockdown in England. Step 2 will take place no earlier than 12 April and as part of this indoor leisure (including gyms) for individual use will reopen. Step 3 will take place no earlier than 17 May and as part of this exercise classes can resume. This will be subject to social contact limits.

Sports and physical activity are incredibly important for our physical and mental health, and are a vital weapon against coronavirus.

On Monday 22 February, the Prime Minister announced a roadmap out of the current lockdown in England. Step 2 will take place no earlier than 12 April and as part of this indoor leisure (including gyms) for individual use will reopen. Step 3 will take place no earlier than 17 May and as part of this exercise classes can resume. This will be subject to social contact limits.

To ensure they can reopen the Government has provided unprecedented support to businesses through tax reliefs, cash grants and employee wage support. The National Leisure Recovery Fund seeks to support eligible public sector leisure centres to reopen to the public, giving the sport and physical activity sector the best chance of recovery to a position of sustainable operation over the medium term. A total of £100 million is available as a biddable fund to eligible local authorities in England.

There is no specific distance applicable to all circumstances. However, the advice is that to meet the legal requirement not to leave home to travel unless for work or other legally permitted reasons. To reduce the risk of transmission, people should stay local and avoid travelling outside of the village, town or the part of a city where they live and look to reduce the number of journeys made overall.

Ensuring sufficient childcare for families continues to be a government priority. This is why we have ensured that wraparound childcare settings have been able to remain open for vulnerable children and children of critical workers during the current national lockdown, in line with those children eligible to attend school for onsite provision; and have updated our guidance for providers of after-school and holiday clubs and other out-of-school settings to support providers to operate as safely as possible, available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/guidance-for-schools-coronavirus-covid-19.

However, we recognise that the wraparound childcare sector, like many sectors, is facing unprecedented financial pressures as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak. It is for this reason, the Government has made a range of financial packages of support available for businesses to access throughout the current crisis. This includes tax relief, business loans or cash grants, through the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS), and the Self-Employed Support Scheme (SEISS), as well as a £594 million discretionary fund for councils and the Devolved Administrations to support local businesses that may not be eligible for other support, during the current national lockdown.

We have also encouraged all local authorities to consider using local grants that have been made available to them during the COVID-19 outbreak, to support the wraparound childcare sector in their areas, and to safeguard sufficient childcare provision for all families, but particularly those with vulnerable children and children of critical workers. This includes funding streams such as the discretionary fund already mentioned, as well as the expanded Holiday Activities and Food Programme, which comprises a £220 million fund to be delivered through grants to local authorities. This programme will give children eligible for Free School Meals the option to join a free holiday-time programme that provides healthy food and enriching activities during the summer, Christmas and Easter holidays in 2021 – giving disadvantaged young people opportunities they might otherwise lose out on.

The department does not hold a central register of wraparound providers, and so we are unable to make an official assessment of the effects wraparound closures on levels of children’s physical activity. However, we are acutely aware of the benefits to children’s physical and mental wellbeing of attending these settings. Therefore, the Youth Investment Fund remains an important manifesto commitment. In the recently announced Spending Review, £30 million of capital investment was committed for 2021-22. This will provide a transformational investment in new and refurbished safe spaces for young people, so they can access support youth workers, and positive activities out of school, including sport and culture.