I begin by thanking the noble Lords who initiated this debate tonight and my noble friend Lord Moynihan, the noble Baronesses, Lady Grey-Thompson and Lady Morris of Yardley, and the noble Lord, Lord Addington, for meeting with me yesterday, and with the Bill team and representatives from the Department for Education and DDCMS. What was really interesting was the experience that all four brought.
The noble Baroness, Lady Morris, talked about her experience in government and how it was sometimes difficult to get departments to talk to each other, even though they all seemed to agree. We had two former Olympians, who spoke about their experience of elite sport. But how does that translate into grass-roots sport? How do we make sure we get people active?
What was also really interesting was when we spoke about the 2012 Olympics. Yes, we had them and there was some legacy of redevelopment in east London, but they did not really lead to a legacy when it came to physical activity. How do we make sure we avoid the so-called Wimbledon effect? We all know that effect: around the time of Wimbledon, you cannot get a place on a tennis court, but a few months later it is simple to do so. How do we make sure this is long term?
If you are going to tackle obesity, yes, we can reformulate food and look at other issues such as taxes and negative externalities to discourage the intake of calories. However, you also have to burn off calories at the same time through activity. It does not have to be elite sport. We are not all going to be Olympians—like the two noble Lords here who were—but that should not stop you. All too often, what happens at school level is that if you do not get into a top team, you give up because you are considered not good enough. It does not matter how good you are; it is the activity that counts.
The Government’s recent response to the National Plan for Sport and Recreation Committee report addresses clearly, we believe, the recommendations made in this amendment. I hope that noble Lords will take some reassurance from what I am about to say and the fact that we take this seriously. The Government agree with the committee’s overarching recommendation on the need for an ambitious national plan for sport and physical activity. We are firmly committed to increasing sport participation and physical activity levels, and to ensuring that everyone has access to opportunities to get active. It should not just be about elite sport.
I can confirm that the Government will set out their forward-looking strategy for sport and physical activity later this year. It will look at tackling levels of inactivity as part of our plan for recovery from the pandemic. We hope that this strategy will provide a unified, cross-government approach to driving participation, integrating with Everybody Active, Every Day, the School Sport and Activity Action Plan, and Sport England’s new strategy Uniting the Movement. Of course, while setting out a cross-government strategy will be welcome, it is equally important to set out information on the implementation. I can confirm that the strategy will set out further detail on implementation, including how to harness such action across government and between departments.
The Government understand the concerns that noble Lords have raised and recognise that previous Governments of all parties have not always got it right. They tried—it was not for lack of trying—but it is about the implementation and strategies in this area. However, we believe that lessons have been learned and I hope that our approach will have the intended positive impact.
After the conversation yesterday with noble Lords, during the post-meeting debrief I spoke to the officials from other departments and asked, “How can we make sure that this is truly cross-government?” Let me assure noble Lords that other departments have also been looking at this issue. The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities and the Department for Transport also have important roles in helping to create health-promoting and more active local environments. I reaffirm the Government’s commitment to working cohesively on such actions.
I also assure your Lordships that departments involved in the sport and physical activity strategy take their responsibility to co-ordinate extremely seriously. This is being led by DCMS while, more broadly, the Government understand the utmost importance of getting this right —and we must not lose that. That is why I am delighted by the leadership of the Prime Minister on the Health Promotion Taskforce, supported by the Cabinet Office. That will enable the Government to consider all options open to them. I will come to this in due course.
The Government recognise that it is important to provide updates to both Houses on the progress of the strategy and will publish arrangements for that reporting in the strategy. I also assure noble Lords that the Government invite and welcome the continued scrutiny of plans to address inactivity, to promote sport participation and to improve people’s health through physical activity. Undoubtedly, the relevant committees in the House of Lords and the House of Commons will have an interest in any future strategy and its progress. I am sure noble Lords will also want to continue to ask Questions of Ministers.
We recognise the deep experience of noble Lords in this area and I know that that interest extends to the other place. Only last night, my honourable friend Gillian Keegan, the Minister of State for Care and Mental Health, responded to an adjournment debate on physical activity and health. On that point, I reiterate and acknowledge the benefits and importance of promoting that. We know the gains made in activity levels in some key populations, including women and older adults, before the pandemic have now been reversed, and the Government share the concerns of noble Lords on this matter.
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The Office for Health Improvement and Disparities has a key role in working across government to shift the dial on health disparities. When it comes to physical activity—if noble Lords will excuse the pun at this time—we know that it is not a level playing field. The people who we most need to support include older adults, those in most deprived areas, those with a disability, those with one or more long-term health conditions, those who were asked to shield and those from various ethnic minority groups. That is where it is important to have a trusted source of independent scientific advice on health improvement issues and policies, including physical activity. This will ensure that decision-making is evidence led and that there is a clear focus on addressing disparities.
In setting up the new Office for Health Improvement and Disparities, the Government are bringing together scientific and public health expertise with policy
development to ensure that prevention is at the heart of our agenda. The Government believe that that is the essential objective of a department of state rather than one that would be better carried out than an arm’s-length body. The new office takes a holistic approach, which includes the promotion of physical activity as well as a much wider agenda to enable a more active nation and improve health. We must address those health disparities, which have to be at the forefront of the agenda. I thank noble Lords who took part in the meeting for recognising the importance of keeping the words “disparities” and “improvement” in there.
My noble friend Lord Moynihan asked about the Health Promotion Taskforce. This is driving cross-government efforts to improve the nation’s health and reduce disparities. The Prime Minister launched the task force. Under his leadership it will work to drive improvements. The next meeting will be chaired by the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care and focus on air quality, physical activity and active travel. We recognise the importance of ensuring parliamentary engagement and accountability as work progresses and I can assure noble Lords that we will feed their views and those of the Select Committee into the deliberations of the task force. We also recognise parliamentary scrutiny and accountability and the enduring and valuable interest of noble Lords across the House in seeing progress in this area.
If they will forgive me, I will write to noble Lords with the details of how the task force will be held accountable. More broadly, I am sure that the House will want to hold Ministers accountable for progress, as noble Lords so ably do. The task force is focused on physical activity and active travel, and I will make sure that I continue to update noble Lords as we make progress. I hope that this provides some reassurance to my noble friend and to other noble Lords who joined the call yesterday, as well as noble Lords across the House.
We are committed. All Governments have made mistakes. We have got to do this in a joined-up way. We believe that, with the Prime Minister at the top pushing this from No.10 across government, making sure that we can all work together, we have learnt the lessons. I also hope that noble Lords whom I spoke to yesterday and in this Chamber tonight who have shown an interest in staying for this debate will also hold us to account. For that reason, I ask my noble friend to consider withdrawing the amendment.