Agenda item

The Committee received a report of the Corporate Director of Regeneration, Economy and Growth which provided an update on the Physical Activity Strategic Framework for the Wellbeing, Sport and Leisure section within Culture, Sport and Leisure (for copy of report and presentation, see file of minutes). 

The Strategic Manager for Wellbeing, Sport and Leisure, Deborah Holmes, introduced the presentation by describing the Physical Activity Strategic Framework (PASF), which had led to the development of the County Durham Physical Activity Strategy for 2023-28, ‘Moving Together’.  A Moving Together Network was established in 2024, to support the strategy and facilities were transformed into physical activity hubs.

The Committee heard that despite the diverse service offer, the number of people in County Durham participating in the recommended 150 minutes of physical activity per week was below the national average. Sport England’s Active Lives survey found that whilst approximately 60% of County Durham’s adults were physically active, disparities existed across the county and the figure increased to almost 70% in the more affluent parts of the county, whilst reducing to almost 48% in the most disadvantaged communities. Furthermore, the research found that those living in more deprived areas held the view that they did not have equal opportunities to be active. The framework, therefore, aimed to realign resources to address inequalities.

The Moving Together ‘plan on a page’ illustrated the vision of the strategy which was that County Durham residents should be more active, enabling them to live longer, healthier and happier lives. The Strategic Manager for Wellbeing, Sport and Leisure noted that on average, adults in County Durham lived in a state of good health until the age of 59, which was four years below the national average. The Moving Together strategy identified four key priority areas: children and young people, inclusive communities, active environments and health and social care and the Strategic Manager for Wellbeing, Sport and Leisure provided practical examples of the implementation of the framework across each of the four key priority areas.

The Committee heard that the framework was a change of approach and a number of processes were being developed to enable the service to benchmark and review the programme. Details were provided as to the positive impact of the framework to date, including the offer for children and young people; those who were new to exercise and the gym membership offer. 

Concluding the presentation, the Strategic Manager for Wellbeing, Sport and Leisure informed the Committee that the service continued to develop the offer, using learning to adapt approaches and embed transformational change.

The Chair thanked the Strategic Manager for Wellbeing, Sport and Leisure for the informative presentation and she commended the team for the good work.  Comments and questions from the Committee were invited.

Councillor Nicholls welcomed the work and he remarked on the inequalities in the levels of physical activity throughout the county, saying that whilst people were living longer lives, it was clear that did not necessarily mean healthier lives. He observed a lack of provision for individuals, who were not members of sports clubs, to participate in team sports for fun, regardless of ability.  In reply, the Strategic Manager for Wellbeing, Sport and Leisure commented on the changes in behaviour following the Covid-19 pandemic, with activities such as five-a-side football declining in popularity and physical activity levels, particularly in males aged 20-25, reducing. She added that leisure programmes and facilities were, therefore, adapting to changes in demand and the Council’s Playing Pitch Strategy had identified a gap in outdoor provision. The findings from surveys of leisure-users and non-users were helping to inform the future direction. 

Councillor Adam congratulated the team on the amount of work undertaken and he asked for information on the learning to date, in particular, the reasons why people were inactive and where the areas of focus should be. The Strategic Manager for Wellbeing, Sport and Leisure referred to the development of the ‘Moving Together in Peterlee’ pilot project, in partnership with Sport England, to drive forward positive lifestyle changes in the town.  It was hoped that learning from that project could be used to develop similar pilots across the county, however, all communities had different challenges. With regard to current data, the Strategic Manager for Wellbeing, Sport and Leisure highlighted that Durham Insight provided current data relating to living in County Durham, including health and wellbeing data, which was used to inform strategic planning.

In reply to a question from Councillor Adam as to what metrics were in place, the Strategic Manager for Wellbeing, Sport and Leisure responded that the service was developing the benchmarking process and an evaluation toolkit. In addition, information was captured through the use of the ‘Thrive’ membership card and links were established across other Council services, such as Rights of Way, to collate information on the use of public rights of way. Data was also gathered through surveys, including Sport England’s Active Lives survey. 

In response to a question from Councillor Stubbs, the Strategic Manager for Wellbeing, Sport and Leisure confirmed that community classes usually carried a small cost for the user. Councillor Stubbs replied that individuals must take some responsibility for their health and he pointed out that there were opportunities to be active, for free, such as Parkrun or merely, going for a walk. Councillor Stubbs spoke anecdotally of his experience as a sports coach, saying that most of the young people he had coached, continued to take physical exercise in their adulthood. He suggested that one way to achieve a positive change would be to focus on building foundations for an active lifestyle from an early age and he asked how the service reached the early years cohort. 

The Strategic Manager for Wellbeing, Sport and Leisure explained that one of the target areas was prenatal provision, to encourage new parents not only to attend prenatal classes but also to continue to exercise after the baby’s birth, at parent and baby exercise classes. The Strategic Manager added that children were a key priority and work was carried out with early years practitioners and head teachers, to promote good physical exercise habits in young children and this extended to encouraging parents to become involved in the work.

Co-opted member, Rosemary Morris, thanked the Strategic Manager for Wellbeing, Sport and Leisure for the detailed presentation and she asked whether there were specific target areas where physical activity uptake was low. She raised concern at the number of primary school-aged children who were inactive and she asked whether the service encouraged walking buses, as walking to school could make a substantial contribution towards achieving the recommended level of exercise per day, as well as being beneficial to reducing traffic congestion. The Strategic Manager for Wellbeing, Sport and Leisure confirmed that walking buses were encouraged as the active environments key priority area engaged with schools in respect of active travel and a dedicated officer worked with schools, to promote sustainable travel.

In reply to a question from co-opted member, Bill McArdle, who asked whether work was undertaken with neighbouring authorities, the Strategic Manager for Wellbeing, Sport and Leisure confirmed that work was carried out across county boundaries, for example, there had been shared-learning with Teesside on Sport England’s place-based pilot. Additionally, the work of the North East Combined Authority would enhance collaborative working and the Leader of Durham County Council was the North East Combined Authority’s portfolio holder for Culture, Tourism, Sport and the Arts.

Councillor Elmer stated that participation in physical activity should be an integral part of everyday life and society must acknowledge the significant challenge to young people’s physical activity levels and overall health, from the use of technology.

Councillor Elmer also commented on the need to embed the ‘Move’ principles throughout Council services and he referred to a recent Planning Committee meeting at which a bulk development was approved in a location that would inevitably increase the number of families who were dependent upon cars.  He stated his support for walking buses and he remarked that there was only one officer responsible for sustainable transport for schools when previously there had been a sustainable transport team.  He concluded by stressing the need to adapt transport infrastructure to support active travel, saying that many people who were in agreement with active travel, found it difficult to put active travel into practice, due to the lack of infrastructure.

Councillor Robinson praised the work and he highlighted that a small boxing club, based within Consett Sports Centre in the 1980s had produced a world champion boxer, Glen McCrory. He gave the view that increases in rent led small clubs to relocate from local authority leisure centres to alternative premises and he questioned whether the boxing academy at Peterlee was well-used. The Strategic Manager for Wellbeing, Sport and Leisure clarified that a budget was available to subsidise the use of local authority leisure centres and the Club Durham scheme worked with community sports clubs to provide practical advice and support with funding applications, in addition to supporting talented athletes. The Strategic Manager said she would be happy to discuss the matter further with Councillor Robinson following the meeting.

The Chair concluded the discussion by encouraging members to share the ‘Move County Durham’ Facebook page and she suggested that the service should consider promoting the ‘Move’ timetable through the Area Action Partnership webpages. She echoed the previous comments from the Committee with regard to embedding the work across all Council services and she added that she would like to see the government being urged to introduce a trial, to ban cars from entering the immediate vicinity of schools, to encourage pupils who were able to do so, to walk to school.

Resolved:

Members of the Environment and Sustainable Communities Overview and Scrutiny Committee commented upon the information provided in the report and presentation.