The government and Sport England have made little progress in tackling inequalities and the barriers to participation, according to a report from a cross party committee. The Public Accounts Committee, which examines the value for money of government projects, programmes and service delivery, said the legacy of the £8.8bn London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games has failed to

materialise. The government committed to delivering a lasting legacy as part of the Games, including increasing the number of adults participating in sports. Yet, the proportion of adults participating in sport at least once a week declined in the first three years following the Games. In 2015, government refocused its strategy on local based approaches and the least active having initially relied too heavily on a national event to deliver increased participation. But the Committee says this change of tack has not yet resulted in meaningful change in national participation rates.

The Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS) has overall policy responsibility for maximising participation in sport and physical activity. It spends most of the money it allocates to this through Sport England, its arm’s length body created in 1996 to develop grassroots sport and get more people active across England. Sport England spent an average of £323m a year between 2015–16 and 2020–21. Multiple other central and local government bodies also have a role in encouraging physical activity and there are a range of stakeholders across the third and private sectors, including facility providers and grassroots sports clubs. The Department is currently developing a new sports strategy to replace its 2015 strategy, which will work alongside Sport England’s own strategy published in 2021. Despite Sport England spending an average of £323m each year since 2015, the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport and Sport England have made little progress in tackling inequalities and the barriers to participation. Of £1.5bn in grants distributed by Sport England since 2016 it only knows where £450m went, More waste, more loss of desperately needed public money. and the percentage of active adults increased by only 1.2 percentage points from 2016 to 2019.

Nearly two in five adults in England still do not meet the Chief Medical Officer’s guidelines for recommended activity. “After the short-term financial boost there's been precious little to show by way of legacy, even in my immediate area of East London where the 2012 Games were held. Resets since 2015 have not begun to bring the levelling-up benefits intended. The lack of vision and drive has seen Sport England pay out £1.5bn of taxpayers’ money without knowing where two thirds of it went, and there’s a paltry 1.2 per cent increase in active adults to show for it,” said Dame Meg Hillier MP, chair of the Committee. “More waste, more loss of desperately needed public money. As the cost-of-living crisis bites hard, DCMS must set out what it will do differently to achieve change where it has not succeeded.” The committee has made a number of recommendations to government, which has two months to respond.