MD2327 Publication of Sports Strategy, entitled ‘Sport for All of Us’

Pursuant to the Greater London Authority Act 1999 (“the GLA Act 1999”), the Culture Strategy Group for London (known as the Mayor’s Cultural Leadership Board (“MCLB”)) is required to keep the sport strategy under review and may submit proposed revisions of it to the Mayor, following a consultation with designated competent bodies.

The Mayor has received proposed revisions on the sport section of the Culture Strategy and this was endorsed by the MCLB meeting on the 3 July, and further to the Mayor’s amendments, this Mayoral Decision seeks his approval to publish for public consultation a document entitled “Sport for All of Us” which forms part of the Mayor’s Culture Strategy. It also records his noting of the Integrated Impact Assessment for public consultation. Consultation will take place between 30 July and 26 October 2018.

An earlier MD (MD2129) for the Culture Strategy provided approval for expenditure of £121,000 to support research, development, consultation and delivery of the strategy. A small part of this expenditure (£17,000) was used for an integrated impact assessment for Culture and Sport. Another MD (MD2244) for the Community Sport Investment Programme – ‘Sport Unites’ provided approval for expenditure of £5.8M for a new community sport programme that will be informed by the final strategy.

The GLA Act 1999 outlines a single strategy covering policies related to culture, media and sport (section 376 (1)). Over the past 10 years, and in particular since the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, the culture section and sports section of the strategy have been developed and published separately from each other. Together, these elements constitute the statutory strategy. This Mayoral Decision refers solely to the proposed policies in relation to sport and to the document Sport for All of Us.

Further, non-substantive changes to the design and appearance of the draft document Sport for All of Us will be made between this form being signed and the document being published. Such changes will be approved by the Deputy Mayor for Deputy Mayor for Social Integration, Social Mobility and Community Engagement.

Sport for All of Us sets out the Mayor’s vision for sport in the capital, and how that can be realised. At the heart of the strategy’s approach is the belief in the power of sport to bring people together and to improve their lives.

The Culture Strategy is being developed alongside the following strategies:

• London Environment Strategy
• London Plan
• Mayor’s Transport Strategy
• Housing Strategy
• Economic Development Strategy
• Health Inequalities Strategy
• Diversity and Inclusion Vision
• Social Integration Strategy

As part of the preparation of Sport for All of Us, an Impact Assessment has been undertaken to review sport policy options and assess the impact of proposed policies. The Integrated Impact Assessment (IIA) combines these assessments and enables all of the Mayoral strategies to work from the same baseline information. The IIA incorporates a community safety impact assessment (CSIA), equality impact assessment (EqIA) and health inequality impact assessment (HIA) and due regard to sustainable development. The IIA report will be published alongside Sport for All of Us for consultation.

In preparing and publishing his strategies the Mayor must comply with the public sector equality duty under section 149 of the Equality Act 2010, which requires the Mayor to have ‘due regard’ to the need to (i) eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation; (ii) advance equality of opportunity between people who share a relevant protected characteristic and those who do not; and (iii) foster good relations between people who share a relevant protected characteristic and those who do not.

Protected characteristics under section 149 of the Equality Act are age, disability, gender re-assignment, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation, and marriage or civil partnership status (all except the last being ‘relevant’ protected characteristics). The duty may involve, in particular, removing or minimising any disadvantage suffered by those who have a relevant protected characteristic, taking steps to meet the needs of such people, and encouraging them to participate in public life or in any other activity where their participation is disproportionately low, including tackling prejudice and promoting understanding. Compliance with the Act may involve treating people with a protected characteristic more favourably than those without the characteristic.

The lIA, which assesses the likely equalities impact of Sport for All of Us, will be reviewed as appropriate in the light of the responses to the consultation before the final draft strategy is submitted for approval following consultation.

4.1 A risk is that Sport for All of Us does not yet address, in detail, the specific needs of sports organisations in London. Nor does it try to state conclusively what the needs are of Londoners in accessing sport in specific locations. Our aim is not to seek to answer those questions at this point. We intend to address those issues through our consultation on the draft strategy, which will help identify the points that need clarification, ahead of final publication.

4.2 Links to other Mayoral strategies set out in section 2 above.

4.3 The Integrated Impact assessment is attached at Appendix B. In addition, the Mayor in preparing or revising this strategy must have regard to:

(a) the principal purposes of the Authority (promoting economic development and wealth creation, social development and improvement of the environment in Greater London);

Addressed in: sub-heading (chapter):

• Major Sports Events (Introduction),

• Context (London: Socially Integrated through sport),

• Context (London: Sports Capital of the World),

• How to maximise the benefits of hosting major sports events (London: Sports Capital of the World),

• How Sport Unites will complement existing and emerging GLA initiatives which promote a London that is healthy and active, (London: Healthy and Active through Sport)

(b) the effect which the proposed strategy or revision would have on:

(i) the health of persons in Greater London;

Addressed in: sub-heading (chapter):

• (London: Healthy and Active through Sport),

• Sport Unites (Introduction),

• Theme two: Active Londoners (Sport Unites)

(ii) health inequalities between persons living in Greater London;

Addressed in: sub-heading (chapter):

• Theme two: Active Londoners (Sport Unites),

• (London: Healthy and Active through Sport),

• The Mayor’s Civic Innovation Challenge (London: Sporting workforce and capacity growth)

(iii) the achievement of sustainable development in the United Kingdom;

Addressed in: sub-heading (chapter):

• Sustainability (London: Sports Capital of the World),

• Sporting Partnerships (London’s Sport, Now and in the future),

• How Sport Unites will complement existing and emerging GLA initiatives which promote a London that is healthy and active, (London: Healthy and Active through Sport),

• How to maximise the benefits of hosting major sports events (London, Sports Capital of the World),

(iv) climate change, and the consequences of climate change.

Addressed in: sub-heading (chapter):
• How Sport Unites will complement existing and emerging GLA initiatives which promote a London that is healthy and active, (London: Healthy and Active through Sport)
• How to maximise the benefits of hosting major sports events (London: Sports Capital of the World),
• How Sport Unites will complement existing and emerging GLA initiatives which promote a London that is healthy and active, (London: Healthy and Active through Sport)

4.4 The Mayor must also have regard to:

(a) the need to ensure that the strategy is consistent with national policies, with the EU obligations of the United Kingdom and with such other international obligations of the United Kingdom as the Secretary of State may notify to the Mayor for the purposes of this paragraph;

The Secretary of State has not notified the Mayor of any such polices.

(b) the need to ensure that the strategy is consistent with other Mayoral strategies;

Addressed in: sub-heading (chapter):

• The Mayor’s commitment to Sport in London (London’s Sport, now and in the future)

(c) the resources available for implementation of the strategy; and

• Addressed through GLA budgetary process

(d) the desirability of promoting and encouraging the use of the River Thames safely, in particular for the provision of passenger transport services and for the transportation of freight”.

• The Sports team attend meetings with the Thames & London Waterways forum and explore ways that Sports & other recreational activities can contribute. As discussion progress this work will be incorporated into future planning.
• The Head of Sport is currently a member of the People and Places Working Group. Two of the priorities for this group are: growing sports and leisure and recreation on the waterways for all Londoners

The associated spend of £30,000 for the delivery of the consultation activities, research, and publication of the final strategy will be funded from the 2018-19 Sport Unites Programme budget contained within the Team London & Sports Unit. Further breakdown of spend below.

The Mayor has a duty under section 376 (2) of the Greater London Authority Act 1999 (“the GLA Act”) to prepare and publish a document to be known as the Culture Strategy. Paragraph 1.4 explains that the Mayor is preparing and intends to publish a culture strategy, and that it will be in two sections – the culture section and the sports section (which is the subject of this Mayoral Decision)

Under section 376 (4) the Cultural Strategy Group for London (known as the Mayor’s Cultural Leadership Board (“MCLB”)) shall keep the Culture Strategy under review and may submit proposed revisions of it to the Mayor. Under section 376 (4A) the MCLB must consult with designated consultative bodies (set out under section 376 (10)).

The Mayor also has a general duty under section 41 (2) of the GLA Act to keep his strategies under review and shall make such revisions as he considers necessary. Section 41 sets out various requirements with which the Mayor has to comply in preparing the strategy. The Mayor must have regard to “(a) the principal purposes of the Authority; (b) the effect which the proposed strategy or revision would have on …(i) the health of persons in Greater London; (ia) health inequalities between persons living in Greater London; (ii) the achievement of sustainable development in the United Kingdom; (iii) climate change, and the consequences of climate change”. The Mayor must also have regard to: “(a) the need to ensure that the strategy is consistent with national policies , with the EU obligations of the United Kingdom and with such other international obligations of the United Kingdom as the Secretary of State may notify to the Mayor for the purposes of this paragraph; (b) the need to ensure that the strategy is consistent with [other Mayoral strategies]; (c) the resources available for implementation of the strategy; and (d) the desirability of promoting and encouraging the use of the River Thames safely, in particular for the provision of passenger transport services and for the transportation of freight.” Paragraph 4 sets out how the Mayor has had regard to these legal duties in his Sport for All of Us document.

Under section 42 of the GLA Act, the Mayor is required to consult the London Assembly, the functional bodies of the GLA (such as Transport for London and Mayoral Development Corporations), each London borough and the City of London, and any other body or person whom he considers it appropriate to consult.

As noted in section 3 above, the Mayor must comply with the public-sector equality duty under section 149 of the Equality Act 2010, which is described at section 3. The interim Integrated Impact Assessment includes consideration of the effects of the strategy on people with protected characteristics.

The content of Sport for All of Us, and the publication of it and the interim Integrated Impact Assessment for a three-month consultation period, as proposed in this decision, indicate that the matters referred to above have been substantially taken into account.

Under section 42B of the GLA Act, the Mayor must lay a copy of the (final) draft strategy before the Assembly before publishing it in final form. If, within 21 days of the laying of the copy, the Assembly by a motion agreed to by at least a two-thirds majority of those voting rejects that draft strategy, the Mayor must not publish it; otherwise he may.

Any services and supplies that are required must be procured by Transport for London Commercial who will determine the detail of the procurement strategy to be adopted in accordance with the GLA’s Contracts and Funding Code. Officers must ensure that appropriate contract documentation is put in place and executed by the successful bidder(s) and the GLA before the commencement of the services and supplies.