A sporting legacy for London?

Assembly report finds that Mayor faces uphill struggle to meet ambitious targets to get more Londoners involved in sport in run up to 2012 Games.

‘A sporting legacy for London?’, by the Economic Development, Culture, Sport and Tourism (EDCST) Committee, says that despite a slow start, the Mayor and his Sport Commissioner, have made progress recently on delivering his £15m sports fund.

The Committee welcomes the Mayor’s new London Community Sports Board (LCSB) which works to co-ordinate local sports provision and has done useful work in identifying gaps in provision.

The report recognises that the Mayor’s £15m sports fund, while relatively small, has the potential to fill strategic gaps in provision and influence the way other funds are spent, but is too soon to say whether it has been effective.

Commenting on the evidence from previous Games, the report concludes that achieving a sporting legacy will be very difficult, especially in the context of public spending cuts. The report follows on from a previous EDCST report that found that holding the Games, in itself, did not increase sports participation.

Watch a video of the Chair talking about the key findings:

Key findings:

• The Mayor should use his influence to ensure that community access is at the heart of the Olympic Park, post 2012 – and consider appointing his Sports Commissioner to the board of the Olympic Park Legacy Company.
• It can be difficult for community sports groups to use the Olympic brand in their promotion – The Mayor should work with Games organisers to make it easier.
• Sport can play a role in promoting health and education – we recommend that the Sports Commissioner and LCSB develop their partnership approach in these areas.
• The current funding arrangements run up to 2012 - The Mayor or his Sports Commissioner should report back to the Committee about his plans for delivering a sporting legacy after 2012.
• The Mayor should report back to the Committee once the fund has been spent, with details of how it was spent and the results of a review into its effect.