GPA0019

Written Evidence submitted by the District Councils’ Network

About the District Councils’ Network

1. The District Councils’ Network (DCN) is a cross-party member led network of 183 district councils. We are a Special Interest Group of the Local Government Association (LGA) and provide a single voice for district councils within the Local Government Association. Our member councils in England deliver 86 out of 137 essential local government services to over 22 million people - 40% of the population - and cover 68% of the country by area. DCN member councils have a proven track record of building better lives and stronger economies in the areas that they serve. They protect and enhance quality of life by safeguarding our environment, promoting public health and leisure, whilst creating attractive places to live, raise families and build a stronger economy. By tackling homelessness and promoting wellbeing, district councils ensure no one gets left behind by addressing the complex needs of today whilst attempting to prevent the social problems of tomorrow.

Introductory Remarks

2.                                                                                                                                                  We agree with the National Audit Office’s (NAO) conclusion that there had been mixed progress towards objectives of increasing participation, tackling inactivity, and reducing health inequalities.
3.                                                                                                                                                  The pandemic has worsened entrenched inequalities in activity, leading to higher levels of inactivity and long-term conditions in areas of deprivation. Whilst national agencies and departments are reviewing strategies to combat this, districts can act as key delivery agents for encouraging activity in their communities using existing knowledge and infrastructure.
4.                                                                                                                                                  English councils are responsible for 2,726 leisure centres and 27,000 parks and green spaces; this includes 33% swimming pools, 20% of all health and fitness facilities, and 66% of cancer pre and post op rehabilitation services.[1]
5.                                                                                                                                                  District councils have developed innovative community engagement programmes, and social prescription pathways with health sector partners, to combat health inequalities in their communities. It’s clear this is a positive way forward, which allows for the maximisation of council-owned leisure infrastructure to tackle the root causes of inactivity, thus improving overall activity levels.
6.                                                                                                                                                  These services should be utilised further by health, sport and leisure partners across the country to serve the dual purpose of reducing the burden on the health service and increasing sport and physical activity participation in the most hard-to-reach groups. This can be done via a comprehensive national social prescription programme.
7.                                                                                                                                                  Further integration of local leisure, sport and wellbeing services is needed across a range of policy areas- health, planning, net zero objectives all should consider the physical activity goals to give the nation the best chance of significantly increasing sport and physical activity participation.

Examples from districts increasing participation

8.                                                                                                                                                  Districts across Leicestershire and Rutland launched the LRS Active Together campaign, alongside a number of other strategies targeted at children, women and girls. This included organising a virtual school Games Championship in 2020, and distributing £138,000 to 31 organisations which support those communities most in need back into physical activity.
9.                                                                                                                                                  Cherwell District Council launched the Families Active Sporting Together, funded by Sport England, to encourage families with school-based physical activity sessions. This included working with local community centres and places of worship to successful engage families from all backgrounds.
10.                                                                                                                                              Harrogate Borough Council, working in partnership with its health and wellbeing company Brimhams Active, have employed a holistic, data-focused approach to targeting hard to reach community members. This engages local hospitals and health care providers, employing local public health data, to establish targeted programmes focused on using physical activity to improve their physical and mental health.
11.                                                                                                                                              Cherwell District Council have also launched the Move Together programme which has supported 1.276 adults, by delivering physical activity to adults who have long term conditions and have been referred by a health professional or self-referred. Those assisted include older people, those with low activity levels, people struggling with loneliness, or living with long term conditions. This has particular effectiveness supportive those with long term health conditions, with benefits experienced including:
•                                                                                                               An average increase in the number of active minutes per week of 99 minutes. 
•                                                                                                               An overall improvement in perception of their health.
•                                                                                                               Improvements in EQ5D scores i.e., mobility, daily tasks, self-care, pain reduction, anxiety, and depression.

12.                                                                                                                                              This provides clear evidence of the strength of a joined-up approach to draw in hard-to-reach communities with low participation in physical activity, using social prescription to maximise involvement.
13.                                                                                                                                              In its report the NAO indicates that more progress is required to reducing inequalities in activity, and the variety of approaches set out above demonstrate how this can be achieved at a low cost and provide concrete benefits. The DCN believes that a bottom-up approach like those set out above, taken together with detail on social prescribing outlined below, provide tangible evidence of how district councils could be key partners for improving activity levels and build on previous participation strategies.
14.                                                                                                                                              Furthermore, collaboration between DHLUC, DHSC, and DCMS, all of which have a role in council leisure and wellbeing service provision, is vital to deliver policy proposals which will allow districts to act as meaningful partners delivering healthy communities. These services must be considered more holistically as health, sport and community assets.

What Value Districts Can Provide

15.                                                                                                                                              Our recently commissioned report ‘Fit for the Future: The Health Value of Wellbeing and Leisure Services’[2] demonstrated the concrete health value council leisure services can provide in engaging inactive members of our communities.
16.                                                                                                                                              This modelling indicated that by undertaking a comprehensive social prescription approach to leisure services- encouraging referral of 154 participants from each GP practice in England, would lead to key benefits for individuals’ own health, as well as significant savings for the NHS.
17.                                                                                                                                              These benefits, over a 10-year period include:
•                                                                                                                            Avoidance of over 44,000 diseases
•                                                                                                                            A direct saving to the NHS of £314 million for the cost of treatment of those diseases
•                                                                                                                            70,000 Quality-Adjusted Life Years (QALY) gained
•                                                                                                                            This QALY gain has a health value of £1 billion and economic value of £4.2 billion
•                                                                                                                            A 3.7 year reduction in the healthy life expectancy gap

18.                                                                                                                                              This research demonstrates the benefits of greater health collaboration with districts, to continue to deliver value-for-money in any future investments through social prescribing. This research provides a potential model to address concerns raised by the NAO in paragraph 3.13 of its report, which highlighted the reducing use of gyms by “lower socio-economic groups”.
19.                                                                                                                                              At a time when residents’ budgets are more constrained due to the cost-of-living crisis, innovative solutions are required from the NHS and government to encourage currently inactive groups to exercise regularly. Allowing residents to access cheaper leisure centre fees through their GPs may be an efficient way of ensuring this.

A more Joined-up approach

20. We’ve spent some time considering how social prescription could be utilised in a more joined-up manner. Below we consider other areas in which sport and physical activity could be incorporated into the wider policy landscape:

Cross Government Discussions / Health / ICS

21. Accelerating cross government co-operation for physical activity and grassroots sport is critical to system join up and implementation at a local level. One can look at the recent formation of Integrated Care Systems as an example.
22. What does good practice look like: If there had been a clear mandate at national statute / policy level to embed physical activity (and the benefits of) grass roots sport into the planning, priorities and rollout of local ICS structures and commissioning, then we would have seen a better connection between local physical activity provision (health benefits) and the local health system. Where physical activity is advocated, promoted, prescribed and funded as a measure to improve health and reduce illness instead of what could be viewed as an optional extra. Locally, the sport and physical activity sector has had to invest much time and resource to connect physical activity into the ICS.

National to Local / Local to National

23. Policy and campaigns that emerge from a national partner must be rooted in local activation. This Girl Can was initially seen as a national media campaign without any local activation, our members report that local activation helps communities feel part of the approach and helps messages land. Similarly, taking the local evidence base (Steady Steps in Leicestershire – local evidence supported the very successful programme that addressed a gap in service provision around falls support) and sharing it nationally is very complex and time consuming.
24. What does good practice look like: Policy and resources need to be based on evidence of what can be proven to work at a local level – The Steady Steps programme and later iterations of This Girl Can as clear examples of this.

Planning

25. Cross government collaboration is needed to look at how the future of our built environment enhances levels of physical activity participation and could address the complex challenges associated with physical and mental health.
26. What does good practice look like: Ensuring that there is a mandate in national planning policy to commit developers and planning authorities to “design in” to new residential developments, town centres and transport routes. A sufficient level and higher quality walking and cycling routes together with greater access and provision of green spaces for adults and children is an essential ingredient for future population health.

The Environment

27. This topic is covered more fully in a proceeding section of this submission, but it should be reiterated that a place-based joined-up approach to net zero transition can deliver multiple health and physical activity outcomes, such as a holistic approach to Active Travel, and improvements to our leisure infrastructure.

Finances and Leisure Stock

28.                                                                                                                                              The impact of inflation, and record-high energy prices, presents a clear threat to districts’ leisure services. The DCN is concerned that, whilst usage has still not recovered to levels prior to the pandemic in many areas, the cost-of-living crisis is likely to impact this further. These financial pressure on both councils and residents will act as yet another barrier to increasing participation and may see strategies flounder.
29.                                                                                                                                              Public facilities are disproportionally relied on by those on lower incomes, as highlighted by paragraph 3.13 of the NAO’s report that these are shared by more people in the most deprived areas. As leisure facilities are a non-statutory service, these cannot always be prioritised against front-line statutory services like housing, when councils are required to identify savings.
30.                                                                                                                                              Prompt action is required by the government so as to not further jeopardise the Olympic legacy to improve participation. According to a recent DCN survey 70% of councils are considering scaling back their leisure services due to the financial pressures. 84% councils anticipated that rising fuel costs will have a significant impact on leisure services.
31.                                                                                                                                              The DCN echoes the concerns set out by the National Audit Office, in paragraph 3.14 of its report, that leisure stock is aging, which contributes to residents’ dissatisfaction with services. Many councils cannot currently support the capital investment required to ensure facilities remain fit-for-purpose into the next decade; in a recent survey of DCN member councils 38% councils indicated that inflationary pressures were likely to delay envisioned capital projects or make these unviable altogether, putting many plans for new facilities or renovations at risk.
32.                                                                                                                                              We support calls from the LGA for the government to invest in the leisure estate throughout England, where improvement projects may not otherwise be viable. Recent BBC analysis indicated that 37 council pools had closed in England since 2019, nine of which are in DCN councils’ areas.[3]
33.                                                                                                                                              This will lead to Council facilities deteriorating further over time, as without consistent profit (or income from management fees for outsourced fees), councils cannot invest in facilities. Further action is required to ensure that facilities, which residents in their areas depend upon, can continue to offer accessible opportunities for exercise and recreation

Green Solutions

34.             Where Councils have secured additional grant funding, or hold a capital fund sufficient to support refurbishment or improvement, DCN Members are demonstrating the undertaking pioneering approaches to work decarbonising our leisure facilities. This in turn demonstrate how limited investments can ensure that facilities remain financially viable to fuel price increase, whilst ensuring facilities are attractive to local residents and delivering good value for money for taxpayers.

•       Babergh & Midsuffolk District Councils have installed a pioneering electrocoagulation water filtration system, which removes impurities in water before returning this to the pool, at its Kingfisher Leisure Centre. This prevents heated pool water being sent to sewers, thus significantly reducing water and energy usage. The councils are also developing plans to instal a district heat network at Stradbroke leisure centre which will heat the facilities and local community buildings.
•       Lancaster City Council has carried out a full decarbonisation of Salt Ayre Leisure Centre, engaging £6.8M of Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme funding. This engages a two-stage heat pump system using air source, and water-to-water heat, thus removing reliance of natural gas. This is alongside a 1.3MWp solar array on adjacent landfill site, new double glazing, thus reducing a 12% CO2 reduction of the council’s bottom line.
•       Oxford City Council has upgraded four of its leisure centres, replacing gas boilers with heat pumps transferring heat from the air or water. This grant-funded project is projected to cut carbon emissions from the council’s total operations by around 21%

35.                                                                                                                                              There needs to be a clear and consistent advocacy for a sustainable green agenda built into decision making frameworks which in turn will meet multiple policy priorities, such as addressing ‘Active Travel’.
36.                                                                                                                                              Active Travel England should work with local highway teams and local authorities should sign off an agreed and solicited investment plan to address local congestion, air quality, active travel and wellbeing challenges by co creating with a place mindset to address health inequalities as well green objectives.
37.                                                                                                                                              Reliance by councils on grant funding sought through competitive processes which act as a drain on officers’ capacity, are a significant barrier for all councils to deliver important decarbonisation or renovation works. Current schemes, such as Sport England’s Strategic Facilities fund, are insufficient to preserve council-run leisure facilities for our communities into the next decade.
38.                                                                                                                                              The government needs to meaningfully commit to supporting the improvement of facilities, to allow them to remain viable, competitive, and attractive for residents. In turn, districts could provide efficient and attractive facilities for residents, delivered through small investments in these facilitates. This is imperative to continue delivering the Olympic legacy in England.

September 2022