THE FUTURE OF COMMUNITY SPORT DELIVERY IN WALES

  1. Since the last update to partners in May 2014, the following summarises progress of key actions:

1.1Sport Wales has commissioned a consultancy specialist with experience of managing transformational change in the public sector, stakeholder engagement, and project management. The Dew Cadre commission commenced at the end of August 2014.

1.2Research has continued in order to better understand the approach taken by other countries. Visits have been undertaken to Scotland and Ireland, and meetings held with representatives from the community sport sector in New Zealand, and also with Sport England. Findings will be used to stretch our thinking on what is the best solution for Wales.

1.3A Project Board has been established and has met on two occasions. The Board is Chaired by a Sport Wales Board Member, includes senior representatives from the sector, and its purpose is to provide relevant advice and scrutiny on the appropriate future model of delivery. The Project Board has signed off a high level project plan and the team are now delivering against that plan.

Next steps

  1. The Project Board have adopted the HM Treasury Five Case Model and the Better Business Case approach. This is the accepted public sector best practice framework for developing business cases. It requires a systematic and staged approach to the development of the case for investing in change by looking at five elements: The Strategic, Economic, Commercial, Financial and Management cases.

The process has three stages:

2.1Strategic Outline Case (SOC) (Making the case for change and exploring the preferred way forward); To be completed by January 2015;

2.2The Outline Business case (OBC) (Determining potential value for money; preparing the deal and planning for delivery) This is the main deliverable for this stage of the project in March 2015; and the

2.3Full Business Case (FBC) (Procuring the VFM solution; Contracting; Investment decision; and ensuring successful implementation).

  1. A key piece of work has commenced on setting out the headline characteristics of a revised delivery framework in Wales (Appendix I). The framework builds on previous work that has set out our long term aspirations for community sport – both in terms of frequency of participation (hooked on sport) and in terms of addressing inequalities. The third column sets out what we expect to see from all delivery agencies.
  1. Work has also commenced on the investment objectives and overall strategic approach as this is crucial to underpin the Five Case Model. The Investment Objective will be used to assess a long list of possible delivery options, through to a short list of options and in eventuallydetermining a preferred way forward.
  1. At an overall project level, the main risk has not changed, that is, to do nothing. This message has been shared with officials in Sports Policy within Welsh Government. The public sector in Wales is entering a time of significant change, driven both politically and economically. We can either sit on the side line and wait for proposals to be made, or grasp this situation and be in control of how our sector looks in the future. Without action we risk the salami-slicing of budgets and programmes over time through a largely disjointed system. Change is always a difficult process and we recognise the need to continually manage risks and relationships as we move forward.

To that end, we are focussed in our commitment to engaging with our partners and look forward to working closely alongside one another over the next few months.

Appendix I

Community Sport Delivery Framework in Wales
VISION / “Every child hooked on sport for life”
AMBITION / Develop a world leading community sport delivery framework in Wales that supports everyone to participate in enjoyable activities of their choice, having developed the right level of confidence and ability to realise their potential
PRIORITY AREAS / Active young people and active young adults
(15 – 34 years) / Equality of opportunity for all / High Performing
Sport Sector
OUTCOMES / Increase in the number of young people and young adults undertaking regular, weekly activity / The opportunity to participate in sport regardless of background and circumstances / An ambitious, capable sport sector that seeks to continuously improve opportunities to participate in sport
Inspirational leaders that support a highly motivated and effective workforce
A pool of talented athletes capable of going on to achieve success on the world stage
Diverse and talented coaches, volunteers and teachers
2021
ASPIRATIONAL
TARGETS
75% Hooked on Sport / 1 million young people and young adults participating at least once each week
140,000 extra young people hooked on sport
300,000 extra young adults hooked on sport
90,000 young people move from inactive to regular, weekly activity
260,000 young adults move from inactive to regular, weekly activity
WHAT WILL WE SEE IF WE ARE SUCCESSFUL / Education and health recognising the contribution sport does make
Physically literate participants
More high quality sporting experiences in an enjoyable environment / A significant reduction in the number of inactive individuals
A significant increase in the number of girls, young women, disabled people, those living in areas of social deprivation and those from a BME community participating in sport / The participant at the heart of decisions made; a much improved customer experience
A proactive sector with exemplar partner planning and connectivity at local, regional and national levels
A confident sector that actively seeks out new evidence, learning opportunities and best practice
A complete sports pathway across the whole of Wales for key, targeted sports
More coaches and volunteers are recruited, trained, deployed and retained
Strong and vibrant club structures offering a wide variety of opportunities that are fun and safe
Modern sports facilities that meet the needs of all participants
More talented Welsh athletes are identified and developed to realise their potential
SPORT
WALES / Ensure our resources (people & money) are aligned to this framework
Ensure all those involved in community sport in Wales are signed up to these same, collective goals

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