Sport England

The Nation's Biggest Supporter

Developing Policy for Sport

Sport England has long been engaged with policy development which promotes the interests of sport and recreation at regional, sub-regional and local levels. A key reference point has been and continues to be the Planning for Sport and Active Recreation: Objectives and Opportunities (formerly LUPPS) which sets out 30 policy objectives for sport and recreation relating to facility provision and protection, sport in the urban fringe, wider countryside and designated areas and the management of sports facilities.

Sport can be used to help deliver a range of policy aspirations, such as health improvement and local economic viability. This contribution is detailed in Spatial Planning for Sport and Active Recreation and applies to policy development at regional, sub-regional and local scales. The following links offer advice and guidance on the development of policies for sport and recreation.

Creating Regional and Sub-Regional Policy
In assisting the development of policy at regional and sub-regional scales, Sport England has developed a range of guidance and practical tools. This section sets out the aspirations for the representation of the interests of sport, principles and key objectives which are central to ensuring that the best use is made of the potential for sport to realise direct and wider aims. A checklist of how the interests of sport can be woven into regional policy is given, along with a number of examples of how Sport England is currently engaging with the planning process at regional and sub-regional levels.
Find out more about creating Regional and Sub-Regional Policy

Creating Local Policy
At the local level, Sport England’s interests relate to the development of policy within Local Development Documents and the implementation of policy through development control. To help clarify how the interests of sport and recreation are best represented at the local level, the suite of documents comprising the LDF is considered. Sport England’s interests and the policy creation process in those documents is identified. A robust evidence base is central to ensuring that policy is well-founded, and to this end, a range of tools developed by Sport England are highlighted.
Find out more about Creating Local Policy

Guiding Principles for Sport and Spatial Planning
Sport England sees the emergence of the spatial planning system as an opportunity to deliver both its own aspirations for sport and active recreation, whilst contributing to those of its partners in public, private and voluntary sectors. Here there is the prospect of delivering a planned approach to the provision of facilities, and in doing so adding value to the work of others and helping to deliver aspirations for sustainable development.

Sport England is committed to the spirit and purpose of spatial planning. The integration of policies for the development and use of land with other policies and programmes chimes with the potential of sport and active recreation to make a contribution across a range of policy areas. Through partnership working, Sport England seeks to engage with planners at regional and local levels to help ensure that the interests of sport and active recreation are well represented, actively promoted and appropriately developed in the interests of all.

By working with planners at regional, sub-regional and local scales, Sport England wishes to develop a practical approach to planning for sport and active recreation and to this end seeks involvement in plan and policy development at regional, sub-regional and local scales. This means seeking opportunities for the promoting the interests of sport and active recreation through a variety of means, including statutory and non-statutory mechanisms, at a variety of scales, delivered through top-down and bottom-up mechanisms. The advent of the spatial planning system offers such opportunities, particularly developing new partnerships in realising a wider agenda than pursued hitherto. Here the contribution of sport and active recreation to agendas associated with regeneration, health promotion and environmental enhancement, for instance.

The following principles will inform how Sport England seeks to engage with the planning system in the promotion of the interests of sport and active recreation.

·Environmental sustainability
·Community safety
·Local economic viability
·Improving quality of life and well-being
·Health improvement
·Raising standards in schools

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