Sport England

The Nation's Biggest Supporter

Equity and value for money

Indicators

Two sports and leisure facility indicators were included within the cultural services block of the CPA consultation document. One relates to Equity and one to Value for money.

Equity

Representative facility use by people from the most deprived socio-economic groups

Representative facility use by young people aged 11-19yrs

Representative facility use by people from black & minority ethnic groups

Representative facility use by people aged over 60yrs

Proportion of facility usage by disabled people aged under 60yrs

Value for money

Subsidy per visit

Visits per square metre

Why have these indicators?

Sport contributes to a range of outcomes and priorities shared by local and central government and other public sector agencies. In particular, sport can promote: healthier communities; safer and stronger communities; raising standards; economic vitality; and meet the needs of children and young people.

Sports facilities are an important aspect of local government provision and make a major contribution to these outcomes. A high proportion of local authority leisure department expenditure goes on indoor sports facilities.

Rates of participation in sport display inequality across social class, age, ethnicity and disability. For equality of opportunity to exist for all it is important that barriers are removed and opportunities maximised. The Equity performance indicators (participation in local authority sport / recreation provision) measures how representative facility usage is.

It is legitimate to measure both financial and operating efficiency when seeking to ensure public services deliver value for money. The Value for money performance indicators (Leisure facilities efficiency) considers both subsidy levels and the scale and nature of usage and non-usage of facilities.

How will these indicators be collected?

Performance information will be gathered at a sample of local authority sports facilities. Local authorities will be invited to nominate a number of facilities to be assessed on the following basis:

A minimum of 2 or at least 25% of eligible facilities will be selected. For example, an authority with three controlled facilities will select two facilities, an authority with 12 controlled facilities will select three facilities. Authorities with only one controlled facility will only nominate one facility

Wherever possible, the sports facilities nominated for assessment by each authority should include an even balance of sports halls and swimming pools

Where multiple centres are considered in respect of a local authority an average performance score will be calculated for each indicator

These nomination criteria seek to ensure that a sufficient amount of assessment work is carried out across all authorities and that where a local authority controls a larger number of facilities a representative number are considered. The criteria also seek to ensure there is an appropriate balance across the type of facilities considered.

The sports and leisure facility indicators proposed are all subject to minimum collection standards. The facilities can be assessed using the following services:

The National Benchmarking Service

The National Benchmarking Service has been recognised as an appropriate measurement tool for both indicators (Equity and Value for money). The National Benchmarking Service for Sports Halls and Swimming Pools (NBS) measures the performance of sports facilities, covering the following aspects of service delivery: access; finance; utilisation; and customer satisfaction.

The National Benchmarking Service uses three main sources of information a user survey, a financial return, and catchment area data. The NBS user survey is designed for self-completion but can easily be adapted for interviewer administration. The survey should be conducted over a period of 9 consecutive days, including 2 weekends, and should aim for a minimum sample size of 350 users. The programme return captures details of how the sports hall and/or swimming pool space is utilised at specified time intervals during the NBS survey period. The financial return records details about the finances of the sports hall and/or swimming pool being considered.

APSE Performance Networks

APSE Performance Networks has been recognised as an appropriate measurement tool for both the Equity and Value for money indicators.

What are the associated costs?

Local authorities should contact either the National Benchmarking Service or APSE (about data collection for the Equity and Value for money indicators) to find out the cost of these services.

Local authorities will also need to resource the survey work at their centres. Many centres choose to manage the user survey with centre staff, this can be a good way of raising awareness of, and commitment to, performance. Other centres choose instead to engage market research professionals to manage the user survey on their behalf.

What does an LA need to provide

Local authorities will need to:

Select the centres they want to be asses

Carry out a user survey for each centre

Complete a finance and programme questionnaire for each centre

When will the data be available

Performance indicators and national benchmarks are already well established and local authorities are already able to use the National Benchmarking Service for the Equity and Value for money indicators and APSE Performance Networks for the Equity and Value for money indicators. The measurement process can be undertaken now.

Useful links

National Benchmarking Service information and booking line: 0800 013 2766

Feedback

To provide any feedback on these indicators, email: cpa@sportengland.org

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