Part of 2. 2. Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Communities and Children – in the Senedd at 2:32 pm on 12 October 2016.
Minister, obviously, one of the main planks of public health is to get participation in sport levels up in Wales, and for young people to participate in healthy activity, wherever that might be. One of the things that many sports clubs are struggling with, across my region of South Wales Central, is obviously pitch fees and facility fees. I appreciate this is an issue for local government, but here you almost have a policy objective colliding with decisions taken in county hall.
We understand that there does have to be a charge, because these facilities cost, but where great concern comes in to play is where a lot of these clubs are citing examples in other areas with a disparity in the costs, very often in the same local authority area. How are you working with Cabinet colleagues to drive forward a more coherent policy that links up the public health messages with community participation, and, in particular, local government charges for community facilities?