6. Debate on the Culture, Communications, Welsh Language, Sport, and International Relations Committee Report — 'Levelling the playing field: A report on participation in sport and physical activity in disadvantaged areas'

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 4:30 pm on 30 November 2022.

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Photo of Tom Giffard Tom Giffard Conservative 4:30, 30 November 2022

Yes, absolutely, and it's not just—I can't remember the exact quote, but one of our witnesses came to the committee and said that sport was not just for people who are really good at sport; sport should be for everybody as well.

We heard, though, from many giving evidence during this inquiry, that some schools, even though they benefited from twenty-first century schools project money, and part of that funding was to ensure access for the communities in which they serve facilities, that's not always been the case. And where I was a councillor in Brackla before this, I can attest, first-hand, that those facilities, once they were built, were not always available for communities in the way, perhaps, they were intended to be, when they were being designed. I know that this is one of those areas where the Deputy Minister's portfolio and the education Minister's portfolio overlap, but in our efforts to close the gap, we need to make sure that this particular outcome doesn't fall between those gaps.

Mark Lawrie from StreetGames told us that an average family living in poverty will spend about £3.75 a week on sport and active leisure. He noted that that was a 2019 figure, so we can only assume that that might be lower today. And Professor Melitta McNarry told us that she'd seen some information that showed that the average amount spent in deprived areas was £1.50 a week, compared with £10 in more well-off areas. Therefore, it's crucial that the Welsh Government does absolutely all it can to bridge that particular gap to ensure that those from disadvantaged backgrounds are not disadvantaged from participating in sport in the first place.

And finally, in closing, I wanted to highlight something that Noel Mooney, the chief executive of the Football Association of Wales has said on the state of facilities here in Wales, where he said,

'our grass-roots facilities are absolutely disgraceful here. I'm really shocked by how bad the facilities are here'.

Surely, our ambition for sport in Wales must be far higher than that. If we're going to truly deliver a legacy from this world cup, we need a serious levelling up in community facilities—let that be the legacy and let's level the playing field. Thank you.