Podium or participation? Analysing policy priorities under changing modes of sport governance in the United Kingdom

Abstract

In the United Kingdom (UK), since 1997 the New Labour government has built on the principles of ‘new public management’ (NPM) introduced under previous Conservative administrations as a framework for the ways in which it ‘governs’ the complex array of organisations and agencies involved in the delivery of public services. The governance of sport policy development has not been immune to the various influences of NPM and the related requirement for a far greater emphasis on evidence-based policy-making. In this respect, the literature on NPM and governance provides the conceptual frame for analysis of the article's two main interrelated aims. The first is to identify and analyse the realignment of the ways in which government and its national sporting agencies ‘interact’ with key ‘delivery partners’ charged with implementing national sport policy. We use the term ‘changing modes of sport governance’ to capture this phenomenon. The second aim is to evaluate the ways in which these changing modes of governance have impacted upon the government's drive to realise two of its contemporary sport policy priorities: i) support for developing elite athletes; and ii) raising sport and physical activity participation rates across the public at large. Our conclusions suggest that, under current and emerging governance arrangements in the UK, an illusory screen of plural, autonomous and empowered delivery networks for sport obscures the very close ties to, and regulation from, the centre.

Keywords:

• sport policy
• elite sport development
• mass participation
• new public management
• governance

Notes

1. At the 1908 London Olympic Games the ‘home’ team topped the medals table with 56 gold medals and 145 medals overall. But it must be remembered that the number of home athletes competing in many events was disproportionately high (IOC 2008).

2. The Active People survey was commissioned by Sport England and is the largest sport and recreation survey ever undertaken; 323,724 people were interviewed (a minimum of 1000 in each local authority area) by telephone across England between October 2005 and October 2006. Sport England aims to conduct this survey on annual basis.

3. Regular participation in sport and recreation is defined as taking part on at least three days a week in moderate intensity sport and recreation (at least 12 days in the last four weeks) for at least 30 minutes continuously in any one session. Participation includes recreational walking and cycling. Some 239 different sports and recreational activities were counted in the survey. Moderate intensity is defined by having walked at a brisk or fast pace and for sports having raised the breathing rate (Sport England 2006).

4. The DCMS's current Public Service Agreements have a significant focus on increasing participation in Arts, Sport, Museums and Heritage, particularly by a range of ‘priority groups’. The Taking Part survey is the mechanism for monitoring progress against several of these targets. The survey gives detail on adult (16 plus) participation and attendance covering all DCMS sectors that allows statistically robust analysis at cross-sectoral, socio-demographic sub-group and regional levels. The Taking Part survey began in July 2005 and will run continuously for three years, with an annual sample size of around 27,000 per year.