Today's news that more than a third of school teachers surveyed reported a drop in the number of children exercising is another reminder that the Olympic legacy from London 2012 cannot be taken for granted.

The Smith Institute's research represents just the latest attack on Education Secretary Michael Gove's decision to axe £162m of ring-fenced funding for School Sport Partnerships (SSPs) in 2011.

The think-tank refers to a "sharp decline" in school sports since that ring-fenced investment (enabling secondary schools to co-ordinate tuition, and lend PE teachers to smaller primaries that needed them) was cut, blaming a lack of funding.

Some £63m was reinstated in a new teacher-release programme and a boosted "School Games". However, according to the Smith Institute, 88% of School Games organisers and school sport co-ordinators said 'the old system was better', and that participation had declined.

Clive Efford, Labour's Shadow Minister for Sport, says the research proves the government's policy was "a disaster for the Olympic legacy... They failed to seize this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity."

The Smith Institute surveyed more than 1,000 people involved in sports at primary. It found:

• A third of teachers believed participation has decreased since government cuts to School Sports Partnerships
• The same level said that standards of sports provision had got worse at their schools under the new system
• 69% of primary teachers and 58% at secondaries said only part - or none - of the government money provided for the PE teacher release scheme was being used to organise school games in their areas