Helen Grant emphasises the Government’s commitment to London 2012 Legacy in Ministerial Statement

Posted: Thu, 23 Oct 2014 16:30

Helen Grant emphasises the Government’s commitment to London 2012 Legacy in Ministerial Statement

Today Minister for Sport Helen Grant MP issued a written Ministerial Statement to provide an update on the progress the Government has made since hosting the Olympic Games in London.

She pointed to the second annual joint report with the Mayor of London, Inspired by 2012, and made specific reference to the Moving More, Living More policy launched in February this year – the initiative aimed at building a sustainable physical activity legacy after the Olympics. As part of that, the launch of Public Health England's physical activity implementation framework today 'Everybody Active, Every Day' is set to provide local authorities and other organisations with guidance, evidence and supportive materials to help them when commissioning local physical activity interventions.

Among other updates, Mrs Grant wrote to celebrate the success of initiatives which have boosted the profile of women's sport, including pilot prgrammes backed by Sport England and major events such as the England Women's triumph in the Rugby World Cup this summer.

She highlighted the successful legacy being achieved in elite sport, pointing to the record medal success at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow as a direct consequence on the infrastructure and funding sustained by UK Sport.

DCMS, with UK Sport and Sport England, are planning to capitalise on the UK hosting major events to increase sport participation. They are set to release an updated strategy later this year which aims to identify, attract and deliver up to 100 major international sporting events by 2023. This will continue to be largely supported by UK Sport's £41 million gold event series funded through the national lottery will support the bidding and delivery of a majority of these events.

Updates on the youth sports strategy post-2012, along with volunteering opportunities and the School Games initiative with the Department for Education also received updates, along with plans to further build on the progress of the International Inspiration programme and more plans to get people with disabilities to play sport more regularly.

A link to the official Hansard transcript on the quarterly ministerial can be found here.

Tags: London 2012, Olympics, Physical Activity, School Sport, Sport England, Uk Sport, legacy, participation