The Committee is asked to consider the Active Lives Framework.

The Cabinet Member for Housing and Wellbeing and the Community (Sport and Physical Activity) Officer have been invited to attend for this item.

The Chairman welcomed the Cabinet Member for Housing and Wellbeing and the Community Sport and Physical Activity Officer to the meeting.

The Cabinet Member for Housing and Wellbeing introduced the report and explained that the Active Lives Framework built on the previous Sport and Physical Activity Framework (SPAF) for Swale which had expired in 2017.  He added that the document was coming to the end of an 8 week consultation and highlighted the 6 objectives from the SPAF on page 4 of the document.

The Interim Head of Economies and Communities said that this was the opportunity to address some of the stark health inequalities by using assets in the Borough such as sports centres and open spaces.  She added that they would be working with a variety of people, from those that did no activity at all to top athletes.

In response to a question from the Chairman, the Community Sport and Physical Activity Officer confirmed that over 200 partners linked with the Active Swale network had the opportunity to be involved in the consultation, from national governing bodies of sports and local leisure trusts to community clubs and charities.  He added that there were consultation days in March 2017 and partners were invited to submit online surveys.

A Member drew attention to the out-of-date information on page 13 of the document and the Community Sport and Physical Activity Officer agreed to update the information.

A Member feared that the obesity message was getting lost as there was duplication from other organisations and said that SBC had not done enough to support sports facilities.  He added that SBC should have its own initiatives and cycle paths should be included in planning applications for development.  In response, the Cabinet Member for Housing and Wellbeing said that tackling obesity was a priority for many organisations and the framework was linked to the National Health Service (NHS) and Clinical Commissioning Groups to allow SBC to improve.

A Member welcomed the discussions with other organisations and highlighted the work carried out by Swale Community Leisure.

There was a discussion around the lack of budget and the Community Sport and Physical Activity Officer confirmed that funding was not being sought; the costs were only officer time and a £20k sports grant had been received.  He said that the framework was looking to continue the work already being carried out and advise how to engage and get people active.  In response, a Member highlighted the savings that could be made as a more active lifestyle could be less of a strain on the NHS.  The Cabinet Member for Housing and Wellbeing advised that they were working closely with the NHS and monitoring referrals that should save money in the long term.

The Interim Head of Economies and Communities clarified that funding to improve the Active Lives website was from an underspend.

In response to a question from a Member on why there was no mention of disabled sports and activities, the Cabinet Member for Housing and Wellbeing agreed to look at this.  Another Member said that mental health and sports activity were linked and spoke of the new Government Social Mobility document that had recently been released.  She suggested that SBC could produce a disabled friendly walks and parks leaflet.

The Community Sport and Activity Officer clarified that 731 new individuals that were inactive were now active, as highlighted in Health Trainer Project on page 13 of the document, and agreed to make the information clearer and include ‘per week’ in the activity levels on page 15 of the document.

A Member referred to the last bullet point under Active You on page 10 of the document and asked what action would be taken and what changes would be made?  He added that the priorities were too general. A discussion ensued and the Interim Head of Economies and Communities advised that the target audience for the framework was community groups and all had different priorities.  Several Members said that it was not clear who the document was for.  The Community Sport and Activity Officer clarified that groups could use the document to assist in gaining funding.  The Interim Head of Economies and Communities added that the framework could be used to focus on health and activity generally and elements of the document could be used for clubs.  She added that the document also assisted and linked in with smarter working with Planning Services colleagues when considering the requirements of Section 106 Agreements.

There was a discussion around the benefits of a good diet with activity, and a Member suggested there should be more education from Central Government and Kent County Council and SBC should become involved in any initiatives when they could.  The Cabinet Member for Housing and Wellbeing advised that there was a community chef in Swale that gave advice on cooking healthy meals.

The Cabinet Member for Housing and Wellbeing thanked Members for their input.

The Chairman thanked the Cabinet Member for Housing and Wellbeing, the Interim Head of Economies and Communities and the Community Sport and Activity Officer.

Recommendation to Cabinet

(1)  That consideration be given to what suitable budget funding would be required to push the initiative forward to help promote physical activity.