Sport England Update

Sir Keith Mills to assist merger of
Sport England and UK Sport

Sport England’s Chair, Richard Lewis, this week welcomed the appointment of Sir Keith Mills to the Project Board established to manage the merger of Sport England and UK Sport, which is due to be completed by April 1, 2013.

Sir Keith will chair the group, whose remaining members will be the chairs and chief executives of Sport England and UK Sport and a representative of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.

Richard Lewis said:  "Sir Keith’s appointment is excellent news and very welcome, particularly given the extensive sporting knowledge and expertise that he brings alongside his vast business experience. Jennie Price and I look forward to working with him to secure the best possible outcome for sport as a whole, building on the progress which is being made at both a community and elite level.”

Sir Keith’s main responsibilities will be to ensure the project delivers a merged body that incorporates the current responsibilities of Sport England and UK Sport for community and elite sport respectively, while maintaining distinct English and UK funding streams, which deliver even more value for money for the Government and the public. 

The Project Board will also ensure that the perspective of stakeholders including the devolved administrations, Home Country Sports Councils, sport’s national governing bodies, local authorities and other organisations with a significant role in the delivery of sport is properly considered during the formation of the merged organisation.

Minister for Sport and the Olympics, Hugh Robertson MP, said: "It is fantastic to have Sir Keith Mills as Chair of the Project Board. His unparalleled business experience, combined with a detailed knowledge of our sporting landscape, means he is the perfect person to oversee this work. The structure of sport in this country must be rationalised and, going forward, it does not make sense to have two organisations, operating out of different and expensive central London locations with the associated administrative costs. I also want to capture the commercial opportunities generated by London 2012 to sport thereafter. I have no doubt Sir Keith will manage this with his customary expertise.” 

Sport England (February 2011)
New governance tool launched

The launch of a new online governance, finance and control self-help tool for sports organisations was today welcomed by the Minister for Sport and the Olympics, Hugh Robertson MP.

The tool -Things to Think About - has been developed by Sport England and UK Sport in response to requests from national governing bodies of sport (NGBs) for support as they develop their governance, finance and control frameworks.

Things to Think About covers governance, strategic planning, financial management, human resources, organisational policy and risk management. It sets out the standards assessed in Sport England and UK Sport core-funded sports bodies, along with prompts to help organisations to think about the principles behind those standards. It also provides links to other specialist websites. View the full news item

View the ‘Things to think about’ pages

What facility improvements do sports clubs really need?

Sport England has launched an online consultation on what facility improvements it should offer to sports clubs through the Inspired Facilities fund. 

Part of the Places People Play programme which will deliver a legacy of increased participation in sport from London 2012, Inspired Facilities will offer clubs a catalogue of standard items such as floodlighting, coaching equipment, or grounds maintainance equipment. This eliminates the burden of procurement and generates economies of scale. We need you to tell us what improvements the Inspired Faclities fund should offer. 

Find out more and take part in our online survey ?

Major boost for grassroots football

The FA has launched a nationwide programme to drive up the number of adults playing football.

The FA MARS Just Play scheme aims to help the sport achieve the target agreed with Sport England to get 150,000 more participants playing football for at least 30 minutes a week by September 2013.

Find out more? 

2012 goal achieved early as Clubmark accredits its 10,000th club

Sport England’s Clubmark scheme, which recognises sports clubs that create safe, high-quality, welcoming environments for young people, has achieved its 2012 goal to accredit 10,000 clubs – 13 months ahead of schedule.

As the only national cross-sports quality accreditation scheme, Clubmark celebrates the role of sports clubs in encouraging young people to take up sport, improve their skills and maintain lifelong participation.

Find out more?