The penultimate part of this series on local government and independence looks at how local democracy and community spirit could be enhanced – in many respects without even needing independence.
This will be worth going into more detail another time, but it’s worth touching on now.
It’s important not to underestimate the role local government plays in grassroots sport. It’s highly likely that a sizable majority of professional athletes – let alone those at the grassroots – will have started out using sports facilities run by local councils. The most obvious examples are public swimming pools and playing fields.
That’s started to change in the last decade or so through community asset transfer – where some facilities may be leased to clubs and societies to run – as well as the outsourcing of leisure services to arms-length companies or not-for-profits.
Despite additional funding from Sport Wales and the Welsh Government for capital investment in sports facilities (new 5G pitches, for example), sport and leisure – as discretionary “pay as you use” services (Part III) – have often been amongst the top of the list of services picked by councils for budget cuts2.
While there are plenty of private and club-run sports facilities that are as good as anything run by a council or trust, without access to publicly-funded or subsidised sports facilities, sport and exercise more generally will increasingly become something for the wealthy. That’s a trend that was emerging before the pandemic.
The big issue here is, therefore, funding and protecting budgets; that’s easier said than done and more an issue for the Welsh Government than councils (Part VII).
Community asset transfers shouldn’t be seen as the default option either. While some councils do provide grants and help clubs and lower tiers of local government prepare business cases, many of the facilities being transferred are often in a state of disrepair due to ongoing neglect.
So putting finances and asset transfers to one side, what other roles could local government play in developing sport?
After-hours use of school facilities – This is something that’s popped up a lot in the Senedd and at local government level over the last few years. Some (if not all) newer schools are built with community use in mind; Archbishop McGrath RC School in Bridgend doubles up as a sports centre, for example.
Clear progress is being made here, but it doesn’t seem particularly joined-up. Maybe schools in an area can be designated for particular sports in agreement with governing bodies and local clubs to provide a bit more certainty on timings etc.
Local Athletic Unions – Each county/local government area/district could form an athletic union – similar to those at universities – which could organise and administer amateur competitive sport in the given area in tandem with councils, Sport Wales and individual sport governing bodies.
Something like this would allow all sports clubs in a given area to pool backroom resources for the benefit of everyone. They could, for example, pool physiotherapy and sports medicine, regulation and admin, safeguarding/health & safety/risk assessments, a commercial/sponsorship arm and run school sports programmes/competitions and coaching sessions.
Stricter enforcement of open space requirements in the planning system – I’m sure we can all think of cases in our own areas where developers have left the installation of playgrounds or provision of playing fields until late in the construction of a new estate. From what I know, most councillors press hard on this and there are efforts made to ensure proper open space is provided when developments go through the planning system.
Former Plaid Cymru MS, Dr Dai Lloyd, successfully introduced legislation in the Senedd years ago requiring a consultation before the sell-off of public playing fields3. There are also clauses in other laws around the registration of village greens. Consultation isn’t the same as enforcement though.
There needs to be a greater focus on quality over quantity. In some cases, a small patch of grass – that could’ve otherwise just been left alone – is considered open space and ticks a box somewhere because it’s the right square footage.
“The Dog Question” – I’m sure we’ve all read stories about youth and amateur athletes who’ve ended up covered in dog mess because of irresponsible dog owners. Some councils have already taken the “nuclear option” of banning dogs from sports pitches altogether during playing seasons; others are seemingly more reluctant (it may be difficult to enforce when the public and sports clubs use the same space).
Ultimately it should be for councils to decide themselves, but dog fouling is one of those issues that everyone gets annoyed by yet isn’t addressed seriously by more senior politicians.
2.Audit Wales (April 2021). “At Your Discretion: Local Government Discretionary Services” (p13-14). Available at: https://www.audit.wales/publication/your-discretion-local-government-discretionary-services
3. Playing Fields (Community Involvement in Disposal Decisions) Measure 2010.
