Merton Council Failing on Borough of Sport Ambitions
Merton Council has been criticised for a lack of progress towards its flagship ambition of becoming “London’s first Borough of Sport” after analysis by the Liberal Democrats revealed that Merton is lagging behind other London boroughs in key measures of physical activity and participation in sport.
Data from Sport England’s annual Active Lives Survey reveals that the Labour-run council ranks 16th out of London’s 32 boroughs regarding the percentage of children and adults who live an ‘active’ life.
For adults, this means taking part in more than 150 minutes of activity per week. Children and young people are classed as ‘active’ if they take part in more than 60 minutes of activity per day.
To reach the top spot, the Liberal Democrats say the council would need to encourage 16,931 more residents to live ‘active’ lifestyles.
Despite bold claims about transforming the borough through sport, the Sport England data shows that there has been no statistically significant change in the percentage of Merton residents living an active life since 2017.
Sport England’s Active Lives Survey also reveals that, in Merton:
1 in 4 children and young people (23.2%) are active for less than 30 minutes per day.
4 in 10 children (60.3%) are unable to swim 25 metres unaided, putting Merton 11th on the London-wide ranking.
Only 6 in 10 adults (64.4%) are active for the recommended 150 minutes per week, placing Merton 18th out of London’s 32 boroughs.
Club memberships, a key indicator of long-term engagement in sport, sit at just 40.5%, ranking Merton 22nd on the London-wide ranking.
Commenting, Cllr Anthony Fairclough, Leader of the Merton Liberal Democrats, said:
“Merton Council’s current Labour administration has a long way to go to earn any ‘Borough of Sport’ badge. All the evidence shows that no improvement has been made. Until they have a robust plan with measurable goals and targets, this is just a deliberately misleading marketing campaign which covers up their failings.”
At January’s Full Council meeting, the Liberal Democrats proposed a series of actions to address the Council’s failings. They urged the Council to develop a scorecard of measurable indicators so that progress towards becoming ‘London’s Borough of Sport’ could be tracked transparently.