New reports advise police on how sport can help achieve local goals

Sport England has published themed guides advising policing and community safety professionals on how sport can assist in the delivery of local priorities. This is part of Sport England's ambition to create sporting opportunities in every community.

The Shaping places through sport series details how local authorities and their partners can use sport to build stronger, healthier, sustainable and more prosperous communities. The reports are intended to help local policymakers and practitioners put sport at the heart of their broad range of work in local areas.

Local councils spend £1.5 billion a year on sports facilities and services and sport is now one of the top 20 priorities in Local Area Agreements - the local targets signed between councils and the Government. Shaping places through sport will help them achieve value for money by encouraging the sharing of best practice and reinforcing the evidence base on the broader impact of sport.

Sport England Chief Executive Jennie Price, who launched the reports at a Local Government Association conference in London, said:

"We want to help people play more sport and be part of a national culture of sporting success. However, sport also has an increasingly important role in contributing to wider local priorities such as economic development and community cohesion. We hope these reports will help local councils and their partners use sport to achieve a range of outcomes for local people."

The five report themes are:

Creating safer communities
Sport is a positive influence on people, and can help to reduce anti-social behaviour and the fear of crime.

Healthier communities
Playing sport can reduce the risk factors that contribute to poor health as well as create a healthier workforce, improve quality of life and increase people's independence.

Building communities
Sport has a role to play in helping to build strong, cohesive and sustainable communities where people want to, and can, live and work.

Transforming lives
Sport can have a significant impact on children and young people's health, personal development, educational achievement and economic well-being.

Increased prosperity
Sport can be a catalyst for economic development, increased skills and employment - priorities for all local authorities and their partners.

Cllr Chris White, Chair of the LGA's Culture, Tourism and Sport Board, said:

"Local councils invest around £1.5 billion annually in facilities and services - providing a community sports infrastructure that stretches right across the country. They do this because they know the benefits that a healthy, active lifestyle can bring to people, and to the places they live.

"Shaping places through sport will help councils to continue to make the case for this investment by showing how sports and active recreation can contribute to all sorts of local priorities, such as tackling crime and disorder or supporting the local economy. This is particularly important in the current financial climate."

Shaping places through sport is also supported by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, the Chief Cultural and Leisure Officer's Association and the Society of Local Authority Chief Executives.

Rt Hon Andy Burnham MP, Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, said:

"The Government and Sport England share the ambitions to get people playing more sport simply for the love of sport; to expand the pool of talented sportsmen and women in this country and to create a culture of sporting excellence.

"In achieving this, we can also expect to see benefits far beyond the sporting arena. Sport brings people together, breaks down barriers and helps to build communities.

Shaping places through sport takes a closer look at these benefits, and how we can fully capitalise upon them as we develop a world-leading community sport system."

To read and download the reports, visit
www.sportengland.org/shapingplaces