Walking the line: can health and leisure get it right for the public good?
Engaging with commissioning: further learning material
Further to his article on sport and physical activity, Martyn Allison offers some learning opportunities that have emerged from recent work on commissioning undertaken by CLOA and Sport England.
Walking the line: can health and leisure get it right for the public good?
Most of us now recognise the value and importance of sport and physical activity to the health and social care challenges we face. The evidence is there, the need is there, resources are scare and getting scarcer, but somehow many of us are finding it difficult to build the sort of relationships we need between commissioners of health and social care and the providers of sport and physical activity.
Over the last two years Sport England and CLOA have been working with councils and their partners to broker better relationships and make a real difference to people's lives. Last year we worked with eight councils and the learning from this process is now available in a report and a series of videos you can use to understand the issues and build the relationships you need.
Mission Possible: a simple introduction to the process we used:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DzxaYDWpmjQ
Ruth Alleyne from Sport England explains the process and some of the lessons we learnt:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=idYmehJ8VFE
Linden Rowley, one of our team of advisers, explains why relationship-building is key to joining up the commissions and providers at a strategic and operational level: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x9EoG1FSQ-Y
Jim McManus, a director of public health in Hertfordshire, explains the world of public health and what you need to do to influence his colleagues:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5pn5KXCiC3Y
Dr William Bird explains the world of the GP and how you can engage and help support the challenges they face:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0aBu0k11EMw
Jill Dickinson from South Bedfordshire Council explains how the project helped them engage better with commissioners:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lCNGlHZ3Xoc
From Oldham Council Cllr Jenny Harrison, a cabinet member, talks about the role of political leadership:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bsRBfvORA1k
Carolyn Wilkins, chief executive of Oldham Council, talks about the importance of corporate leaderships: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNPwaWmrs1A
Neil Costerdine talks about how the sport and leisure service benefited from the project:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PG8DZSUnFkQ
To read the learning report and find out more about the project go to:
http://www.sportengland.org/our-work/local-work/partnering-local-government/case-studies/ccloa-strategic-commissioning-sport-and-physical-activity/
The new government sport strategy stresses the need to focus on the health challenges and the need for health and the sport and leisure sector to work together. It won’t just happen by magic: providers need to understand and engage with the commissioning processes delivered locally and this is your opportunity to start your journey of relationship-building.
The Leisure Review, February 2016
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