Health: Active Lifestyles

Baroness Billingham Excerpts

Monday 17th December 2012 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Billingham]

My Lords, as we look ahead to the consequences of an inactive lifestyle, it is to the medical profession that we should look first. Before I do that, I thank the noble Baroness, Lady Heyhoe Flint, for introducing this debate and for her contribution, so much of which I completely agreed with. I was delighted to hear another participant in our regular sporting debates—and such an excellent one, too. All the other speakers brought different facets to the debate, and all spoke from personal expertise and experience. I only wish that there were more people here to hear it tonight. I hope very much that we will encourage our colleagues to read these debates in Hansard; they have been truly excellent.

Having said that we will look at the medical profession in order to examine the impact on health and well-being, I will study the excellent briefing from the BMA, which others have alluded to, and reflect on its findings. Secondly, I will comment on the existing health regime and reflect on the comparison with previous provision. Thirdly, I will give my views on what must be done if future generations are to avoid catastrophic illness in old age.

I will begin with the advice of the doctors. I woke up a few days ago to the “Today” programme. One of the first items, which I am sure many of your Lordships heard, was the dreadful news that one in three of our primary school children are obese. When the BMA briefing came, therefore, I studied it very carefully. It made devastating reading, listing a wide range of damaging medical conditions, all of which could be traced back to obesity and an inactive lifestyle. The prognosis on individual health is a matter of great concern, and the financial implication for the National Health Service is equally worrying.

The Government tell us that by 2050 the cost of overweight-related illnesses will be £49.9 billion, with a direct cost to the NHS of £9.7 billion. This is a staggering sum and cost to society. Let us not forget that we are in the middle of one of the most dreadful recessions, which will blight national expenditure for many years to come. We have to change our lifestyles if the costs to the nation are not to be catastrophic.

Various critical conditions are linked to an inactive lifestyle. The BMA lists them very clearly. Type 2 diabetes, such a threatening condition, is clearly attributable to obesity. Cardiovascular diseases have a similar cause, and the BMA claims that dementia could be reduced by 12.9% if a more active lifestyle were adopted. Depression also manifests itself with a lack of physical activity.

I have not done the cost-cutting analysis from the BMA figures, but it is clearly horrific and undeniably capable of significant reduction by changing our form of lifestyle. The report provides us with sensible suggestions: more walking and cycling and more active travel patterns. All those suggestions should be heeded. The suggestion of combined responsibility, which has already been mentioned by other speakers, does not rely solely on the medical profession; it combines major government departments, such as health, education and local government. It is not a new notion; I remember arguing for such a collaborative approach more than 30 years ago. Sadly, it has never happened.

That, then, is the medical diagnosis. I will now turn to other practical solutions. My second media shock came not on the “Today” programme but in the national press some days later. Many in this Chamber tonight will know of my constant criticism, which may be described as my rant, of the Lawn Tennis Association, an association that is stunningly wealthy and ineffective. We have tried for years to find proper answers to a number of vital questions, all with scant responses. One question that I and, for that matter, every sports journalist in the country has wanted to know is: how much is Roger Draper, the chief executive, paid? Rumours flowed for years but now, as a result of government legislation, we know: his take-home pay is £640,000, which is four times that of the Prime Minister. As a national paper said last year, the LTA spends £250 million and has absolutely nothing to show for it. Just in case noble Lords think that British tennis is on the up, think again—Andy Murray, Laura Robson and Heather Watson all came as products of their families and had nothing to do with LTA training. They all had to do it for themselves.

I am concerned by these facts because for years the LTA has ignored the best and most successful way of getting people involved in tennis. It has totally ignored the fact that grass-roots sports of any kind, as has already been said by many noble Lords, are an essential basis for lifelong involvement. It is also worth reflecting that 94% of our primary school children—that is all the children in state schools—are where the money must be spent, but the LTA has almost totally ignored them.

Sport England has already been mentioned tonight. I bring noble Lords a stop press: Sport England announced this afternoon that, for the second year in succession, it is cutting funding to the Lawn Tennis Association because of its belief that the LTA’s business plans and projects are not proving successful. Last year there was the same cut in funding, which many noble Lords know, because the figures that the LTA suggested were going to be involved in the game were nothing like that.

What a wonderful inspirational evening last night was. I was delighted to see Seb Coe—the noble Lord, Lord Coe—saying so rightly in print that the failure to have sport in primary schools is his gravest and greatest concern. I have identified the LTA for its failures in one important way, and the Government fund the LTA with a £28 million grant of taxpayers’ money. We have a right and a duty to dictate how that money is spent. I ask the Minister to take this message back to the Government and ensure that the role of the LTA and its funding is well known.

Talking about being known, Michael Gove is now known as the anti-sports personality following his decision to rip sport out of state primary schools and wreck all the good work that was done by previous Administrations, such as school sport partnerships and the ring-fencing of PE funding. The decision to completely remove PE from the Gove curriculum in primary schools was only partially changed following an outcry from the general public, professionals and education and medical experts who lobbied relentlessly. As a result, part of the old funding—a very small part—has been restored, but I remind noble Lords that that is only until the end of the academic year.

All this destructive negativity is from the Government, who have funded and overseen the most successful 2012 Olympic Games, which inspired a whole nation to warm to the role of sport in society. We will never be the same again—the Olympics, Paralympics, volunteers and families. This is the time, and we cannot miss this unique opportunity. We have wonderful role models including the Duchess of Cambridge and our athletes.

The Government must also address the lack of women and girls in sport. I look back 30 years when I was working with people such as Billie Jean King on Title IX, which I know that many noble Lords will be aware of. It transformed female participation. We need to look at this as a specific gender problem. It is worth reminding ourselves that children born to women who are involved in sport are 80% more likely to be sporting too.

We all share responsibility. The medical profession gives warnings and the governing bodies of sport receive government funding. Most importantly, those responsible for PE opportunities in primary schools must be called to action. Money spent on encouraging and promoting active lifestyles will be more than rewarded in the years to come. Let the coalition put this issue at the head of its objectives. A good, happy and healthy life is surely worth working for, and we owe it to all our citizens. I very much hope that the Minister will take some of these messages back to his colleagues