Physical Inactivity (Public Health)

David Rutley Excerpts

Tuesday 18th November 2014 Westminster Hall

[David Rutley (Macclesfield) (Con)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Weir. I congratulate the hon. Member for Blaenau Gwent (Nick Smith) on securing this debate on an important subject on which I know he has been campaigning for many years. Many of us have taken the opportunity to come to support him.

I draw Members’ attention to my interests: I am co-chair of the all-party group on mountaineering, a vice-chair of the all-party group on mountain rescue and secretary of the all-party group on national parks; there is a definite outdoor theme there. I will spend a few minutes discussing why it is vital to ensure that we tackle the challenge of physical inactivity, and how we can do even more by tackling it in an outdoor setting. Over the past few years, I have been passionate as a Member of Parliament about ensuring that we get people off the sofa and outdoors to be active. The good news is that we are making progress. We have had numerous debates; I secured a debate on outdoor pursuits recently, and in September the hon. Member for Ogmore (Huw Irranca-Davies) secured a debate on outdoor sport and recreation.

It is positive that we have been working closely with Ministers, particularly the Under-Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, my hon. Friend the Member for Maidstone and The Weald (Mrs Grant), who takes a keen interest in the matter, and of course our very own Minister for public health, my hon. Friend the Member for Battersea (Jane Ellison), who is an example in that respect. She was kind enough to come to the Macclesfield area and High Peak, and we walked around Goyt valley and up on to Shining Tor, practising what she preaches by having a meeting outdoors, talking and walking. She is an excellent walker and a great ambassador for the issue. I commend her for the important work that she does.

Why are we doing this? As Members have highlighted, it is important to recognise that 30% of the UK population are inactive, compared with Scandinavia, where the figure is more like 8%. Clearly, there are other countries not very far away that have grasped the nettle better and more effectively than we have. A key report published recently, “Moving More, Living More”, suggests that the cost of physical inactivity is around £20 billion. We have a chance to reduce premature death. The importance of physical activity in tackling mental health issues as well has not been stressed as much in this debate as in other settings. The well-being aspects of walking and cycling, for example, are critical. Charities in my area, such as Age UK Cheshire East, make every effort to show people those well-being aspects.

It is good that we can take the agenda forward through Government and local authorities, but importantly, we can get more people involved in outdoor activities by bringing together various groups. Progress is being made; a year or two ago, we launched an important programme called “Britain on Foot”, and now a coalition of outdoor organisations including the Ramblers, the Youth Hostels Association, Living Streets, the British Mountaineering Council and the Outdoor Industry Association has published six key proposals for Government action on the outdoors.

The first and most important is that we need cross-government support for a long-term strategy on outdoor recreation. We need a strategy for promoting outdoor activities and tackling physical inactivity, just as we have one for sport. Interestingly, Sport Cheshire has now changed its name to Active Cheshire, an approach which I am sure has been mirrored in other parts of the country as well, to show that we need a more holistic approach. Yes, we have a sport strategy, but now we also need a physical or outdoor activity strategy to match it every step of the way. The aim is to get 1 million more people out of physical inactivity.

Another of the six key proposals is to increase opportunities for young people to be active outdoors; I know that the hon. Member for Blaenau Gwent is particularly keen on that. The work of the Scouts, the Guides and Duke of Edinburgh programmes provides clear opportunities. I hope that the Minister, in her winding-up remarks, will show her support for the six key proposals, as the Sports Minister has done. We need a cross-government approach to the issue. The Sport and Recreation Alliance’s report “Reconomics”, published earlier this year, says that we have a vast blue and green gym that we should be using more often. It is free. Let us get more people active outdoors.