The recent ‘Game Changers’ report from the Centre for Social Justice calls for students in secondary schools to do two hours of after-school sport a week. Current physical activity levels amongst young people are a matter of immediate, national concern and it’s positive that this report has backing from both major parties. The report cites an overview of studies by Cambridge University researchers which found that sports programmes cut offending by 52 per cent as well as helping to prevent child obesity.
The report was backed by former and current England rugby stars Lawrence Dallaglio and Courtney Lawes and recommends a “right to sport” for young people, including a minimum two hours a week of extracurricular games for all secondary pupils, doubling the current recommendations for PE during the school week. The £1.4 billion cost of the scheme could be paid for by a levy on Premier League transfers, a surcharge on bank profits and a tax on vaping, it argues.