WIREDGOV

More of us now live within 20 minutes travel of quality sports facilities - according to new Audit Commission statistics. 41% of people in England live within a 20-minute walk in urban areas, and drive in rural areas, of three different types of sports facilities, one of which has to be quality assured by schemes such as Sport England’s Quest programme. In 2006, the figure was just 23%. The number of facilities gaining Quest accreditation has almost doubled – from 435 in 2006 to 802 in 2008 – meaning more people are getting a quality sporting experience.

These results are part of an overall improvement in the cultural services (including sport) provided by local councils, which is measured by the Audit Commission’s Comprehensive Performance Assessment (CPA) each year. The 2008 CPA figures show that local councils have improved for the second year running with more authorities reaching the top two categories (scoring 3 or 4) than ever before.

Click here to see the final CPA scores for 2008: http://www.audit-commission.gov.uk/

Sport England is working with national governing bodies of sport, local government and other partners to create a world leading community sport system capable of getting one million people playing and enjoying more sport by 2013. To find out how we are delivering our new strategy, click here