Access to sport for children with disabilities

Published on Fri 8th Sep 2006

What is the biggest barrier that prevents London's children with disabilities from taking part in sport? Not enough sports facilities? Lack of wheelchair ramps, maybe?

The answer is as surprising as it is disgraceful. It is the lack of money for suitable transport. Children with disabilities are being denied access to sport for want of a minibus.

Disability sport risks being forgotten. In 2002, England won the Learning Disability Football World Cup in Japan. But where were the tickertape parades, the open-top red bus or the media coverage? Contrast that with the celebrations when England wins a non-disability sports tournament, such as the Rugby World Cup in 2003 or the Ashes victory in 2005!

Attitudes and policies must change. When London won the bid for the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, its bid document included this promise: "The presence of the Paralympic Games in the UK will motivate greater numbers of young people - and in particular those with disabilities - to become involved with sport, and to aspire to elite performance."

The bid added: "The Games will be a force and focus, unlike any other, to train UK Paralympians, coaches, technical officials and volunteers who will dramatically advance Paralympic sport."

We cannot afford to wait until 2012 to find out whether this commitment will be met. That is why the committee I chair at the London Assembly is conducting a scrutiny to test this pledge, by examining the implementation of plans being put in place to deliver it, and holding those responsible to account.

The problems

According to the most recent research carried out by Sport England, the sports participation rate among disabled adults is 24% lower than the rate among non-disabled people. To change this situation, to enable children with disabilities to become involved with sport - and to create a team of winning Paralympians for 2012 - we must overcome a number of serious barriers:

· Lack of suitable transport - Transport for children with disabilities is not a statutory service. It is difficult for these children to get to after-school clubs or events and back home again, particularly for special needs children attending mainstream schools. Even at special schools where minibuses or ambulances are available, the journey times are inflexible - they are geared to the beginning and end of the normal school day and do not take into account after-school or out-of-school activities. Many pupils at special schools live a long way from the school because the catchment areas are very large, which creates obvious logistical difficulties. And parents cannot always be expected to provide the necessary transport.

· Inconsistent support at borough level - There are huge discrepancies between the London boroughs in the resources they are committing to sports development, especially among people with disabilities and special needs. Only nine of the 33 boroughs have a sports development officer or the equivalent and, of those, only three or four specialise in disability sport. There are also big differences in the levels of grant support given by boroughs to disabled athletes, with some providing no support at all.

· Failure to identify and cater for children with special needs in mainstream education - Children with special needs are increasingly being absorbed into mainstream education, while the number of children in special needs schools is declining. Indeed, some boroughs have no special school at all. This poses three significant challenges to disability sports participation. First, it is becoming increasingly difficult to identify special needs children who could benefit from out-of-school sporting activities. Second, pupils with special needs may not wish to identify themselves as such. And third, pupils with special needs exist in such small numbers in many schools that they find themselves sidelined from physical activity. Mainstream schools probably do not always have the resources that special needs children require to benefit from sport, and mainstream teachers are not always aware of the equipment that is available.

· Lack of formal training for teachers and coaches - In special schools, there tends to be a high turnover of PE staff, while teachers at mainstream schools do not have the training to deal with special needs children, or to recognise sporting talent in a child with a disability. This is hardly surprising when you consider that, in the one-year postgraduate teacher training course, only six hours are dedicated to PE and special needs are not even in the syllabus. Meanwhile, outside formal education, although disability awareness is becoming integrated into entry-level coaching courses, for example in athletics, other sports are further behind.

· Absence of clear pathway to Paralympic-level activity - For able-bodied youngsters who show sporting promise, there is a clear route up to the highest levels of international competition. There is no such pathway for disabled children. Teachers or coaches may spot talent in a young disabled person but not be aware of how that talent should be developed. Another difficulty is that the small number of athletes with comparable disabilities hinders genuine competition in any one discipline. There is also a shortage of positive role models. With the notable exception of Dame Tanni Grey-Thompson, no Paralympic athlete has acquired the status and media presence of their Olympic counterparts.

The solutions

Training to Paralympic standards can be achieved in as little as six years, which means action taken now will shape the Paralympians representing Great Britain in 2012. If we can improve arrangements at grass-roots levels now, we can truly expect to see an increase in the number of winning Paralympians in 2012.

This means central government must act now to get results in 2012. The public, private and voluntary sectors must also invest because it is vital that these bodies, including the GLA, give the Paralympics the same level of commitment as the Olympics.

Specifically, we need to take the following steps:

· Put sport for disabled children on the agenda - Most decision-makers are unaware of the situation, so we must raise awareness of the issue. This is particularly important in boroughs providing little or no resources for local sports development, where council leaders must be made aware of their responsibility (and be given the resources) to help ensure the promise in London's Olympic bid is met.

· Invest in transport - We need more money for transport to allow children with disabilities to attend after-school clubs. We must examine how this money can be spent more wisely, to allow people with disabilities to access sports facilities more easily and efficiently. If not a London-wide scheme, we at least need more cross-borough co-operation.

· Provide more and better training for teachers - Trainee teachers need more than six hours of PE training, and this provision must include training in special needs. We also need suitable post-qualification training.

· Provide a clear pathway to international competition - We need a structure for elite disability sport to be developed and communicated to teachers, coaches and parents. There is also a responsibility for role models to promote their sport, to inspire and motivate sporting success among disabled people.

What you can do

There are practical steps you can take to campaign for better provision for disability sport in your borough:

· Find out what resources your borough is putting into community sports development - for young athletes in general and children with disabilities or special needs in particular. Is your borough lagging behind?

· Talk to local stakeholders, such as teachers, parents, local disability groups and sports clubs - what improvements would they like to see?

· Tell me what you've discovered locally, so that we can co-ordinate an effective campaign to persuade the boroughs, the GLA and the government to take the necessary steps for success in 2012.

I intend to spearhead this campaign. I will begin by approaching transport manufacturers to raise money for transport and propose to shame the government into action. This will be part of a campaign in my role as Liberal Democrat spokesperson for sport on the London Assembly. Please contact me if you can offer any help or ideas - together we can make this campaign a great success!