2015/16 Annual review of Sport and Recreation New Zealand

Transcription

1 2015/16 Annual review of Sport and Recreation New Zealand Report of the Government Administration Committee Contents Recommendation 2 Introduction 2 Financial performance 2 The Rio de Janeiro Olympics, Funding for sport in New Zealand 3 Carding 3 The 2015/16 community sports strategy 4 The availability of spaces and places for sport and recreation 5 Engagement with the sector 5 Appendix 6

2 Sport and Recreation New Zealand Recommendation The Government Administration Committee has conducted the annual review of the 2015/16 performance and current operations of Sport and Recreation New Zealand, and recommends that the House take note of its report. Introduction Sport and Recreation New Zealand (Sport NZ) is a Crown agent under the Crown Entities Act Its role is to promote, encourage and support physical recreation and sport in New Zealand. It is accountable to the Government through the Minister for Sport and Recreation. Sport NZ is responsible for setting direction, and providing investment and resources to partners who deliver sport in their communities. This includes national sports organisations (NSOs), regional sports trusts, and local councils. A subsidiary of Sport NZ, High Performance Sport New Zealand (HPSNZ), is responsible for managing the country s high performance programme. Together the two agencies form the Sport NZ Group. The board of directors has nine members and is chaired by Sir Paul Collins. The senior leadership team has six members led by chief executive Peter Miskimmin. Financial performance During 2015/16 the Sport NZ Group received revenue of $ million. Of this, 63 percent came from Crown funding, and 33 percent from the Lottery Grants Board. Total expenditure was $ million, resulting in a deficit of $7.246 million. This was a planned deficit funded by reserves accumulated in prior years. Sport NZ forecasts a surplus of $1.8 million for 2016/17. The Auditor-General rated Sport NZ s management control environment and its financial information systems and controls as very good. Its performance information and associated systems and controls were rated good. We hope to see the organisation act on the auditor s recommendations for improvements. The Rio de Janeiro Olympics, 2016 We congratulated Sport NZ on the results of the Olympics Games in Rio de Janeiro. Rio 2016 was the most successful Olympics ever for New Zealand, with 18 medals won. This was more than had been expected. The Paralympics were also hugely successful. New Zealand athletes won 21 medals, including 9 gold medals. This made New Zealand the top ranked nation in terms of medals won, per capita. Results from both the Olympics and Paralympics were seen by Sport NZ to validate the establishment of HPSNZ. Integrity in sport Doping charges laid against Russia at the 2016 Olympic Games presented challenges for Sport NZ. We heard that New Zealand was one of the first countries to sign up to the 2

3 world anti-doping code. Sport NZ had also introduced a new integrity framework in May 2016, and a comprehensive education programme around match fixing. The integrity framework focusses on educating people at a young age about the importance of integrity in sport, and aims to take a consistent approach to all issues that compromise integrity. Funding for sport in New Zealand Ninety percent of the money Sport NZ receives from the Government and the Lottery Grants Board goes to the front line. Sport NZ said that the most significant determinant of its ability to invest into the sector is the level of funding it receives from the New Zealand Lotteries Commission. This is based on the annual net profits of Lotto New Zealand. Philanthropic contributions We heard that a programme called BlackGold had been dedicated to gaining funds from philanthropic contributions in the two and a half years leading up to the 2016 Olympic Games. The BlackGold programme aimed to raise $10 million and succeeded in raising $9.25 million for the sport sector, with $8.25 million going towards high performance sport. Return on investment Sport NZ shared our view that sport represents more than medals at the Olympic Games. It said that sport empowers young people and helps with self-esteem and resilience. We asked how Sport NZ keeps the balance between achieving medals and recognition at a high performance level, and providing communities with facilities and sports. We note that these represent very different returns on their investment. Sport NZ said the key thing is to encourage participation and foster a lifelong love of sport in New Zealanders. It said that high performance sport adds a lot of value because New Zealanders feel good about themselves. The challenge for Sport NZ is leveraging that back into the community. Sport NZ has tried to measure the value provided through sport and active recreation. Measures include surveying New Zealanders on how they value these areas, and taking part in a cross-government social impact measurement group, led by the Treasury. Sport NZ has also provided detailed evidence-based modelling to underpin its Budget bid, setting out what will be achieved for young people and primary school teaching. This seeks to align its approach with outcomes sought by the ministries of Health and Education. Carding Carding is a way of identifying athletes who are eligible for performance support. HPSNZ and national sport organisations jointly consider and agree cases for carding status. Not all athletes in New Zealand are carded, because Sport NZ takes a targeted approach. It says that managing the expectations of sport in New Zealand is a real challenge, and it must invest its limited resources in areas where it will receive the biggest gain. Some of us raised concerns about the priorities around carding. It seemed inappropriate that members of the national women s rugby team, the Black Ferns, had to support themselves through part-time work to participate in the women s Rugby World Cup. In 3

4 contrast, members of the men s Sevens team were carded even though they were paid professionals. Sport NZ said that all funding was decided in consultation with the national body. New Zealand Rugby had determined that the priority for women s funding would be the women s Sevens rugby team. Sport NZ noted that the approach to funding for all sports has changed. The aim is to get better performance overall, and more impact from investment, through better prioritisation and more precise targeting. This approach aligns with HPSNZ s vision of inspiring the nation through more New Zealanders winning on the world stage. 1 The number of Athlete Cards available is limited, and will be agreed with each sport based on need and stipulated prioritisation. The 2015/16 community sports strategy Sport NZ Group s strategic plan for places emphasis on participation in sport and other recreational activities through the community sports strategy, which has now been in place for a year. We heard that groups such as teenage girls and young people in low socio-economic communities especially Māori, Pasifika, and Asian are participating at well below the level needed for positive results. Challenges for the strategy are the increase in diversity, inactivity, and obesity in New Zealand communities, and constant new developments in social communications and technology. Diversity in sport We see increasing diversity in communities as both a challenge and a great opportunity. We suggested that Sport NZ could do more to work with disadvantaged communities and provide them with sporting opportunities. In its additional written responses, Sport NZ said it has undertaken a review of Māori participation in sport and recreation, which is due to be finalised in late March. The review considers the cultural competencies needed to enable Māori participation in sport. The Sport NZ Group also signed the Diversity and Inclusion Commitment Statement in May The statement is a sports-led approach to encourage diversity and inclusion across all sports. All of the major sports have committed to the framework, and a website will also be funded by the Sport NZ Group to promote diversity and inclusion in sport. The website is expected to go live in Diversity within Sport NZ Sport NZ outlined what it is doing to increase diversity within the organisation. It has implemented a future directors programme aimed at increasing women in governance. The programme provides staff with an opportunity to observe and participate in board discussions. Staff diversity will be reviewed in Sport NZ aims to have women make up 40 percent of its governance roles by This compares with 34 percent now, which is above the target of 33 percent it set in Sport NZ Group, Strategic Plan , p. 1. 4

5 The availability of spaces and places for sport and recreation Identifying spaces and places was one challenge faced by Sport NZ, so it works alongside regional sports trusts and local councils. A lack of funds means facilities experts are in short supply. This is challenging for Sport NZ as these experts are crucial in improving spaces for sport and recreation. Plans must take into account commercial viability, and appropriate sizing for the growing and changing needs of local communities. We asked whether Sport NZ could have more of a role in providing funding for local bodies. This model is used in the UK and Australia. We acknowledged that a structure is in place for funding local bodies, but more input on the ground was needed to ensure local communities see the benefits. We heard that $45 million has been used to improve high performance facilities which had now been given back to local communities. One example of this was in Waikato, where the Avantidrome is now being used in a community context rather than for high performance. Engagement with the sector A new business unit was formed in November 2016, which has overall accountability for managing engagement with partners. Four regional partnership managers are tasked with leading stakeholder relationships. A knowledge hub will be formed in 2017 to disseminate information across the sector. Sport NZ seeks to keep partners informed about their performance and expectations for future investment. This is achieved through annual roadshows, regular partner forums, and frequent collaboration on sector working groups. Relationships with other Government departments In 2015/16, Sport NZ started engaging with the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Education to enhance their work in educating young people about the importance of staying healthy and active. The Play.sport programme was one such initiative led by Sport NZ, and supported by the Ministry of Education, and the Accident Compensation Corporation. This aims to embed physical literacy in children so they know the cost of inactivity for themselves and wider society. Another initiative, Big Change Starts Small, was run in November 2016 in conjunction with the Ministry of Health, as part of the Government s Childhood Obesity Plan. The plan encourages people to start making small changes to ensure long-term and positive improvements in their children s health and wellbeing. This was the first time Sport NZ had worked with other departments on a topic that was not exclusively about sport. 5

6 Appendix Committee procedure We met on 15 February and 22 March 2017 to consider the annual review of Sport and Recreation New Zealand. We heard evidence from Sport NZ and received advice from the Office of the Auditor-General. Committee members Hon Ruth Dyson (Chairperson) Hon David Bennett Paul Foster-Bell Barry Coates Brett Hudson Hon Nanaia Mahuta Advice and evidence received The documents that we received as advice and evidence for this annual review are available on the Parliament website, They are listed below: Office of the Auditor-General, Briefing on Sport New Zealand, dated 15 February Sport New Zealand, Responses to written questions 1 102, received 15 February Sport New Zealand, Responses to written questions Appendix 3, received 15 February Sport New Zealand, Responses to written questions Appendix 5, received 15 February Sport New Zealand, Responses to written questions Appendix 6, received 15 February Sport New Zealand, Responses to additional written questions , received 7 March 6