§ Baroness Anelay of St Johnsasked Her Majesty's Government:
What conclusions were reached by the Inter-Departmental Working Group on Physical Activity for Older People; whether those conclusions have been discussed by Ministers; which departments will implement those proposals; what progress has been made in implementing those proposals; and what funding has been made available for the purpose. [HL5878]
88WA
§ The Minister of State, Department for Culture, Media and Sport (Baroness Blackstone)The working group made the following recommendations which were presented to the Cabinet Committee on Older People: a national focus point to oversee the promotion of physical activity for older people; education and training to reduce the shortfall in trained individuals to deliver physical activity for older people; and investment in activity for people in residential and day centre settings. Ministers will be looking at these recommendations alongside other initiatives.
In addition, the Department of Health is providing funding for a programme of local exercise action pilots (LEAP) with £2.5 million. The programme is being developed with Sport England and the Countryside Agency, with support from my department, the Local Government Association, the Department for Education and Skills and the Department for Transport. There will be one pilot in each of the nine regions in England, led by primary care trusts. Its aim is to test out different community approaches to increasing access to physical activity. One of the target groups will be older people.