Londoners no more active despite 2012, survey finds

THE number of people playing sport in London has failed to rise since the Olympic bid was won, according to the Government's largest survey of activity levels published today.

MPs said SportEngland's second Active People survey was "hugely disappointing" and showed the difficulties ministers face in achieving a grass-roots sports legacy which they claimed would result from hosting the Games.

It found that while most other regions enjoyed a rise in sports participation, London remains affected by couch potato syndrome. The survey showed that 16.6 per cent - a little more than one million - adults played regular sport in London. Research showed the numbers of people doing moderate intensity sport for half an hour three times a week in London had not increased since Sport England's first survey in 2006.

The eastern boroughs near the Olympic park showed "low" levels of activity - 14.5 per cent or less of the adult population - doing regular weekly sport. The data was compiled by Mori from a sample 190,000 people in England for a year since October last year.

However, there was an increase of one per cent nationwide - to 6.5 million adults - involved in sport since the first survey.

Labour MP Kate Hoey, the London Mayor's commissioner for sport, said: "The fact that participation rates for sport in London have effectively shown no improvement is hugely disappointing. However, the Mayor's commitment to grass-roots sport means that we still have a chance to turn this around between now and 2012.

"The Legacy Plan for Sport in London, which we will publish early next year, will have clear proposals aimed at increasing participation in sport in London and secure a genuine sporting legacy for every single Londoner."

The survey will serve as the "base line" to measure Sport England's progress towards its target set by the Government of getting one million more people involved in sport by 2013.

Under changes ordered by Culture Secretary Andy Burnham, it will measure only traditional sport.

Other government departments have been given the task of getting a further one million involved in physical activity by boosting such pastimes as walking and salsa.

Sport England will next week make its allocation of around £500million over four years to the sports national governing bodies to achieve participation targets.

Sport England chief executive Jennie Price said: "These figures provide Sport England with a clear starting point on our journey to get one million people playing more sport by 2012. The results show we are heading in the right direction, but also highlight some of the challenges we face."