The most recent annual report from the National Benchmarking Service (NBS) had both good and bad news for local authority sport and leisure providers. On one hand, it noted a remarkable upswing in the financial efficiency of sport and leisure centres across the country. On the other hand, it found the sector as a whole is still failing dismally to increase participation among some of the most at-need groups.

Specifically, the report found that, while the sector is doing a good job of attracting women, 20- to 59-year-olds and ethnic minorities, it isn’t doing nearly enough to attract 11- to 19-year-olds, people aged over 60, disabled people or those from the lowest socioeconomic groups.

In the light of these conclusions, it’s telling that one of the central goals of the government’s new strategy on sport, announced last December, is to increase participation in sport and physical activity among these very same groups. As well as extending Sport England’s remit to encompass children as young as five, funding will also be targeted at projects supporting all of the above groups.

So what can the physical activity sector do to support this goal of widening participation – and why isn’t it doing it already?