Ahead of Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves delivering her Spring Forecast/Financial Statement on Wednesday (26 March), Tara Dillon, CEO of CIMSPA shares her thoughts on how we show the value of our sector and how we can demonstrate our economic impact more powerfully.
The question that I get every time that I speak to policymakers and policy influencers about the power of our sector is, ‘what’s the impact?’
Depending on who I’m talking to, I distil it down to one of the following elevator pitches:
- “Get people more active, sustainably, and you reduce preventable illnesses and free up ambulances and GP time, saving the NHS millions.”
- “Encourage those with chronic conditions or who are recovering to be appropriately active and it helps them manage their condition, have a quicker, stronger recovery, reducing relapse and demand on NHS services.”
- “Physically active people are less likely to be economically inactive, so by increasing physical activity, the number of people out of work can be reduced.”
- “Every industry needs a healthy, active workforce in order to contribute to economic growth – getting the population more active gives industry the people it needs to grow.”
- “Bringing communities together through sport and physical activity increases community cohesion, creates opportunities for people to develop and reduces anti-social behaviours by giving people positive outlets.”
And then comes the question, ‘but what is it worth?’
Part of me always wants to challenge that question with ‘what would it be worth to you, if you were one of the people benefiting?’
Can we, and should we, put a value on the reduction in quality of life for someone with cardiovascular disease? Or the value of the life of someone who sadly passes away because all of the ambulances are occupied treating people with preventable diseases?
What’s the value of the pride and independence that getting someone back into work after a period of unemployment brings?
What overall value does a healthy, active employee bring, not only to their employer, but to the development of their colleagues, social networks with colleagues, etc? Or the value of connecting people from different backgrounds through mutual interest which improves social understanding and reduces community tensions?
But I’m a realist, and I know it’s usually a pounds and pence figure that piques the attention of those in power and those influencing where policy attention goes.
As a sector, we are putting a financial value on what we do.
Sport England has calculated that community sport and physical activity has an annual social value of £107.2 billion which is made up of £96.7 billion in annual wellbeing value and a further £10.5 billion in wider savings to the health and social care system a year.
The government’s own statistics show that sport contributes a direct impact of £53.6 billion, accounting for 2.6% of the UK’s total gross added value (GVA).
So there are some very big numbers at play when we’re defining our value.
And maybe that’s the problem.
Could it be that the numbers are so big and incomprehensible that they overshadow the impact that they drive?
And could it be that the language that we put around those numbers is a cause of some of the disconnect with people, including policymakers, truly understanding our value?
When we talk in the language of social value, gross domestic product, WELLBY and QALY, yes it gives the economists something to compare us to other industries, but does it really mean anything outside of that? Even if it does, it’s not comparable if we’re all using different measures.
Making our value, scale and impact relatable and understandable is crucial
When I’m giving interviews or keynotes about our sector, I always start by talking about the size of our workforce as around 600,000 people. What I pretty quickly came to realise from the audience is that quoting that figure can often mean nothing to them. Is that a lot? Is that ‘good’ or ‘bad’?
The fact is that unless someone in that audience also knows the size of every other sector of industry, there is absolutely no context for them to appreciate what 600,000 means.
That’s why I now say ‘that’s about the same size as the motor trade or the property workforce’ or ‘it’s just under three times the size of the agriculture workforce’.
Similarly, even if we understand social value, how does £107 billion compare to other sectors, how much is invested to gain that value, and how does the return on investment compare to other sectors?
This is something that I’ve been battling with for some time. We’re constantly asked by policymakers to tell them what the value of what we do is. We’ve got such rich data as a sector and we’ve given them those big numbers but it just doesn’t seem to cut through.
So I’ve dug out my calculator and I’ve started to work through some scenarios which I think help to give a more relatable sense of the value of our sector workforce.
Now, I’ll heavily caveat this up front with the fact that I am not an economist. These numbers are based on documented and recognised averages and it’s based on a ‘perfect storm’ scenario where all of those averages align. But what it gives is some numbers to conjure with and to provoke discussion.
Let’s take an individual, we’ll call her Lin
Lin is unemployed. Through a government job support programme, she completes endorsed training and qualifications to become a personal trainer.
Lin’s training costs £1,200.
Newly qualified Lin starts delivering physical activity sessions.
Lin no longer claims Jobseeker’s Allowance/Employment and Support Allowance, saving the welfare budget £4,760 per year, plus potential savings on other benefits that she may have been in receipt of.
Let’s say that Lin works with an average of 40 people in a week to get them physically active, across 1-to-1 and group sessions.
Based on national population average of prevalence of health conditions:
- 2 of those 40 may have or be at risk of diabetes
- 4 of the 40 may have or be at risk of cardiovascular disease
- 8–12 of the 40 may have a musculoskeletal (MSK) condition, including back pain or arthritis
- 10 of the 40 may have a mental health condition
- 11 of the 40 could be obese
- 4 of the 40 could have asthma
- 12 of the 40 could have hypertension
Now if we look at that cohort, and the average costs attached to treating and managing those conditions, the potential saving to the health service from their physical activity could be up to £79,060 per year.
That’s one professional and one cohort.
Now, if just one of those people in that cohort is economically inactive, and through engaging in activity they are able to become employed, using the government’s own calculations the value is:
- £4,590.07 to the individual
- £30,294.44 to society
- £15,737.37 to the exchequer.
Remember, that’s one participant being supported by one sport and physical activity professional.
Let’s look again at Lin’s 40 participants.
Again, based on national averages, 29 could be employed. If we take average sickness rates and costs, if by being physically active, the sickness absence of the 29 was reduced by 30%, the saving to their employers could be £10,309.50 per year.
Again, one professional, one cohort.
So what do those figures equate to?
- The Royal College of Nursing estimates that it costs £37,287 to train a nurse.
- The average starting salary for a nurse is £30,000.
- An early career teacher starting salary is £31,650.
- The starting salary for a police officer is around £30,000.
- The average cost of repairing a pothole is £87.76.
For a moment, let’s go back to Lin.
She’s now employed, making a regular income. She has disposable income, which she can use to support her family with greater opportunities.
What’s the value of that?
All of these figures use recognised percentages of prevalence and average costs. I’ve used straightforward maths to do the calculations, and while I know the figures don’t take into account variances in population outside of averages, the impact of multiple health conditions, etc, what it does give us is some numbers that are relatable.
Whichever way you look at these numbers, there is undoubtedly a worthwhile return on that £1,200 that was invested in Lin’s training.
So how do we get this to cut through to policymakers?
As we approach the Spring Statement, I think most of us are braced for unwelcome news. We know that the fiscal position that the government is in is precarious and we know that people are feeling it acutely in both their home and work budgets.
We know that every government department is being expected to find savings and that could impact our sector’s ability to keep delivering that high level of return on investment.
And that’s what we need to focus on, that return on investment, because although my calculations above are fairly rudimentary, they demonstrate a very good return on that £1,200 investment.
I think maybe it’s time for each of us in the sector to do this type of calculation to work out our value. Look at your own impact if you’re a practitioner or your customer base if you run a facility. What is the prevalence of health conditions in your area? What’s the unemployment rate? What’s the financial benefit of your work supporting YOUR cohorts? It might not have all of those noughts on the end of the number after the pound symbol, but it will give you a relatable figure to share with your community, local influential figures and your MP. I’m very happy to share the averages and costs of treatment/condition management that I used to help you with your calculation.
But actually, maybe it’s time to look beyond just trying to demonstrate our value to policymakers. It’s the general public and employers across all industries that we need to show our value to. Yes, in the pounds and pence that we can save or make them, but also in the value that we can’t put a figure on.
Recognition of our sector, and crucially of our profession, is essential if our value is to be appreciated and understood. Making sure that those working in our sector have a professional status which is understood and the value of which can easily be identified will be the gamechanger. Professional status enables other professions to see the value our sector brings to their work. It enables quality and expertise to be rewarded with higher status. It helps to show what that £1,200 can be turned into.
It’s been ten years in the making, but this year professional status will be available for professionals in our sector. It’ll launch around the summer. and it will be the catalyst for the recognition of the value of those working in our sector. It will enable every professional, whether they are a practitioner or manager, to hold and show their credentials, and show the value of their expertise.
So let’s not let others judge our sector by the number of noughts on a figure. If we need to give a financial value, lets show the return that we provide on the investment, and make that relatable.
But let’s make it easy for the wider value to be recognised. Let’s show that as a sector we add value to individuals, but collectively our impact is even greater to the economy.
Ultimately, true value extends far beyond what can be measured in financial terms, encompassing the social, cultural and personal impacts that enrich lives in ways that my, and the Chancellor’s, calculator is unable to consider.
So, have you calculated your value?
