CYP Now - Out-of-school sport

With the government's obesity strategy dominating the headlines, Alison Bennett and Cathy Wallace check out the four nations' policies on getting young people to participate in sports outside of school hours.

ENGLAND

Although no national structure is in place for out-of-school sports, there is a national school sport strategy to increase the percentage of schoolchildren who spend at least two hours a week doing PE. It is overseen jointly by the Department for Children, Schools and Families and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and has been hailed as a success, with 86 per cent of pupils participating.

More than £1.5bn was spent on the strategy in the five years to 2008, with a further £900m to be invested in the next three years. The programme is delivered by Youth Sport Trust, which offers 17 sports including football, dance, gymastics, athletics, cricket and rounders.

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