Now established as part of the Sport and Politics landscape, the 5th Annual Political Studies Association Sport and Politics Specialist Annual Conference took place last Friday (March 18th) at the University of Birmingham hosted by the Department of Politics and International Studies.

The event had three keynote speakers, Professor John Horne (University of Central Lancashire), Margaret Talbot (President, International Council of Sport Science and Physical Education) and Dr. David Kirk (University of Bedfordshire) These contributions were supplemented three panel sessions exploring, Sport Policy under Pressure, Physical Education and Youth Sport Policy and the Impact of Austerity on Sport.

In choosing these themes for the day, the proceedings directly confronted the manifold problems experienced by Sport in England and Wales a climate of severe recession. In considering the difficulties that exist around leisure not being a mandatory responsibility of local government many of the contributors focused on the knock-on impact of lack of funding with respect to sport participation levels, the over emphasis on elite sport and the difficulties that pervade the development of school sport and its future planning and development.

Although the tone of much of the day was highly critical of the coalition government, delegates were rallied into responding through co-ordinated community action to the injustices of current policy thinking, notably by Mike Collins (University of Gloucestershire) and Mike Silk (University of Bath) who were highly critical of the concept of the Big Society and its relevance to sport and national cohesion.

For further detail please visit www.sportpolitics.net