Portsmouth MP warns government: Don’t take ‘eye off the ball’ when it comes to children’s PE

The Portsmouth South MP, who is also Labour’s Shadow Minister for Schools, made the comments during a visit to a school sports day during National School Sports Week.

Mr Morgan visited the school alongside the Youth Sport Trust, as well as former England rugby star James Haskell and Great Britain and Jamaica swimmer Michael Gunning.

Mr Morgan called on the government to back Labour’s plans to boost the number of PE hours taught in school to boost children’s physical and mental health.

Official figures show that the share of school hours spent on PE has suffered from a slow and steady decline since 2013, from 8.4% of school time to 7.7% in 2021.

Figures released through parliament have also shown that the number of PE teachers is down from 26,005 in 2011 to 23,513 in 2020.

Morgan said a Labour Government would boost the number of PE hours taught by hiring 6,500 more teachers and reforming the Government’s narrow progress measures that can lead to physical education being cut out of the curriculum.

He said: ‘Young people face so many challenges to their physical and mental health, and providing opportunities to be active is a great way to empower them to live happier and healthier lives.

‘Despite this, the government has taken its eye off the ball on this issue with the number of PE hours taught and PE teachers both significantly falling in recent years.

‘It has therefore never been more important that we ensure that all children across the country receive high quality physical education in school and access to high quality sporting opportunities outside of the classroom as well.’

Last December, figures from Sport England's annual survey in schools across the country revealed 50% of children in Portsmouth were classed as active – defined as doing an hour or more of activity per day – in the 2021-22 academic year.

That was down from 56% the year before, when Covid-19 restrictions heavily impacted children's sports and activities, but was up from 43% in the pre-pandemic 2017-18 academic year.

The survey also found boys were 5% more likely to be active than girls, and children from less affluent families were found to be 10% less likely to be active than those from more affluent families.

Mr Morgan said Labour would also capitalise on the momentum behind women’s sport following the Lionesses’ Euros victory last summer.

They would introduce an equal access guarantee for school sport so that boys and girls have access to the same sports at school, rather than ‘comparable sporting activities’ which reinforce traditional access barriers for girls and women.