United Kingdom: An Inclusionary Approach to Sport

This chapter provides an in-depth view of disability sport in the UK. The UK sport landscape is made up of several organisations that are responsible for creating policy and distributing funds within the sector. The largest of these is the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport which oversees five sport councils in the UK. These are UK Sport which looks after elite sport provision in the UK and four councils that cover the four constituent countries that make up the UK, Sport England, Sport Scotland, Sport Wales and Sport Northern Ireland. Some other major players include the Activity Alliance which focuses on advancing the disability inclusion agenda, national disability sport organisations that cater for specific impairment groups, national governing bodies for sport, the Olympic and Paralympic Committee, and local government. In light of this fragmented sport landscape, this chapter will discuss current disability sport policy and explore the relationship between the various organisations responsible for creating and implementing such policy. Furthermore, we will discuss sport participation data, both current and from a longitudinal perspective, enabling the identification of trends and landmark events that were expected to impact sport participation, such as the London Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2012.