4. 4. Statement: The Champions League Final

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 3:46 pm on 2 May 2017.

Alert me about debates like this

Photo of Ken Skates Ken Skates Labour 3:46, 2 May 2017

In terms of engagement, I know that the Minister for social services and sport is very keen on ensuring that more young women and girls participate in physical activity and sport. We’ve seen an increase in the number of people who’ve participated in sport in recent years across Wales, but there is still a challenge with maintaining activity levels once a girl reaches about the age of 13 or 14, and then we see a sudden drop-off. What Sport Wales has developed is a series of programmes aimed at ensuring that girls find forms of physical activity more appealing and that they are able to access different potentially informal forms of sport and physical activity at that crucial age, so that they don’t slip off the physical activity escalator. But I know, with the review that’s taking place currently into Sport Wales, this is a key question that’s being asked: what form of sport and physical activity is most attractive to those groups within our population who currently are not participating in physical activity enough? I think this will be an incredibly important policy area for the Welsh Government and all stakeholders in the months and years to come. We know that initiatives such as the Wales well-being bond, an extension of social prescribing, has great potential to improve the levels of fitness in our population, but to maximise the potential of them, we need to get buy-in from community sports organisations, so that they can act as our primary delivery partners.

Minister

Ministers make up the Government and almost all are members of the House of Lords or the House of Commons. There are three main types of Minister. Departmental Ministers are in charge of Government Departments. The Government is divided into different Departments which have responsibilities for different areas. For example the Treasury is in charge of Government spending. Departmental Ministers in the Cabinet are generally called 'Secretary of State' but some have special titles such as Chancellor of the Exchequer. Ministers of State and Junior Ministers assist the ministers in charge of the department. They normally have responsibility for a particular area within the department and are sometimes given a title that reflects this - for example Minister of Transport.