Articlegreen2012

A level playing field: social inclusion in public leisure

14 citations0/0 files storedInternational Journal of Public Sector Management

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Public Policy and Administration Research Physical Education and Sports Studies Recreation, Leisure, Wilderness Management

Abstract

Purpose The transfer to partnership in public sector management has created significantly new modes of service delivery, and is suggested to be the best means of ensuring that disadvantaged groups are socially included. The purpose of this paper is to examine New Leisure Trust (NLT) structures in public leisure provision relative to direct, in‐house managed facilities and privately run Leisure Management Contractor (LMC) facilities. In particular, NLTs receive significant government funds and subsidies through tax breaks that are not forthcoming to rivals, which raises questions as to whether NLTs deserve such aid for delivering upon the social inclusion agenda of the government. Design/methodology/approach The research involved a national survey questionnaire to 1,060 public leisure service providers in England. Empirical testing through multiple analysis of variance and regression analysis was applied to the dataset. Findings The authors find that NLTs do not follow social orientation strategies to any significantly greater degree than rivals, nor seem to create social inclusion to any greater degree. Further, NLTs have the least to gain in terms of business performance from creating social inclusion, whilst in‐house (in particular) and LMC facilities stand to gain the most. Practical implications Though each approach to provision examined places a considerable strategic emphasis on being socially oriented, they are not effective at increasing the social inclusion of recreationally disadvantaged groups. Originality/value This paper calls for the current public leisure management playing field to be levelled in a rebalance of opportunity and investment through the removal of anti‐competitive measures.

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2007Mail and internet surveys : the tailored design method 1996THE IMPACT OF HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT PRACTICES ON PERCEPTIONS OF ORGANIZATIONAL PERFORMANCE.1994A Taxonomy of Manufacturing Strategies 2009Absorptive Capacity, Environmental Turbulence, and the Complementarity of Organizational Learning Processes 2017Untangling the Origins of Competitive Advantage 2000Untangling the origins of competitive advantage 2001A taxonomy of manufacturing strategies revisited 2003Changing Public Service Organizations: Current Perspectives and Future Prospects

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