Get Active: “back to the future” with government’s latest national policy for sport and physical activity

In August 2023, the Department for Culture, Media, and Sport (DCMS), the government department responsible for culture, arts, media, tourism, and sport in England, published its latest national sport policy, Get Active: A Strategy for the Future of Sport and Physical Activity. The policy sets out how government intends to build a healthier nation by tackling high levels of inactivity, and by making sure that the sport and physical activity sector thrives for future generations. This critical commentary provides an analysis of the policy, interrogates its underlying assumptions, and challenges some of its central assertions. More specifically, it attempts to separate the “rhetoric” from “reality” in policy discourse and highlights how the policy more accurately signals significant policy continuity in government thinking rather than significant change.