My Department has not issued direct guidance to Sport England since 2001 on consulting external organisations. Sport England have advised that they did not issue formal guidance on consultation when engaging with national governing bodies in relation to their submission bids for funding. However as part of this funding process many national governing bodies consulted with a wide range of individuals and organisations relevant to their sport, including partners, registered members, clubs, coaches and volunteers, to help formulate and compile the final funding submission.
Reviewing these submissions, Sport England has involved the support of its key national partners, including SportscoachUK, SkillsActive, Volunteering England, The English Federation of Disability Sport, Sporting Equals, The National Association for Volunteer and Community Action (NAVCA) and the Women’s Sport and Fitness Foundation to provide expert feedback and commentary upon each individual area of specialism.
In addition an external advisory panel whose purpose it was to check and challenge the overall funding process, including some of the key principles of the funding allocation, included external partners from UK Sport, Youth Sport Trust, local authorities, national governing bodies, Volunteering England, Central Council of Physical Recreation and ex-athletes (Dame Tanni Grey Thompson and Jonathan Edwards).