ukactive chair Tanni Grey-Thompson has praised sports minister Tracey Crouch’s first major speech as showing a clear understanding of what is required to tackle Britain’s physical inactivity crisis.

Making her maiden official speech to sports industry representatives in London last week, Crouch said one of her priorities is to get people moving by any means available.

“Nor am I only focused on organised, competitive sport. I know that’s not for everyone. What matters to me is getting people active,” said Crouch at the Sports Summit in London – an annual event organised by the Sport and Recreation Alliance.

“And if that means someone’s simply striving to register ten thousand steps a day on their smart phone or watch then that’s fine with me.”

Crouch’s comments regarding wider activity reflected a notable shift away from conventional discourse around sports participation. The speech has been hailed by Grey-Thompson, who is currently spearheading a ukactive campaign urging MPs to help turn the tide of physical inactivity and get more people moving in their constituency.

"I worked with Tracey in the last parliament. It's no surprise she has demonstrated her understanding of the health agenda in her very first speech,” Grey-Thompson told Health Club Management.

“Inactivity is one of the biggest challenges of our time. In tackling it, we've got to be prepared to stop trying to start the car in fourth gear.

“As the new chair of ukactive, I’m looking forward to working with the minister on how we can get more people active, not only through sport, but by finding ways of getting everyone moving more."