44% of over-75s are active, against 64% of 55 to 74s: the government replies
What happened
On 22 October 2026 the government published its formal reply to a report by the House of Commons Health and Social Care Committee. The committee's report is called "Healthy Ageing: physical activity in an ageing society". MPs published it on 22 May 2026. The government's reply was presented to Parliament by the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care as a Command Paper, numbered CP 1688. The reply says the government "welcomes the report". The committee's recommendations were grouped around a few themes. Physical activity should be treated as a core preventative health measure, with investment and accountability behind it, and integrated care boards should build it into their plans for population health, healthy ageing, long-term conditions and inequalities. Health and care staff need stronger support to promote and prescribe activity. Local, targeted approaches should be used where inactivity and poor health are worst. Leisure facilities, community organisations and qualified activity professionals should be brought into care pathways, with social prescribing strengthened. And physical activity should be embedded in adult social care, including staff training and Care Quality Commission standards. The government's reply goes through the recommendations one at a time. In most cases it agrees with the principle, then points to work already under way rather than announcing something new.
Why this matters
The reply is blunt about the problem. "While as a nation we are living longer, too many people are spending their older years in ill health." The numbers in the document show where activity falls away. Among people aged 75 and over, 44% are classed as active, meaning they do 150 minutes or more of activity a week. Among people aged 55 to 74, it is 64%. The gap is wider still on the UK Chief Medical Officers' full guidelines, which cover both aerobic activity and strengthening activity. Only 10% of people aged 75 and over meet those recommendations, compared with 43% of 16 to 24 year olds. Those figures come from the 2021 Health Survey for England. The reply also explains why this is treated as a health question and not a leisure one. Being physically active across life is associated with an average increase in life expectancy of around one to two years. For older adults specifically, it lists reduced risk of falls, keeping mobility and functional independence, better mental health and wellbeing, and staying connected with other people. That last list is the real argument. Not living longer in the abstract, but staying able to do your own shopping, get up your own stairs and see your own friends.
What the evidence actually says
Two things in this document are worth separating: the evidence, and the spending. On the evidence, the reply cites Sport England's social value of sport and physical activity data for 2023 to 2024. That puts the social value of improved participation at £122.9 billion a year. It includes £15.9 billion of net healthcare savings from preventing chronic disease, fewer GP visits and less use of mental health services, which the reply describes as a return of £4.38 for every £1 spent. Read that carefully. It is a modelled figure, not money counted in a bank account, and it covers the whole population, not just older adults. The reply also notes that in July 2026 the UK Chief Medical Officers updated the evidence behind the adult section of their guidelines. The finding it highlights is the encouraging one: the greatest health benefits come when people who are least active move a bit more. Not when the already-fit do even more. On spending, the reply lists £4.5 billion for active travel, including 5,000 new walking, wheeling and cycling routes and 10,000 safer crossings by 2030; £250 million from Sport England into 92 places with the highest rates of deprivation, health inequality and inactivity; £400 million from the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport into local community sport facilities; and more than £1 billion in PE, school sport and physical activity by 2029, including £530 million for a new PE and School Sport Partnerships Network. Notice what most of that is aimed at: children, schools and infrastructure. The inquiry was about older adults. Two items are newer and broader — a national movement campaign led by Sir Brendan Foster, and a scheme modelled on UK City of Culture to name the UK's most physically active community. The reply also describes Health Coach, which in the longer term will include an artificial intelligence tool offering personalised health advice.
Practical advice
The most useful line in the whole document is the one about people who are least active gaining the most. You do not need a gym, and you do not need to be sporty. The Chief Medical Officers ask adults for 150 minutes a week of moderate activity. That is about 20 minutes a day. Brisk walking counts, and so does anything that leaves you slightly warm and breathing a bit harder but still able to talk. Add strengthening activity twice a week. This is the part almost everyone skips, and it is the part that protects independence. Carrying shopping, standing up from a chair without using your hands, and climbing stairs all count. Balance work matters more as you get older, because falls do. Standing on one leg while the kettle boils is a genuine exercise, not a joke. Break up long periods of sitting. Getting up every half hour is easier to keep doing than one long session you dread. If you have a long-term condition, are recovering from illness, or have not been active for a long while, speak to your GP, practice nurse or a physiotherapist first. Ask specifically what is safe for you and what to avoid. Ask your GP practice or your council what exists locally. Social prescribing link workers are there to connect people with local groups, and the government says it wants that route strengthened. Doing something alongside other people is also the single best way to keep it going.
What to know
On 22 October 2026 the government published its reply, CP 1688, to the Health and Social Care Committee's report on physical activity in an ageing society. It welcomes the report and agrees with much of it, while mostly pointing to programmes already running. The headline figures: 44% of over-75s are active, against 64% of 55 to 74 year olds, and only 10% of over-75s meet the full Chief Medical Officers' guidelines, against 43% of 16 to 24 year olds. Being active is associated with roughly one to two extra years of life expectancy, and with fewer falls and longer independence. Sport England puts the social value of participation at £122.9 billion a year, which is a modelled estimate. Much of the spending listed is aimed at children and infrastructure rather than older adults. The clearest practical message is that the people who move least have the most to gain from moving a little more. Sources: Department of Health and Social Care, "Government response to the HSCC's report on healthy ageing and physical activity" (CP 1688), 22 October 2026, https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/government-response-to-the-hsccs-report-on-healthy-ageing-and-physical-activity; NHS, "Physical activity guidelines for older adults", https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/exercise/physical-activity-guidelines-older-adults/; Department of Health and Social Care, "Physical activity guidelines: UK Chief Medical Officers' report", https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/physical-activity-guidelines-uk-chief-medical-officers-report This article is for general information and does not replace advice from a doctor, pharmacist, physiotherapist or other qualified healthcare professional. If you have a health condition or have not exercised for a long time, check with a professional before starting something new.
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