Sport England has ushered in a new era of governing body funding, with director of sport Phil Smith declaring: “The tyranny of the Whole Sport Plan and Active People Survey is definitely over.”

The DCMS arm’s-length body revealed its first batch of national governing body (NGB) funding decisions today (16 December), with a significantly smaller pot of £88m compared to the £493m reserved for the Whole Sport Plan over the 2013-17 period.

Talking to Sports Management, Smith explained that the new method has “changed the game”, and rather than putting added pressure on NGBs, the drop in funding has liberated them to “concentrate on their core market”.

“We’re asking governing bodies to perform a different role,” said Smith. “Rather than be responsible for anybody who might want to play their sport, we want them to concentrate on their core market of regulars. By definition, that’s a smaller audience so should result in a smaller investment.”

He added: “Some governing bodies understood that strategic point better than others it’s fair to say. Some have proposed this very maturely and acknowledged that even though there was less money it gave them a licence to focus on the things they do well.

“Others have seen this as an opportunity to get as much investment as they possibly can and those negotiations have been a bit more tricky. But I think we’re in a place where everyone understands why we’re doing what we’re doing.”

However, a narrower focus does not mean that NGBs aren’t under pressure to deliver results, said Smith, adding that the least that is expected is for sports to retain the people who play regularly.

“We’re looking for results here, this is not a donation,” he said. “All the governing bodies receiving investment from Sport England understand that if things are not working we will look to be flexible and change investment.”

The number of people taking part in sports will be recorded through the quango’s new Active Lives Survey method of measurement.

Smith stressed that there was an opportunity for governing bodies to receive more investment through other pockets of Sport England funding, but doubted that they had the capabilities of adequately engaging with the inactive, and therefore decreasing their chance receiving grants to counter inactivity.

“Most governing bodies will acknowledge themselves that if you’re going to encourage someone who is doing to nothing to do something, you wouldn’t start by putting them in a team for one of those sports,” he said.

“It’s not their natural territory, and I’d be surprised if that money [inactivity fund] finds its ways to governing bodies. It’s more likely other providers will succeed with that audience.”