In reply to UKC News:
The survey is important in as much as some sports receive funding from Sport England. The contract negotiations and even the detailed terms of the funding arrangements will make various references to participation levels.
I don't know how much funding the BMC or other climbing organisations receive from SE, whether this is ringfenced for specific projects, or how contingent this funding is on participation data.
The survey is not 'tinpot' - it is a pretty major piece of work that determines how tens of millions of pounds are spent.
It does, however, have some serious methodological flaws, which were shown up recently when some sports found inexplicably huge swings in the apparent participation rates among some sectors.
i don't think we should fret over the 'name' of the category. Basically it's 'stuff that the BMC has an interest in'. The categorisation probably seems perfectly natural to most of the population, and unless Sport England want to begin ringfence their investments for spend on bouldering, hillwalking etc, it really doesn't matter. I'm sure the BMC and other contracting partners will raise the right questions if this issue comes around.
Mark