I, too, thank Emma Harper for securing the debate, and I thank members from across the chamber for their contributions. As Alison Johnstone mentioned, the Health and Sport Committee did some work in the area a number of years ago, so the Parliament has been working on the issue for some time and there has been general consensus around it. It is worth noting that you, Presiding Officer, chaired the young women lead committee, which looked at the leadership programme for young women and covered themes such as socioeconomic status, how sport and physical activity are provided in schools, societal pressures and external influences. It is important to point out that the Parliament has been working on the area for some time.
When I was appointed Minister for Public Health, Sport and Wellbeing, I said that I would do everything that I could to continue to improve opportunities for women and girls in sport and physical activity in Scotland. I take that commitment seriously, and it is what the Government has tried to do. We have taken a range of measures to challenge gender stereotypes, to help women’s voices to be heard and to increase opportunities.
Willie Coffey reminded us just how far we have come. Earlier this year, I was pleased to be at Hampden to witness some of the women who Mr Coffey talked about receiving their caps, which they should have received many years ago. That shows just how far we have come.
As we celebrate Scottish women and girls in sport week, we acknowledge the continued gender gap in the participation rates for sport and physical activity. The stubbornness of the gap shows that we need to find new ways to retain women and girls in sport and to support more inactive women and girls to become more physically active.
With that in mind, during last year’s women and girls in sport week, I announced £300,000 funding to support the development of new projects and partnerships. I am pleased to report to Parliament that nine sports governing bodies have successfully used the funding to lead partnership projects. Whether in boxing, basketball, squash or triathlon, I am hopeful that those projects will not only get more women and girls active for the period of the projects but provide them with learning that can be applied in and beyond those sports in order to increase female participation and close the sports gender gap.
As part of women and girls in sport week, ministers go on visits to see women and girls involved in sports across the country. This year, I think that 14 ministers are involved. Last night, I was very pleased to visit East Kilbride Gymnastics Club, where I saw fantastic enthusiasm from the leadership who are coaching and training the girls and from the participants. The club is clearly determined to look at how it can tackle the drop-off rate in the early teens that Monica Lennon and others mentioned. It looks as though the club is going some way to tackle that, so I know that there is good practice from which we can learn.
If anyone gets a chance to visit the East Kilbride Gymnastics Club, they will see real talent. Some of its members are going to Mexico later this year. Watch out for their amazing gymnastics display.
We know that much more needs to be done to eradicate the inequalities that many women and girls still face in participating in sport and physical activity. Kenneth Gibson in particular made that point. The Government took the decision to establish the Scottish women and girls in sport advisory board. I thank Emma Harper for outlining the breadth and strength of leadership on the board. Earlier this week, I was delighted to receive the board’s report, “Levelling the Playing Field 2019 Report and Recommendations”. That bold report with huge ambition is the result of a lot of hard work. I warmly welcome it and all its recommendations to Government, which are bold and challenging—exactly what I hoped they would be.
When I went to my first meeting of the advisory board, we talked about the board members being experts in their fields and about the importance of not simply being content to tinker around the edges but being prepared to be bold, to challenge and to really push the envelope. I am delighted that the board has done that in its first report. The Government will take some time to consider all the recommendations carefully and will publish a full and considered response in due course. However, I am sure that members expect me to give them my initial thoughts on the key recommendations tonight.
One thing that I found very encouraging is that all the recommendations align not only with the board’s four key focus areas—intervention, prevention, reconnection and continuation—but, more impressively, with the work of the First Minister’s national advisory council on women and girls. The recommendations complement that work and will help us advance and accelerate it, so that we have a more gender-equal Scottish society.
The report also builds on the momentum from a year in which we saw high-profile sporting events such as those mentioned by Rona Mackay—the FIFA women’s world cup, the Solheim cup and the Vitality netball world cup—being watched, enjoyed and experienced by huge audiences.
The increased visibility has not only shone a light on the inspirational role models as outlined by Kenneth Gibson; we have also seen participation across a number of those sports spiking. Angela Constance made a very strong point about how such visibility can have wider impacts in shaping perceptions across society, and not just in relation to girls.
There is much to be proud of in the report, which contains a set of strong recommendations aimed at growing and improving participation and audiences. One of the major proposals is to create and deliver a Scottish sport media summit, and I am pleased to hear that there is cross-party support for that.
I look forward to working with gender equal media Scotland to help us to achieve that. In working with the media, I want to see real commitment to improve gender balance and increase the visibility of women’s sport, athletes and social participants through improved content and increased coverage across all media platforms.
Alison Johnstone should not have to search for female athletes in a newspaper or on TV; they should receive equal coverage. Liz Smith made a very strong point about why it is not only in society’s interest but in the media’s interest to ensure that that is the case. She was right that the Solheim cup was the perfect stage for Scotland, but it was also good golf and there was good coverage of it. My goodness, what a thrilling end it was! It was obviously fantastic that we won—that always helps. However, even if we had lost by that one hole, it would still have been thrilling. Like Liz Smith, I managed to spend some time at the competition and heard the enthusiasm of the audience, which got bigger and bigger as the week went on.
I attended the start of the junior Solheim cup earlier in the week when crowds were better than expected, and they just continued to get better as the week went on, and then there was that thrilling end. The idea that women’s sport is something that people would not want to watch has been totally thrown out. The media—whether TV, written media or radio—need to realise that it is in their interests to give women’s sport the coverage that it deserves.
In accepting the board’s recommendations, we will work towards a levelling of the playing field whereby everyone is treated fairly and can achieve their full potential.
I take this opportunity to thank the advisory board once again for its work and input and for the boldness of its report and recommendations.
Members have my personal commitment to take those recommendations forward in a positive spirit, and to work together to ensure that we deliver the change that we want to see, making sure that, ultimately, they improve the lives of women and girls across Scotland, while helping us to create a truly equal society.
Meeting closed at 18:02.