The next item of business is a statement by Shona Robison on the Glasgow 2014 20th Commonwealth Games. As the cabinet secretary will take questions at the end of her statement, there should be no interventions or interruptions. Cabinet secretary, you have 10 minutes.
14:20
It is with great pride that I make this statement today, reflecting on the successful delivery of the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth games.
What a fortnight it has been! From the very first moments of the opening ceremony, the Commonwealth games have been a huge credit to Glasgow and to Scotland. The atmosphere not just in Glasgow but across the country has been electric. Every competitor from the furthest and nearest reaches of the Commonwealth has experienced the warm welcome and support of the people of Scotland.
Team Scotland was absolutely phenomenal. [Applause.] They pulled off a record medal haul, smashing previous totals, national records and personal bests. The final tally of 53 medals, 19 of which were gold, is a fantastic reflection of the commitment and dedication of every member of the team and is also, I should say, an excellent return on our £50 million investment in Commonwealth games sports and performance programmes through sportscotland. Who could forget the beaming smile of Erraid Davies as she received her medal or Ross Murdoch’s joy when he realised he had won gold? Those were very special moments indeed. A personal high note for me was having the unique privilege of awarding Scotland’s first medal of the games to Aileen McGlynn OBE and her partner Louise Haston after they won silver in the tandem sprint.
The number of spectators at the games exceeded all expectations, with a remarkable 1.2 million tickets sold. Time after time, we saw amazing crowds who really helped to make the games and cheered on athletes whether or not they were winning. At Ibrox, we had the largest crowd at a rugby sevens tournament anywhere in the world, ever; more than half a million people participated in festival 2014 events; and the lawn bowls at Kelvingrove saw sell-out crowds.
It was not just the sport that was unforgettable. Memories of John Barrowman’s kiss, trotting Scottie dogs, South African soprano Pumeza Matshikiza singing “Freedom Come All Ye” and the incredible £5 million raised for the United Nations Children’s Fund at the opening ceremony will, I am sure, stay with us all. The closing ceremony was particularly moving, with Dougie MacLean’s “Caledonia” and the lowering of the Commonwealth Games Federation flag to “Ae Fond Kiss” really capturing the mood of the nation at that moment.
No games could happen without a vast amount of hard work from an incredible range of people, and it gives me great pleasure formally to offer my thanks to everyone who played a part in delivering these games. When one starts listing particular individuals or organisations, there is always a risk of missing someone out, but I am willing to take that risk this afternoon as there are some groups and people who really deserve a particular thank you.
First, I pay tribute to my colleagues in the chamber who have supported the vision and ambition of these games, particularly Patricia Ferguson, who guided the bid in its early stages, and Lord McConnell who, as previous First Minister, initially spearheaded the bid and who has continued to be a strong and enthusiastic supporter of the games.
Glasgow City Council, for the host city, has been a crucial partner in the seven years of preparation as well as the 11 days of sporting competition. Its significant contribution, its work in delivering venues for the games, and the way it stepped up its normal city operations work to ensure that the city sparkled were vital. The passion, professionalism and perseverance of the whole team at Glasgow City Council cannot be overstated and we owe them our thanks.
We must remember, too, the contribution of local authorities beyond Glasgow. Angus, Dundee, Edinburgh, North Lanarkshire, South Lanarkshire and East Dunbartonshire all hosted games venues and did a sterling job to ensure that the experiences of athletes and spectators at events outwith Glasgow matched the experiences within the host city. Every local authority took part in the curtain raiser to the games, the Queen’s baton relay, affording it a fantastic welcome.
Commonwealth Games Scotland, as the host Commonwealth games association, has played an important role in supporting the delivery of the games. It has done a tremendous job not least in preparing team Scotland, and I extend my special thanks to the chairman, Michael Kavanagh, and the chef de mission, John Doig. The team’s success owed a great deal to the work of sportscotland and its world-class sporting system model. That approach developed and inspired all of our 310 athletes at the games and delivered the biggest ever pool of talent for Commonwealth Games Scotland to draw on. I formally thank Louise Martin, the chair of sportscotland and the honorary secretary of the Commonwealth Games Federation. Her passion and commitment in both those roles have made a significant contribution to the success of the games, and I recognise her fundamental role in winning the bid for Glasgow and Scotland.
Much of the painstaking preparation for the games was undertaken by the organising committee, the organisation that was set up by Commonwealth Games Scotland, Glasgow City Council and the Scottish Government to stage the games. I extend my personal thanks to Lord Smith, the chair of the organising committee, and David Grevemberg, its chief executive, whom we wish well in his new role. From incredibly visible aspects of games planning, such as the memorable ceremonies, to the unseen minutiae of sorting out volunteer shift rosters, the organising committee worked tirelessly to ensure that every aspect of the games ran smoothly.
Police Scotland did a fantastic job, working with a broad range of partners to deliver a safe and secure games. The patient and friendly approach of police officers across the games venues was wonderful. Both the visible and hidden work of all the emergency services was crucial to the success of the games, and I am grateful to them all. Particular thanks are due to the armed forces for their support in the security effort.
At any games, transport planning will always be a particular challenge and these games represented probably one of the most complex transport challenges that Scotland has ever faced, with almost 700,000 people visiting the city over the weekend of 26 and 27 July alone. I offer my thanks to those who worked tirelessly to keep us on the move. Despite everyone’s best endeavours, some people experienced difficulties. However, every effort was made to resolve problems quickly and the learning from that will be used in future events.
As the Parliament will remember, one of the key aspirations for the games was to celebrate diversity and to deliver a truly inclusive programme. I thank our partners for sharing that vision and for including those considerations in their planning and in dealing with the workforce, athletes and the public alike to deliver a truly accessible games. I am delighted, too, that, with our support, Pride House saw many visitors from across Scotland and the Commonwealth and was a great success.
I offer special thanks to the people of Dalmarnock and other communities around games venues, who showed great patience and understanding in the face of disruption that was caused by the games. I am confident that the long-term benefits to those areas will be substantial, as will be the benefits to the regeneration of the east end of Glasgow, which will continue. To every community in Glasgow and further afield that hosted games activities I say a big thank you.
The biggest thank you, however, must go to the real heroes of the games who gave up their holidays or took time off work so that they could volunteer and make the games a success. They were, without doubt, the face of the games and the games could not have happened without them. The Clyde-siders and the host city volunteers had unstoppable enthusiasm, limitless energy and an unending willingness to go the extra mile. The games could not have happened without them, and I say a great big thank you to each and every one of them. [Applause.]
It is hard to believe that it is only 40 hours since the closing ceremony brought the games to an end with the Commonwealth joining together to sing “Auld Lang Syne”. The games may be over, but the story of the games certainly is not. We have always made it clear that a legacy will not happen by chance and that we must continue to work long after the closing ceremony to ensure that it continues to be delivered for the whole of Scotland. I am pleased that the Parliament will have an opportunity on Thursday to discuss the games legacy.
Now, however, it is right to pause and take a moment to reflect on the extraordinary events of the past fortnight. With the eyes of the world turned to Glasgow two weeks ago, we were ready. We showed the world that Scotland provides the perfect stage to host major events. We showed that our people are among the friendliest and that even the Scottish weather can occasionally rise to the occasion and give us sunshine. Through hard work, grit and good humour, we have proven that, when we are handed such a great responsibility, Scotland delivers.
The games were described by Mike Hooper, who is the chief executive officer of the Commonwealth Games Federation, as
“the standout Games in the history of the Commonwealth movement”.
We thank him for those kind words.
I cannot think of a better way to end this statement than by echoing the words of the president of the Commonwealth Games Federation, Prince Imran, who has been a great supporter of the games and a great friend of Glasgow and of Scotland. He closed the games with the declaration—in a tremendous Scottish accent, which I am sure that he must have practised for quite some time—that they had been “pure dead brilliant”. All I can say is that I agree with him. Scotland and Glasgow have done us proud, and each and every one of us in the chamber should be extremely proud of what has been achieved. [Applause.]
The cabinet secretary will now take questions on the issues raised in her statement. I intend to allow around 20 minutes for questions, after which we must move to the next item of business.
I thank the cabinet secretary for her statement and for providing advance sight of it. It is not often that we hear a cabinet secretary—or, indeed, a member of royalty—talk about something being pure dead brilliant, but on this occasion I think that they were both spot on.
In her 10-minute statement, the cabinet secretary had time to praise all the many people and organisations that contributed to making the games such a success. As I do not have time to mention them all, I simply want to add my praise and thanks to all those—with one exception, in the interest of modesty—that the cabinet secretary mentioned. I would also like to mention one or two additional people who deserve our praise and thanks. I do not think that the cabinet secretary missed them out deliberately; in fact, she included them in her comments.
We should mention the executive member for the games at Glasgow City Council, Councillor Archie Graham, who led on the games in the council; Bridget McConnell of the city council, who was involved in the bid from 2002, when the vision was first an idea, and who led in the department that delivered the venues and the sport and culture events; and Mike Hooper, the chief executive of the Commonwealth Games Federation, who, although he always maintained the impartiality that we would expect of someone in that role, was always welcoming and ready to show support for Glasgow’s bid in the early stages, as well as after we won it in 2007. He will stand down in a few months’ time, and he deserves our thanks and praise.
I also want to mention the cabinet secretary, who, since her appointment, has led from the front. I know that that is not always an easy task. I have described her position as the best job in Government, and it is, but it is not without its challenges, so I say well done to her and her team for everything that they have done.
I think that it is right for us to reflect on the wonderful events of the past two weeks. We have all enjoyed a marvellous experience. I am not sure that all the volunteers had limitless energy, as the cabinet secretary described—I, for one, am still knackered and do not expect to be anything other for at least another week, although that perhaps says more about me and my level of fitness than anything else.
It is important, too, that we recognise that the enthusiasm that Glasgow and Scotland showed for the Commonwealth games showed us that such a multigames, multisport event can provide a real impetus for change in our country. It can inspire people to be more active more often, as we all want them to be, and it can act as the spark that encourages an individual to take up sport and to see that through to become a competitor and, we hope, a winner in the future.
As the cabinet secretary knows, I am a supporter of the legacy programme that the Scottish Government and Glasgow City Council have delivered but, ahead of Thursday’s debate, I invite her to say a little bit about how we can harness the impetus that exists and ensure that we do not waste any time but move quickly to ensure that the opportunities that the games have given us to make a step change in Scotland’s life and culture are taken.
I thank Patricia Ferguson and I hope that she enjoyed her time as a Clyde-sider. I saw her in action and it was very impressive. I pay tribute to Archie Graham. Sometimes I saw Councillor Graham more than I saw my husband over the last—
Members: Oh!
I know.
However, it was a team effort. I should say that Bridget McConnell did a tremendous job with the opening and closing ceremonies and having oversight of that. I wish Mike Hooper the best in his retirement, which I am sure he is very much looking forward to. Team Scotland in its broadest sense was absolutely the team that delivered; Scottish Government staff, agency staff and council staff all put their shoulders to the wheel.
Thursday’s debate will give us the opportunity to talk about the legacy in more detail. We have 50 fantastic national legacy programmes that are delivering real change in communities. However, those take time, so I am very keen that we keep the momentum going. We will have more opportunity to discuss that in some detail on Thursday, and I look forward to that.
I add a very strong thank you and congratulations to everybody who was involved in the Commonwealth games, which were outstanding. I am going to give my age away: these were the third Commonwealth games that I have attended as a spectator, and I have been at two Olympics, but nothing compares with the atmosphere that we had in Glasgow.
The cabinet secretary did not add her congratulations to the two Governments—the Scottish Government and the United Kingdom Government—which worked extraordinarily hard and proved just how successful things can be when the two Governments come together.
On a general theme, the cabinet secretary mentioned the legacy, which we have an opportunity to debate on Thursday. I ask for a specific commitment that, in that debate, we will look at the legacy for our younger children—particularly those in primary school, because it is at that age that they first take up their interest in and enthusiasm for sport. That commitment would be very helpful for the debate.
I have paid tribute to the armed forces, whose support was secured through negotiation with the UK Government. We are particularly pleased with the outcome of those discussions, because, along with Police Scotland, the armed forces provided a very important look and feel to spectators’ front-of-house experience, and they did a tremendous job. We certainly recognise that contribution.
There is a lot to say about the legacy for children that Liz Smith wants us to focus on, because a lot of the legacy programmes focus on young children. I can certainly give Liz Smith that commitment.
I, too, congratulate everyone on facilitating a fantastic Glasgow Commonwealth games. I give special thanks to my fellow Glaswegians, who made everyone so very welcome and who also thoroughly enjoyed themselves.
Given that team Scotland women won a record haul of medals, what plans are there to encourage more female participation in sport?
First, I note the fantastic job that our female athletes did. They made up approximately 46 per cent of the team and won just short of 40 per cent of the medals. It was really good to see our media profiling women athletes. In fact, on one day there was a whole page on women athletes who had performed. I would like to think that that might continue beyond the games, because the profile of women in sport is very important.
We have been working very hard through the active girls programme, which sportscotland runs to keep teenage girls, in particular, active, because we know that that is a big challenge. More broadly, the working group on women and sport that Baroness Sue Campbell chairs for me will report in the next few weeks on how we can support and improve the position of women in sport and encourage more female participation in sport. I very much look forward to her recommendations and to taking them forward.
Good afternoon, Presiding Officer. I have been very enlightened by the minister’s statement and Patricia Ferguson’s follow-up. What we have already achieved is fantastic, and I would like to see a lot more of it.
I feel that we have perhaps missed out the Foreign Office and all the embassies around the world that gave us a great deal of support and help. I know about that from my visit to Sri Lanka, and I add my thanks to them as well.
What else can the minister do to help and support minority communities to take more part in sporting activities in Scotland?
I agree with Hanzala Malik: the embassies provided important support to the Queen’s baton relay on its international leg, and our agencies worked closely with them to make sure that Scotland was promoted. The opportunities on the international stage were important to us when the Queen’s baton was on its journey.
On work to encourage people from various communities into sport, a lot of work has been done around breaking down barriers. For example, sportscotland has been working closely with governing bodies and clubs to make sure that they are open to everyone and that barriers, whether they are physical or attitudinal, are removed so that everyone can take part in sport.
The 150-plus community sports hubs that are well on their way to being delivered provide an opportunity for people in communities to access sport locally in a straightforward, easy and simple way, and we have made it clear that they have to be open to everyone. We will continue to work on the issues and I would be happy to speak to Hanzala Malik about that in more detail at a later stage.
On behalf of all the 15,000 Clyde-siders, including Patricia Ferguson and me, I thank the minister for her kind words to us. Can she give any indication of how she thinks Clyde-siders and other volunteers can be drawn into more regular volunteering after the games?
I thank John Mason for his contribution as a Clyde-sider. I hope that he enjoyed the experience—I am sure he did.
We have been lucky in that, when people registered to become a volunteer, they were asked to give permission for their information to be shared. That has provided Volunteer Scotland with a huge database, not just of those who were successful in becoming Clyde-siders but of those who were not. I hope that, over the next few months, we will have a more detailed picture of how many people continue to volunteer, perhaps volunteering for the first time within their community. That is potentially a huge resource for our local clubs and for sport in the community, and I am keen to follow that up as a priority.
I add my congratulations to all who were involved in delivering such a successful games. The north-east’s own Hannah Miley helped to set the tone, winning the very first of the 19 gold medals, and she did it in spectacular fashion.
The talent, determination and ambition of each individual athlete need to be matched by ambitious investment in coaching and training facilities. The aquatics centre in Aberdeen is a good example of that ambition—members might well remember Nicol Stephen’s determination that it would be a 50m competition pool. However, there are other sports that are less well resourced. Looking forward, which sports does the minister anticipate being nurtured and developed so that future medal hauls excel even the bounty that we had this year?
First, I say that Hannah Miley was absolutely fantastic and a great ambassador for sport and for women’s sport in particular.
The member asked about investment in coaching and training facilities. I can tell her that sportscotland invested an unprecedented level of resource in both coaching and training and in facilities during the preparations for the games. A lot of the focus of the additional investment was on the 17 Commonwealth games sports, but that did not mean that other sports did not get investment—they did, but perhaps not at quite the same level of intensity.
Just a few weeks ago, sportscotland announced a new £20 million regional and national facilities fund, which will help to add to the fantastic, world-class, state-of-the-art facilities that we already have, and certain areas have been prioritised for that investment because it is recognised that they could benefit from additional state-of-the-art performance facilities. That programme will continue.
We should be very pleased with where we are at compared with the situation 10 or 15 years ago. The facilities that we have are now second to none, and we should ensure that we fully utilise them in future.
While we are congratulating people, I think that Stewart Maxwell should be congratulated, as he played an important role in the bid process and in ensuring that we won the games. Like many other members, I remember the day in the Fruitmarket when the result came through on a big screen, although I wish that I had been over in Sri Lanka carrying Stewart’s bag, as I worked for him at the time.
There has been a lot of talk about legacy. It is great that the games will bring a lasting legacy not just to Glasgow but to Scotland as a whole, but a number of local organisations are working to deliver a legacy outwith Scotland. One of those is Cathcart old parish church in my constituency, which is involved in the hit the net programme, to help protect children from malaria. The church has used the Commonwealth games particularly well to raise funds for that programme. What impact does the cabinet secretary expect the Glasgow games legacy to have on the rest of the Commonwealth?
I thank James Dornan for recognising Stewart Maxwell and for allowing me to recognise his important contribution. As I said in my statement, giving a list of people always means naming some and not others. However, Stewart Maxwell’s contribution was absolutely critical to the games. When I took over the sports portfolio in 2009, the work that he had done made my job a lot easier.
On James Dornan’s comments about the work that is going on in his constituency, I pay tribute to all the legacy work and the events that were put in place by so many local organisations, which really added to the flavour of the games.
There are a number of programmes that I think will leave a lasting legacy in the rest of the Commonwealth. The game on Scotland programme—the education programme—has developed a lot of links between schools in Scotland and schools across the Commonwealth, which we should be pleased about. The UNICEF partnership has raised £5 million, which will allow work to take place on children’s rights in all Commonwealth countries. We would like 33Fifty, the Commonwealth youth leadership programme, to continue, and we will obviously encourage the Gold Coast to consider it as a legacy programme. We have a huge number of opportunities to keep the work going across the Commonwealth, and I will certainly look to do that where I can.
The Commonwealth games were a fantastic success and I am sure that they will inspire young people to get involved and produce future generations of elite athletes. However, how can the success of the games be used to encourage those of us who are old enough to realise that we will never be a Usain Bolt, an Eilidh Child or a Hannah Miley to become more active more often?
Never say never. Elaine Murray makes an important point. The focus has been on young people, and a lot of capacity has been created in clubs for the upsurge that we know will come as people are inspired by all the fantastic athletes to take up a sport, perhaps for the first time. However, it will not just be young people who do that. I suspect that people of all ages will take up the opportunity to try new sports, particularly those that have been a focal point in the games.
Beyond that, we continue to fund great programmes through the legacy, such as paths for all. We know that walking can be an important way of getting people healthy who perhaps have had quite a sedentary lifestyle. The average age for those who are involved in the paths for all programme tends to be 50-plus. There is great feedback on the health and social impacts of the programme. I hope that the debate on Thursday will give us an opportunity to explore that in more detail.
The cabinet secretary rightly recognised the huge contribution that volunteers made. Some worked 48-hour weeks, others worked for many weeks before the games and others are still working, at the village for example. Some, like one volunteer from the Presiding Officer’s constituency, got up at 3.30am to make the 7am start. Can the cabinet secretary find a way to recognise that and so enhance their employment prospects and strengthen their CVs, perhaps by sending an email to those who want one, confirming their contribution and commitment?
I am pleased to be able to tell the member that each volunteer will receive a certificate of achievement that is recognised by the Scottish Qualifications Authority and which will list their skills and attributes and, in particular, their achievements through the experience of volunteering at the games. They will also receive information on next-step options and, last but not least, a thank you letter from the First Minister.
I apologise to the three members whom I simply could not call, but we need to move on.
Previous
Topical Question TimeNext
Scotland and Malawi