Sports Facilities (North-east Scotland)
The final item of business today is a members' business debate on motion S2M-1593, in the name of Brian Adam, on the north-east of Scotland's sports facilities. The debate will be concluded without any questions being put.
Motion debated,
That the Parliament regrets that the Scottish Executive and sportscotland felt unable to come up with the monies requested by Aberdeen City Council and its partners to create modern sports facilities in the city; believes that this will compromise the project; notes that there is a dearth of top-class facilities in the north and north east of Scotland, and considers that the Scottish Executive should rethink its decision and come up with the resources that are needed to allow this project to progress.
Today the First Minister is rightly honouring Scotland's Olympians and as we look back to the successes of those who participated, we also have to look forward to the future; perhaps even to the Commonwealth games returning to Scotland. In the north-east of Scotland, we are particularly proud of the contributions of Katherine Grainger and David Carry. I readily recognise that the Executive, through sportscotland, has a programme of investment in facilities and athletes. That is why today's debate is about how, where and the extent to which that investment is made. I am delighted that the motion before members this evening has attracted cross-party support.
Unfortunately, one or two members are not able to attend for a variety of reasons. Shiona Baird was particularly anxious that her contribution should be read into the record. She wanted to offer her support for the motion being debated and she is particularly concerned that if Aberdeen City Council's bid for money is successful, it will contribute to enhancing the health and well-being of many people in the north and north-east.
The city's bid for funding for the development of a regional sports facility has its origins in a meeting called by Aberdeen City Council involving a range of public and private sector organisations in the north-east. The project that evolved from those discussions was a bid for funding for the development of a regional sports facility on the site of the former Linksfield Academy. It would comprise a range of indoor sports facilities, including a large games hall, a full-size, indoor, artificial-surface football pitch and indoor athletics facilities including a 110-metre straight, with the main funding partners being the University of Aberdeen and Aberdeen City Council.
In the light of the Scottish Government's commitment to reducing obesity in Scotland and tackling our appalling health record, does the member agree that the establishment of facilities such as are outlined in the proposals will help to achieve those objectives in the city of Aberdeen and in the north-east generally?
I am more than happy to acknowledge that that is the case. There is much more to the project than the provision of sports facilities for a few people; we hope that the facility will be used by many people and will enhance the health of them all.
There is a widespread perception that the north-east has been short-changed across a range of public funding. That is true of health, because of the Arbuthnott formula; local authorities, because the per capita grant that Aberdeen City Council and Aberdeenshire Council receive is among the lowest in the country; and policing, because Grampian police force gets at least 10 per cent less than the Scottish per capita allocation.
Although the partners involved in developing the Aberdeen project were disappointed by the Executive's decision to allocate only £5 million to it, they are continuing to work hard in conjunction with sportscotland to review and revise the project in the light of the Executive's financial allocation, with a view to ensuring that it can become a reality. It continues to have strong support from Aberdeen City Council and the University of Aberdeen, and a revised version of the project is being prepared for consideration by the various partner organisations in the coming weeks.
Some concerns have been raised, but I trust that they were just misunderstandings. One such matter is the inclusion in the bid calculation of Aberdeen City Council land, which is an extremely valuable asset. If it were to be put on the open market, it would yield a significant multimillion pound capital receipt for the council, which could be used for a variety of purposes. The fact that the council is prepared to provide that asset should be acknowledged, the reference to council assets in the bidding guidance notwithstanding. There were some claims in the press that such assets should not form part of the calculation.
The guidance states that bidders should expect to obtain a maximum of 30 to 40 per cent of the cost of a project. I understand that, although Aberdeen City Council bid for a higher percentage than that, its bid was not the only one that did so; the City of Edinburgh Council's bid was also higher than the stipulated level. I also understand that it has been suggested that the council knew all along that sportscotland would not recommend an award of more than £5 million. However, sportscotland only makes recommendations; the ministers make the decisions. It is quite reasonable for the council and, indeed, members who represent the north-east to make approaches to ministers before the final decisions are made. That is why, on behalf of a cross-party group of members from the north-east, I sought a meeting with ministers before the decision was made. Unfortunately, ministers declined to offer us a meeting.
Aberdeen City Council's bid was made in the context of considerable investment by a wide range of public bodies in the city's sports infrastructure, including the Robert Gordon University's development of a significant new sports centre at Garthdee and the council's refurbishment and extension of the Garthdee ski slope, its improvements to the nearby pitches, which it carried out in conjunction with the Robert Gordon University and its improvements at the Rubislaw/Harlaw playing fields. In addition, the new Aberdeen ice rink, where the curling club will practise, is being built in my constituency.
I ask the minister to seek further discussions with Aberdeen City Council and its partners, as well as sportscotland, to develop and enhance further the proposals. I hope that their bid for further financial support will be met with approval by the minister and his advisers.
Before I begin, I apologise to the members who are present, because I will have to leave immediately after I have finished speaking, to attend an important committee briefing, which was scheduled before the parliamentary timetable was changed.
I congratulate Brian Adam on securing a debate on sports facilities in the north-east so early in the history of the new Holyrood building and on once again raising the north-east's profile in the Parliament.
There has been an increasing awareness in recent years, by a number of public and private sector organisations in Aberdeen, that major investment is needed in the sports infrastructure of the city if the needs of its citizens are to be satisfied into the 21st century.
For a number of years, the city's two universities—and I should declare an interest as a governor of the University of Aberdeen—strove to upgrade the sporting facilities that they offer to students. Nowadays, those facilities are a major factor in attracting students to our universities and colleges.
As we have heard, the news that the Scottish Executive was to set up a funding stream for the development of a range of national and regional sports facilities and stadia came at a time that Aberdeen City Council and the Robert Gordon University in particular had embarked on major sports infrastructure projects in the city. The news gave birth to the proposal for a regional multisport facility to be built adjacent to the University of Aberdeen with the university and the council as the main funding partners. Such a facility would fulfil a major unmet need for indoor sporting opportunities in Aberdeen, the most northerly of the big four Scottish cities, the climate of which often renders outdoor tracks and pitches unusable and unplayable.
Naturally, there was huge disappointment in the city when its funding bid was only partially accepted by the Scottish Executive. That was because a wide range of public and private sector organisations had been involved—with sportscotland—in putting the bid together. I was delighted and relieved, however, to learn that the partners have not been deterred by their setback. As Brian Adam said, even now they are working with sportscotland to review and revise the project in accordance with the financial allocation. They are determined to achieve their goal.
The proposed regional sports centre would allow local people of varying ages to have greatly improved access to and involvement in many popular activities such as football, basketball, volleyball, hockey and athletics. It would overcome the major disadvantage that promising young athletes—both locally and as far afield as Orkney and the minister's constituency of Shetland—experience at the moment. Those young athletes have to endure a punishing schedule of travel to and from facilities in the central belt and beyond in order to train in their chosen sports.
The centre would enable the city to attract national and international competitions in a range of sports and give it a role in major events such as the Commonwealth games or Euro 2012 that might come to Scotland. Its proposed location in the northern part of the city, adjacent to the University of Aberdeen, would greatly assist the university in its competition to attract students as well as providing readily accessible activities for the local community in a relatively disadvantaged area. It would fit with the Scottish Executive's policy aims for the improvement of the physical well-being and health of the nation through active participation in sport, strengthen the economy, boost tourism and attract students to further and higher education.
There is a degree of urgency in getting the project off the ground. I urge the minister to look carefully at the revised project when it is finalised. I also encourage the Executive to look on it favourably with a funding package that will enable the project to come to fruition at the earliest possible opportunity.
I congratulate Brian Adam on securing the debate. It is one that has been contentious at the local level. I want the minister to go away in the knowledge that we are building consensus in Aberdeen. An indication of that was given not only in Brian Adam's speech but in Nanette Milne's contribution.
Of course, all politicians in the city agree that, following the awards that were made by sportscotland and the Executive, we want the plans for the excellent sports facilities to go ahead. We want to work with the bid partners, sportscotland and the Executive to make the proposed facilities a reality.
Brian Adam referred to the negotiations that took place on the bid. As he said, the crucial thing is that everyone is now working to improve it. I assure the Executive that all partners in the bid, including the city council and the university, are determined to work with sportscotland to improve it. I am sure that the partners have our support in doing so.
I agree with the motion and its reference to the need to have
"top-class facilities in the north and north east of Scotland"—
as indeed is the case in other parts of Scotland. I have spoken to sportscotland about the situation. It emphasised that one of the reasons that it rejects claims that it has a central-belt bias is that its strategy promotes the need for such facilities in every part of Scotland.
Allegations of central-belt bias have not been helpful for anything—and I am afraid that they have come in particular from councillors in Aberdeen City Council's administration. We must be careful not to cry wolf on such subjects, particularly when any such claims are totally unjustified, as is clear in this case. At the same time, we now have to go forward and ensure that, in future, such claims are even more clearly unjustified. It is important to emphasise the consensus to make progress towards having such facilities in the north-east. The case deserves ministers' reconsideration of what central support can be given to the new and better bid that will be made by the city.
The fact that Dundee and Inverness have, so far, not had awards makes it even more vital that we get in Aberdeen the facilities for athletics, football and other games that the new project will create. We have to give sporting opportunities to all, in every part of Scotland, and we should seek to give young people in every part of our nation the chance to become the athletics stars of tomorrow. I urge the minister to ensure that the Executive does all that it can to help those ambitions become a reality and to help Aberdeen's bid in identifying whatever additional sources of funding and support may be available.
I hope that the strenuous efforts to do more to make the project happen in the city might be reciprocated with additional support from ministers and sportscotland. It is vital that the project goes ahead for the sake of regeneration in an area of Aberdeen that needs such support and investment. People from that community are here today. They know how vital it is for their area that the project goes ahead. It is vital to allow young people in the city, in its universities and throughout the north-east the chances that they deserve to enjoy and succeed in sport. That applies not just to people in Aberdeen, but to people throughout the north-east—indeed, people from the whole of the north could benefit.
If we are to promote healthy living in every part of Scotland it is essential that such facilities are created, and particularly in Aberdeen. I stress to the minister that the main focus of our energies in Aberdeen when it comes to the sports facilities project should be to build consensus and partnership at all levels, because we all want to make it happen.
I, too, must apologise to members; I should be at the meeting that Nanette Milne has just left to attend, so I will be shooting off after my speech, too.
A blueprint for world-class sports facilities in Aberdeen was unveiled last summer. The Linksfield project, at a cost of £26 million, would provide an indoor athletics area, featuring a 135m, six-lane running track, a jumping area and facilities for pole vault, shotput and discus; a pitted area for gymnastics; an indoor pitch for football and other suitable sports; six squash courts; a large indoor games hall, which could cater for international volleyball, badminton and trampolining and which would include space for temporary spectator seating; fitness suites; a performance gym; and two other gymnasia. A climbing wall and a weights room were suggested. Also pencilled in as part of the overall beach scheme were a new municipal football and events stadium, a soccer academy with up to 10 pitches and an upgrade of the Kings Links golf course.
The Linksfield plan was designed to fit in with the Executive's desire to create a network of regional sporting centres. It was intended to benefit the health and fitness of local people and to give elite athletes the facilities to train and to compete on the national and international stage.
A bid for £16 million of funding went to sportscotland. The remainder of the costs of the project was to be picked up in equal measures by Aberdeen City Council and the University of Aberdeen. In July, the Executive announced the cash allocation for the planned centres. From a pot of £50 million, £45 million was disbursed to projects in the central belt, whereas only £5 million was offered to Aberdeen. Following that announcement—and not surprisingly—north-east press coverage howled that there was central-belt bias.
That was countered on the following day by claims that the city council had made errors in submitting the application. The matter centred on the fact that the council had included in its share of the funding the value of the land for the site of the proposed facilities. At the time of the application, Aberdeen City Council had checked the regulations: because Linksfield was not an existing sports facility, the land value could legitimately be included.
That is now water under the bridge. The current situation is that an application for a second stage of funding is under way with the results expected towards the end of October. I am given to understand that a further £1 million at this stage would be enough for the project to go ahead. As the centre would benefit the whole region, not only Aberdeen, and allow athletes at national and international levels to train near their homes, I hope that the second-round bid will be wholly successful.
In deference to Brian Adam, I intend to keep my comments reasonably brief. Aberdeen is a centre of excellence in a range of activities, educational and industrial among others, but it has also proved itself to be a centre of excellence in sport. The city has provided not only a sporting but an educational service to the whole of the north of Scotland, including the northern isles. Therefore, if we are to have a sporting future, it is reasonable to expect that Aberdeen will play a significant part in it—more so than it has in recent years.
I remember that when I was first interested in international football, Scotland had two world-class players—Martin Buchan and Dennis Law, both of whom were Aberdeen men. I am sure that such things could happen once again. If we are to encourage young people to become involved in sport, we must give them someone to use as an example, because success begets success. Even if they do not become international competitors, people who are actively involved in sport will be healthier in the long term, as was pointed out.
In order to achieve that, Aberdeen needs to look at its facilities and consider how it competes with other cities not only in Scotland, but throughout northern Europe. It is important that we do not get into a bidding war between the central belt and the north-east, because it would not be productive to go down that road. However, I make a plea to the minister that any world-class sporting facilities in Aberdeen should serve not only Aberdeen but the whole of the north-east and the northern isles. That would ultimately produce the kind of results that we need to encourage young athletes, sportsmen and sportswomen to become more involved in their sports and to go on to represent their country. We need to set that kind of example to the others who will follow them.
I encourage the minister to engage positively with Aberdeen City Council, to negotiate further and to do all that he can to ensure that such facilities are provided in Aberdeen. I will continue to support the bid for as long as it requires his attention.
I thank Brian Adam and all the members who have contributed to the debate this evening, not only for their contributions, but for the tone of their remarks and the reasoned manner in which they have made their case.
I take Alex Johnstone's point about Martin Buchan. If I remember rightly, it was Martin Buchan's cross that gave Dalglish the near-post header to make the score 2-0 in 1978, when we qualified for the world cup—but perhaps we will not dwell on the rest.
The debate is important and follows on from the announcement on 29 July that the bids submitted under our national and regional facilities strategy were invited to progress to stage 2 of that process, with which Mr Adam and his cross-party colleagues are entirely familiar. The strategy aims to put in place a network of world-class training and competition facilities throughout Scotland. As Brian Adam rightly reflected, and as we did at First Minister's question time today, it is appropriate to congratulate team GB on its excellent performance in the recent Olympics and, in particular, the performances and results of the Scottish athletes involved and their connection with the north-east. We are here tonight and they are at Bute House and I suppose that that is entirely as it should be.
Our top and aspiring athletes will have more of the top-class facilities that they need for training and competition, which will help them to achieve at the highest levels in the coming years. However, it is not just facilities, coaching equipment or the range of back-up services that win medals. As The Herald's Doug Gillon pointed out last Saturday—and I paraphrase his comments somewhat—without the fundamental will and work ethic, no one succeeds at the highest level.
More than £50 million, including the £16 million that was set aside for facilities linked to the Euro 2008 bid, has been allocated from public funds to help to build the new national and regional multisports facilities. Scotland's bid for Euro 2008 has left a positive and lasting legacy—a pledge made and now delivered. That funding, together with investment from partners, will deliver a total investment of up to £230 million in new and refurbished sports facilities. Scotland's communities, and particularly our young people, will be able to enjoy increased opportunities to take part in many different activities, which will help to improve their health and general well-being, as Richard Lochhead and Brian Adam mentioned.
The minister rightly pointed out that the funding is for new and refurbished facilities, but one thing that appears to have held back the Aberdeen bid is the fact that it is a new one. The financial criteria do not appear to take that into account. There is a significant difference between refurbishing existing facilities and providing new ones. The city council's significant contribution, not only in terms of land, has not been appropriately recognised, which is one of the sources of grievance. Without going into the biases or otherwise of the funding formula, I believe that it might be worth re-examining that aspect.
I understand that the initial stage of the two-stage process has been undertaken and that it was extremely transparent. It was understood—if any of the bidding consortia or formulations needed to clarify points, those discussions could have taken place. I take Nora Radcliffe's point that we are where we are in the process; I suspect that the issue is now about taking the matter forward in the most positive manner to achieve the objectives that I am sure members from all parties share.
Today's debate has focused on the points that Brian Adam raised in his motion. It is important to recognise that every application that was submitted was assessed using the predetermined criteria that were issued to all potential partners, including local authorities, in September 2003. I hope that, to some extent, that answers Brian Adam's point. The successful applications were those that met the criteria and the respective allocations were distributed fairly and transparently using a consistent approach based on the type of sports facility that was being built.
I understand that sportscotland worked tirelessly with Aberdeen City Council on its bid and that guidance was also provided by the consultants who were involved in the strategy. The application from the city was given a provisional allocation of £5 million, which is in line with the sums that were provided to successful bids for similar facilities. The allocation is provisional because further discussions are required and I understand that those discussions are continuing. The Executive is aware that, as colleagues have said this afternoon, the allocation does not meet the amount that was sought by Aberdeen City Council and its partners. However, part of the stage 2 process will involve sportscotland working with the council to satisfy itself that the council can bridge the funding gap to meet the overall costs of its proposals. There should therefore be no doubt that Aberdeen is most certainly still on the pitch.
I have read Mr Adam's comments on central-belt bias and I hear what has been said about that by him and others. It is important to recognise that the aim of the strategy is to put in place a network of regional training facilities throughout Scotland that will serve the geographical areas that are covered by the six area institutes of sport. At this stage, the needs of only four of those areas have been addressed. The Executive and sportscotland will continue to work with partners in the Highlands and Islands, Tayside and Fife to meet the full aims of the strategy. We will also work with partners with a view to filling other geographical gaps in our regional network, including the Borders, Ayrshire and Dumfries and Galloway.
In addition to the funding that has been made available by the Executive, it is important to recognise that Aberdeen has done well out of the lottery sports fund since the fund was established. Almost £4.5 million has been invested in 20 projects, including £800,000 towards the Aberdeen curling group project.
Nanette Milne—I understand why she can no longer be with us—spoke about the geographic argument and I add the fact that Josie Jamieson from my constituency won the under-20s javelin at the Bank of Scotland junior sporting championships at Grangemouth a fortnight ago. Sporting excellence, achievement and promise for the future are about a combination of many factors and I have no doubt that Brian Adam and many other colleagues recognise that decisions are taken in that context.
New national and regional facilities will help Scotland to realise what I am sure is Parliament's ambition of making Scotland a major events destination. Providing more high-quality training and competition arenas will allow us to build on our recent successes in attracting major sporting events here in the future. I look forward to seeing the proposed bids move quickly to become a reality—our athletes deserve it, our communities deserve it and Scotland deserves it.
Meeting closed at 18:10.