Athletes (Rural Areas)
The final item of business today is a members' business debate on motion S3M-4762, in the name of Jamie Stone, on increasing opportunities for rural athletes. The debate will be concluded without any question being put.
Motion debated,
That the Parliament notes that, as part of the Reaching Higher revised national sports strategy, launched on 8 March 2007, the Scottish Government committed itself to achieving increasing participation and to improving performance in sporting activities; commends the Scottish Government's continuing commitment to delivering equal opportunities for all regardless of personal circumstances; is concerned, however, that such equality has not been achieved in the field of sport, in that the careers of promising young athletes from remote areas, such as Caithness, are being held back by the high financial costs incurred in travelling to and participating in national sporting events, and would welcome the availability of funding for athletes from remote areas and their families to offset the considerable costs of pursuing their sporting goals.
At the outset, I thank the members who supported my motion and have stayed back for the debate. I also make the important point that in no way do I seek to make tonight's debate a party-political point-scoring exercise. The problem that I am about to outline has been in the making for a long time, and should be considered against the backdrop of United Kingdom and Scottish Governments of all colours, and of local authorities made up of a mixture of independent and party-political councillors.
I will begin by describing the bricks and mortar, or, if I can put it this way, the situation on the ground that we face in the far north around access to sports facilities.
As Sutherland has a low population, the former district council of Sutherland did not have large amounts of capital to construct new sports facilities. In the case of Caithness, because the former district council wanted to maintain a low community charge or council tax regime, it too did not invest large amounts in sports facilities. The net result was that, by the 1995 local government reorganisation, the far north was underprovided for in terms of sports facilities, especially when compared with the neighbouring council areas of Inverness or Ross and Cromarty.
To make matters worse, during the run-up to the 1995 local government reorganisation, during its final months and weeks the former Highland Regional Council decided to embark on a number of expensive capital spends on sports facilities, such as the aquadome in Inverness. The council knew full well that it was going to leave the bill to be paid by the successor authority, the Highland Council. Thus, following reorganisation, the council tax payers of the far north found themselves having to pick up their share of a post-dated cheque that increased the geographical imbalance in sports facilities.
That takes me to where we are today. With one council tax rate per household all over the Highland Council area, I argue that taxpayers are paying the same rate for hugely different levels of sports facilities. Although some might argue that the Inverness-based abundance of sports facilities serves all the Highlands, including the far north, that does not take into account the important issue of distance.
That takes me neatly to the main thrust of my motion. Families in the far north who are not wealthy find it a real burden to pay for talented youngsters to travel to training and events further south. Christina Raeburn, a constituent of mine and of Rob Gibson and Mary Scanlon, has been active in taking a petition on the issue to Parliament's Public Petitions Committee.
I put on record my thanks to the members of the Public Petitions Committee for their interest, understanding and patience. They have taken on board the problem that my constituents face. I thank those members personally for the way in which they have kept up with the issue. Most recently, they agreed on 6 October to write to sportscotland. I also thank Jude Payne of the Scottish Parliament information centre for the briefing that he has written on the issue. I appreciate the great effort that has been put into that. I am sure that members have read the briefing, so they will know that it highlights the fact that not much is in place to address the issue that I am raising.
The situation that we are left with is that budding athletes in the far north are disadvantaged when compared with similar youngsters who live nearer Scotland's population centres. The SPICe briefing points out some interesting UK disparities—for instance, Scotland has only 18 coaches per 1,000 of population, as opposed to a figure of 24 for Northern Ireland and Wales and 21 for England—but the problem that I have highlighted for my constituents remains. We are poorly off in terms of local sports facilities, and access to facilities that are further away is beyond the pockets of many.
I believe that it is a fundamental right of youngsters with ability to have easy access to sports facilities and events, regardless of where they live. As we know, and as all of us have said in the chamber many times, the health of the nation is linked to the sport of the nation. I do not stand before members as someone who was particularly sporty at school but, as I have entered my middle age, I fully value the point about exercise.
I congratulate the member on raising the issues for Caithness and Sutherland. When the Public Petitions Committee was in Invergordon, the issue was raised that, for people who wish to be competitive swimmers, the nearest 50m pool to Caithness is in Stirling.
That is absolutely correct.
I have talked about the historical capital spend but, given the current financial problems that the country faces, the chance of Highland Council or anybody else being able to invest large amounts of capital to build new facilities is even less than it was 10 or 20 years ago. The problem is compounded by the current situation.
The issue is not easy for the Minister for Public Health and Sport. As I said at the outset, I would not be so cheap as to suggest that the situation is the Government's fault. My point to the minister and the Parliament is that the problem has existed for many years, so we need to get the issue on the Government's and sportscotland's radar. I await the minister's thoughts with great interest.
The very fact that we are here talking about the issue will mean an enormous amount to my constituents. I am sure that members will agree that the fact that we have talked about the issue in the Scottish Parliament's chamber is hugely important. Before devolution, it would have been absolutely impossible to debate such an issue in Westminster, given the tight timetable. That is a benefit of the Scottish Parliament. I hope that we can deliver for my constituents and tackle the problems that they face. I look forward to hearing the other speeches and I thank members for their support.
I congratulate Jamie Stone on achieving the chance to discuss the issue in the Parliament. Mary Scanlon talked about the distance to swimming pools. I correct her slightly, in that the Public Petitions Committee was in Alness academy and not in Invergordon. They are only 2 miles apart, but, having taught in both places, I can tell the member that there is nevertheless a big difference between people in Alness and Invergordon.
One interesting part of the business of that day was consideration of a petition from school students in Alness academy that suggested that, because they are on the periphery, consideration should be given to providing them with travel expenses to reach the many cultural events that take place in Edinburgh and the museums and national galleries that are situated there. In a country that is not a circular one in which everyone is equidistant from the centre, we must get comfortable with our geography and find ways in which to give the best support to promising students in the arts and sports.
Jamie Stone talked about athletics. I will give an example of the issues that he raised. If an athlete was leaving Orkney to attend a race, they would probably have to leave on Thursday to get to a Saturday event, and they would not get back until the Sunday or Monday. That would be very difficult for young people, who would miss out on schoolwork or other work.
There are youngsters in such places who excel—for example, Orkney rugby club is currently doing very well—but it is often youngsters who have been trained at university and come home who are members of the team.
I confirm that the Public Petitions Committee visited Alness and apologise for saying Invergordon.
Given that Rob Gibson mentioned university, can I confirm that the pupils made the point that they did not have money to visit universities, whether from the academic point of view or from the competitive leisure and physical activity point of view?
I hope that we can find a way to address those matters. It is interesting that, despite the poorer facilities that exist in remote areas, Orkney rugby club is, as I said, doing extremely well and is top of the national league with 10 wins out of 10 so far and Wick Academy—the Scorries—is doing very well in football's Highland League.
The issue of what are appropriate facilities has been raised. We must recognise that there are too many different ways of providing such facilities. The Government has been good at promoting certain kinds of centres in larger areas. We know that that is more difficult in remote areas and the islands, but I suggest that we need to get it together. For example, in seeking to create a very good centre in Halkirk in Caithness, it is not possible to get money directly from the Government, because there is already support for smaller centres in Wick and Thurso, yet the idea of providing facilities that could serve the whole of the county is excellent and it would be a way of bringing together the talent that could be better trained in such a centre. We must stick with the idea that starting small and incrementally building on facilities from the ground up in small ways is probably the only way, in the current financial climate, for organisations to take matters forward in remote areas.
I ask the minister whether she can discuss in her speech how it might be possible for us to get some justice for young people and to ensure that up-and-coming athletes, as well as those of an artistic tendency, can come into the main stream of Scotland. The likes of Ross County, which has set up a football academy and is able to draw in talent from quite a way across the north, is a good example, but that cannot be replicated without the business support that football clubs receive. We are in a bind, and we need to find a way of doing things better. This is a good chance for us to reflect on matters and to find ways forward.
It is a pleasure to support Jamie Stone in this members' business debate and I congratulate him on bringing this important, yet sometimes overlooked, subject to the Parliament. It is never easy to ensure that our talented sportsmen and women from our rural areas, particularly the most remote areas, have a level playing field when it comes to the pursuit of their sporting talents. It is a matter not only of geography and the related travel issues, but of available coaches and facilities, plus the inevitable additional expense of finding accommodation when people are away competing.
When we hear stories circulating that Moray Council is considering closing all its local authority swimming pools in the mornings and that Highland schools are complaining that some pupils' Duke of Edinburgh awards are in jeopardy because of the closure of the outdoor centre at Muir of Ord, we should be under no illusions about the potential problems that such issues can create for anyone from our rural communities who wishes to participate in any sport, particularly competitive sport. We should also acknowledge that too many of those people miss out on the opportunities that are afforded to athletes in our more populous areas.
Sportscotland is very aware of the issue—indeed, I am having a meeting with two senior representatives of sportscotland in a few weeks' time to discuss it further. The issue has also been raised by Margo MacDonald on the cross-party group in the Scottish Parliament on sport. I take up the theme of both Rob Gibson and Jamie Stone that this is not about party politics.
What can we do to help? One of the most important issues is to promote genuine recognition and understanding of the challenges that rural athletes face. This debate can be part of the process, but there is no doubt that real action is required to improve both the quality of facilities that are available and the ability of rural athletes to use them. In relation to school events, in particular, we need to be aware of the central belt mentality when it comes to staging competitions. Some sports in Scotland have made a conscious effort to use locations in the Borders, the north-east and the Highlands, but other sports seem totally wedded to the central belt, which means that some competitors must regularly travel hundreds of miles just to participate.
From my experience of 30 years of taking a variety of sports teams to events across Scotland—I still do it from time to time—I believe that some organisations would help matters a lot if they provided participating schools with as much notice as possible of their calendar of events, so that rural communities would have a much better chance of planning ahead to organise family life around someone's athletic interest. Likewise, if an extensive training programme is in operation, it must be accorded practical timings. We cannot expect a young athlete from Oban, Mallaig or, as Rob Gibson said, Orkney to make a long journey to Glasgow every weekend simply to find that their training session lasts only an hour. On the subject of better information, I am keen that local authorities should encourage their schools to publish details of the facilities and competitions that are available in their areas. Sometimes children are left out because their families were unaware of the facilities that were available; that is not good enough.
Of course, we have the benefit of the 2014 Commonwealth games and the welcome announcements of new facilities, which will provide a lasting grass-roots legacy. That is good news, but we must remember that a great deal of grass-roots work takes place in facilities that are not necessarily state of the art. Across Scotland, especially in many rural communities, there has been a deterioration in facilities such as pavilions, changing rooms and pitches, which is sad. However, there are communities that, through their joint efforts, have provided new goalposts, painted their changing room facilities, fixed the leak in the roof and, in some cases, built a new clubhouse. I am well aware of the fact that funds are tight and that there is not an endless pot of gold, but I like to think that the percentage share of national lottery funding that is spent on sport could be increased, so that we can be more helpful when it comes to assisting community trusts to look after the best interests of their grass-roots sports.
Nor should we forget the excellent work that has been undertaken by many outdoor pursuits bodies to improve the diversity of sports facilities in areas such as the Highlands. I refer to the mountain bike tracks at Laggan and Aonach Mòr, the cycle tracks on the west coast, the geological trails in Assynt and the John Muir Trust's work at Loch Ossian. Such bodies are crucial to allowing youngsters to develop a love of the outdoors and to providing better outdoor experiences on their doorstep.
However, the bottom line is to encourage more people to help to run and coach our athletes. That is why the volunteering theme is crucial, in an age in which volunteering is threatened by health and safety, a fear of litigation and an increasing unwillingness among adults to put themselves through the disclosure system. I suggest that that is the biggest area of concern. I have no easy answers, but I believe that our grass-roots policy must be the strict focus in that regard.
I reiterate my congratulations to Jamie Stone on bringing this extremely important issue to the Parliament. We must not forget about it.
I thank Jamie Stone for raising this issue. The concerns that he identified were expressed even during the period in which I undertook ministerial duties, which was a considerable time ago. The fact that we are still debating them a number of years on from that may reflect the massive challenge that lies ahead.
Elizabeth Smith touched on a number of issues that we need to address. Having attended major events, both regional and national, I know that it is easier for those of us who live in the central belt to have reasonable links to the places in which such events are held. I am always amazed at the capacity of families and young athletes to get to places such as Grangemouth and to perform at the top level that is expected of them.
There are three fundamental issues that require proper debate. We need to debate them together in the Parliament, because the solutions lie not singularly with the minister but with a combination of forces. The first is the fact that, despite some of the national documents that we have produced, we have never really treated sport seriously enough, largely because we do not have a framework for working in partnership with the major providers of infrastructure; in many communities, that means local authorities. That issue bedevilled previous Administrations and remains a challenge to the present one. As we see in the briefing from the Scottish Parliament information centre, there is concern about a number of local authorities that still do not spend above their grant-aided expenditure. A considerable number of councils do, but Western Isles and Highland, notably, do not. That is a challenge for all of us here to take up, as well as for the elected members in those areas to take up with their authorities.
The fundamental question is who takes responsibility for easing the pathways into sport. The Health and Sport Committee, which produced a major report on that subject, identified some key issues. One of the committee's key recommendations was to use the existing sports facilities and space, as well as buildings that could be imaginatively utilised for sporting activity and participation, rather than focusing on apocalyptic figures such as the £500 million that would be required to address our sporting infrastructure needs. I do not imagine that any minister, even with the best will in the world, could conjure up anything near that level of funding. Perhaps it is a matter of sweating the assets that we have more effectively.
A second, critical point that was identified in the pathways into sport inquiry was the need to secure better partnerships. We all use the word "partnership"; I have used it, and the minister will no doubt use it in her speech this evening and in future discussions. It is a matter of bringing together partnerships in which we look beyond local boundaries to find ways of pulling together resources. With the reorganisation of the Scottish Institute of Sport and the development of hubs, which I welcome as part of the present direction of sports policy, the fundamental point is to pull together partnerships so that providers can offer young people access to opportunities and activities.
Rob Gibson touched on another important point, which was accurately highlighted by the youngsters at Alness academy who took part in the proceedings of the Public Petitions Committee. Even with such access, it can still be extremely difficult to get to regional locations, never mind central locations such as Edinburgh and Glasgow. This is a difficult period for us all when it comes to budgets, but a bit more imagination is needed in looking for ways—through a combination of sportscotland, Government, lottery and local authority money—of minimising the cost element for youngsters so that they can access the facilities that are available.
I emphasise the whole issue of cost. For local authorities that have a low asset base, there is a serious problem in pulling together the resources for the big things that people might expect to take place—particularly taking into account the ambition that we all have for the success of the 2014 games. I come from a large city with many assets that it can realise and put into the equation in order to get resources, but that is not always possible for some of the smaller councils or the more sparsely populated local authority areas. A national direction is required, with an imaginative way of identifying additional resources, a different way of allocating resources, or even a different approach to calculating resources.
I hope that those remarks were helpful, and I look forward to the minister's response.
I had not intended to speak in the debate but, having heard other speeches, I wanted to highlight some of the things that are going on in the rural parts of the South of Scotland. I congratulate Jamie Stone on securing the debate.
In particular, I wish to highlight the international youth games in Lanarkshire. I hope that there will be a legacy and role for some rural parts of South Lanarkshire, which could benefit from the games when they take place in 2011. Rural South Lanarkshire and places further afield could also benefit, I hope, from any legacy to arise from the Commonwealth games, which Glasgow will hold in a few years' time.
Some individuals in Clydesdale, in the South of Scotland region, have acted in a way that we should encourage. One chap in Lesmahagow who realised that there was no football coaching in the area, and who had a coaching badge, decided to set up some coaching there—and 60 kids from Lesmahagow showed up one night to play football. They used a local hall and facilities, and it was a success. He is even trying to encourage girls to play football—buying pink balls and using other innovative ways to encourage youngsters from the area to take up sport. That is the kind of initiative that we should encourage.
We should encourage parents to take responsibility for encouraging their children to take part in sport. Biggar rugby club is working with parents to encourage folk from the area, including the small villages around Leadhills, to take part in the sport. The club has held youth championships, which have attracted rugby clubs from throughout the South of Scotland. People have shown up to take part and be taught how to play and how to display good sportsmanship. When parents take responsibility, they will travel far afield to enable their children to take part in sports.
An issue sprung up for me not long ago when a youngster approached me because she wanted to get access to skating rinks. Because she was not one of the top three skaters in the country, she could not access local authority initiatives that would have helped her to get access to rinks in the area. She could not break into the top three because the national governing body for skating is UK based. Youngsters in Scotland can have a difficult time trying to break through to UK level. Perhaps we should consider having a Scottish arm of governing bodies, so that youngsters can get the access to facilities that they need and become the best that they can be in their sport.
I know that all members, regardless of their political party, want to ensure that people in Scotland become a wee bit healthier and more active. Individuals who are committed to the same outcome are doing much good work on the ground. It is important to link up the initiatives that are being taken across Scotland and, in so doing, provide a platform on which we can all build.
I congratulate Jamie Stone on securing an important debate. I think that all members want more people throughout Scotland to take part in sport more often and to be given opportunities to do so. Everything else flows from that: benefits to the individual, benefits to communities and, ultimately, success on the national and international stages. We are committed to working with our partners in delivering the reaching higher strategy, and we are committed to putting in place the appropriate infrastructure, which will encourage greater participation.
On a positive note, athletics has been particularly successful. Athletics clubs have more than 8,500 members who regularly participate, and the sport hopes to increase club membership to 14,000 by 2014. If that is to happen, participation must increase throughout Scotland.
If they are to be successful at any level, individuals must commit a substantial amount of time, energy and enthusiasm to their chosen sport. Although the direct cost of buying equipment for athletes is not always huge, for many other individuals a huge personal sacrifice in time and money is demanded. I value the support and dedication of volunteers, who are the unsung heroes. Coaches and parents spend a considerable amount of time providing support and ferrying athletes around Scotland so that they can train and compete.
As many members said, people often travel long distances and—of course—rural athletes face particular challenges and must travel long distances because facilities are remote from them and because of the need to attend structured training sessions, particularly as they move up the rungs towards elite status. Attendance at competitions can involve long journeys and people sometimes incur overnight-stay costs. I assure members that we are doing all that we can do to support such people, but we must be pragmatic, and I appreciate that members have acknowledged that it is simply not possible to have an Olympic stadium in every town and village in Scotland.
Decisions on what facilities are developed are informed by local need and are taken, rightly, by local authorities. Of course, 90 per cent of all spending on Scottish sport comes through local authorities, who have a statutory responsibility to ensure that there is adequate provision.
I want to put on the record where the investment goes. We recently announced investment of £5.5 million to improve facilities in Dundee and Fife. Of the investment that has been announced since May 2007, 25 per cent—some £4.6 million—has supported facility development in the north and the north-east. I know that Jamie Stone will immediately ask how much of that went to Caithness. Investment was made in facilities in Caithness Rugby Football Club and Invergordon Football Club, for example. Such investment stands us in good stead to build on that and increase participation levels, about which I will say a bit more.
In one way or another, everybody has pointed to the need to make more of what we have and to add value. Sportscotland will work with every local authority to develop the strategy and the framework, about which Frank McAveety talked. All those discussions are well advanced. One of the biggest opportunities and possible solutions to many of the problems that Jamie Stone and others mentioned comes from the community sports hub model. The hubs are the key outcome of the legacy plan for 2014. They will help to improve use of, and access to, school and community facilities for physical activity and competitive sport. All rural communities have school and community facilities, although I acknowledge absolutely that some of them are not as we would want them to be and that clubs, coaches and volunteers are not coming together in each area. Everybody who is involved in sport in an area needs to be brought together to make the best use of what is available and to add value where possible. We are making available £23.5 million of legacy investment to ensure that we add value to facilities, and for recruitment of more volunteers and development of existing volunteers and coaches. A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity is available.
I suggest that members, including Jamie Stone, should engage in that process. In talking to Highland Council, he should ensure that the council discusses with sportscotland where the community sports hubs will be located. I am sure that he will not be backward in coming forward to ensure that Caithness is considered for such a hub, because that is the solution that everyone has touched on. That is how the investment of £23.5 million will create a difference by being well spent.
As all speakers have acknowledged, resources are finite, so the money that we spend must make a difference. If the spend is in the right place, it will make a difference for the long term. Sportscotland's new decentralised structure will help: the six regional sports hubs will enable detailed discussions to take place and will ensure that sportscotland is on the ground. The Highland partnership has met regularly and sportscotland has recently appointed a partnership manager who will be permanently located in Inverness but will be responsible for, and must focus on, the whole Highlands and Islands area.
Does the minister accept that it has been hard for people—even if they are based in Inverness—to lift their eyes to further horizons? I hope that sportscotland and perhaps the minister's officials will keep an eye on how far beyond Inverness delivery goes.
I assure Jamie Stone that I will keep an eye on that, because the legacy should have the opportunity to reach every community. The legacy will not be a success if it reaches only Inverness—it must reach communities throughout the Highlands and Islands.
Communities must, however, rise to the challenge. Aileen Campbell's point was important in that respect. Perhaps we do not ask enough of parents who take their children along to local sports clubs: in other countries, for example in Scandinavia, parents do not just drop their children off at the local sports club, but are asked what they will do to support the club. There are therefore opportunities to engage more people, but in doing that we must ensure that the children have a good-quality experience, which means that volunteers and coaches have to be trained. Liz Smith made an important point in that regard, which is that there are sometimes difficult barriers for people. I am very keen to take advantage of the interest that I think there will be from communities across Scotland, but we must make it easy for them to get involved and we need to support them in doing that.
I want to mention a couple of specifics in respect of financial support, because it is important to get them on the record. Highland Council provides support to its eight local sports councils by providing £100,000 each year, with nearly half of that being used to help with athletes' travel costs, entry fees for competitions and the food and accommodation costs of being away from home.
I put on the record, too, the important Duncraig educational trust, which supports young talented people from the Highlands by providing up to £25,000 each year. It, too, can be used to support individuals who are engaged in national or international sporting events. We should pay tribute to the work of the Duncraig trust.
The awards for all programme offers grants of between £500 and £10,000, which local clubs can apply for. Amateur athletics clubs have taken advantage of that to provide for some of their running costs.
There are no easy answers to the important points that were raised during the debate and I appreciate the challenges that rural athletes can face. However, we have opportunities with the legacy of the 2014 Commonwealth games to get to a better place. That does not mean that there are the resources for all-singing, all-dancing facilities. I am very pleased that no one is calling for that, because it would be unrealistic. However, there is an opportunity to bolt together the partnerships, as I think Frank McAveety said. There is a resource to ensure that every community gets something from the 2014 legacy that is better than what they have now. I assure Jamie Stone and other members that ensuring that we do that is a top priority for me.
Meeting closed at 17:37.