Commonwealth Games (Delivery and Legacy)
The next item of business is a debate on motion S4M-01620, in the name of Shona Robison, on the delivery and legacy of the Commonwealth games.
14:35
In the debate in June shortly after my appointment as the Minister for Commonwealth Games and Sport, I set out my intention to come back to Parliament later in the year with an update on progress on our journey to 2014. I am committed to keeping all members updated on progress.
I urge members to look at the new portal to see what is happening across all Scotland. I sent members the most recent biannual update on progress, which sets out what has been achieved since May. I will also ensure that members are sent the six-monthly progress report from Glasgow 2014 Ltd. I am happy to agree today to have regular meetings with Opposition spokespeople, which will meet what I understand is the sentiment behind the amendment in Patricia Ferguson’s name.
I am pleased to have called the debate and to reassure members that significant progress continues to be made. I mentioned the new legacy portal, which acts as a one-stop shop for all games-related activities. In its short life, it has already had more than 16,000 hits, and it is becoming a key focal point for information on the legacy.
Enormous progress has been made this year. I am pleased to say that we remain well on schedule and that the budget continues to be soundly based. Work is under way on almost all the remaining venues, and the outstanding facilities that are springing up in Glasgow will leave a legacy to be enjoyed for generations to come.
By this time next year, the national indoor sports arena and velodrome complex will be finished and will have welcomed its first users. Construction began on the athletes village in June. In games mode, it will be home to 6,500 athletes and officials, but when the games are finished, the properties will be converted into 700 new homes as the core of the revitalised community of Dalmarnock.
Of course, it is not only Glasgow that the games will touch. In my part of the country, the shooting events at Barry Buddon will be a great occasion and will bring economic opportunities to the area. The diving competition at the refurbished Royal Commonwealth pool promises to bring the excitement of the games to Edinburgh as well as to generate welcome revenue for the city.
Even in difficult times, it is clear that there is still enormous buy-in for the games. I am delighted that more than £32 million of commercial income has already been secured. The sponsorship deals are with the established names of Harper Macleod LLP, Ernst & Young and Search Consultancy. There is still a long way to go to achieve the commercial income targets, but the organising committee is ahead of previous games at this stage and I hope that that promising position will improve further in the new year.
We were delighted when the BBC was announced in June as the domestic broadcaster for the games. Ensuring that the games are well covered in the United Kingdom will be key to inspiring our athletes of the future. That contract will enable us all to share the moments of triumph, of which, I hope, there will be many.
I will go into a bit more detail on the impact of the games on Glasgow. The Government is working to ensure that the benefits are felt Scotland-wide, but it is right to recognise that Glasgow is truly being transformed. At the epicentre of games activity, the M74 extension opened in June this year—eight months ahead of schedule and under budget. It is improving transport connections in and around the city. The east end regeneration route, which is a vital games link, will open next year. Work has started on refurbishing Dalmarnock station, to ensure greater access for the local community.
All the games-related transport projects are on course. When they are complete, they will leave a lasting legacy of reduced journey times, lower congestion levels and opportunities for improved public transport that will benefit not just Glasgow but the whole of the west of Scotland.
The Clyde Gateway programme continues apace to help to regenerate the area and to create much-needed jobs in the community. Clyde Gateway’s programme is a 30-year programme that is aimed at transforming the area. The games will give the programme impetus and help to transform an area that has suffered from deprivation for too long. Since 2007, £103 million has been invested through Clyde Gateway, which shows the Government’s long-term commitment to the area. We are on track and, although there is no room for complacency, I am confident and encouraged by the progress that has been made.
That confidence is shared by the Commonwealth Games Federation, which audits our preparations. Its October 2011 inspection confirmed that it is satisfied that our planning for the games is on track. In addition, the federation saw a
“clear focus on generating value and legacy for the people of Glasgow and Scotland”.
That external confirmation that we are on target, on budget and on schedule is very good indeed. The federation also remarked on the strong partnership working that it had seen when it visited us in October. It bodes well for our preparations that links between games partners are still strong after four years of working together.
I want to say a word about evaluation, which was raised by several members during the debate in June. I am very clear about our ambitions for 2014, but I am equally clear that progress needs to be robustly monitored and evaluated. Work is well under way to design what is called a meta-evaluation for the 2014 games and their legacy. The aim of that work will be to assess whether and how the Commonwealth games legacy has been delivered. It will assess our progress on the outcomes that we are looking to achieve across all areas of legacy over a number of years before, during and after the games. Partners in national and local government, the third sector and academia are all involved in that process. In January, an evaluation working group will convene for the first time to progress the meta-evaluation. We expect baseline measures to be in place by the end of February.
Has the minister spoken to Manchester about how it evaluated its Commonwealth games? Are there any lessons that we can learn from the Manchester experience?
I had an early meeting in Manchester. I went down there and had a good look at the legacy that the games left, along with some of the issues that Manchester thought would be of benefit for us. Officials have done a more detailed follow-up to that meeting, so Kezia Dugdale can be assured that if there are any lessons to learn, we will learn them. Manchester has been quite successful at promoting itself as an international sporting venue and Glasgow has already begun to do that by securing a number of sporting events for after 2014.
Let me turn to our legacy ambitions. Enormous benefits are already coming to Scotland as a result of our hosting of the games. We have been clear that our ambition is a legacy for all the people of Scotland, and in communities up and down the country, the games are beginning to inspire people and change lives. I have always been very clear that helping Scots to become more physically active is our overriding legacy ambition, which is why we are building on the success that we have already achieved in making and keeping Scots active. The results from the last Scottish health survey showed that 72 per cent of people had participated in sport in the preceding four weeks, and that 83 per cent of Scottish adults had visited the outdoors for leisure or recreation. That is evidence that Scotland is indeed more active than we sometimes give ourselves credit for, but we need to build on that and use the excitement of the games to re-energise our efforts.
I am delighted that one of the most successful elements of that is the active schools programme, which has given 5 million opportunities to young people to take part in more than 70 different physical and sport activities that were provided last year, and were underpinned by a staggering 10,000 volunteers. We should celebrate that.
We continue to invest in ensuring that we provide easy access to local facilities for communities across Scotland, and I am delighted to announce that there are now 72 hubs in the pipeline, with 41 community sports hubs up and running throughout Scotland. I am delighted with that progress because the hubs are providing a home for the community to come together. They cater to the local needs of each community and support participation in physical activity across the country. They demonstrate our commitment to ensuring that all Scotland’s people and communities can benefit from becoming more active.
We want to build on that—which is why I announce today that we will deliver at least 100 hubs by 2014. However, we will do more, with a commitment to deliver a further 50 hubs before the end of this parliamentary session. We expect at least half those 150 hubs to be based in schools, which will help significantly to open up the school estate. Following the Commonwealth games, Scotland will be a stronger sporting nation and this commitment reinforces our view that community sports hubs will play a critical role in delivering on our aspirations.
I want to say a few things about high performance sport, because winning medals in the 2014 games will be important. For that reason, we are continuing to invest heavily in the future generation. Sportscotland will maintain the increases in investment in the past three years of £7.5 million, giving a total of £15 million of additional investment to support our athletes and develop the governing bodies over the six-year period.
In these difficult times, the games are increasingly giving a welcome boost to the wider economy, with businesses large and small winning valuable contracts from both Glasgow 2014 and London 2012. Scottish businesses have won 133 of the 171 contracts that have been awarded through the Glasgow business portal, on which more than 16,000 Scottish companies are registered, and have won 158 London 2012 contracts. Through our work with Scottish Enterprise, we continue to support Scottish businesses to ensure that they are as competitive as possible, and we have invested a further quarter of a million pounds in BusinessClub Scotland to ensure that our businesses continue to benefit from hosting major events.
Thousands of jobs have already been maintained to construct key infrastructure projects around the games. For our young people in particular they are providing a much-needed step on to the employment ladder and are giving real social and economic hope in a challenging environment. Not only are infrastructure programmes such as Clyde Gateway and the M74 helping our economy, they are giving real jobs to real people, and I am determined that as a lasting legacy of the games we will create a more skilled workforce and give our people the tools that they need to compete in the changing workplace. Of course, the 15,000 volunteering opportunities will also help to give people valuable experience to enter the workforce.
London 2012 will dominate much of the media attention next year and our plans for making the most of the event are being developed. We are delighted to be welcoming the Olympic torch relay to every Scottish local authority area, which will provide a great opportunity to showcase our unique landscape and heritage to a worldwide audience. Olympic sport will also come to Scotland, with eight football matches taking place at the national stadium at Hampden. Of course, we have a particular interest in the Olympics as a valuable learning experience for our own journey to 2014. It will be a launch pad for us and we are determined to make the best of it.
I am delighted to stand here today, 945 days before the Commonwealth games opening ceremony, and to share with members the progress that has been made. We will deliver an outstanding games on time and on budget. Our plans for leaving a lasting legacy are well developed and are beginning to make changes in our people’s day-to-day lives.
We bid for the games because we saw their potential to inspire. We may find ourselves in very different financial circumstances now, but that vision is already becoming a reality. I am pleased to commend the motion to Parliament.
I move,
That the Parliament notes the good progress being made by the Games partners to deliver the 2014 Commonwealth Games on time and on budget; welcomes the view of the Commonwealth Games Federation’s first Evaluation Commission that Games planning is on course and that the Games partnership is a strong one; recognises the tangible benefits already realised through collaborative working between the Scottish Government and its many partners, and recognises that the current and planned activity will maximise legacy for the whole of Scotland from both the London 2012 Olympic Games and the 2014 Commonwealth Games.
14:48
I was interested to hear the minister mention in closing that there are only 945 days to go before the opening of the 2014 Commonwealth games. I had planned to open my speech with that very number but she has pre-empted me. Then again, she seems to have pre-empted me on a number of matters—which is no bad thing.
It is but a relatively short time before the Commonwealth games will open in Glasgow and, of course, a considerably shorter period until the summer, when the Olympics will open in London. Scottish Labour welcomes today’s debate and we hope that it marks the beginning—indeed, the continuation—of a positive dialogue across the chamber as we seek to play our part as parliamentarians in ensuring that the Commonwealth games are successful, a credit to Scotland and of lasting benefit to its people.
The discussion must not only cover the significant and encouraging progress that is being made in preparation for what will be the largest multisport event ever held in Scotland, but focus on the challenges that still lie ahead, and which must be met if we are to ensure the games’ success.
By success, I mean not only that of our sportsmen and sportswomen in competition, although we all want a large haul of medals in 2014. The progress of our athletes through the Commonwealth games in Manchester, Melbourne and Delhi suggests that by the time we get to 2014 our medal haul will be extremely significant. However, the games’ benefits must not be enjoyed only by the elite athletes who have the honour and pleasure of participating on behalf of Scotland, but by Scottish society at large. There needs to be advantage to our country, not only in the legacy of improved sporting infrastructure, important though that is, but in the legacy that is secured for our economy, particularly the tourism industry, and the legacy in our communities, particularly in health and in sporting and physical activity. We also need an advantage in confidence building, which is the less tangible part of the legacy that we hope for.
Significant progress has certainly been made since 2004, when it was decided that we would back a Scottish bid. I vividly recall the day—16 August 2005—when the Scottish Executive, under the then First Minister, Jack McConnell, with the support of the United Kingdom Government, all the parties at Holyrood and the other devolved Administrations, announced that Glasgow would bid to host the 2014 games, building on the reputation that the city already had as a major conference and sporting venue. That decision was a good one, but it was made only after a great deal of research and scrutiny and only when we were sure that Scotland could make a success of delivering a first-class Commonwealth games on time and on budget and, crucially, that the games would benefit our country. Too many countries have taken the opportunity to host Olympic games, Commonwealth games or other major sporting events without being able to guarantee that.
The announcement that the Glasgow bid had been successful was greeted with great enthusiasm by people around the country and we owe it to them to ensure that their expectations are met. Since the announcement of the winning bid in 2007, a great deal of work has gone into making the games a success. As the minister rightly outlined, that has involved the Commonwealth Games Council for Scotland, the organising committee, Glasgow City Council and the Scottish Government working together to get things done. As the motion points out, the recent evaluation commission report is testament to that.
As we know, many of the venues for the games already existed, which is a real advantage in cost and timing terms, but a new velodrome and indoor sports arena had to be built, while other facilities needed to be renovated or extended. It is a pleasure to see progress being made in Glasgow on the venues and athletes village. Earlier this year, I was delighted to visit the new velodrome and arena with colleagues. Although the facilities were still some way from completion at that point, it was clear that they will be truly world class and will continue to attract major sporting events to Glasgow in the years ahead. Glasgow City Council has said that it will begin to use the venues on their completion in 2012 so that by the time of the games in 2014, all the teething problems will be ironed out. They will be community facilities.
As the minister said, not all the games events will take place in Glasgow. I look forward to hearing more about the work that other local authorities are doing to maximise opportunity for their residents from the Commonwealth games. So far, I have struggled to find much written commentary on that element of the complete picture, although perhaps I have not been looking in the right channels.
It is good news that the evaluation commission has endorsed the work that the partners have done to ensure delivery of the games, but we cannot be complacent. In the previous parliamentary session, the Public Audit Committee raised important questions about conflicting information being provided by a senior Scottish Government official and the chief operating officer for the games concerning the use of contingency funds and the impact of inflation. I ask the minister to indicate whether clarification has been provided on that.
As a long-time supporter of the 2012 Olympics and London’s bid, I was delighted that the 2012 games were included in the motion and I was pleased to hear the minister’s comments about the success of Scottish businesses. Businesses in Scotland secured contracts in the very early stages of the Olympic bid; one produced the banners that were on display around the country when the bid evaluation team visited the UK, and a company in Leith was awarded the contract to produce the bid document. Scottish firms have been involved since the beginning, and it is good news that so many have been able to secure contracts.
A particular issue with ticketing and ticket distribution has arisen in recent months in relation to the Olympic games, which might provide a challenge for the Commonwealth games. Will the minister tell us in closing whether lessons have been learned from the way in which tickets for the London Olympics have been distributed? I realise that it is perhaps a little early for precise details about ticketing arrangements, but it would be good to hear reassurance that the ticketing arrangements in London have been evaluated and that any lessons from that will be learned.
I am confident that, in working with its partners, Glasgow City Council will continue the excellent work that it has begun in order to deliver the venues and infrastructure that are needed for the games. In many ways, I believe that the real challenge lies in delivering the legacy—the minister also identified that concern. Nowhere is that more evident than in respect of health.
In Scotland annually, some 2,500 people die prematurely because they are inactive. If we are to make real progress in that area, we must devote much of our effort to our young people. We have to break the cycle that afflicts too many of our adult population, who probably played football, hockey or netball vigorously at school but did not continue when they left.
I share the minister’s enthusiasm for the active schools programme, and I think that it is a key component of the drive to increase the number of our young people who are active while they are at school. By making links with clubs outwith the school, it will encourage them to consider exercise to be an important component of their lives.
The Commonwealth games lottery fund will also help to encourage an imaginative approach. I have noticed in my own constituency that there has been an increase in zumba classes at Springburn academy and basketball coaching at Miltonbank primary. Having been invited as an MSP to see many such things in schools, I was slightly anxious that the trapeze project might end up with my name on it. I hope not.
We in Scottish Labour want to work with the Scottish Government because we share its ambition for the games. We will be critical when it is appropriate, but we will also be supportive. What we ask for from the Scottish Government is openness about the achievements and the problems. I am grateful that, following our conversation this morning, the minister has agreed that regular update meetings will be held with front-bench spokespersons from the parties that are represented in the chamber. I look forward to them.
I move amendment S4M-01620.1, to leave out from “will maximise” to end and insert:
“has the potential to maximise the legacy for the whole of Scotland from both the London 2012 Olympic Games and the 2014 Commonwealth Games, and calls on the Scottish Government to report more regularly to the Parliament on the implementation of the Games legacy plan for Scotland.”
14:58
I welcome this debate, as 2011 draws to a close. It is now fewer than 950 days until the Commonwealth games come to Glasgow—members will note that I am slightly less precise about the number of days than the previous speakers were.
The games have been a long time in the making, since Glasgow was announced as the host city in 2007. We must remember that we still have another two and a half years until they become a reality, and that before then there is a lot more hard work ahead.
I believe that the games will be good news not only for Glasgow and the surrounding Strathclyde area but for Scotland as a whole. Like the London Olympics next year, they will be an occasion for everyone the length and breadth of the United Kingdom to celebrate and be involved. Glasgow 2014 will be an opportunity to promote everything that is great about the British spirit and, of course, to boost our national economy.
In that regard, I think that all of us in the chamber would agree that among the most significant and, to my mind, far-sighted aspects of the games are their Scotland-wide inclusive approach and the legacy that we hope they will leave.
Although we Conservatives are happy to support the Government’s motion, we will also support the Labour amendment, which rightly takes a slightly cautious approach to the success of the games’ legacy. Evidence from previous events suggests that it will be difficult for the Commonwealth games to deliver all the objectives in terms of providing a legacy. Although multisports events undoubtedly deliver tangible benefits to their host cities, results in the past have been limited. Although it is right to set high standards and aspirations—it is very good to hear from the minister that so far the Government’s plans are on track—it is still important that we retain a sense of realism about the difficulties that might be ahead.
The Labour amendment calls on the Government to update the Parliament and, therefore, the Scottish people on progress on the games’ legacy. That is a sensible point to make, so I was glad to hear from Patricia Ferguson that the minister has agreed to do that.
Given that the Commonwealth games will be the largest multisports event that Scotland has ever hosted, it is only right that activities will not be confined to the west coast. In my home city of Aberdeen, there is a rolling programme of events involving schools and local organisations. As far as I know, we have five community sports hub sites, and a youth legacy ambassador has been recruited for Aberdeen. Only last month, we saw the opening of the new £700,000 international artificial-grass football pitch at Banks O’Dee sports club. The new state-of-the-art sports village is running at full capacity and is involving people from all sections of the population in Aberdeen, including students—I gather that there is quite a long waiting list to get in. Of course, we are also eagerly awaiting the completion of our new Olympic-size swimming pool at Linksfield.
Further afield in Aberdeenshire, the impact of the games is demonstrated by the awarding of some 63 community grants by the Big Lottery Fund. Those grants are aimed at bringing people and communities together, breaking down barriers and supporting existing groups to take part in new competitions.
It is also interesting to note that at least 10 athletes from my region, which is North East Scotland, competed at the previous Commonwealth games in Delhi, including silver medallist trap shooter Shona Marshall and—much more local to me—gold medallist swimmer Hannah Miley, from Inverurie.
Ultimately, one of the key legacies that is intended as an off-shoot from the games is an aspiration to improve the health of our nation through greater physical activity. In that sense, I commend the Government and Glasgow City Council for launching their programme three years ago.
The focus on getting more disabled people and people over 65 years of age engaged in physical activities is significant, given that those two sections of our society are sometimes ignored when it comes to sports activities in general.
As we know, the four themes of the overall games legacy of Scotland are “active”, “connected”, “sustainable” and “flourishing”. Under the sustainable theme, I note that environmental projects that have benefited include the development of community woodlands and the Clyde walkway pilot project. The minister might be interested to know that a group called the Children’s Orchard attended the Public Petitions Committee last week. Its aim is to encourage local authorities, schools and community groups to plant fruit trees in schools and community settings so that children, their families and the wider community can learn how to grow, harvest and enjoy their local seasonal fruit at the same time as they develop their physical fitness and general knowledge. Will the minister look favourably on the Children’s Orchard petition—when it comes to her—which is asking for support from the Scottish Government as part of the Commonwealth legacy? I am sure that she would agree that that worthwhile project also meets the aims of the Government’s national food and drink policy, recipe for success.
We in the Conservatives welcome the Government’s commitment to pursuing a lasting legacy from the Commonwealth games for Scotland and the UK. We look forward to hearing more progress reports in the run-up to the games in 2014.
15:04
When I was elected as the MSP for Glasgow Shettleston earlier this year, I thought that one of the many privileges of that position was to be the MSP for many of the Commonwealth games sites, including Celtic Park, which will host the opening ceremony, the games village, the velodrome, the national indoor sports arena, Glasgow green, which will host the hockey, and Tollcross, which will host the swimming.
Winning the bid for the games was a partnership success. It was especially a partnership between the Scottish Government and Glasgow City Council, and we should pay tribute to Alex Salmond, Steven Purcell and others who worked together for that. The games’ success and legacy also depend on a partnership approach. We need the Government, the council, Glasgow Life, the private sector, the third sector and volunteers all to work together.
The legacy is about more than the physical venues, as has been mentioned. On the other hand, the physical venues are essential to it. Several of them will be in use before the games or have already been in use. All must be in use after the games. Local people and people throughout Scotland have the opportunity for employment in building the facilities and operating them afterwards. They will also have the opportunity to watch the world-class events that will happen during the two weeks of the games and the opportunity to use the facilities before and after that.
I will comment on some of the venues that are in Glasgow Shettleston. First, Celtic Park is already in place, as many members know, and does not have to be built. The big advantage of using it for the opening ceremony is that the athletes living in the athletes village will be within yards of the ceremony. In some other such big events, the athletes have not gone to the opening ceremony because of travel problems and the disruption to their preparations. That is the first big plus.
The second venue that I will mention is the athletes village itself. The buildings are just now beginning to take shape on the ground. Outside the chamber a few weeks ago, members saw models of how the site will look and parts of the buildings, much of which are being created off site and brought on site.
As the minister said, after the games, we will end up with 1,400 homes in the area, some 300 of which will be social rented housing that will be operated by three different housing associations. That is good news. On top of that, there will be private housing and a council care home for 120 residents.
Thirdly, we have the velodrome, which is perhaps one of the most dramatic and exciting buildings. I saw around it recently and it is certainly coming on well. Its future use presents a big challenge. The cross-party group on sport had Eamonn O’Rourke up from Manchester recently to tell us some of the lessons that can be learned from there, as running the velodrome there was a challenge for the city.
One of the good points about the velodrome is its location: it is beside other facilities and is not isolated, as has been the case in some other cities. Also, the velodromes in Glasgow, London and Manchester are working together so that, when one of them bids for an event in future, they will not compete with one another. That is extremely positive.
The velodrome will open in October or November next year. We are due to have the world youth track event in 2013. The national indoor sports arena, where we will have sports such as athletics and basketball, is the other half of the same building. It is important that there will also be community facilities, plus the headquarters of Scottish sporting bodies, such as Cycling Scotland.
The hockey arena at Glasgow green is another big plus, as it will be the only hockey facility in Scotland with covered seating. Scottish Hockey is extremely keen to be involved in running it in the future.
The sixth venue that I will mention is the swimming pools at Tollcross. We already have a top-class pool there, but there can be tensions between the competitive swimmers and those who just want a leisurely swim. Having two pools means that we will be able to win competitions because we will have a warm-up pool and a main pool; it also means that those two groups can operate together and not compete with each other.
As I list those venues, I find it breathtaking to think about all the different sports facilities, and there are others spread across the country. On top of that, non-sporting infrastructure is being built.
I will comment finally on the legacy, which will be a big topic in the debate. From my perspective, the main essentials are that the facilities must be available to local people at affordable rates. I spoke to Glasgow Life this week—Bridget McConnell does tremendous work there—and was told that it will treat those venues like other venues, so people who are members of the Glasgow club will get access to them without having to pay on the day.
Linked to that is that people from all over Scotland will be able to attend the games. I hope that it will be possible to have tickets that allow entry to games facilities, travel within Glasgow and entry to some cultural events.
The third aspect is volunteering. We need some 15,000 volunteers. I had not realised that volunteers travel round the world to these events. We certainly welcome those volunteers. I thank members across the parties who have supported the games in this session of Parliament and the previous one.
15:10
I welcome the opportunity to speak in a debate about the 20th Commonwealth games in Glasgow and its potential legacy.
I will focus on the legacy that this international sports event can have for children and young people in Glasgow and throughout Scotland. My colleague Kezia Dugdale will speak about the importance of the games having a legacy in terms of youth employability, which is a crucial issue, given the investment that is taking place and the chance that it offers to provide work opportunities and to help young people to gain the skills that they need to get a job.
I welcome Glasgow City Council’s Commonwealth jobs fund and its Commonwealth graduate fund, both of which will make a significant contribution to employment in Glasgow.
I will concentrate on the wider benefits that the games can provide for young people and children in Scotland. First, it is encouraging that, thanks to Glasgow City Council, the Scottish Government and their many partners, the games are financially on budget and, in planning terms, on time.
One of the most important legacies that can be achieved following the games is the improved fitness and health of our children and young people. I think that we are aware on all sides of the chamber that, if children and young people are active, it will improve their health in their early years and continue to benefit them in later life.
Members of the Scottish sports alliance raised an important point about the need to improve the basic physical literacy of our children. We must look at all the ways in which we can increase the number of children who are able to run, jump, throw, catch and swim. The importance of that is emphasised by statistics on childhood obesity. According to the Scottish health survey, in 2010 almost 30 per cent of children were overweight or obese and 32.5 per cent of children had a body mass index outwith the healthy range. I am sure that we can all agree that such statistics make worrying reading and require action. The Commonwealth games and the showcasing of sport, along with the provision of two hours of quality physical education for all schoolchildren, can and should be aimed at creating a culture of regular participation in sport and physical activity, which in turn would constitute a huge step forward in our battle with obesity.
It is important to emphasise that sport and play not only make children and young people healthier but give them the confidence to apply themselves to other tasks that they encounter in everyday life. What is also important is that such aspirations can give them the confidence to learn and can improve their concentration and educational attainment. Sport therefore has the potential to give our children healthy bodies and healthy minds.
I welcome the recruitment this year of 96 Commonwealth games youth legacy ambassadors. They have an important role to play in getting young people involved in Glasgow 2014 and in encouraging people to be more active. Who better to ensure that the games have a lasting and positive legacy for young people than young people themselves? I pay tribute to Young Scot for its work with local authorities throughout Scotland and look forward to further progress in that area.
It is important that we recognise and learn from the success of the Lanarkshire international children’s games, which took place in August. The world’s biggest youth sporting event brought a total of 1,300 competitors and coaches, along with administrators and delegates, to Scotland. Seventy-seven cities from 33 countries worldwide were represented.
Lanarkshire 2011 was the 45th time that the international children’s games have been held but the first time in their history that the games had a legacy plan, which included a focus on education and learning and on promoting the importance of health. Event organisers also made a commitment to ensuring that equipment that was purchased and facilities that were improved would become available to support local sports clubs and to creating a Lanarkshire-wide youth sports competition involving schools and sports clubs. Lanarkshire should feel the benefits of hosting the international children’s games for years to come. That is exactly what we all want to see throughout Scotland following Glasgow 2014.
When Wimbledon is on, for two weeks there is a surge in the number of young people playing tennis. When the Ryder cup is on, participation in golf increases. On the day of a football match, I remember as a child going to the local park to re-enact the match—very badly. I am sure that children still do that today. With the Commonwealth games, we have a fantastic opportunity to showcase new sports to our young people. In total, the games will play host to 17 different sports to inspire future generations.
We are fortunate that Glasgow 2014 will be held shortly after the London Olympics in 2012, which will provide a platform on which the Commonwealth games can build. London 2012 should provide a significant boost to youth participation in sport in Scotland, and I am delighted that several football matches will be played at Hampden Park. I welcome sportscotland’s distribution of 400 free tickets for Olympic events to young people in Scotland.
As part of Glasgow 2014, an estimated 1 million tickets will be sold to 250 medal events. I am sure that I am not alone in hoping that as many young people as possible get the opportunity to see up close some of the 6,500 athletes whom the games will host, and I hope that the organising committee will consider that when it sets prices. I am aware of the need for around £80 million in revenue to be raised from the selling of tickets, but I would welcome the minister considering how many free or discounted tickets will be made available to schools and clubs, which would have the added benefit of guaranteeing full stadiums.
I know that, following the games, the organising committee wants to keep admission prices to facilities as low as possible, and I hope that the Scottish Government will consider in what ways it can assist with that aim so that the games can provide not only an elite sports legacy but, as John Mason said, a legacy at community and grass-roots level for the benefit of people in Glasgow and the west of Scotland.
It has been a good debate, and I welcome the opportunity to discuss the progress and legacy of the Commonwealth games in Glasgow. As my colleague Patricia Ferguson said, I hope that we will be able to discuss the progress of the games and their potential legacy again in the coming months and years.
15:16
I congratulate Patricia Ferguson on her new post and wish her well. I am probably one of the people she referred to when she mentioned people who play hockey or netball at school and then give it up. I used to do that many years ago, but I do not think that I could do so now—although perhaps we could set up a Parliament team.
I recently had the pleasure of visiting the new Commonwealth house in Glasgow’s merchant city, which is in my constituency of Kelvin. I was extremely impressed by the dedication and professionalism of the staff there and by the building itself, which, as well as embodying the ethos of the games, with its beautiful portrayals of all the 17 sports, is a great example of how the games will help ordinary people and businesses.
It is a great testament to the organisers that they made extensive use of Royal Strathclyde Blindcraft Industries, a social enterprise that employs disabled people to make high-quality furniture. They are also to be commended for employing veterans of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq to work on the renovation of Commonwealth house. The veterans were recruited through Glasgow City Council’s helping heroes campaign, which assists former soldiers in finding work. In addition, more than 40 young apprentices were employed as part of the renovation of Commonwealth house. As the minister said, on top of the physical legacy of the games, there will be an economic regeneration and job creation legacy.
Glasgow has a long history of events that have been intended to deliver a lasting legacy to the people of Glasgow and the city itself. Many members—with the exception, perhaps, of our younger members—may remember the Glasgow’s miles better campaign back in 1983, which was the year in which the internationally acclaimed Burrell collection opened. The Glasgow’s miles better campaign was one of the best and most successful promotions ever launched, and it won a New York international film and television award no fewer than four times between 1983 and 1987.
The campaign was launched in response to a lingering negative stereotype of Glasgow as a dangerous place that tourists did not want to visit, which ordinary Glaswegians were not particularly proud of. I remember the campaign well and the amazing effect that it had on perceptions of the city. Almost overnight, there was a tangible new buzz in Glasgow, as local people began to feel proud of their city and, internationally, people began to look at Glasgow as a vibrant modern city that embraced the future rather than looking to the past.
The campaign acted as a launch pad for a lot of rejuvenation in Glasgow and a new confident outlook. The garden festival that followed built on the campaign’s success and enhanced Glasgow’s reputation internationally. That was not the festival’s only legacy. The site, which is known as Pacific Quay, now houses the Glasgow science centre, the IMAX theatre and the BBC’s headquarters. Two years after the festival, one of the city’s most transformational events took place—Glasgow was named European city of culture 1990. Those celebrations showcased the very best of what Glasgow had to offer the world. Glasgow had been transformed and the recognition that it received throughout the world was phenomenal.
The 2014 Commonwealth games are the next step on the road. Once again, Glasgow will showcase itself to the world and deliver a lasting legacy for areas of the city that have not always benefited much from previous projects. The minister said that Glasgow 2014 will bring benefits not just for sport but for the economy. I am pleased that she announced an extension of sports hubs, in particular in the school estate. Such an approach is long overdue. People have constantly said, “We have school playing fields on our doorstep that should belong to the community, but we cannot access them.” The minister’s announcement is positive.
There will also be benefits from the building and renovation of sports grounds and buildings—I talked about Commonwealth house. I commend the partners who are involved for their collaborative approach to projects, but I ask them to reflect on the improvements that can be made to the surrounding areas. The minister is looking at me, so I will give a couple of examples. Thousands of visitors will travel through Kelvingrove underground station, in the west end, because many events will take place at Kelvingrove park and in the Kelvin hall. The station is in dire need of a significant facelift. Its entrance is in a bad state of repair, but that will be the first view that visitors get of the west end.
Partick, which is also in the west end of Glasgow, was the site of the first international football match, which took place between Scotland and England. The event could be celebrated during the Commonwealth games, perhaps by erecting a plaque—or whatever commemoration the community would like.
George Square is another example. Thousands of people will pass through the square and, to my mind—and to many Glaswegian minds—a makeover for the square is well overdue. A while back, the Glasgow Evening Times ran a competition to redesign the square, and readers submitted their ideas. Perhaps the paper will run the competition again.
I applaud the joined-up approach that agencies are taking to delivering a legacy for Glasgow and Scotland, which is paramount. Perhaps the minister will take on board and report back on some of my suggestions. We have a fantastic opportunity in Glasgow and in Scotland as a whole. We can go for gold, but in Glasgow we always reach further than people say that we will. With the Commonwealth games, Glasgow can reach for the stars.
15:22
The other day I went to the Scottish national portrait gallery in Queen Street with my children. I alighted on a rather splendid painting of what I think were the first world cycling championships, which took place in 1897 at Celtic Park, which Mr Mason mentioned. A striking aspect of the gallery, which has been wonderfully refurbished, is the portraits of famous Scottish football stars, such as Kenny Dalglish and Sir Alex Ferguson. Would it not be nice if, after the Olympics, the Commonwealth games, the Ryder cup and all that will happen in sport generally during the next 10 years in Scotland and throughout the United Kingdom, a number of the people who we hope will win in those events took their places in our Scottish national portrait gallery?
Sport inspires, which is why the next decade is crucial. It inspires the current and next generations. When we read about the importance of events, their value to the economy, which the minister was correct in mentioning, and all the other aspects, we can see that it is not just one event but a series of events that creates legacy, by changing behaviour. The minister and other members were right to talk about the lack of fitness and sporting activity in this country, and it strikes me that the Commonwealth games, considered in the round with other international events, such as the Olympic games and the world athletics championships, which will come to London later in the decade, are part of what will make the message work over time.
I am sure that that is very much the Government’s thinking. If we are to work constructively for the future and ensure that there are behavioural changes, we must ensure that the Commonwealth games add to the overall encouragement to future generations to take up athletics or indeed just a healthier lifestyle than people might currently have.
Golf is my sport, so the Ryder cup will be my biggest highlight of the next decade without a shadow of a doubt. I take Neil Bibby’s point that, after people see sport, their participation can rise, but I have to confess that participation in golf at my club falls through the floor when the Ryder cup is on because everyone is watching it. However, I take his point that the next generation will participate as a result. I took up golf after watching Tom Watson win the open at Muirfield in 1980. Many young Shetlanders took up cycling or athletics after seeing Chris Hoy cycle or Allan Wells win the 100 metres in 1980, all those years ago. Sport inspires. The minister touched on that, and I am sure that she could talk for a whole 18 minutes on it. The elite athlete programme and all the work that is being done to encourage and push brilliant young men and women into potential medal-winning roles in the next couple of years will be very well rewarded in terms of what they bring back to Scotland.
The minister mentioned the Commonwealth games portal. I agree that it is an extremely useful source of information for those of us who are trying to understand what is happening. To make one small point, I hope that she will get the map on the front page right because, at the moment, Shetland is to the east of Orkney. The last time I flew home, we were a bit north of Orkney, so I would be very grateful if, tomorrow morning, the website could reflect the true geography of Scotland. I appreciate that that is a minor point to some, but it is a pretty major one if you happen to live in the islands.
I was encouraged by the statistics that the minister outlined on the number of contracts and subcontracts awarded through the games portal. Of the 171 contracts that have been awarded so far, the bulk are in Scotland, although I note that the bulk of those are, I suppose understandably, in the Clyde valley. It would be useful if, once the tender period has ended and the contracts have been awarded, the names of the successful companies could be listed. That should be a positive aspect of the games, both for those companies and for the economic argument that the minister and other members have rightly made. Will she consider that suggestion?
It would also be helpful and welcome if, on the website and in other public information areas, the Government could pick up how many jobs have been created by the games at this point and roll that forward, because it is important for the public to see the economic benefits to the country of the investment that our Government, Glasgow City Council and the other partners are making on their behalf. This is a tough time for taxpayers’ money, after all, so making the positive argument about the number of jobs and long-term training opportunities that have been created, and other such benefits, would be very helpful in dealing with the one or two sceptics we all come across who say, “Why are you spending any money on sport? You don’t spend enough on the arts, or on other areas.” Those would be strong, positive economic arguments and numbers that would help us all to deal with that.
Will the minister pick up a couple of figures that I found on the website? If I read the forecasting correctly, capital development funds are down in the current six months—I am sure that there is a good reason for that—and some of the spend on planning and preparing for the games has gone up by £16 million in the past six months. I am sure that there are good explanations for all that, but it would be very useful if the minister would touch on those issues.
Will you draw to a close, please?
Indeed, Presiding Officer. I finish by mentioning the Scottish sports alliance briefing, because I believe that its points on volunteers and coaches, in particular, are important.
You must close, please.
One of the most important aspects is encouraging coaches right across Scotland and I hope that the minister will deal with that as well.
I call Paul Wheelhouse, who has an exact six minutes.
15:29
Thank you—duly noted.
I am delighted to support the Government’s motion today and I am particularly heartened that the games are on time and on budget, as others have said. Although I do not represent Glasgow, I am delighted that the games are coming to Scotland and I sincerely believe that the games will play a key role in regenerating Glasgow, which will ultimately benefit Scotland as a whole. Tavish Scott made that important point.
With regeneration in mind, I think that it is a pity that the Glasgow games are not benefiting from the full consequentials of the Olympic games. I hope that, as a Parliament, we keep up the pressure on that front and ensure that additional funds are made available.
I am delighted that the BBC is covering the games, which will help to market Glasgow and Scotland as a whole to a wide audience of 2 billion people around the globe and benefit Scotland’s tourism sector through an estimated 4 per cent increase in tourism traffic in the three years following the games. In effect, that coverage is millions of pounds of free advertising for Glasgow and Scotland, which is to be welcomed. That should help to assuage some of the concerns to which Tavish Scott referred. I am also delighted that, to date, Scottish companies have won 82 per cent of the Glasgow 2014 contracts. I will do my own bit as an MSP representing South Scotland to ensure that businesses there bid for and, I hope, win contracts.
The games have 17 sports, but their sporting legacy has the potential to extend way beyond that number. I noted in one of the briefings that I saw that there are 13,000 sports clubs in Scotland. In the Borders alone, there is a network of over 200 sports clubs. It is crucial to recognise the role that sport has played. Indeed, in the debate in June, we heard that £1.8 billion of economic activity is generated by sport and that it supports up to 51,000 jobs in Scotland. Clearly, any growth in participation in sport and any growth in sport as a whole will make an economic contribution and not just have a sporting legacy.
I am deputy convener of the cross-party group on sports, which has discussed whether it is more important to achieve medals or to encourage participation in sport. However, the two are, of course, closely interlinked. A new generation of medal winners will inspire people to take up sport, so the two aspects are not in competition with each other. I am pleased to see that the Scottish sports alliance briefing highlights the importance of the new indicator in Scotland performs. I hope that that will help us to keep track of our performance and improve our record on participation, particularly among adults.
I was delighted to hear about the progress of community sport hubs. I ask the minister to indicate whether she sees that being reflected across the whole of Scotland and not just in particular areas. I am aware that the Borders has no community sports hubs, but I hope that some are in the pipeline. However, I am pleased to see that there is at least one in Dumfries and Galloway, at Maxwelltown high school.
It is clear that the issue of legacy has been thought through from the start, which is important. Unlike previous games, the legacy has been a key part of the Government’s activities in sport. I commend Glasgow City Council for its role in that regard.
Preventative spend is a subject that has been close to the Finance Committee’s heart for the past few months. I was particularly pleased to see the figures on increased participation: every 1 per cent increase in participation in sport yields £3.5 million of savings in reducing coronary heart disease, strokes and colon cancer alone. It is good common sense to increase investment in sport, because it benefits not only individuals but society and Parliament by making health savings. I am also pleased to see that the level of spend on sport in Scotland has increased since 2007-08 and that there will be a continual increase until 2014-15, when the games will be held. I hope that that will be a lasting legacy.
On the prevention agenda, I wonder whether there are issues with how sport is perceived by other disciplines, whether health, justice or regeneration. Perhaps sport is not regarded as having the impact that I perceive it to have. For example, people have been critical of Strathclyde Police for investing in sport, but it is obvious that sport has an important diversionary role for people who are involved in crime. The legacy from getting people involved in sport can also have benefits in reducing crime.
I am conscious of time passing, but I want to highlight that I am aware through contact with the Commonwealth games team of strands of funding from the Big Lottery Fund and other sources, with micro-grants of up to £2,000 to encourage participation. Just to encourage the minister, I say that since last week, when I met Mr Stewart, who is in the public gallery today, I have heard from a rugby club in the Borders that is interested in taking up some funding. We perhaps need to market that more to the sporting community to make it aware that the funds are available, because there is a lot of demand for support to help to develop volunteer coaches and other means of encouraging participation.
In closing, I congratulate employers such as the Weir Group, which I understand has had an important role in funding local legacy work. I hope that other employers get involved, too. With regard to the 15,000 volunteers, I very much hope that an army of volunteers from the Borders will head up to watch the sevens tournament at Scotstoun and that they will pack out the team as well as act as volunteers.
15:35
I begin my remarks by highlighting the achievement that the securing of the Commonwealth games for Glasgow and Scotland represents. As a Glasgow councillor for 17 years, I particularly want to commend Glasgow City Council for its efforts in successfully bidding to host this international event, which will showcase our great city and our great country.
I will let others speak about the sporting aspects of the games and the objective of increasing participation in sport, as I am sure that others are better qualified than me to talk about that. I want instead to touch on four other aspects of the games: the lessons to be learned from history about infrastructure, the ways in which we can promote Scotland to the Commonwealth, how we can use the games to enhance community cohesion, and how we can maximise the opportunities for small and medium-sized enterprises.
I welcome the update paper, “A Games Legacy for Scotland”, and the work that is being done to ensure a lasting legacy for Glasgow and Scotland.
We need only look back to the Commonwealth games in Edinburgh in 1986 to see how a potential legacy can be squandered. Meadowbank stadium is decaying and is destined for demolition. The train station across the road, which was opened specially for the games, lies empty and unused, and the tracks that once linked the stadium directly with Waverley station have been lifted. If there was a legacy of the Edinburgh games, it was civic debt, as they lost the city £3 million on expenditure of £14 million.
On the promotion of Scotland to the Commonwealth, I believe that the games present a great opportunity to strengthen the Scottish brand abroad, enhance the image of our country and renew friendships with other nations. I therefore welcome the partnership between VisitScotland and VisitBritain to promote Scotland during the coming Olympic year. Perhaps the minister will explain how that increased visibility can be sustained beyond the London Olympics.
On community cohesion, the Parliament will be aware that Glasgow—and Scotland more broadly—is home to many thousands of people with a connection to the Commonwealth countries. However, I have not yet heard mention of how communities can be encouraged to engage in the games and, in particular, provide support to athletes and supporters from countries with which our citizens have a link. That would help to celebrate the fact that we are one Glasgow, woven together by many diverse threads.
I feel strongly that the commercial benefits that may be gained from the games should not be solely the preserve of large, multinational corporations. The legacy update document states that Scottish businesses have won 133 of the 171 contracts that have been awarded through the Glasgow business portal. Perhaps the minister could tell us how many of those 133 contracts were won by small and medium-sized enterprises.
I fear that small businesses find the tendering process for games contracts complex and somewhat daunting. We need to redouble our efforts in that regard and ensure that as many of our smaller firms as possible can tender for contracts, and that they can compete on a level playing field with larger companies. By ensuring that smaller firms get their fair share of the contracts, we will go a long way towards ensuring that the financial benefits of the games find their way into local communities in Glasgow and other parts of Scotland, which will give a boost to our economy.
It might be possible to engage with the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities to explore the possibility of bringing together councils throughout Scotland to support our potential heroes—when they are selected—by providing free use of sporting and events facilities, and even free transport if that can assist them.
The Commonwealth games present a great opportunity to promote Glasgow and Scotland to the Commonwealth, but we seek benefits for the city’s wellbeing beyond the last race in 2014. I welcome this debate as part of the process of securing that legacy. As a Glasgow MSP, I will do my best to make the games a success, and I look forward to the future updates that my colleague Patricia Ferguson’s amendment requests, as 2014 draws closer.
15:41
I have thoroughly enjoyed this high-quality debate so far, and I echo the comments from John Mason and Patricia Ferguson about how inspirational some of the new infrastructure has been. As a Glasgow MSP, I, too, have visited some of the facilities that are coming on line, in particular the velodrome and the related indoor arena. They are part of a spectacular transformation of the east end of Glasgow with which I am proud to be associated. It is a million miles from the old perceptions of Glasgow: the “No Mean City” tag that existed previously, and the Victorian sandstone gloom across the city. Modern-day Glasgow is far from that. The partnership work between the Scottish Government—and the previous Scottish Executive under Jack McConnell—and Steven Purcell at Glasgow City Council has been quite powerful and successful. It shows exactly what we can do when all parties work together.
The Commonwealth games will take Glasgow the brand to the next level and cement the city’s position as a global player. I will touch on the previous attempts to improve Glasgow’s image, which Sandra White mentioned. Those initiatives were to be welcomed—and I still welcome them—but many of them were city-centre based, with shiny new buildings and conference facilities on Clydeside. They seemed a million miles away to many deprived communities just 1 or 2 miles down the road, which did not think that the Glasgow regeneration was for them. That is not a criticism of previous regeneration attempts, but we must acknowledge that they were city-centre based and isolated some of our most deprived communities.
The difference with the Commonwealth games is that the investment is not so much in the city centre, but directly in some of our most impoverished communities. That is very different from what has happened before. It is an infrastructure legacy that is very real and direct to many vulnerable groups, and not remote from them as previous regeneration attempts may have been.
We have the games village, the velodrome, the M74, the Clyde Gateway, the Tollcross international swimming centre—the list goes on and on. It is a meaty list of successful projects that are coming on line. Indeed, there is a financial boon too: 82 per cent of all contracts that were offered were successfully tendered for by Scottish companies. I take on board Hanzala Malik’s reasonable points about small and medium-sized companies. The meat behind the infrastructure is £523 million of investment. There is £344 million from the Scottish Government and £80 million from Glasgow City Council—which is an 80:20 split—and the rest is made up from television revenue and other sources of income. All in all, there is £1 billion of related capital investment in and around Glasgow, which will sustain an additional 1,200 jobs. That is good news in these exceptionally difficult times, and we should commend the successful partnership work between the Parliament and our partners in Glasgow.
Around 6,500 athletes will be coming to the city from 71 countries, and there will be many more thousands of visitors. I hope that, instead of making a one-off visit to Glasgow and the rest of Scotland, they will be repeat visitors because of the positive experience that they have had, and that they will take that good news and their good experience of Glasgow back overseas.
Hanzala Malik talked about communities other than the indigenous white communities benefiting from the games. I am working closely with the African and Caribbean Network in Glasgow, at the African and Caribbean centre in the merchant city, which is already looking to build links with the Namibian and Zambian training camps that will be based in Glasgow for the 2012 Olympics. It wants to forge close links with the people from that part of the world who will be coming to Glasgow, including members of athletes’ families, to give them a positive cultural experience right across Glasgow and Scotland. That is happening now, and I would be happy to chat to Hanzala Malik about how he could work in partnership with me to promote that work further. That is a really good success story.
Lots of good things are happening. I commend Glasgow City Council’s Commonwealth graduate fund and its Commonwealth jobs fund, just as I commend the additional 1,000 apprentices that were announced for the Glasgow Commonwealth games back in 2009, with another £2 million of investment from the Scottish Government. That is all just the public pound. When Glasgow and the Scottish Government do something good, it is the same public pound that funds it. It is called partnership funding. It is not about who has leveraged in the most cash; it is about working together as a team. I want to think about how we can take that further forward and build on the legacy.
We have heard about the 15,000 volunteers. I have made this point to David Grevemberg and he has taken it completely on board. Let us make sure that those volunteers are not the same people who volunteer at every volunteering opportunity for the sake of their curriculum vitae. How can we reach into the deprived communities and ethnic communities and get those who are not the usual volunteers to volunteer? That would be something.
In the little time that I have left, I will mention the cashback for communities scheme. Who knows how much money will be available under that scheme in the future? By definition, that will be based on how much money is confiscated from criminals. I ask that the fund be monitored, reassessed and re-evaluated, with some of the money put into our most deprived communities to support youth workers and youth coaches to ensure that people in deprived communities do not just watch the Commonwealth games on television but are inspired by local coaches, youth leaders and facilities. We must have joined-up thinking so that the legacy is not just the buildings, the repeat visitors to Glasgow and the jobs that are created. We must reach into the heart of our deprived communities and ensure that there is a real Scottish legacy.
I commend the debate as one of the finest that I have been involved in at the Scottish Parliament during the current session.
15:47
I thank Sandra White for invoking memories of the Glasgow garden festival. Neil Bibby and I were chatting and he told me that, at the time, he was too wee to go on the Coca-Cola rollercoaster. I was just too scared.
I thank the minister for the work that she is doing on the Commonwealth games. I welcome her announcement in the press this morning that Carnoustie, in the region that I represent, is also to benefit from the games, with the shooting events being hosted at Barry Buddon. I also welcome her announcement that an athletes village will be built in Dundee to accommodate the competitors. It is welcome news that Dundee will benefit directly from the Commonwealth games, and I thank her for that.
The minister will be aware—because her council colleagues have signed up to it and pledged to back it—that I have been running a campaign, which now has the support of more than 2,000 Dundonians, to bring the Government’s promised £50 million national football academy to Dundee. A new athletes village facility in Dundee will be a major boost to the city council’s bid for the national football academy. I therefore welcome the minister’s announcement this morning and thank her for it.
I turn to a darker side of the debate, which it is my responsibility to address in my new role in Labour’s justice team. It is something that I know that the Government will want to do early work to prevent—I refer to the risk that people will be trafficked to Scotland for the sex trade for the Commonwealth games. In an answer to a parliamentary question on 14 March, Kenny MacAskill reported to Parliament that, so far, no trafficking issues had been identified surrounding the Commonwealth games. However, Baroness Helena Kennedy states in her report on trafficking in Scotland, which was published just last month, that Scotland’s police service acknowledges that it lacks intelligence on human trafficking.
Baroness Kennedy argues that intelligence on human trafficking in Scotland is insufficient to uncover the true nature and extent of the problem. That means that the Scottish police admit that they are often unable to identify in houses that they raid women and children who have been trafficked for sex or domestic servitude. I therefore believe that, when the Cabinet Secretary for Justice gave his answer to Parliament in March, he was probably unaware of the risks that are out there.
In her report—which I recommend that all members read—Baroness Kennedy recommends that all first responders and relevant front-line professionals, who include paramedics and police officers, should undergo anti-trafficking training before the Commonwealth games. Such training has been provided—the minister gave an answer about that in the chamber earlier this year—to contractors that are involved in constructing the national sports arena. Will the minister work with the Cabinet Secretary for Justice and the Cabinet Secretary for Health, Wellbeing and Cities Strategy to commit to providing that training to all police officers, paramedics and perhaps other relevant staff whom she identifies who are working in greater Glasgow, given that construction has started and the issues are—unfortunately—all too alive?
Baroness Kennedy recommends resourcing a dedicated multi-agency law enforcement group to work together in greater co-operation with victims’ groups to ensure prompt investigation and prosecution of human trafficking in Scotland. Another step is to ensure that police services and victims’ groups are fully resourced to overcome the lack of intelligence that has led to only one conviction for human trafficking ever having taken place in Scotland, compared with more than 150 such convictions in England.
Another of Baroness Kennedy’s recommendations is to raise awareness of human trafficking in Scotland among the public as well as in public services. No such initiative currently exists. As I explained, professionals who might come into contact with human trafficking are unlikely to recognise it. Against the backdrop of the 2014 games, an awareness-raising campaign could help the police and the public to identify victims of human trafficking more quickly and more successfully.
I recognise the work of the former MSP Trish Godman and of Glasgow City Council on the issue. I ask the minister to address when she sums up my request for anti-trafficking training for front-line staff, in the light of Baroness Kennedy’s findings. I pledge Labour members’ support for doing everything that we can to assist the Government in preventing human trafficking for the Commonwealth games.
15:53
I am sure that fellow members are aware that no women are in the top 10 nominations for this year’s sports personality of the year award, and perhaps members are aware that the award’s 27-strong nominations panel of newspaper sports editors and Zoo and Nuts magazine staff was entirely male. It is not as if there was no female success this year—Kath Grainger, who is the single most successful female rower in British history, won her sixth world championship gold in the double sculls together with Anna Watkins. I am reassured by the public criticism of that award’s glaring oversight and I believe that the Commonwealth games can address the woeful lack of recognition of women’s significant achievements in sport.
As John Mason and others have noted, the built legacy of the games is extremely important. The new facilities such as the community sports hubs in local authority areas are extremely welcome. Grass-roots access to the more elite facilities is also essential to make those facilities work after the games have gone.
However, a culture change of gender equality in sport could be the most valuable legacy of all. We must take the opportunity to inspire more women—young and old—into sport. Women and girls play much less sport than men and boys—12 per cent of women play sport regularly, compared with 20 per cent of men. There are many reasons for that. Women’s sports coverage makes up just 2 to 5 per cent of all sports media coverage.
Women appear all too infrequently in the sports pages. It is important to address that by increasing positive images of women participating in sport, and raising awareness of what is going on in women’s sport at all levels, week in and week out. However, few sports journalists in Britain are women. A report for the Commission on the Future of Women’s Sport shows that only 0.5 per cent of all sponsorship in the UK goes to women’s sport. We must therefore use the games as an opportunity to give equal coverage to male and female sports. We need active programmes to target women, as well as to change the media portrayal of female success. More female sports in the media and gender equality in sports participation, with the health and wellbeing benefits that come along with that, will be a legacy worth delivering. I ask the minister to ensure that the Commonwealth games legacy enhances the role of women in sports in Scotland.
It is essential to work directly with Government bodies to ensure that we have a meaningful legacy of participation. Financial and practical support for coaching programmes across the sporting disciplines to ensure that opportunities are made available to those who are inspired by our games are also crucial. The minister will be aware that, in the Lothians, there have been campaigns to ensure the retention of Edinburgh’s neglected track stadium and velodrome—the much-loved grass-roots home of track cycling—and although less elite, no less important, Leith waterworld. We must also ensure that any new buildings are maintained to a decent standard.
As Jenny Marra highlighted, modern games are not just about sport, unfortunately. Members will no doubt be aware of the controversy surrounding the London Olympic committee’s decision to appoint Dow Chemical as sponsor of the Olympic stadium wrap. As many members know, Dow Chemical is the legal owner of Union Carbide, the company that is responsible for one of the world’s worst industrial disasters—the Bhopal gas disaster in 1984. It is hard to think of a less appropriate sponsor for a life-affirming, health-promoting, global sports event. That is why the community that is still living in Bhopal and the Indian Olympic Association—
I think that we need to deal with matters that are relevant to the motion on the legacy and planning of the games.
Many people in Scotland are in solidarity with the Indian Olympic Association and it is important that the global Olympic association looks at those issues. We have an opportunity to do things differently in Scotland. I am sure that the minister will agree that ethical considerations should be part of the sponsor selection process. I would be grateful if, in closing, the minister would confirm that she agrees that Dow is a wholly unsuitable company to sponsor sporting events of this type.
A modern, global games provides challenges and opportunities. I warmly welcome the practical progress that has been made to date and the positive visions that are being shared by members across the chamber of a fitter and more sporting Scotland throughout ages and genders.
15:58
As we have heard, the Commonwealth games will be Scotland’s games and not just Glasgow’s games. As the MSP for Angus South, I am delighted that one of the 2014 disciplines is being staged in the constituency that I am privileged to represent. Of course, this will not be the first time that Barry Buddon has been involved with a Commonwealth games. Back in 1986, when the games was last hosted by Scotland, the Ministry of Defence property on the outskirts of Carnoustie staged the full-bore target rifle event, with the remainder of the competition taking place at Musselburgh.
In 2014 though—and no pun intended—we in Angus get the full shooting match. I am sure that we will seize the opportunity to demonstrate once again our ability to host a major sporting event, as we have done so successfully with golf on the nearby links, as well as to showcase everything that Angus has to offer as a tourism destination.
The games shooting coming to Barry Buddon will provide a significant and welcome economic boost to Angus and Dundee. Like Jenny Marra, I welcome Dundee being the site for a satellite village to accommodate competitors, support staff and officials. Commonsense and practicality require those who are taking part to be billeted somewhat closer to the venue than the athletes village in Glasgow, and realistically, with 40-plus countries expected to be represented and more than 600 people requiring beds, Angus is not an option.
That being the case, I am pleased that Dundee was the choice. It is the logical option and locating there further highlights the growing, mutually beneficial bond between Angus and its neighbouring city. Just as my constituency will enjoy the wide-ranging and considerable benefits of Dundee attracting the Victoria and Albert museum, the jobs boost from Michelin and the massive economic fillip from the promise to develop Dundee port as a renewables hub, it is good to see the city sharing the benefits of our games involvement.
Even without competitors and officials being based in Angus, we will, if the shooting in previous games is anything to go by, be in for a significant economic boost courtesy of the influx of spectators. I understand from past evidence that we should be gearing up for in excess of 3,300 visitors daily over the five or six days of the event, and I have written to the chief executive of Angus Council to encourage the authority to seize the economic opportunity that that presents.
I hope that local companies will enjoy some success in bidding for the £4 million-worth of construction and other related contracts at Barry Buddon, thereby safeguarding and enhancing employment in our area. I can also tell the minister that, from discussions I have had with its management, Angus College is keen to explore possible temporary job opportunities for its students.
Having the games in Angus affords an opportunity to promote our area as the fantastic tourism location that it is. That is why, as the local MSP, I have been in touch with both Historic Scotland and the National Trust for Scotland to encourage them to join the council in engaging with games organisers and ensuring that visitors are made aware of the appeal of nearby tourist attractions such as Arbroath abbey and Barrie’s birthplace and are encouraged to stay on and sample everything that Angus has to offer. John Mason and Bob Doris are right: delivering a successful games and fully exploiting their potential will depend on partnership.
However, this debate is about a lasting legacy from 2014 and I am mindful of concerns within Scotland’s shooting community about the spin-off for the sport. Back in 1986, temporary ranges were used for small-bore rifle and pistol shooting. The only permanent facility remaining from those games is at Barry Buddon. I understand that, 28 years on, that full-bore set-up will again be utilised, although I presume that it will receive a revamp beforehand. The remainder of the infrastructure that will be put in place for 2014 will be temporary in nature, which, of course, is a similar scenario to that which is planned for the 2012 Olympics.
I understand that suggestions have been made to hire or purchase buildings and equipment that are in service for the London games for redeployment here two years later. In economic terms, that would make sense. However, the Scottish Target Shooting Federation is concerned that we might miss an opportunity if we do not establish a permanent home for this infrastructure. No new target shooting facilities have been built in Scotland since 1986, and the STS would like us to hang on to the infrastructure and persuade the MOD to have it located in some small part of the massive Barry Buddon complex, with Scotland’s shooters having an access arrangement for competitions, training and whatever else. Again, as the local MSP, I would welcome such a move as it would provide a lasting legacy in Angus. However, given that the Scottish Government might have difficulty in persuading the MOD to play ball, can the minister advise the chamber what consideration is being given to ensuring a lasting shooting legacy in the country, wherever such a facility might be? After all, Scotland has a proud shooting tradition, especially at the Commonwealth games.
Unfortunately, shooting did not feature when the event was staged in Edinburgh back in 1970. Although the sport debuted in 1966, it took until 1974 for it to become a fixture on the programme. Having drawn a blank in 1966, which—let’s face it—was not a good sporting year for Scotland, we won a silver and bronze in Christchurch before the legendary Alister Allan won gold in Edmonton in 1978 and began a remarkable run that saw him win two golds and a bronze in Brisbane, two silvers and a bronze in Edinburgh in 1986 and then, remarkably, a further silver and bronze in Victoria in 1994, making him the second most successful ever Scottish Commonwealth games athlete behind Alan Wells. In Delhi in 2010, we had an all-time record haul of nine shooting medals, including four golds, and we witnessed some remarkable efforts from Jen McIntosh, who won two golds and a bronze, and Jonathan Hammond, whose two golds, a silver and a bronze made him the most successful ever Scot at a single games.
I hope that, on home soil, there will be further success to come, although I understand that there might be fewer pairs competitions included on the Barry Buddon programme. That will make getting close to the Delhi target rather challenging. I hope, however, that Angus will host domestic success and witness the raising of the saltire at the medal ceremonies.
Hosting the 2014 Commonwealth games is an immensely exciting prospect for Scotland and Angus looks forward to playing its part in making them a triumph.
16:04
It is a pleasure to take part in this positive debate. It is clear that we all agree that the Commonwealth games represent an exciting opportunity. A great deal of very hard work and professional commitment contributed to Glasgow’s successful bid; indeed, I remember being in the Old Fruitmarket for the victory announcement. The excitement was palpable—I think that I might even have kissed Nicola Sturgeon.
The whole venture is surrounded by high hopes and good will. Glasgow wants it to be a success; we want it to be a success; and Scotland wants it to be a success. Of course, as members have indicated, we want Scotland to benefit from the Olympic games as well. However, if we are to translate the good intentions and aspirations into reality, there must be robust, objective and, if necessary, critical assessment of progress. The 2009 report “On your marks ... Get set ... Go: A games legacy for Scotland” laid out a positive set of objectives for the Commonwealth games. I will concentrate on two of the areas that were covered: young people and the economy.
I might look an improbable candidate to take part in a debate about sport in general and the Commonwealth games in particular, but I have had my moments—at least, I vaguely recall that I have had my moments. When I was active in sport, two things were important: a structure by which I could engage in sport and role models to encourage me. I am delighted by the desire to ensure that, by 2022, 80 per cent of children meet the recommended level of physical activity that is set out in the national activity strategy. That is great, but how will it actually happen?
When I was at Greenock academy, which was a state secondary school, we had something called games every week and interschool matches every Saturday. There was hockey for the girls and—yes, Mr Wheelhouse—rugby for the boys. In the summer term, we had tennis, athletics and cricket. That led me from the age of 12 into a life in which sport was a regular component. Competing was fun and winning was a bonus, although a somewhat infrequent one. That activity continued at university and beyond and it certainly had benefits for me way beyond the actual sport. Neil Bibby referred to that aspect.
The role models were not just Wimbledon tennis champions and ace athletes; they were the dedicated and passionate physical education teachers who turned out in all weathers to instruct, train and inspire. Only in adulthood did I really appreciate how much I owed them. They were supported by other teaching colleagues whose commitment to their pupils extended to assisting with umpiring, refereeing and bus duties for away games.
Can we really say that such or even similar opportunities exist for youngsters at secondary school today? They might do in the private sector, and those pupils and schools are very lucky, but what about the state sector, particularly when recreational areas and open spaces are disappearing at an alarming rate? Those reservations about what exactly is available to school pupils are shared by the Scottish sports alliance. The Scottish health, household and recreation surveys have indicated that there has been no significant impact on the average level of physical activity among Scots.
A British Medical Journal report in 2010 showed a mixed picture on the legacy of large sporting events. My friend Nanette Milne urged caution in how we view the legacy. If we want to deliver a worthy legacy for our young people, the Scottish Government must commission an audit now of how, where, when and by whom that legacy will be delivered. It is not just about a fitter future for our young people, although that is important, but about identifying Scottish sporting talent for the future, which is too precious an issue to leave to speculation and good intention. I hope that the Scottish Government will respond positively to that suggestion. The Government should also be prepared to report on progress to the Parliament. Patricia Ferguson’s sensible amendment makes that point, and we will support it.
Economic benefits have featured as an identifiable legacy. As many members have said, not least John Mason, benefits are already visible for Glasgow, which is hugely important. We can anticipate direct spend in the Glasgow and Scottish economies from spectators and visitors but, again, anticipation and expectation are not enough and there are health warnings hovering around. The British Medical Journal report confirmed that an increase in tourist numbers cannot be taken as a given. During the games in Lillehammer, Seoul, Barcelona and Atlanta, tourist numbers increased, but that did not happen during the games in Manchester and Calgary, and Sydney showed mixed results.
If we want to translate economic potential into reality, we need robust activity to measure what is happening on the ground. I ask the Scottish Government to liaise regularly with Glasgow City Council, the Glasgow Chamber of Commerce, the Scottish Chambers of Commerce and the Confederation of British Industry Scotland to get accurate feedback from businesses on whether progress is actually being made or is just fondly imagined. Again, I expect the Scottish Government to report back to the Parliament on what those organisations find.
The debate has been informed, interesting and constructive, as Bob Doris said. I hope that the Scottish Government will respond in a similar vein. I support the motion and the amendment.
16:10
Like Sandra White, I come to the debate with a great deal of enthusiasm and a giant head cold, so I hope that members will please excuse the sniffles as we go along.
I welcome the opportunity to close the debate as Labour’s new shadow youth employment spokesperson, because we are talking about legacy. We are talking about the legacy of the games to sport, to skills, to the health of our nation, to the regeneration of Glasgow and beyond, and to our economy. Ultimately, legacy is about how we better ourselves and our nation for the next generations that follow us, and for me that is what politics is all about.
We have heard some great speeches covering various aspects of what legacy means. On health, I felt that Neil Bibby made some excellent points about physical literacy and the fact that sport brings confidence to young people and allows them to access new disciplines that they may never have seen or experienced before. That is incredibly valuable in its own right.
John Mason, Sandra White and Bob Doris all talked eloquently about the facilities that they will see in their constituencies in Glasgow and the legacy that they will bring to the communities that they represent. Hanzala Malik talked about the important role that the legacy can bring in community cohesion and the integration of communities across Glasgow.
I thought that Tavish Scott spoke very well about the contribution of the games to the economy. In particular, he made a point about the legacy of the games in tough economic times and the fact that we need to keep faith and encourage people to keep faith in the economic benefits when they might see other ways of spending public money as better. There is a great job to be done, and I welcome Tavish Scott’s comment about publishing the lists of Scottish companies that have benefited from the games to promote that agenda more widely. He made a very salient point.
I will spend the time that I have left talking about skills and sport together. Neil Bibby talked about two Glasgow City Council initiatives—the Commonwealth jobs fund and the Commonwealth graduate fund—that seek to bring them together. The Commonwealth jobs fund aims to create 1,000 jobs that are targeted to 18 to 24-year-olds who have been without employment for six months or more. Personally, I was impressed to see that priority is being given to living wage employers, which is important in progressing the case for the living wage.
The Commonwealth graduate fund is worth £10 million over four years and seeks to create 1,000 graduate jobs. That is important considering youth unemployment, particularly when there is so much displacement within the jobs market and underemployment in the market itself. Similar to the jobs fund, the graduate fund is focused on graduates who have been without employment for six months or more.
There is also a role for the future jobs fund. I am aware that the Scottish Sports Association has taken on 67 young people through that scheme, which to the association is the equivalent of £435,000-worth of investment. That is money used to create new roles in sports administration, coaching, information technology and sports development.
Coaching in itself is particularly interesting. I notice that hockey bodies have picked up the opportunities more than other sports have done, because they recognise that they provide the ability not just to coach people in hockey skills and allow them to take those coaching skills into the classroom, but to increase the capacity of the active schools programmes. More coaches are created, and they can then go into schools and deliver the sport. We need to recognise the value of that and encourage more of the same by ensuring that, when we need new coaches, we give them the business skills that they need to be the self-employers that they so often are. We need to remove any barriers to that development.
I recognise that the community jobs fund does much of the same work, but I am conscious that the future of that particular pot of money is unknown beyond March. I am sure that the Scottish Government would not be daft enough to get rid of the fund, so perhaps it could look at enhancing it by developing a specific sports strand that could form part of a wider legacy of the games.
I want to talk about volunteering, which John Mason touched on. I read with great interest the Manchester legacy paper, which talked about volunteering opportunities for more than 10,000 people in Manchester and greater Manchester. What was interesting about that was that 24 per cent of those people were volunteering for the first time; 47 per cent said that they had learnt new skills; and 20 per cent reported improved employment chances following that experience, which I thought was very important.
There were a mixture of volunteering opportunities around transport, event organisation, security, technology and indeed supporting the ceremonies themselves. There is a mix of volunteering opportunities with which to engage. I was interested to see that, of the 10,000 volunteers in Manchester, 2,250 came out with a level 1 qualification—they were accredited for the volunteering work that they had done. Does the Scottish Government have plans to ensure that people who volunteer in the Glasgow games get the same accreditation for the experience that they are about to put themselves through?
I recognise that the personal best scheme is mentioned on the Commonwealth games website. Although it is a very welcome scheme, which seeks to work with those who are perhaps furthest removed from the jobs market, it is very small scale, in that only 127 opportunities have been taken up so far. How many opportunities would the minister like to see being taken up by the time that the games come round in 2014? Perhaps the Government will match the ambition—and indeed the delivery—of Manchester in that regard, as it brought more than 2,000 accredited positions.
The Alliance of Sector Skills Councils Scotland report on delivering the skills for the games recommended that perhaps 10 per cent of the opportunities that the games create could be ring fenced—for want of a better term—for those who are disadvantaged in the labour market. Perhaps there is a role there to ensure that it is not just the same faces and the same people who benefit from the games.
The report made important points about the use of community benefit clauses, which I encourage the minister to look at more closely, not just with regard to the games but in a wider sense across Scotland in the procurement processes that we go through. It also made recommendations around the use of student placements and the secondment of employees across the different partnership organisations involved with the games to ensure that we feel the benefit of the games across a number of aspects of civic society and across public bodies.
I read a little bit of the organising committee’s report on progress on the games so far, which paid particular tribute to the Government and the various other agencies involved with regard to the strength of partnership that has been delivered. It is in that spirit that Labour comes to the chamber to say, “Please work with us. Together we can deliver the strong, productive and valuable games that Scotland so needs and deserves.”
16:17
Like others, I think that we have heard some good speeches and some good suggestions in what was a consensual debate. I will try to respond to as many of those suggestions as possible, but if I do not, I assure members that they have been noted.
Patricia Ferguson asked a number of questions. I agree with her that the creation of a lasting legacy is a challenge, but is absolutely critical to our success. I agree absolutely with what she said about the involvement of other local authorities. The games legacy for Scotland portal outlines some of the work that is being done.
Patricia Ferguson mentioned the work of the previous Public Audit Committee. She will be aware that the games budget now includes an inflation forecast, following a request from that committee in early 2010. I assure her that there is a significant contingency budget within the games budget.
The ticketing strategy is still under development, but we will certainly look at the Olympic experience and the strengths and weaknesses of the Olympics ticketing strategy.
I was very pleased to hear that Patricia Ferguson is taking up zumba, which fits in very well with the let’s get Scotland dancing programme, which Fiona Hyslop looks after.
Nanette Milne referred to the petition from the Children’s Orchard, which I will look at, along with other ministers.
John Mason made some very important points. One that I want to highlight was his comment about the community facilities within the NISA and velodrome complex. Local communities have had a fair amount of upheaval in relation to the development of the sites, so it is right and proper that they see a direct benefit in terms of the community facilities that they gain.
Neil Bibby talked about some of the apprenticeship programmes that Glasgow City Council is running, which are also important. Through Skills Development Scotland, we support those to the tune—I think—of £1.43 million. That partnership work is important. Someone made the point that it does not matter whose public pound it is, because it is all the public pound at the end of the day. What matters is what that money delivers.
Neil Bibby also made the point that the legacy from the international children’s games is important. I experienced that highly successful event for myself.
The organising committee will, of course, consider free and discounted tickets as part of the ticketing strategy but, as I said, that strategy is at an early stage of development.
Sandra White was right to comment on the involvement of Blindcraft and veterans in the refurbishment of Commonwealth house. I attended the Commonwealth house opening ceremony. The standard of work in the fixtures and fittings is fantastic, so they have done a wonderful job.
Sandra White asked me a couple of specific questions about improvements at Kelvingrove underground station. I will get back to her about that, because I will have to take it up with Glasgow City Council and ask it about any plans that it has.
Tavish Scott asked a couple of questions, including one about capturing some of the sporting moments in art form. Fiona Hyslop is, handily, in the chamber, so I am sure that she heard that. Those moments need to be captured so that future generations can get a feel for them.
Tavish Scott also mentioned that he is a golfer. I do not wish to detract from the Commonwealth games debate, but he will be aware that one of the important legacies of the Ryder cup is the club golf programme. It is one of the most fantastic successes, with a 20 per cent conversion rate for clubs.
I assure Tavish Scott that the map to which he referred will be fixed. He also asked questions about jobs. I assure him that, as part of the meta-evaluation that I mentioned in my opening speech, an economic evaluation will consider the detail of some of the questions that he asked. I hope that that will fulfil his desires in that regard.
Paul Wheelhouse talked about community sports hubs. I reassure him that I want the whole of Scotland to benefit. However, councils need to be proactive in leading the bids from their areas and it is fair to say that some have been more proactive than others. I encourage all councils to examine closely the potential for community sports hubs in their areas.
I reassure Mr Malik that the approach that we are taking to 2014 is very different from that taken to the legacy from the Edinburgh games. Many lessons have been learned since then.
On increased visibility beyond 2012, Mr Malik makes the important point that we want continuity of interest. If we keep that interest going all the way through to 2014, it will provide an important platform.
Community cohesion is also important. We will examine opportunities to enhance not only our links with Commonwealth countries, but community cohesion in Scotland through the Commonwealth themes. I am happy to write to Mr Malik with a bit more detail about that.
Mr Malik made an important point about support for small and medium-sized enterprises. Many of the contracts have been won by SMEs but, without a doubt, some will need to be supported to get the best out of bidding for contracts. We will do that through our enterprise agencies.
Bob Doris talked about the work that is going on. He mentioned not only the city centre investment, which has been important for Glasgow, but the fact that Commonwealth games investment is being made in some of the most deprived communities in the city. It will make a real difference not only to the physical landscape but to social regeneration in those areas. That is crucial.
Jenny Marra talked about trafficking. She can be assured that Kenny MacAskill, the Cabinet Secretary for Justice, has said that he will discuss with Helena Kennedy how to make progress on matters that are raised in her report. I am happy to write to Ms Marra with more information on that or to ensure that the cabinet secretary does so.
Alison Johnstone raised several issues about the role of women in sport. We certainly want to ensure that the profile of women in sport is heightened and we will look at ways of doing that. She also raised the issue of ethical considerations in the sponsorship realm. The games organisers are alert to the potential damage that an inappropriate sponsor could cause to the image of the games or to the attractiveness of the brand to other potential sponsors. They are well aware of the issue.
I say briefly to Graeme Dey that I am aware of the shooting governing body’s desire for a lasting legacy. We are looking at how we can secure a lasting legacy around a competition training facility and I will write to him with more detail on that.
Will the minister give way?
Do I have time, Presiding Officer?
Yes.
I ask the minister to address my specific request for anti-trafficking training for paramedics and police.
I will pick up that issue with the Cabinet Secretary for Justice and look at whether there are any plans for such training. We will get back to the member on the detail.
As I have an extra minute, I can respond to further points, which I am keen to do. Annabel Goldie raised some important matters. I reassure her that sport and physical activity in state sector schools are being given a priority that they have never had in the past. I acknowledge that there are challenges and I assure her that I have made it one of my personal priorities to nail down the issue of PE in the curriculum. More will be said about that in the new year.
Let us not underestimate the impact of the active schools network. Five million sessions have been held across 70 different sports and physical activities—there was nothing like that when I was at school. Children are now exposed to different sports and physical activities in a way that has not happened before. There is more to do, but we are doing the right things. We are opening up the school estate through the community sports hubs, but we need to do more of that and ensure that it happens in every school.
Kezia Dugdale made a very good speech in which she covered some important issues. We want to ensure that the next generation is one of the key beneficiaries of the Commonwealth games legacy. Some good work is taking place around employment initiatives—she mentioned a number of those. The personal best scheme pilot in Glasgow has been evaluated and we are looking at how we can take it forward, not only in Glasgow but throughout Scotland, in a way that has the biggest impact. I am happy to keep her updated on how we are doing that. It is important to highlight having community benefit clauses in contracts.
I have gone through as many of the points that have been raised as possible. I am sure that if I have missed any, members will write to me about them. I thank members for their positive contributions to the debate.