Under our next agenda item, we will take evidence on children’s and young people’s participation in sport and physical activity. I welcome Jillian Gibson, policy manager for sport and physical activity at the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities; Gregor Muir, policy and communications officer at the Scottish Sports Association; and Ailsa Wyllie, lead manager for sports development at sportscotland.

We will move straight to questions.

Good morning, and welcome to the 20th meeting in 2025 of the Health, Social Care and Sport Committee. I have received apologies from Emma Harper and David Torrance.

Under our first agenda item, does the committee agree to take items 3 to 5 in private?

Members indicated agreement.

I will bring Brian Whittle in for a very brief question and a very brief answer, because we have already run quite a bit over time.

Modernisation and increased efficiency must be at the heart of our efforts to reform public services, and we must take advantage of the advances in digital technology and artificial intelligence in order to do that. Can the minister outline what steps the Scottish Government is taking to harness the potential of technology to future proof our services?

I welcome the publication of the Government’s first annual statement on gender policy coherence, which was a recommendation from the First Minister’s National Advisory Council on Women and Girls. I commend the members of the council and the members of the empowering women panel for sharing their expertise and vision to get us to this point.

Some of the most difficult challenges that have impacted us all in recent years, from the cost of living crisis to the pandemic, have had a disproportionate impact on certain groups in our communities, including women.

Women’s poverty and child poverty are intrinsically linked, and women are more likely to use and work for public services, so getting our policies right for women—and for the most disadvantaged women—means better outcomes for everyone.

The SNP has a proud record of fighting for gender equality while in government, from action on equal pay and support for women returning to the workplace to action on period poverty and the introduction of “Equally Safe”, which is the strategy to combat all forms of violence against women and girls. Policies such as the universal provision of 1,140 hours of high-quality early learning and childcare are critical to supporting women into work, supporting them to stay in work and keeping families out of poverty.

I particularly welcome the Scottish Government’s commitment to intersectional gender budgeting to help us to improve our thinking about how spending and revenue raising impact men and women differently and whether we can use our budget processes to reduce gender inequality.

Recently, I was shocked when South Lanarkshire Council, in whose area my Rutherglen constituency is located, published an impact assessment on proposed changes to school transport that did not consider the different impacts that they would have on women. When families began to share their stories and their concerns, it became abundantly clear that women will be disproportionately adversely affected by the cuts that will—unfortunately—come into force in August. For example, many women in my constituency have told me of their concerns about how changes to transport arrangements for their children will affect their ability to work or to fit their work around their caring responsibilities. That will, of course, have potentially far-reaching consequences for everyone in their families.

The local councillors who noticed the omission of gender from the impact assessment and pressed officers for it to be included should be commended, but it should not have happened. That underlines the necessity and urgency of placing equality at the centre of our policies and decision making and ensuring that it is taken into account in all actions in all spheres of government.

Gender equality is an unwon case both in Scotland and around the world. That statement does not minimise the positive changes or the progress that we have made as a Parliament and as a society, but it is a reminder that we must not be complacent. It is really important to acknowledge the First Minister’s comments in the introduction to the annual statement:

“this feels like a very precarious time for equality ... It can feel like the political headwinds are trying to undermine the hard-won progress that has been made.”

We must keep up the momentum.

In that context, I am pleased that the Scottish Government recognises that there is more work to be done to improve the collection, analysis and use of evidence on gender equality, and that it is committed to doing that and developing an equality strategy for women and girls. The strategy will be shaped by the voices of women and girls in a tangible way and it will provide a vehicle to accelerate the pace of progress and enable greater accountability.

Women in Scotland have faced inequality for generations, and it can feel as if change in the societal, cultural and institutional structures that maintain that inequality is slow. However, the work that is highlighted in the statement will move us closer to the change that we all want, and I welcome its publication.

Sorry, Mr Madlani, but we have run over time.

Can we switch on my microphone, please? [Interruption.] It does not appear to be working. I briefly suspend the meeting.

The next item is evidence on the topic of welfare and sustainability in Scottish youth football. Our evidence session takes place in the context of the separate complaints that the Children and Young People’s Commissioner Scotland and the campaign group Realgrassroots made last year to the Competition and Markets Authority concerning the human rights implications of the Scottish Football Association and Scottish Professional Football League rules that govern young players in Scotland.

I welcome Nick Hobbs, head of advice and investigations for the Children and Young People’s Commissioner Scotland; Mahesh Madlani, associate at gunnercooke; Alexander Waksman, partner at gunnercooke; and Scott Robertson, co-founder of Realgrassroots.

Yesterday, gunnercooke LLP provided the committee with a checklist that sets out the SFA and SPFL rules that are at issue in the complaints that the Children and Young People’s Commissioner Scotland and Realgrassroots made to the Competition and Markets Authority. The list has been published on the committee’s web pages.

I understand that Scott Robertson would like to make a brief opening statement.

I am hearing that there is a different structure for some of the issues and some of the rules that you feel the SFA and the SYFA need to address. Are the rules in the English system similar to the Scottish ones? Obviously, that is about transfers, but there are many other issues in the four points that you have raised.

To be fair to them, the committee has issued an invitation to them and we are in negotiations about a date. They are not here today because it did not suit their diaries, for balance.