To ask the Scottish Executive what the terms of reference were for the report prepared for it by SQW Economic Development Consultants, Economic Impact of Hosting the 2005 G8 Summit at Gleneagles.
The terms of reference for the study were as follows:
Terms Of Reference
G8 Summit Economic Impact Assessment
Gleneagles, Scotland
6 to 8 July 2005
Introduction
The annual G8 summit is a forum for leaders from Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, the United States and the United Kingdom to discuss and take action on major economic and political issues. The scale of the event is such that wherever it is held amongst the G8 nations, there are associated economic impacts as a result of expenditures to prepare for and host the event, as well as from associated media and support services.
The UK took over the presidency of the G8 forum in 2005 with the summit venue being confirmed as Gleneagles, Scotland and scheduled for 6 to 8 July 2005. Whilst the summit itself will only involve G8 delegations, the Scottish Executive is keen to hold a programme of ancillary events in the preceding period.
The Scottish Executive and Scottish Enterprise wish to commission a study to assess the economic impact of the summit and supporting events, as well as assessing the value of the media exposure and the broader promotional benefits to Scotland from staging the summit. A separate Commercial Opportunities study, also commissioned jointly by the Executive and Scottish Enterprise, was completed in 2004. The study recommends options that will maximise the procurement benefits available to Scottish based firms and assesses the opportunities to use the leverage of the event to deliver further benefits in line with the Executive’s Enterprise Strategy. The report will be made available to the preferred tenderer and should be fully considered when undertaking this study. In summary, the opportunities identified fall into the following categories; procurement of direct and additional services; sponsorship, profiling and promotion of Scotland; G8 summit themes (Africa and climate control); adding value, and business as usual (ensuring displacement is minimised).
Costed proposals are invited for the research and this specification outlines the minimum requirements for the work.
Background
General: The UK holds the Presidency of the G8 in 2005. The Prime Minister announced that the Summit meeting will be held in Gleneagles, Perthshire, Scotland on 6 to 8 July 2005. G8 countries will be represented at the level of Heads of State or Government. Other Heads of State or Government have been on occasion invited to the G8 summit, by the country holding the Presidency. Participants will arrive on the first day and leave on the third.
Delegation size and accommodation: All leaders and their immediate delegations will be accommodated at Gleneagles and a normal commercial contract has been agreed with the venue. It is estimated that there will be some 200 people in total, each comprising key advisers, essential security staff, interpreters and a certain number of domestic staff. The exact number of people in each delegation is for the individual country to determine and pay for.
Transport: While there may be some traffic restrictions on certain roads at certain times, there are no plans to cut Perth off from Edinburgh or Glasgow during the event. There will be increased traffic from time to time in the central belt during the week of the summit but any restrictions will be clearly signed and advance warning given. The exact detail of which airports are to be used is still to be finalised.
Accommodation: Due to the scale of the event, it is anticipated that hotel accommodation across Scotland will be affected in some way by the huge range of organisations involved in the summit. It will not be necessary however for tourists to avoid Scotland in the week of the summit. Scotland has a stock of excellent facilities and infrastructure which is used to coping well with major international events.
Media: Based on past experience, there is the possibility of up to 3,000 media representatives covering the summit. Whilst it is hoped that the media will be accommodated as near as possible to the venue, it is likely that media delegates will be accommodated in hotels across central Scotland.
Sponsorship: There is the possibility of sponsorship for the summit. Contracts will be put out to tender under normal government rules.
Delegate gifts: Gifts will be given to summit leaders, spouses and other delegates. Promotional packs will also be provided to media delegates.
Security: The cost of the security operation will be met by the UK Government. Tayside police are liaising with other police forces and government agencies and are confident that there will be no impact on community policing. There is no reason to believe that police cover will be reduced below what is operationally appropriate across Scotland. It is not envisaged that military or policing costs be included in the study.
Protestors: Legitimate lawful protests will be allowed. It is too early to speculate regarding the numbers of protestors and their intentions.
Local impact – Auchterarder and area: Any disruption to the local community will be kept to a minimum. Residents will not be prevented from living in their own homes. However, given the significant security implications, it is likely that there will be some disruption to local community service delivery. Given Auchterarder’s proximity to Gleneagles, there will be a need to implement a traffic management plan in the area. Those with a legitimate reason to enter or leave Auchterarder will be allowed access to their homes and businesses.
To assist with the post-event impact assessment, the preferred tenderer will be provided with any factual information on visitation numbers and expenditures by category when it becomes available.
G8 Ancillary Events: The Scottish Executive is intent on holding a number of events during the run up to the summit. The key objectives of the events plan are to:
Showcase Scotland to worldwide audience;
Maximise economic benefits to Scotland from summit;
Engage public in debate on and raise awareness of G8 themes of Africa and climate change, and
Generate a sense of pride across Scotland that we are hosting the leaders of the most powerful countries in the world.
Some of the events which have been organised, such as the Chambers of Commerce Summit, the Glasgow University Academic Conference and the Commonwealth Local Government Conference, are likely to generate economic impacts in their own right.
Research Objectives
The objectives of the study are:
(i) To measure the economic impact of the G8 summit and supporting events on Tayside and Scotland;
(ii) To identify the economic value of the media coverage of the summit, and
(iii) To provide sound analysis which identifies the impact of the summit on Scotland’s image as a tourism destination; events venue; source of desirable products, and place to live, work and do business.
Research Methods
It is anticipated that the research will be split into three sections to reflect the objectives set out above. The precise choice of methodology is down to the individual contractor and will differ for each section of the report but it is expected that it will combine both qualitative and quantitative methods and in addition to working with the available secondary data the research will necessitate some primary data-collection. Where this is the case, it is recognised that a single interview or questionnaire of the media/visitor delegation may be sufficient to cover all three objectives of the study and would avoid duplication. We expect tenderers to develop their methodology and to state advantages, disadvantages and possible difficulties with the chosen methodology and how obstacles would be handled and resolved. Further detail on minimum requirements and methodology for each section is provided below.
Economic Impact Assessment: It is expected that the economic impact assessment will identify and quantify the impact of the G8 summit and supporting events on Tayside and Scotland. The assessment should capture pre G8 summit activity from delegations, site visits and where possible, events convened as a result of the summit. Full consideration should be given to the short-term impacts, longer term effects and the distributional impacts associated with holding the summit in Scotland. It should include a full analysis of all costs and benefits associated with staging the summit in Scotland, taking into account expenditures by key bodies, delegates and visitors. Tourism impacts should also be captured with full consideration given to hotel occupancy levels and comparisons made with the same period last year. It is anticipated that this will entail primary data gathering, conducted using a combination of interviewer administered and self-completion questionnaires during the course of the summit, the period prior covering the range of ancillary events and also immediately after the summit. It is expected that each of the research groups will be questioned on common areas including visitor expenditure, length and location of stay, type of trip, accommodation used etc. However, given the likelihood that there will be difficulties in communicating directly with all groups, an innovative and original approach will be required and tenderers should outline their proposed methodology in this context.
The assessment should be carried out in line with Treasury Green Book Guidance1 and the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister’s 3 Rs Guidance2 on appraisal and evaluation. The study on business opportunities, which will be made available to the preferred tenderer should feed in to this work and contribute to the projected impacts associated with the summit.
Valuation of Media Exposure: It is expected that the media assessment will separately identify the value of international television and written press exposure of Scotland in terms of advertising equivalent expenditure. Tenderers should outline their proposed methodology for collating and valuing international press and television coverage. It is likely that some UK press cuttings on the G8 summit will be collated by the Scottish Executive during the course of the summit and made available to the preferred bidder for valuation according to their proposed methodology.
Impact on Scotland’s Image: In addition to valuing the media exposure, a broader assessment is required to identify the impact of the Summit on Scotland’s image, for example as a tourism destination; events venue; source of desirable products, and place to live, work and do business. This will, first of all, require a qualitative element to the media assessment outlined above. Second, we are keen to appoint a research team with experience in measuring perceptual and attitudinal change. While this section will require further primary research of visitors/delegates, it is possible that questions aimed at establishing this impact could also be incorporated into other interviews or questionnaires of visitors to Scotland for the summit. Tenderers should outline their proposed methodology for this part of the research.
Notes:
1. HM Treasury The Green Book: Appraisal and Evaluation in Central Government, January 2003,
2. Office of the Deputy Prime Minister “Assessing the impact of Spatial interventions, regeneration, renewal and regional development- the 3Rs Guidance”, May 2004.
