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Enterprise and Culture Committee, 13 Mar 2007

13 Mar 2007 · S2 · Enterprise and Culture Committee

Item of business

Sport 21 and Sports Policy

Deacon, Susan Lab Edinburgh East and Musselburgh Watch on SPTV

A host of things has been said and I am sure that we could all continue to explore them, but I will pick up on just a few of the strands.I am struck by what I am hearing. David Arnott and Fred Coalter said something like the wheel is still being reinvented. I echo the point that we need more people to take the ball and run with it and make some things happen.I am not saying that the document is not good, but I have expressed concern about the emphasis that is being placed on it because constant strategising and reviews of strategies are not just benign acts; they consume vast amounts of resource, energy and time in their production, never mind their implementation.An awful lot of what I have heard reinforces my concern that a disproportionate amount of policy makers' energy post devolution has been spent on finessing strategies rather than on taking practical action. Such an approach adds to a culture in which people think that change must come from the top.The convener's comments on leadership were based on a narrow view of what leadership is and where it occurs. I am not saying that ministers do not have a key role in that regard—Gavin Hastings has left, but I echo what he said about how everyone here and hundreds, if not thousands, of other people have all sorts of opportunities to show leadership in the area. Top-down strategies can militate against demonstrations of leadership, because people are waiting for the next programme or guidance instead of being encouraged to innovate and initiate.Julia Bracewell said that we need experts to help to deal with harder-to-reach communities—I wish we did not use such expressions, but we know what we mean. I apologise if I misinterpreted her comment, but I disagree with it. Given the many complex social issues, we need to do much more to empower people and to respect the solutions that emerge from communities. I see that Julia Bracewell wants to respond—she is entitled to do so, but I want to make a final point.I hope that colleagues will take this comment in the spirit in which it is made. I am disappointed that the witnesses have made an awful lot of comments about the need for more money in their budgets—Chris Robison just said exactly that. I am not saying that people do not need money, but the attitude is disappointing, because there has been a massive increase in overall public spending in this country in recent years. However, we—in the broadest sense—have not cracked how politicians, professionals, practitioners, delivery agencies and so on ensure that the money is put to the best use and that people work together on shared objectives. That brings me back to my point about how everyone wants to divvy things up into separate agendas. I hope that future discussions such as this will demonstrate a shift in that context, so that people who work in the sector say, "This is how my agency will work with people in health, education or whatever to consider how we can pool resources." Much of what I heard pulled in a different direction.Ministers hear the words, "Give us more money" 40 times before breakfast. The message—and the action—must be much more sophisticated than that and everyone who can do so should take a bit more responsibility to practise what we all preach.

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Enterprise and Culture Committee, 13 Mar 2007

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