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Meeting of the Parliament 10 December 2013

10 Dec 2013 · S4 · Meeting of the Parliament

Item of business

Youth Sport Strategy

Smith, Liz Con Mid Scotland and Fife Watch on SPTV

Absolutely. I think that the two are complementary. The fact remains that specialist PE teachers were mentioned in the SNP manifesto. There must have been a specific, important reason for that, so we need to take it forward.

I repeat what I said about the FOI request. There is concern that not enough local authorities are aware of those who hold the relevant qualifications and where they are teaching. We could perhaps do a little bit more work with the General Teaching Council for Scotland to ensure that we have a good record of just who holds the relevant qualifications.

Tavish Scott raised an important point—although I see that he is no longer in the chamber—about the fact that there are obviously some serious cost issues for those who come from rural communities. Very good progress has been made in some such areas, but we need to do more to ensure that those who come from a very rural background have good access to facilities and can take part in as much sport as is possible.

I said in my response to the minister back in October that I thought that we could do more to help build bridges between the private sector and the state sector. There are some excellent initiatives in state schools and in private schools, many of which have excellent sporting facilities. It is important that we try to use those facilities as much as we possibly can, to the benefit of all children. We should consider the point that Patricia Ferguson just made about scholarships, whether in the name of Nelson Mandela or other international and sporting figures, because a person’s parents’ income or where they come from should not determine whether their options for school sport are available or closed off. I welcome the suggestion that was made.

There is a need to ensure that there is a good coherent strategy between central Government and local government. This morning, the Education and Culture Committee heard loud and clear from a group of outdoor education specialists that they are concerned that there is not a coherent strategy and that there is a bit of a disconnect between central Government and local government. I noticed that that was mentioned in the strategy, but perhaps we need to think a bit more about how the Scottish Government can create a better system in that regard.

As somebody who over time has held various sports coaching qualifications, I am acutely aware of the input that is provided by volunteers. If it were not for those volunteers, far fewer children would have the benefit of sport. We have done a lot to increase the number of volunteers, but we have to be mindful of the fact that there are still concerns, particularly in some sports, that people cannot volunteer because of the bureaucracy that goes with it. Volunteering has perhaps been hindered by the fact that bureaucracy gets in the way.

I very much look forward to the publication of the final youth sport strategy; 2014 is shaping up to be a fantastic year for sport and it presents Scotland with a terrific opportunity, but only if we can take the very strong message back from the young people who are in the gallery and their peers and address a lot of the issues that have been raised.

I move amendment S4M-08546.1, to insert at end:

“, and urges the Scottish Government to place additional focus on ensuring that all primary school children will receive two hours of PE per week delivered by a qualified PE instructor”.

17:23

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Meeting of the Parliament 10 December 2013

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