Meeting of the Parliament 18 February 2020
I am happy that my research is up to scratch on this occasion. Details are required on where post holders will be based and their remits, including any differences in rural and urban areas.
The committee also notes that link workers should be tasked with helping to break down any barriers that people face to taking part in physical activity and sport in their communities. The establishment of a working group to identify opportunities is also constructive and I am sure that members of the committee and others across the chamber will follow progress closely. Government and public perception has shifted in recent years towards placing physical and mental health on an equal footing, and the next step is for social prescriptions to be placed on a par with medical prescriptions.
The report sets out that the growing inequality between active and non-active populations by area of deprivation, with its consequential health and wellbeing impacts, needs to be addressed. We all know that adults in the most deprived areas are the least likely to meet targets in physical activity guidelines, and any forthcoming investment should be prioritised and spent in the most deprived communities.
I will give an example—the minister, in particular, might want to take note of this. Members will know that the sports facilities fund, about which I am very enthusiastic, provides capital funding through sportscotland to communities. The Labour group recently submitted a freedom of information request, which found that only 11 per cent of that funding goes to the most deprived areas.