Committee
Health, Social Care and Sport Committee 03 March 2026 [Draft]
03 Mar 2026 · S6 · Health, Social Care and Sport Committee
Item of business
Sport and Physical Activity
Kim Atkinson
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Tennis Scotland. A 25 per cent increase represents huge progress.Innovative partnerships are happening across Scottish sport, too. For example, Bowls Scotland has a huge partnership with a veterans charity. That is an innovative and really different approach; it is looking at the contribution that it makes for older adults and at working in different partnerships. Table Tennis Scotland has a unique partnership with Parkinson’s UK, and the event that it hosts every year is one of its best attended events. Honestly, if you can go, do so—it is incredible. The feedback from the chief executive of Parkinson’s UK in Scotland is that it is changing lives for people with Parkinson’s.We can see that, across any number of measures, a lot of really good stuff is happening, but you are absolutely right—there is no getting away from the fact that the environment is really challenging. That is true across the whole of sport. We know that 90 per cent of investment in sport in Scotland goes through local authorities, and our local authority partners are struggling. The Convention of Scottish Local Authorities is not here today, but I am sure that it, too, would say that this is a challenge, as would our partners in Community Leisure UK, who are also doing amazing things.There is a silver lining for governing bodies, though. As a result of the vast partnership work being undertaken through us, the governing bodies, sportscotland and the Scottish Government, new investment is going into Scottish sport. The new £40 million uplift that has been approved in the budget will be a huge boost to Scottish sport, and it presents a massive opportunity, although we know, too, that it does not quite fulfil the Government’s own commitment to double the contribution to sport that it outlined in both its manifesto and the programme for government. Moreover, we know that it is not all sustainable; as things stand at the moment, only half of that investment will be on-going.I hope that that investment will give the workforce in Scottish sport a bit of stability. Indeed, sportscotland has been championing and leading on that workforce planning so that the people involved know that they will have jobs, that they will not be made redundant and that they might actually get an uplift in salaries—some for the first time in many years. That will, in turn, support the club network, the volunteer network and a wide range of other things.It has been a tough time, but if it shows one thing, it is how very resilient sport is. We all know sport increases our resilience—well, that has certainly been true for the workforce across Scottish sport. We are optimistic that more positive times are ahead, but we are still looking to secure more of that funding on an on-going basis.
In the same item of business
09:15
The Convener
SNP
Our second agenda item is an evidence-taking session on key issues and future priorities in relation to sport and physical activity in Scotland. I welcome Ki...
Brian Whittle (South Scotland) (Con)
Con
Good morning. I have got my way: we have sport on the agenda until the end of the parliamentary session.I will start with a general question. What part does ...
Forbes Dunlop (sportscotland)
Good morning. Thank you again for the opportunity to come along to speak with the committee.Sport is an absolute foundation to a healthy life. The evidence o...
Brian Whittle
Con
:I will layer something on top of that for Dr David Meir. I think that we would all agree with exactly what Forbes Dunlop said. Given that healthy life expec...
Dr David Meir (University of the West of Scotland)
That is a very difficult question. First, sport is only one element. If we approach this from a policy perspective and consider the physical activity for hea...
Brian Whittle
Con
:Kim Atkinson is here to represent governing bodies. Given the feedback from governing bodies about the current situation for resource to deliver what they c...
Kim Atkinson (Scottish Sports Association)
Thanks, Brian. It is lovely to see everyone this morning.There is a balance in everything. At the end of a parliamentary session, it is always interesting to...
Brian Whittle
Con
:I am sorry—which organisation was that?
Kim Atkinson
Tennis Scotland. A 25 per cent increase represents huge progress.Innovative partnerships are happening across Scottish sport, too. For example, Bowls Scotlan...
Brian Whittle
Con
:Thanks for that. I am trying to look at something that we have talked about before—the whole journey from preschool to primary school to secondary school an...
Forbes Dunlop
There is a real difference across sports. There are, as with everything, some examples of really good progressive work, and examples of other sports that are...
Brian Whittle
Con
:In my day—those are the three most dangerous words in life—you would be introduced to sport at school. That does not happen as much now, certainly in compre...
Forbes Dunlop
I will touch on two points there. We are just coming to the final stages of the review of the active schools programme. We are very proud of that 20 years’ w...
Brian Whittle
Con
:Yes, it would be nice to come back in the new session. Laughter.
Forbes Dunlop
On your second point, about the school estate, there is another significant piece of work in its final stages. We have conducted more than a year’s worth of ...
Kim Atkinson
Forbes Dunlop’s point about active schools is powerful, but let us not forget that that is the first money that has ever been moved from the health budget di...
The Convener
SNP
I will bring in Jon Doig, since he works at the sharp end of sport and—I hope he will not mind me saying this—he has been there for a while. Is there a trend...
Jon Doig OBE (Commonwealth Games Scotland)
Our teams come from a wide range of backgrounds, and it is probably fair to say that each sport has its own socioeconomic background. One of the strengths of...
Brian Whittle
Con
:I will squeeze in one more little question. One of the things that was talked about during the 2014 Commonwealth games was legacy. It disappointed the commi...
Jon Doig
I recognise that, as Kim Atkinson and Forbes Dunlop said, there are challenges across the wider sector. I pay tribute to the fact that, were it not for the o...
Emma Harper (South Scotland) (SNP)
SNP
Good morning. We were talking about health and wellbeing at the beginning. At the other end of the age continuum, we are seeing a real rise in walking footba...
Forbes Dunlop
I will add walking netball to that. The bounce back to netball programme, led by Netball Scotland, has been hugely successful. It has encouraged women, in pa...
Kim Atkinson
Thanks for that great question, Emma. Just to build on what Forbes Dunlop has said, I would mention two particular things. You will all be aware that the Sco...
Emma Harper
SNP
:I know a young woman who started playing wheelchair rugby. Her asthma was unstable, so she did not need to use a wheelchair all the time. When she started p...
Carol Mochan (South Scotland) (Lab)
Lab
This adds to what Emma Harper and Kim Atkinson have been saying. I would be interested in hearing about the piece of research that has been done. I recently ...
Forbes Dunlop
Speaking as someone who works for and leads a national agency, I think that the best solutions are always found locally. The group that you met will have muc...
Kim Atkinson
I have two thoughts on that. The first aspect is a recognition of the role that governing bodies play. There are many different activities in local areas, bu...
David Torrance (Kirkcaldy) (SNP)
SNP
Good morning. What actions have been taken, and what further actions are required, to address the physical activity gap between girls and boys?
Forbes Dunlop
A huge range of interventions have been made. It was almost the central discussion at our board meeting a couple of weeks ago, when we were talking about act...