HS/S3/09/1/A

HEALTH AND SPORT COMMITTEE

AGENDA

1st Meeting, 2009 (Session 3)

Wednesday 14 January 2009

The Committee will meet at 10.00 am in Committee Room 1.

1. Subordinate legislation: The Committee will consider the following negative instrument—

the Mental Health Tribunal for Scotland (Practice and Procedure) (No. 2) Amendment Rules 2008 (SSI 2008/396).

2. Decision on taking business in private: The Committee will decide whether its consideration of any draft report on pathways into sport at future meetings should be taken in private.

3. Pathways into sport inquiry - witness expenses: The Committee will be invited to delegate to the Convener responsiblity for arranging for the SPCB to pay, under Rule 12.4.3, any expenses of witnesses in the inquiry.

4. Pathways into sport inquiry: The Committee will take evidence from—

John Beattie, Chair, Physical Activity Strategy Review Group;

Charlie Raeburn, former member of Scottish Executive PE Review Group;

Graham Watson, Executive Director, and Tommy Boyle, Programme Manager, Winning Scotland Foundation;

and then from—

Oliver Barsby, Policy Director, Scottish Association of Local Sports Councils;

Gavin MacLeod, Chief Executive Officer, Scottish Disability Sport;

Chris Robison, Policy Director, Scottish Sports Association.

HS/S3/09/1/A

Callum Thomson Clerk to the Health and Sport Committee Room T3.60 The Scottish Parliament Edinburgh Tel: 0131 348 5210 Email: [email protected] HS/S3/09/1/A

The papers for this meeting are as follows—

Agenda Item 1

SSI Briefing HS/S3/09/1/1

The Mental Health Tribunal for Scotland (Practice and HS/S3/09/1/2 Procedure) (No. 2) Amendment Rules 2008

Agenda Item 4

Note by the Clerk HS/S3/09/1/3

Private paper HS/S3/09/1/4 (P)

Submission by the National Physical Activity Strategy HS/S3/09/1/5 Review Group

Submission by Charlie Raeburn HS/S3/09/1/6

Submission by the Winning Scotland Foundation HS/S3/09/1/7

Submission by Scottish Association of Local Sports Councils HS/S3/09/1/8

Submission by Scottish Disability Sport HS/S3/09/1/9

Submission by Scottish Sports Association HS/S3/09/1/10

Agenda Item 1 HS/S3/09/1/1 14 January 2009 Health and Sport Committee

1st Meeting, 2009 (Session 3), Wednesday, 14 January 2009

Abridged Subordinate Legislation Briefing

Negative Instrument

Name Deadline Motion to Purpose Drawn to attention by Annul SLC? The Mental Health 19th No Amends various rules No Tribunal for January governing the operation of Scotland (Practice 2009 the Mental Health and Procedure) Tribunal for Scotland. (No. 2) Amendment Rules 2008

Where instruments have been drawn to the Committee’s attention, the relevant extract from the SLC report is given as an annex to this paper.

If members have any queries or points of clarification on the instrument which they wish to have raised with the Scottish Government in advance of the meeting, please could these be passed to the Clerk to the Committee as soon as possible. Agenda Item 4 HS/S3/09/1/3 14 January 2009

Health and Sport Committee

1st Meeting, 2009 (Session 3), Wednesday, 14 January 2009

Pathways into Sport Introduction

1. The Committee agreed on 10 December 2009 that the second phase of its inquiry on pathways into sport should concentrate on the following issues:

Sport in school time, in particular: • establish the current position with regard to schools meeting the ‘2 hours PE target per week’ vis-à-vis the introduction of the Curriculum for Excellence; • establish the barriers (for example, lack of physical facilities) to this target being achieved and make recommendations for how they might be overcome; and • establish who is responsible for meeting the PE target.

Sport outside of school time, in particular: • Identifying best practice for local authority sports strategies in terms of: o maximising use of school facilities by the wider community; o improving links between community sports clubs and schools, in particular in relation to extra-curricular sporting activities; and o establishing the optimum role for active schools co-ordinators.

Coaching, in particular: • how can access to good quality coaching be improved? • is there scope for governing bodies to work collaboratively to improve the quality of coaching?

Today’s evidence session

2. Today is the first meeting of the Committee to take oral evidence on phase 2 of the inquiry and involves two panels of witnesses. The first panel comprises John Beattie, Charlie Raeburn, Graham Watson and Tommy Boyle.

3. John Beattie is Chair of the Physical Activity Strategy Review Group. The aim of the review is to evaluate progress regarding implementation of Let’s Make Scotland More Active, a framework for the development of physical activity in Scotland, and to recommend priorities for action for the next five years. John Beattie is a former Scottish international rugby player and commentator. He currently presents the BBC Radio Scotland programme Sports Weekly.

4. Charlie Raeburn is a former member of the Scottish Executive PE Review Group. Prior to his retirement he worked in youth and community sports development in the Lothian region since 1973 – first as Assistant Adviser Agenda Item 4 HS/S3/09/1/3 14 January 2009

in PE for Lothian Regional Council and then as Sport and Physical Activity Manager for West Lothian Council. He is also a former Chief Coach and Swimming Convener of Warrender Baths Club. Mr Raeburn was the Chair of the Scottish Schoolsport Federation for over 18 years. From 1997-2001 he also chaired the Scottish Local Authority PE network.

5. Graham Watson is the Executive Director, and Tommy Boyle the Programme Manager, of the Winning Scotland Foundation. The Foundation is an independent, business-led charity which aims to create a positive winning attitude throughout Scotland, using sport as the catalyst. The Foundation’s objectives are:

• the advancement of the physical education of young people; • the instructing of research into the culture of winning, increased achievement and/or excellence and the making available to and use by the public; and • the advancement of education.

6. The second panel of witnesses comprises Oliver Barsby, Policy Director, Scottish Association of Local Sports Councils;Gavin MacLeod, Chief Executive Officer, Scottish Disability Sport and Chris Robison, Policy Director, Scottish Sports Association.

7. The Scottish Association of Local Sports Councils (SALSC) is a ‘not-for- profit’ national organisation supporting its member local sports councils to deliver local sport and physical activity opportunities to their local communities. It has a membership of over 50 local sports councils from all over Scotland, in total representing almost 10,000 sports clubs. SALSC work in partnership with key bodies such as sportscotland and the Scottish Government to develop sport and volunteering in sport at the local, grass roots level.

8. Scottish Disability Sport (SDS) is the Scottish governing and co- coordinating body of all sports for people of all ages and abilities with a physical, sensory or learning disability. It aims to develop sport and physical recreation for disabled people in Scotland and contribute to UK and international initiatives. SDS supports a structure of 16 local branches across Scotland. These branches are volunteer led and have a responsibility for the provision of grassroot sports and physical activity as well as the recruitment of volunteers and coaches.

9. The Scottish Sports Association’s principal roles are to lead and facilitate consultation with, and to represent the collective view of, its members. Its membership comprises 52 sport governing bodies and 17 associates. Sport governing bodies are responsible for the governance, development and delivery of their individual sports and provide a formal structure for over 12,000 sports clubs in Scotland.

Rebecca Lamb Health and Sport Committee Agenda Item 4 HS/S3/09/1/5 14 January 2009 Pathways into Sport

Submission on behalf of the Review of the National Physical Activity Strategy Group

Let’s Make Scotland More Active (LMSMA) was launched in 2003 with long-term, 20 year targets. Scotland is now one of the first countries to review the progress and impacts of its national strategy in order to ensure it is fit for the next five years.

The targets of the physical activity strategy are by 2022:

• 50% of all adults aged over 16 should accumulate at least 30 minutes of moderate activity on most days of the week • 80% of all children aged 16 and under should accumulate at least one hour of moderate activity on most days of the week

Physical inactivity is one of Scotland’s major public health issues. Physically active people reduce their risk of premature death by a third and halve their risk of developing major chronic disease such as coronary heart disease, stroke, diabetes and some cancers. The risk of physical inactivity for CHD is similar to high levels of cholesterol, high blood pressure or smoking.

On top of the physical benefits, being active can improve mental well-being, help people deal with stress and anxiety and can improve sleeping patterns. Physical activity can also be used to treat clinical depression

There is also strong justification for encouraging young people to be active: healthy growth and development of the musculo-skeletal system; energy balance for the maintenance of healthy weight; and opportunities for social interaction, achievement and mental wellbeing.

In addition to these health benefits, there are a whole range of societal, environmental and economic benefits to be gained from getting Scotland more active.

Despite all of the above, Scotland’s National Health Survey shows that only one in three Scottish adults and two in three Scottish children meet the recommended levels of physical activity.

Participating in sport is one way of being physically active and gaining the health benefits of a physically active life.

Review Aims and Objectives

The aim of this review is to evaluate progress regarding implementation of LMSMA, to recommend priorities for action within the strategy for the next five years so that improvements in the nation’s physical activity levels are maximised. The objectives are therefore:

1 Agenda Item 4 HS/S3/09/1/5 14 January 2009

1. To collate information on progress with implementation of the national physical activity strategy. 2. To assess changes in key physical activity outcomes. 3. To engage with a number of key groups and organisations to evaluate the picture of progress and change, to reflect on areas of success, challenge and lessons learned and to agree key priorities for the future. 4. To identify new evidence and guidance on health-related physical activity that may require adjustments in focus. 5. To identify new opportunities to enhance and accelerate existing action. 6. To ensure that the national physical activity target and intended outcomes of the next phase of strategy implementation are fully in line with the National Performance Framework and the Single Outcome Agreement process.

Early findings show that:

• There is good evidence of positive action underway to address all the recommendations proposed in LMSMA. LMSMA also remains consistent with recent PA guidance issued by WHO and the EU Commission. • Across relevant national organisations and sectors, policies and strategies demonstrate commitment to PA, e.g. health, education, sport, environment and transport. • At a local level, there has been substantial development of local PA strategies and the ensuing partnerships and PA awareness have been positive. • There is some evidence that the programmes directly funded by the strategy have increased opportunities for PA and that there has been increased awareness and uptake of PA across a range of groups and settings in the short term. • Since launching LMSMA, a strong commitment to a core national infrastructure has developed with the National PA Coordinator role having contributed significantly to that.

NEXT STEPS

The full report will be available from the 24 February 2009. Further to this report, important new data about PA trends will be available in late 2009 from the Scottish Health Survey (SHS). A review of whether or not we are on track to reach the target of 50% of adults achieving minimum recommended levels of physical activity by 2022 cannot be made until these data are available.

Amy Rafferty 7 January 2009

2 Agenda Item 4 HS/S3/09/1/6 14 January 2009 Pathways into Sport

Submission by Charlie Raeburn

Children and Sport

1. What level of sport and physical activity should be provided by primary, and separately, by secondary schools.

The two targets set within the PE Review for children are ‘one hour of physical activity each day’ and 120 minutes of good quality PE each week.

Both targets are appropriate. There is some confusion in schools over the difference between the 2 targets. There is no separate target for sport in either primary or secondary as sport is deemed to be covered within the 2 targets for physical activity and PE. A more appropriate target for both primary and secondary pupils might be.

• 120 minutes of PE delivered by a specialist teacher of physical education or class teacher in primary schools. • One hour of daily physical activity (including sport.) This target could include, exercise, travel, play, school sport and should be seen as additional to 120 minutes of PE • Schools should provide a wide range of support school sport opportunities within the school and promote and encourage young people to participate in sporting opportunities within the wider sporting community. This target will contribute the aCfE agenda, in particular the school ethos. • There are clear opportunities to broaden the choice and to improve the quality of sporting experiences over the S3 – S6 age stages by asking PE departments to coordinate a wider range of activities in conjunction with local clubs and providers. However, real care has to be taken to ensure that these activities are rooted in the local communities to allow for progression beyond schools.

2. Is the lack of the right type of facilities in schools compromising sports education?

There are particular problems for primary schools there is a lack of appropriate facilities both indoor and outdoor to provide good quality PE and sport. There is a need to consider a requirement of local authorities to undertake an audit of school facilities, to inform future school builds. This information should then dovetail with audits and strategies for community sports clubs, also to be undertaken by local authorities where this has not yet been undertaken.

There are good emerging links between primary and secondary schools sharing facilities and the new build public private partnership schools provide good sports facilities but new schools are a small percentage of the whole school estate.

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In secondary schools most facilities are suitable for a wide range of sports activities although many outdoor fields are in poor condition and flood easily. Plans which include the construction of synthetic pitches to built on school sites and useable by both schools and clubs should be considered.

3. Who has the responsibility for ensuring that there is adequate sports education in the school system?

There are no formal mechanisms to ensure that schools provide ‘sports’ education.

Guidelines are in place to ensure schools work towards providing 120 minutes of PE. Quality Improvement Officers, HMIE, PE subject support and Active Schools Co-ordinators monitor and support schools attempt to meet targets for PE but this has proved very difficult with no new resource being provided by central government for provision of PE teachers.

There is no mechanism in Scotland to ensure schools participate in school sport although Active Schools Co-ordinators in partnership with teachers, parents, senior pupils, school sport associations strongly encourage schools to participate in festivals, events and competitions. The research evidence points to considerable success in the primary sector in increasing participation in physical activity, some of which may be sport. However, the secondary school evidence is not so good. The challenge is to recognise the potential for school sport to contribute towards the aCfE (particularly to the Health and Wellbeing Outcomes), and in particular to the Health Promoting Schools requirements of schools. However, as with much of the new curricular thinking there is a need to be radical and develop partnerships in and around the schools. This may require resources available for schools to develop capacity within local communities to support delivery.

Ultimately the Head teacher of the establishment sets the ethos and makes decisions within the school as to whether the school participates or not.

4. Are there enough of the right facilities in schools to deliver appropriate levels of sports education?

• There is a shortage of appropriate facilities notably swimming, outdoor playing fields and suitable gym and games halls. • School Sport Associations who voluntarily run the interschool events are supported by Active Schools Co-ordinators but are in need of funding to provide teacher release time to allow those staff involved in the organisation and running events the time to organise them. • Active Schools Co-ordinators have made a real impact in supporting school sport but the move to tackling inequalities, targeting inactive children, girls, disability, can take away from the universal impact of developing school sport for all.

2 Agenda Item 4 HS/S3/09/1/6 14 January 2009 • The funding of Active Schools has not kept up with wage inflation has often caused reduction in service provision particularly impacting on secondary schools.

5. How can the links between schools and sports clubs be improved?

• Active School Co-ordinators are the link between schools and community clubs and pathways from school PE to participation in the community is improved. • Further improvements could be enhanced by encouraging and targeting community clubs into school facilities in the evening through free or low cost lets and the targeting of particular sports clubs into schools where there is a pathway from curriculum to out of hours to club. • Local authorities should be required to support the clubs with both improving access, but also supporting the clubs in their development through club accreditation schemes, club leadership and management courses, coach education courses. Clubs should be actively encouraged to provide progressive and purposeful programmes where members can train and practice a minimum of 2 hours a week, and where appropriate competition or performance opportunities are also facilitated. Lets and leases of facilities could then be targeted at accredited clubs. • Club notice boards and clubrooms in schools, and personal contacts between staff and community clubs should be more detailed and extensive than previously. Clubs can and should be encouraged to contribute to school PE programmes, holiday programmes and taster sessions. • Local authorities have to recognise the potential of well-run clubs to communities, and take care to monitor and control letting of facilities to ensure strong community capacity building for sport. For example it could be too easy for schools to charge commercial rent for clubs to boost their own incomes. Some schools may well have to offer pay and play activities to the local community- this will generally be more expensive to deliver, however this should be planned through a local sports facilities strategy • PE must examine the activities it delivers within core programmes and explicitly promote the opportunities for community provision. PE must also examine the appropriateness of teaching ‘dead end’ activities to young people. Often schools offer activities, which cannot be sustained within the local community. • It may not be helpful to develop children only clubs – as this will result in no clubs for the wider community

6. What differences have Active Schools Co-ordinators made to the links between schools and club? Generally, each community school grouping of secondary and primary schools has a pathways map identifying the:

• Activities taught in curriculum time (primary & secondary)

3 Agenda Item 4 HS/S3/09/1/6 14 January 2009 • The out of hours opportunities for sport • The availability of a community sports club

Efforts to close down gaps in the pathway are being undertaken. • Club contacts and details are posted on school notice boards • Holiday programmes where club involvement is part of the programme encourage the links to be developed. • Club volunteers are supported to gain NGB qualifications through the Active Schools Coach Education programme at zero cost. • Clubs are encouraged to deliver after school activity sessions for young people. • Sports clubs are supported through Sports Councils where Active School Co-ordinators attend. • Active School Co-ordinators and sport development staff audit a sample of community club child protection policies

Currently the real challenge is for all of this to happen for the secondary sector of schooling

7. What are the barriers to universal access for children, for example travel costs and the cost of equipment and kit? • Often the biggest barrier to participation in sport is the cost and availability of transport. • As school staffing levels tighten schools are finding it more difficult to release teachers to take young people to sports events. • Finding volunteer staff or others to teach/coach secondary age children after school • Finding volunteer staff to take responsibilities for competition events and opportunities. This is likely to be more difficult in the schools which are more socially disadvantaged • The costs and availability of facilities • The costs of professional coaches

Additional Comments

Within Curriculum for Excellence PE, Physical Activity and sport are elements within Health and Well being. While PE and PA appear to be well addressed school sport is insufficiently covered. The draft outcomes for Health and Wellbeing are not clear enough about quality PE

The Health and Wellbeing outcomes for sport should cover:

• Cultural context of sport and national identity • Watching understanding and spectating sport. • School teams, festivals and school sport competition importance to personal achievement and ethos of schools. • Pathways to community and club sport • Lifelong benefits of sport • Social benefits of sport

4 Agenda Item 4 HS/S3/09/1/6 14 January 2009 • Positive role models of sportswomen and sportsmen • Careers and employment in sport Clearly without rationales for all the “extended curriculum “(extracurricular activities) of schools little of this may occur

Community Facilities

1. How effective has the National and Regional Sports Facility Strategy been in delivering facilities for community use?

This national strategy may be wrongly titled. I fear the Strategy is focussed on a limited number of national facilities to be used for a limited number of sports for national events, and some Regional training for again a limited range of sports. Some of these facilities have access for some pay and play activities.

There is a need to lay out clearly a rationale for sport and physical recreation facilities which outlines the need to plan strategically for the range of sports and recreation activities, which argues for cost effective use of facilities, and clarifies and demonstrates a range of facility management systems, including community self management.

2. Do local authorities have their own community sports facilities strategies? Where such strategies exist, what role does community-planning partnerships and community health partnerships play in developing those strategies? I understand that only a few Councils have undertaken detailed facilities strategies. I expect that sportscotland could advise on those authorities that have engaged in fulsome partnership planning involving planners, community and corporate partners. I am proud to say that in West Lothian Council this has been well done over the past years. It becomes important in the process to recognise and clarify the different purposes that facilities can support.

3. What are the barriers to making better use of school and other facilities, such as by the wider community, and how can such barriers be overcome?

Perceived Costs of opening facilities for use “out of hours”. Fragile state of community clubs- particularly club management and coaching Income targets of schools Mistrust of outside users by schools

All local authorities should be encouraged and indeed measured on how well facilities are used, and on how Councils support community clubs. There is a very difficult challenge ahead in building he social capital associated with strong, well-run and democratically accountable clubs. If schools find the support of outside use difficult then in might be that Council facility management takes over their management

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4. How can examples of good practice in the provision of facilities be learned from and rolled out on a wider basis?

There is a need to demonstrate good practices. A 5 year project could be established with experienced development officers could assist local authorities to share ideas. This could be linked to some Big Lottery Funding, which may be targeted at the 2014 legacy? However it is important to recognise the elements will include club development, community and facility planning, community self management

5. What lessons can be learnt from the way in which community sports facilities are used in other countries?

From many of our northern European neighbours, we can see the need to support community sports clubs. This is largely politically recognised as mainly supporting the well-being agendas of societies – Councils are measured on the support given to the voluntary organisations including sport. The rationale includes -The feeling of belonging to schools/to clubs/to extended families. Where people give each other time; where there is fun and opportunities to express themselves. Where there are democratic and accountable organisations.

Practices include: - Free access for non-commercial clubs or for the youth sections of clubs Various community self management schemes Interest free capital loans Club rooms and club notice boards to support club meetings Free legal and financial aid for clubs Coach Education support Club leader/management support

Coaching

1.Are there enough coaches and volunteers to support sport in Scotland? No. There are special needs to vastly improve the coaching of adolescents. This could be improved to dramatically increasing the number of coaches in he age group 16-24 years. GAP year schemes, vocational accreditation schemes employee staff development schemes, club leadership courses (some of which could be delivered by the corporate sector of Scotland) However, real caution is required about who is paid, and how much and how sustainable any payment schemes are. In the more deprived communities, care must be taken to taken to develop a mix of voluntary and paid efforts, to ensure sustainability. It is also important in this regard that community football and other sports that are part of Scottish heritage are all involved in future planning so caution again if Scotland only develops Sport for Games medal

6 Agenda Item 4 HS/S3/09/1/6 14 January 2009 success. This may often require a serious review of the governance of the sports and challenges to the existing cultures in Scotland. 2. What systems exist to make sure that best use is made of the coaches who are currently available?

The larger community clubs, usually with good access to faculties, usually in traditional sports. Again care is needed that strong club structures with effective management and philosophies are in place. A system of recognition of quality coaching and club management needs to be developed in all local communities.

3. What are the barriers to more people coaching, and volunteering to support sport in Scotland? Time Cost of qualifications Weak sports infrastructure Lack of recognition Not enough of a social programme

Charlie Raeburn 27 October 2008

7 PS42 Pathways into Sport Winning Scotland

1 Introduction

Winning Scotland Foundation (‘the Foundation’) is pleased to have been invited to submit evidence to the Pathways into Sport Inquiry (‘the Inquiry’).

Winning Scotland Foundation (www.winningscotlandfoundation.org ) is an independent, business-led charity which is working to create a positive winning attitude throughout Scotland, using sport as the catalyst.

It is proven that winning at anything can be learnt and that you can get into the habit of being a winner. Sport is the best training ground to give young people skills which are applicable across their whole lives. The Foundation’s programmes successfully use sport to help young people learn how to win and how to maximise their full potential. The Foundation through collaboration with business, government, education and sport sets young people on a path to self- fulfilment, and helps them believe that what is important is not how good they are now but how good they want to become.

The Foundation defines ‘winning’ as achieving personal success through effort. The scoreboard ‘result’ is merely a by-product of the effort which goes into personal and, where appropriate, team performance.

Winning Scotland Foundation has developed partnerships with many organisations which have an interest in the subject matter of the Inquiry (including; local authorities, sport and leisure trusts, national sporting agencies, national governing bodies of sport and philanthropists (both individual and corporate)) and as such, considers itself well placed to submit relevant evidence to the Inquiry.

The Foundation’s evidence is centred on the barriers to participation and progression in sport which it perceives can exist for young people in Scotland today.

As such, the response covers in general terms the key questions on which the Health and Sport Committee (‘the Committee’) has structured its enquiry, so far as they relate to young people.

The Foundation would be pleased to present its views and thoughts to the Committee in person should it be deemed helpful. The Foundation will refer in its response to four documents which are attached to this submission;

• University of Stirling sporting culture of excellence research (‘COE research’).

1 PS42 Pathways into Sport Winning Scotland

• University of Stirling sports schools research (‘SS research’). • Foundation recommendations on Scotland’s schools of sporting excellence (‘SSE recommendations’). • TRAM new funding streams for sport in Scotland research (‘NFS research’).

These documents have all been prepared by, or on behalf of and at the request of, the Foundation.

(Please note that the Foundation changed its name to Winning Scotland Foundation (from The Scottish Institute of Sport Foundation) on 1 August 2008. At all times, the Foundation has been wholly independent of both the Scottish Institute of Sport and sportscotland.)

2 Barriers to participation and progression in sport in Scotland

The Foundation is supportive of Scotland’s national strategy for sport as set out in ‘Reaching Higher – Building on the Success of Sport 21’.

However, in the Foundation’s view, sports participation trends amongst young Scots will not improve until those interested in the future health, education and general well-being of our young people tackle four fundamental obstacles to sustained progress; • The general lack of sporting cultures of excellence in Scotland (a key conclusion of the COE research) and the need to deal with contributing factors which are systemic, inter-related and involve all stages in a sports development continuum. • The need to increase the numbers and improve the skills of those involved in working through sport with young people. • The need to identify relevant best practice and facilitate its early and widespread adoption throughout Scotland. • The need to deliver and direct properly, funding of sufficient adequacy to tackle the three obstacles referred to above.

3 Lack of sporting cultures of excellence in Scotland

The COE research identified a number of areas where action is necessary to build sporting cultures of excellence in Scotland, including –

School PE and Sport • There is a need to ensure the early development of multi-sports skills, with specialisation introduced at appropriate times dependent on the needs of individual sports (see also the SSE recommendations and the SS research).

2 PS42 Pathways into Sport Winning Scotland

• There is a need to provide earlier experience of intense competition via the establishment of school-based leagues and competitions or alternative approaches. • There is need to promote and support best practice in developing school/club links (e.g. PE School Sport and Club Links initiative; table tennis’ Premier Club System). This would be aided if existing sports facilities were to be open for use on a 24/7 basis. • Both schools and sports clubs need to be assisted to develop and implement more systematic talent ID systems.

Sports clubs and competition structures • Clarification is required about the relative roles of clubs and governing bodies in the production of elite performers. • Governing bodies need to develop and implement whole sport strategies. • Consideration needs to be given to possible solutions to weak competition structures. • There is need to identify and/or promote good practice in the development of a coherent development continuum, with links from schools to elite squads.

Coaches • A thorough review of coach education is required, including the development of more athlete-centred approaches (especially for those working with talented and elite performers). • The development and support of a system based on a continuum of coaches. • There is a need for more coherent strategic management of this ‘supply- chain’. Evidence from overseas would suggest that greater use could be made of partnerships between sport and business in building the pool of qualified coaches (eg New Zealand’s ‘coachcorp’ initiative - http://www.sparc.org.nz/sport/coachcorp/overview . • Foreign travel and knowledge of a variety of sports needs to be encouraged and funded. A system is required for the subsequent dissemination of this knowledge. • There is a need for the funding of more full-time coaches and the development of more coherent career structure. • In the context of greater professionalisation of coaching there is a need for a strategy to protect and support volunteer coaches. • A systematic review of benchmarking is required for all sports.

4 Increasing the numbers and improving the skills of those working through sport with young people

Sport is increasingly recognized as having a greater role to play in helping teachers

3 PS42 Pathways into Sport Winning Scotland

deliver Scotland’s new Curriculum for Excellence. This is to be welcomed. However, in order to take full advantage of this trend, the Foundation believes that two pre- requisites must be secured;

(i) the Committee should encourage Government to implement fully the recommendations contained in the 2006 Coaching Scotland Research Report (http://www.sportscotland.org.uk/ChannelNavigation/Resource+Library/Publicatio ns/Coaching+Scotland.htm ); and

(ii) the Foundation’s Positive Coaching Scotland (‘PCS’) programme – www.positivecoachingscotland.com - which in its pilot phase has already been embraced by 5 local authorities and 13 sports, including the Scottish FA - should become the necessary ‘kitemark’ of quality for all those working with young people – whether as leaders, teachers, coaches or parents.

PCS tackles the ‘win at all costs’ mentality which often pervades youth sport and instead, teaches a ‘double-goal’ philosophy; one which encourages the effort necessary to win but which also uses sport to teach life lessons. PCS has been developed in Scotland from a very successful US model which addresses directly the high drop our rates in youth sport resulting from the ‘win at all costs’ mentality imported from the professional sport arena. Given how few young people will ever play sport professionally, it must be self evident how damaging it is to base a youth sport model on the world of professional sport.

5 The need to identify relevant best practice and facilitate its early and widespread adoption throughout Scotland

In the Foundation’s experience, there are many great ideas being implemented and considered within Scottish sport.

However, the complex nature of sport governance, the dangers inherent in separating sport from the education and health agendas and the different approaches to sport within the 32 local authorities all contribute to make it difficult to secure the maximum benefit from these great initiatives.

For example, how easy will it be for the Foundation’s new Champions in Schools programme - which uses our most successful sportsmen and women to deliver (via the classroom) tailored education, sport and health messages to young people – to expand quickly from its initial launch in partnership with West Lothian Council to the rest of Scotland?

While the Foundation welcomes the inclusion of ‘sport’ within a specific Ministerial portfolio, as part of the Health directorate, we believe that closer

4 PS42 Pathways into Sport Winning Scotland

alignment with Education is also necessary if the full benefits of sport in the lives of young people are to be realised in Scotland.

Ultimately, we believe that the significance of sport within the fabric of Scottish life merits a separate and distinct seat at the top table of Government – as is already the case in many countries throughout the world.

sportscotland also needs to play its role in ensuring that Scottish Local Authorities (and in certain cases, their Sport and Leisure Trusts) operate in a way which maximises the benefits of existing investment and promotes timely knowledge sharing.

6 The need to deliver and direct properly, funding of sufficient adequacy to tackle the three obstacles referred to above

Most discussions about sport in Scotland eventually involve questions of finance and it is certainly the case that many of the perceived barriers to achieving the targets for young people’s participation in sport can and will be attributed to lack of funds.

However, the Foundation believes that once Sport has an appropriate voice within Government, it will be considerably easier to secure collaborative funding from Health and Education budgets for many of the exciting programmes and initiatives which can be used to bring down the aforementioned barriers. After all, education and health are the chief beneficiaries if more young people participate more often and stay involved longer in sport.

In addition, the Foundation has also looked at new funding streams for sport in Scotland. The NFS research indicates that a pool of new funding, some of which could be targeted towards sport, in the order of between £28 million and £160 million a year might be generated if relevant parties are able to collaborate for mutual benefit on the basis of established international best practice.

Graham F Watson Executive Director Winning Scotland Foundation 17 November 2008

5

How to achieve a sporting culture of excellence in Scotland

The Scottish Institute of Sport Foundation Airthey Road Stirling FK9 5PH

Prof. Fred Coalter Sabine Radtke John Taylor Prof. Grant Jarvie

Department of Sports Studies University of Stirling Stirling FK9 4LA

September 2006

1 Introduction

1.1 Aims and Objectives of the Study

The aim of this study was to explore possible relationships between elite sporting success and aspects of Scottish culture, values and motivations. The study was commissioned by The Scottish Institute of Sport Foundation and undertaken by a research team from the Department of Sports Studies, University of Stirling. The recommendations arising from the study are those of The Foundation.

1.2 The Research Study

The research was undertaken in two phases.

Phase 1 Review of Literature

The review of literature examined a range of issues:

(i) An assessment of current and historical levels of Scottish international performance in a range of sports, to identify the nature and extent of the perceived problem of ‘under-achievement’.

(ii) A review of commentators’ evaluations of Scottish international sporting performance (e.g. print media, sports coaches, administrators and players).

(iii) A review of the broader factors affecting performance in international sport.

The work undertaken in Phase 1 (which is published separately) identified a range of generic issues relating to increasingly standard elite sport systems and to specific Scottish factors. These included:

• The concentration on football and rugby union leads to an overly negative perspective on Scottish international sporting success and raises questions about generalised assertions regarding Scots’ sporting ‘failures’. • In some of the high profile failures there are clear sports-specific (maybe even cyclical) explanations for recent decline in performances. • Many sports which have experienced historic success have been dependent on one or two successful individuals, with limited strength in depth. • International sport has become much more competitive, with recent substantial increases in the number of competing nations and substantially increased investment in elite sports systems. • Elite sports systems are becoming standardised and key elements of successful systems include: substantial funding; an elite institute; an integrated excellence culture; effective talent identification and progress monitoring; well structured competitions, with ongoing international exposure; targeting of resources to small number of sports; comprehensive planning for each sport; elite coaches; sports science. • Research indicates that the simple importation of coaches for their technical skills and experience may underestimate the importance of the need to cross- cultural preparation and training. • General issues of culture need to be considered in interaction with other components of a complex system.

1 Following discussions with The Foundation, this work was used to identify the range of issues to be explored in Phase 2.

Phase 2 In-depth Interviews

Following the identification of issues in Phase 1, 31 individuals involved in elite sport were selected for in-depth interview. They were selected to reflect experience (foreign coaches working in Scotland and Scottish coaches with overseas experience), type of sport (individual, partner and team sports), gender and some athletes who have achieved international success (Appendix 1).

1.3 Summary conclusions

This summary document provides an overview, prepared by the research team, of the analyses and conclusions from the in-depth interviews (Sections 2 to 7) and a commentary prepared by The Foundation on the issue for consideration arising from the study (Section 8).

Although there were inevitable differences of opinion and emphasis, there was a substantial degree of agreement about core issues. The key perspective, which provides the framework for the analysis and recommendations, is that the factors to be addressed are systemic, inter- related and involve all stages in a sports development continuum.

Although there are clearly identifiable areas where intervention is possible, such interventions must be part of a wider, coherent and integrated, strategy relating to a coherently managed system, or supply-chain, for developing elite athletes.

Within this broad approach, the core unifying concern was the general lack of sporting cultures of excellence.

This concern informed perspectives on all issues - the current nature of school and club sport (section 2 and 3); the lack of intensive, competitive environments (section 3); coaches’ experiences and approaches (section 4); and funding and facilities (sections 6 and 7).

Although this document addresses each of these issues in a broadly hierarchical way, it needs to be remembered that at each stage the concern is the contribution that each aspect of the supply chain makes to this overall sporting culture of excellence (section 5).

Each issue is introduced by an illustrative quote from the interviewees.

2 School sport and school/club relations

Many respondents viewed recent developments in physical education and school sport as negative, failing to provide opportunities to develop sporting skills and competitive attitudes.

2.1 “The most skilled leaders will come from a multi-skilled background”

“What is lost is the broad based physical education platform that used to be developed from age 8 or 9 … The most skilled leaders in [sport] will come from those who come from a multi- skilled background and that has to be the role of the schools. This is crucial up to the age of 13 – to get a basic sports vocabulary in … We specialise too early and need to adapt a multi- sport approach.”

The perceived decline and changed nature of PE in primary schools meant that the multi-sport skills necessary for developing performance sport are not widely provided.

2

2.2 Lack of inter-school competitions/leagues

“To raise standards you have to have intensity of competition …If you don’t have the quality of competition that tests your skill levels under immense pressure you are never going to develop that … [In Scotland] we have to address the intensity of junior competition…”

“You don’t become an elite player at the age of 16. You have to learn to become an elite player at a younger age. You must start to train like an elite player at the age of 13. You cannot change all your habits at the age of 16 – it has to be developed over the years so that the body can get used to the demands...”

The relative absence of inter-school competitions/leagues meant that there was a lack of intensive, competitive environments in which to develop the skills, confidence and understanding required for elite sport. Educating young athletes about these demands was as important as developing sporting skills.

2.3 Need for more achievement orientation

“School does not encourage competition in the slightest … Anything you do you are not allowed to single out performance, everyone has to be successful … Everyone doesn't have to be successful, everyone has to gain a certain level of attainment, granted …”

The combination of ‘inclusive’ approaches to sport and the lack of leagues and inter-school competition is failing to produce the necessary achievement orientation among many young sports people.

2.4 Need to get those with potential into clubs earlier

“[The shift from school… to club…] is a good thing. You tend to get young players playing with older more experienced players …so they are then a small fish in a big sea. [In school] they think they are great because they are so much better than their peers. In a club situation they can learn more …The ones who are keen will join clubs rather than just play school [sport]…”

The combination of a decline in school sport and the more general lack of a competitive environment mean that sports clubs need to play a more central role in the identification and development of young sporting talent.

2.5 Poor talent identification

“Scotland is such a small country, so that talents cannot get lost! In the ideal case, schools should identify the talents and send them to clubs, district squads etc but that's the weak point of the Scottish system: no cooperation between schools and high performance sport system.”

The combination of weak school sport and weak relationships between schools and sports clubs has led to unsystematic identification of sporting talent.

3 Clubs and competitive structures

3.1 Clubs need to recognise their developmental role

“A lot of club coaches want to work with their performance players but they also want to run a recreational club. There is not club that can take a young …. player and take them right to

3 the top on their own. If a coach concentrates on one player the club suffers because they do not have the time to develop the athletes and keep the club going. It is passing the athlete on to the national system where the breakdown comes …”

In certain sports the strength of clubs and athletes’ loyalty to clubs and coaches were factors restricting elite development because clubs cannot take them to the next level. Some clubs were regarded as having an overly ‘defensive’ attitude to their athletes and were reluctant to pass them on to elite coaches or elite squad systems.

3.2 Weak club structures and lack of intensity of competition

“The lack of intensity in competition within Scotland and within the UK is probably the biggest reason for our limited performance at international level.”

The competitive weakness of clubs and their inability to provide the experience of intense competition relates to general concern that confidence and skill development can only be achieved through regular and intense competition.

3.3 “It’s too big a jump”

“There is a problem in bringing through [athletes] ... The standard has been raised – the gap between Scotland and GB level is greater than it has ever been, but the structure is not there to help young [athletes] bridge that gap.”

There was a widespread concern about a lack of a systematic and coherent development continuum in which young elite athletes gradually progress, in terms of skill and understanding the nature of elite sport. This relates to poor systems for talent ID, the need to get young talented athletes into clubs earlier and the more general issue of the failure to develop sporting cultures of excellence.

4 Coaches

A number of key issues relating to coaches were identified, although attitudes varied, often reflecting the current state of a particular sport and the extent to which it had embraced a ‘performance culture’ and systematic coach development programmes.

4.1 Defensive coaches

“The coaches are a little bit afraid of us [foreign coaches] and if you are afraid, you are not open-minded … A lot of coaches here, they never went abroad, they are not open-minded – but nevertheless, they think that they have in-depth knowledge.”

In some sports, although not all, it was suggested that many coaches are rather defensive when confronted with new ideas, especially if these are presented by foreign coaches.

4.2 The attitude/approach of foreign coaches is key

“When I walked in a door, people were like: Oh, you are [an overseas coach], you must know more. But I say: No, I don't! You know pretty much as me, but you haven't had the chance to do all this. First, they think you're crazy, but then you convince them. I needed four/five years to reconstruct that, to ‘de-culture’ them … I think they were technically fine, they just don't know it”.

4 The issue of coaches’ defensiveness relates, in part, to the approach and desired time-scale for change. A longer term, bottom-up approach seems to be less disruptive than a perceived top- down approach seeking to impose radical and immediate change.

4.3 “Trying to get full-time performers from a part-time system”

“When it comes to high performance sport, coaching has to be more than a hobby.”

Despite the growth of full-time professional coaches, most sports were dependent on volunteer, part-time, coaches. However, an allied concern was that the growth of professional coaches might undermine the valuable work done by volunteer coaches.

4.4 Need for a development continuum of coaches

“We have to train people to work with the level of the athletes they have.”

There was widespread agreement about the need for a ‘continuum of coaches’ to deal with athletes at various stages of their development, with more formal systems for ‘handing on’ athletes to their next stage of development.

4.5 Poor coach education systems and career structures

“In Scotland, the lack of a coach education system causes problems. In France, it takes quite a long time to become a coach. By contrast in Scotland, you attend a course for around three or six months and then, you are a coach. In France, it takes longer, but after passing through the coach education system, we really know what to teach and how to teach … Nothing like this in Scotland …the level of knowledge of the Scottish coaches is really poor.”

There was a general perception of a need for general improvement in coach education systems. Reflecting concerns about an essentially voluntary system, several interviewees felt that the lack of a coaching career structure was an important issue.

4.6 “It's not sports specific but human-being specific”

“…the players were…forced to do things without knowing why they should do these things … the coaches used to be more dictatorial, they did not teach the players how to train, they just told them what to do - without explanations why specific exercises are important … the players did not understand why they should do things on the pitch, during the training etc. …if you don't know why you should do something, then you also don't realise if it is important or not.

Most interviewees stressed that the coach/athlete relationship was the key to sporting success and that ‘one size does not fit all’. It was suggested that many Scottish coaches tended to adopt hierarchical, overly formulaic and inflexible approaches. There was a widespread need for more athlete- and people-centred approaches.

4.7 Need for international experience and knowledge of other sports

“You need multi-awareness as a coach which benefits from knowledge of other sports going on in other countries. We have a coach development approach to [sport]... but it is very specific to [sport].”

“We cannot bring the mountain to Scotland. We need to go to the mountain. We have to go out of our little thoughts and get out in the big world and see what it is all about in sport. I think you do that by travelling abroad and learning what others are doing.”

5

There was widespread agreement about the need for funding to enable coaches to gain experience of international elite sport and coaching techniques in other countries and other sports (and even techniques used in industry).

4.8 “They are satisfied to produce Scottish champions”

“They are satisfied to produce Scottish champions. But that is not what we want – we want to produce Olympic champions. But for achieving you have to learn… But if you think that you are already the best, you are not open-minded about learning … we go abroad for learning.”

Some suggested that the lack of international experience led some coaches to have low aspirations for themselves and their athletes. This also related to some concern about low levels of unchallenging, usually internal, benchmarking.

5 Sporting cultures of excellence

This was a key issue, emphasised by most interviewees. The concerns relate to sports- specific issues and the perceived lack of early competition and early learning about the nature of elite sport, the lack of intense competitive opportunities, coaches’ lack of international experience and a coherent developmental pathway.

5.1 Widespread lack of sports-specific ‘performance cultures’

“The existing performance culture in Scotland is the biggest obstacle for being successful in Scottish [sport] … The problem of the Scots is the lack of the goal-oriented way of working, the lack of any performance culture. They don’t want to work for goals… They are hard- working in terms of running after the ball, but they don’t see the goal to beat the world-best …nations; they are not at all achievement-oriented … They act just for the sake of hard- working, not for the sake of winning.”

The lack of sports-specific performance cultures in Scottish sports clubs and governing bodies was regarded as a key constraint on achieving elite sports success.

5.2 “Do not understand what it takes to be a ‘top player’ ”

“The problem lies in the players’ lack of awareness how to behave and act as an elite player. They were not taught what is required for being an elite player … The system has to teach them to avoid the lack of awareness. This education is the major thing”

There seems to be a general lack of understanding about the effort and disciplines required to be an elite athlete, reflecting concerns about the need for early exposure to elite systems and coaches’ inexperience.

5.3 Lack of competition for places

“Obviously, there are too few …players in Scotland. Therefore, competition does not exist which is very bad because only in hard competition, you can develop into a good player … Consequently, the girls are not tough enough in the youth squads.”

In many sports the relatively small participant base and the associated absence of intensive competition produces a lack of competition for places, even at the elite level. This serves to reinforce concerns about weak cultures of excellence.

6 5.4 The role of the media

“I would say that the quality of the media and the lack of coverage across other sports (besides football and rugby) is a significant issue for this country. That’s a campaign that somebody should be fighting…..”

The concern with a lack of a performance culture and understanding of what it takes to be an elite athlete was frequently strongly associated with negative comments about the role of the media.

5.4.1 Confusing fame with achievement in a small country: the media

“We do have the tendency to think that we are great when we are only just arriving … … Some people consider achievement as to be famous, a celebrity, getting your name in the newspaper … Celebrity for my generation would be a consequence, but not a reason for doing it.”

In a small country where the media want stories of sporting success, many young developing athletes can be made to feel that they have ‘made it’, before they have. Such media-led perceptions can lead to a reduction in the effort necessary to achieve international success.

5.4.2 Fear of risk of high profile failure in a small country

“In the States … if you lose – no big deal … The cost of failure is negligible. No one knew you before … Whereas here, if you lose [in Scotland] everybody jumps on top of you … No one wants to take the risk because the cost of failure is high.”

The close scrutiny of the media (especially in high profile sports) can lead to the reduction of aspirations and satisfaction with ‘local fame’.

5.5 Bravehearts or underdogs?

Interviewees considered the possible relationship between their concerns with the lack of sporting cultures of excellence and broader national cultural traits. However there was a lack of consensus about the precise, if any, importance of aspects of Scottish culture for the development of elite sport.

“I don’t see in your top sports people the pessimism … I think they are a bloody optimistic bunch!”

“I don’t see the Scots as being self-critical and pessimistic. But ...they put limitations, they don’t want to set their ambition too high in case they fail. The other thing is that they are not proud about themselves. They don’t say how fantastic they are when something has worked out. Consequently, they are not getting recognised that they have achieved something.”

5.5.1 “They carry all Scotland on their back”

“They have to dissociate their identity from what they do. They need to say: I'm Scottish but that's just one part of me, I'm a person and then I race in this sport. What I do today, that's just what happens today. My identity is still whatever it is. And when they separate those two, I think they will compete better.”

Several interviewees discussed issues about the interface between cultural identity and the focussed individual motivation and identity required to perform at the highest level. The

7 general view was that emphasising national identity, and the associated pressures, were not always the best approach.

5.5.2 “The Scots cannot deal with each other”

“One of the things I struggled most was: just saying it. We try to come to a decision …and it goes around the houses for a long time. Within certain settings, people are lacking the ability to go and say things directly face-to face.”

Many referred to an inherent conservatism in Scottish sporting organisations and an unwillingness, or inability, to address certain fundamental issues. Some also saw this as indicating a lack of strategic leadership and direction.

6 Funding

6.1 Funding mediocrity or failing juniors?

There was a diversity of opinion about the new sources of funding. Some expressed strongly held opinions that performance thresholds for funding are too low in the current Lottery system.

“... I think that we are funding mediocrity …. as a mediocre [athlete], you can stay in Scotland and you put your feet up to the fire and do very little training and have your car, have your apartment”

Others suggested that the increased concentration on medal potential may undermine the long term development of certain sports.

“The Institute only wants to fund the potential medalists. But we need the players playing tournaments in teams. We need to keep them in the game.”

6.2 Wider use of scholarships

“In other countries (France and Germany) full-time athletes combine their training with some form of education - studies (e.g. sports studies) which are tailored to suit their lifestyles. Universities are very compliant to their sporting needs and let them away. In Japan and Korea they go to universities to study [sport]. Other countries have very institutionalised systems but in Scotland athletes have to individually negotiate their terms with their university.”

Some respondents, especially foreign coaches, suggested that a wider and more systematic and integrated system of university scholarships might enable many more Scottish athletes to stay in sport and commit themselves to the training regimes necessary to achieve in elite international sport.

7 Facilities

As would be expected, there was a general concern about the lack of indoor and all-weather facilities and access to existing facilities for training purposes.

7.1 “You cannot do technical work in freezing, cold conditions”

Each sport had its own concerns relating to the need for indoor facilities for technical events and all-year training (increasingly important for many sports).

8

7.2 “Having one significant facility creates a sense of identity”

Several interviewees argued for the establishment of a national elite facility for their sport.

7.3 Access to existing facilities

Several interviewees expressed concern about the lack of facilities for juniors and access at reasonable times to current facilities.

7.4 “I don’t think that the lack of facilities is a bottleneck as other issues”

“I think Scotland’s got all of these things [i.e. training facilities]. You have to remember: in all things to do with development and growth etc … it always comes down to the quality of the people and the quality of the talents.”

Although concerns were expressed about facilities many felt that the key to elite success lay in addressing the issues relating to competition, coaching and sporting cultures of excellence outlined in this report.

9

8 Issues for Consideration

Strategy • There is a need for a coherent and integrated strategy for the elite sport system. The inter-dependent roles of each partner in this continuum should be identified clearly and recognition and status accorded to each contribution. • There is need for clear and unambiguous leadership to reduce current fragmentation and to manage the various elements of this ‘supply chain’. • There is a need to move beyond useful, but ad hoc initiatives, and view the proposed action points as part of an integrated and coherently managed system.

Ð

School PE and Sport • There is a need to ensure the early development of multi-sports skills, with specialisation introduced at appropriate times dependent on the needs of individual sports. • There is a need to provide earlier experience of intense competition via the establishment of school-based leagues and competitions or alternative approaches. • There is need to promote and support best practice in developing school/club links (e.g. PE School Sport and Club Links initiative; table tennis’ Premier Club System). • Both schools and sports clubs need to be assisted to develop and implement more systematic talent ID systems.

Ð

Sports clubs and competition structures • Clarification is required about the relative roles of clubs and governing bodies in the production of elite performers. • Governing bodies need to develop and implement whole sport strategies. • Consideration needs to be given to possible solutions to weak competition structures. • There is need to identify and/or promote good practice in the development of a coherent development continuum, with links from schools to elite squads.

Ð

Coaches • A thorough review of coach education is required, including the development of more athlete-centred approaches (especially for those working with talented and elite performers). • The development and support of a system based on a continuum of coaches. • There is a need for more coherent strategic management of this ‘supply-chain’ • Foreign travel and knowledge of a variety of sports needs to be encouraged and funded. A system is required for the subsequent dissemination of this knowledge. • There is a need for the funding of more full-time coaches and the development of more coherent career structure. • In the context of greater professionalisation of coaching there is a need for a strategy to protect and support volunteer coaches. • A systematic review of benchmarking is required for all sports.

10 Ð

Sporting cultures of excellence • The promotion of sporting cultures of excellence and a knowledge of what it takes to be an elite athlete should inform of aspects of the strategy and all investments. • Early international experience and systematic and integrated role model/mentoring programmes should be introduced for both athletes and coaches. • Funding organisations should ensure that benchmarking is set at appropriate, challenging, levels. • Consideration should be given to a media strategy, including training to manage the impact of media coverage on athletes.

Ð

Funding • There is need for a sport-by-sport review of current lottery funding within the context of the new strategy. • Universities should be encouraged to adopt a more systematic and integrated approach to sports scholarships. • Business funding and support should be sought, especially for business/sport exchange programmes and organisational, process and people management training.

11 Appendix 1: Interviewees

Tommy Boyle BAF Master Coach (Athletics) Jimmy Calderwood First Team Manager, Aberdeen Football Club Bobby Clark Head Soccer Coach, University of Notre Dame, USA Dave Clark Strength and Conditioning Coach, Scottish Institute of Sport Frank Dick President of the European Athletics Coaches Association and former GB Athletics Coach Alistair Gray Member of the Board of Scottish Institute of Sport Foundation and former Chairman, Scottish Institute of Sport Hamish Grey Chief Executive Officer, Scottish Golf Union Frank Hadden Scottish National Rugby Coach Anne-Marie Harrison Executive Director, Victoria Institute of Sport and former Executive Director, Scottish Institute of Sport Mike Hay High Performance Curling Coach, Scottish Institute of Sport Chris Hoy Olympic and World Champion Track Cyclist Peter Keen Former Performance Director for British Cycling Ian McGeechan Former Scottish National Rugby Coach Chris Martin Scottish High Performance Swimming Coach Catriona Matthew LPGA Tour Winner and Solheim Cup Golfer Tony Mowbray Manager, Hibernian Football Club Ronald Morency Former Scottish National Track and Field Coach Judy Murray Former Scottish National Tennis Coach Alison Ramsay Board Member of the Scottish Institute of Sport and former Scotland and GB Hockey Player Graeme Randall Judo Coach, Scottish Institute of Sport Meg Ritchie Track and Field Coach, East Tennessee State University and former Scottish National Track and Field Coach Andy Roxburgh UEFA Technical Director and former Scottish National Football Coach Yehuda Shinar Chief Executive, Winning Enterprises Ltd Anna Signeul Scottish Women’s National Football Coach Dan Travers High Performance Coach (Badminton), Scottish Institute of Sport Gary van der Meulen Performance Swim Coach, Tayside and Fife Institute of Sport David Whitaker Former GB Men’s Hockey Coach Matt Williams Former Scottish National Rugby Coach Darcel Yandzi Judo Technical Coach, Scottish Institute of Sport

Note: The names of two interviewees have been removed from the above list at their request.

12

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 The 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow provide a fantastic opportunity for Scottish sport, particularly through the willingness of stakeholders to develop a tangible legacy from the event. This also provides an opportunity to identify and implement new strategies to improve the quality of life in Scottish communities at the same time as strengthening their economic potential. In particular, there is a unique opportunity to develop collaboration between the sport and tourism sectors in Scotland to develop support for sport provision and thereby generate more tourism to the country.

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 The basic aim of this study, which has been commissioned by the Winning Scotland Foundation, is to investigate the feasibility of developing a new funding stream for sports facilities in Scotland. One of the identified possibilities is the development of a tourism tax, which would generate a revenue stream to support tourism DQGsports development and marketing.

In the past, the idea of tourism taxes has been met with considerable opposition from the tourism industry. One of the main reasons for this is a fear that any additional ‘tax’ on tourism is assumed to harm the visitor industry, and therefore reduce the economic benefits this creates. +RZHYHUVXFKDUJXPHQWVDUHQRWXVXDOO\EDFNHGXSZLWKUHVHDUFK This report therefore examines the evidence for such impacts from around the world to evaluate what effects tourist taxes have on tourism, and what benefits they generate for the community as a whole.

The objectives of the study are:

• To conduct a review of tourist/bed tax schemes currently in operation in Europe, North America and elsewhere • To identify the extent to which such funding is currently used to support sports projects, and the types of projects being supported • To analyse the pros and cons of the funding models identified • To assess the extent to which any negative impacts on tourism have been generated by such taxes • To make an initial assessment of the revenues that might be generated in Scotland • To advise on the best strategy for implementing similar schemes in Scotland.

Although the UK has little experience of tourism or bed taxes, the use of such measures is widespread elsewhere, particularly in the United States.

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The rationale behind the American model is that money generated by tourism taxes will be spent on promoting tourism and developing facilities which will seed future tourism demand, therefore further increasing tax revenues in the future. The use of tax revenues to generate tourism demand is argued to create a virtuous spiral of increasing investment feeding increased tourism demand and higher tourism tax yields.

3 The tourist tax is usually locally administered, and tourism stakeholders have a high degree of control over the investment of tax revenues, creating a high degree of support for the tax system.

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The construction of sports facilities has often been justified in US cities on the basis of tourism tax revenues, including the future revenue from taxes on visitors and businesses using such facilities. In many US cities, specific tourism and sports development authorities have been set up to develop sports facilities with funding derived from tourist taxes. Many cities have joint tourism and sport authorities which unite the sports and tourism sectors behind initiatives to improve sports facilities, particularly where this is seen as having a direct benefit for tourism.

These examples seem to suggest that there is scope for a tourism tax to generate a positive partnership between tourism and sport to provide professional and community sports facilities in locations of all kinds.

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The main argument for a tourism tax is that money would be generated for investment – the main argument against is that a tax would increase prices and therefore reduce demand. The examples from America and elsewhere quoted in this report clearly outline the ability of tourism taxes to generate benefits for the tourism sector and the local community. However an examination of the evidence relating to the impact of tourism taxes on tourism activity are less conclusive.

Our examination of empirical evidence of changes in tourism flows where new taxes had actually been introduced in different tourism destinations shows that although tourism fell in some destinations, it actually rose in others, indicating that the impact of a tax is not automatically negative. In a number of destinations examined, tourism increased, particularly where the revenues had been invested in effective marketing activities.

In the Balearic Islands, the widely-quoted example of the ‘ecotax’ introduced in 2002 was linked to a fall in tourist numbers. But in fact the region has suffered a long term decline in market share which continued even after the removal of the tax. This indicates that the fall in tourism in 2002 was not solely the result of the new tax, but a reflection of a structural problem with the competitive position of the tourist product of the Islands – one of the very problems that the tax was designed to tackle through investments in the environment and culture.

Although many argue that any additional tax will harm tourism, it is hard to find conclusive evidence to support this assertion. There seems to be just as much evidence (if not more) to support the argument for a ‘virtuous cycle’ of increased marketing spend and tourism growth. In the light of current funding uncertainties in Scotland, this does seem to indicate potential for such a system to generate benefits for sport and tourism here as well.

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Tourism taxes have been proposed a number of times in the UK, most recently in the Lyons Review of Local Government in England and Wales and the Burt Review in

4 Scotland. The final recommendation of the Burt Review was: ‘We recommend that consideration should be given to introducing a discretionary power for local authorities to apply a tourism tax.’

A recent study of the impact of tourism tax on Edinburgh concluded that visitor numbers to Edinburgh would not be severely affected by the introduction of a bed levy, as long as the reason for this is clearly explained.

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A further option to consider would be the introduction of a car hire tax, which is also widely used in the United States and elsewhere. In Scotland, this is estimated to generate a total of around £6 million pa, at a rate of £1 per day.

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 It is important to reassure stakeholders that the aim of developing these new revenue streams is to create a positive relationship between the tourism and sport sectors. The implementation strategy outlined in this document therefore underlines the need to:

• Show that tourist taxes are needed • Present evidence of the positive impacts of tourism taxes • Counter negative impressions • Provide reassurance to the industry about the use of tourism taxes • Create a partnership • Use 2014 as a catalyst.

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The 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow provide a fantastic opportunity for Scottish sport, not just in terms of sporting achievement at the Games themselves, but also the legacy that the Games will generate. As the Scottish Government’s Consultation Paper on 2014 reminds us, however, that legacy will not simply arrive – it has to be worked for and carefully developed.

The legacy of the Games is expected to be wide ranging, covering sporting, cultural, economic, social and environmental benefits. The legacy of the Games includes many areas to which sport can make a direct contribution, not just on the track or in the pool, but also across society as a whole. For example, they can help to

• Position Scotland as an attractive place to visit, work and study

• Make Scotland a healthier place to live

• Increase participation in sport and improve performance

• Expand the sporting infrastructure to meet increased interest in sports participation

• Improve and expand the support service delivery structure to enhance sporting performance

• Ensure that all in Scotland can share in the opportunities provided by sustainable economic growth.

The ultimate aim of all this, according to the Scottish Government, is to improve people’s lives.

Such aspirations require two basic conditions: broad support from the general public as well as public, private and voluntary sector organisations, and a significant input of resources. There is little doubt about the first condition: Over 1.75 million individuals and organisations signed up to 'Back Scotland's Bid' for the Games. Where the resources will come from is less clear. Sport at all levels currently suffers from a funding deficit which threatens the 2014 legacy and the aspirations aligned with it. For example, VSRUWscotland has estimated that an additional £110m a year would be needed for the next 25 years to bring all sports facilities up to an acceptable standard.

It is unlikely that the resources required to secure the 2014 Legacy and the sporting future of Scotland will be found unless new and innovative solutions to the funding gap are forthcoming.

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The Winning Scotland Foundation is an independent business-led charity which is working to create a positive winning attitude in Scotland. It is proven that winning at anything can be learnt and that you can get into the habit of being a winner. The Foundation believes that sport is the best training ground to give young people skills which are applicable across their whole lives. Programmes funded by the Foundation are successful in using sport to help young people learn how to win and how to maximise their full potential. The Foundation, through collaboration with business, education and sport, sets young people on a path to self-fulfilment, and helps them believe that what is important is not how good they are now but how good they want to become.

In the light of the benefits to be gained by the visitor industry in Scotland from the 2014 Games (including £81 million in visitor spending in 2014, and an additional £30 million a year in the period after the games) and the ongoing benefits which will accrue from the facilities and events spawned by 2014, it seems appropriate to examine some form of economic contribution to Scottish sport from visitors and/or the visitor industry.

In many other countries, some form of tourism or visitor levy is applied in order to generate funds to develop facilities, offset the costs of tourism or to strengthen tourism marketing. To date, no such scheme has been widely applied in the UK. One of the main reasons for this is a fear that any additional ‘tax’ on tourism will harm the visitor industry, and therefore reduce the economic benefits this creates. +RZHYHU VXFK DUJXPHQWV DUH QRW XVXDOO\

EDFNHG XS ZLWK UHVHDUFK It is therefore important to examine the evidence of how such schemes function elsewhere, what effects these have on tourism, and what benefits they generate for the community as a whole.

The objectives of the study are therefore:

• To conduct a review of tourist/bed tax schemes currently in operation in Europe, North America and elsewhere • To identify the extent to which such funding is currently used to support sports projects, and the types of projects being supported • To analyse the pros and cons of the funding models identified • To assess the extent to which any negative impacts on tourism have been generated by such taxes • To make an initial assessment of the revenues that might be generated in Scotland • To advise on the best strategy for implementing similar schemes in Scotland.



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PHDVXUHVLVZLGHVSUHDGHOVHZKHUHSDUWLFXODUO\LQWKH8QLWHG6WDWHVThis is because there has traditionally been little direct public sector intervention in tourism marketing and development overseas, which is often left to private or private-public partnership destination marketing organisations (DMOs). The Visitor and Convention Bureau is a common model in North America, with funding for the Bureau usually coming from a ‘bed tax’ or ‘transient occupancy tax’ (TOT); a levy on people staying in hotels and other temporary accommodation in a city or region. The TOT was first introduced in New York after the Second World War in a bid to kick start the tourism industry by generating funds for tourism marketing. Since then, this general model has been adopted almost everywhere in the United States, and is becoming increasingly common elsewhere.

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In the USA and Canada almost all cities and regions levy some kind of charge on temporary visitors. This is usually managed by the local administration, but the monies raised are then set aside for investment in tourism marketing and development and other areas relevant to the tourism industry, such as the provision of professional and amateur sports facilities. The distribution of funds is usually overseen by some kind of board (see below), and much of the funding is directed by them to the local DMO. This funding is often performance related – targets will be agreed between the board or the local authority and the DMO, and funding will then be contingent on meeting certain targets.

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Tourist and Convention Development Taxes fall within three main categories:

1. Tourist and Convention Development Taxes on Transient Rentals (bed taxes)

In total, there is a 6% tax collected on the rental amount from any person who rents, leases or lets for consideration any living quarter accommodations in a hotel, apartment hotel, motel, resort motel, apartment motel, rooming house, mobile home park, recreational vehicle park, single family dwelling, beach house, cottage, condominium, or any other sleeping accommodations rented for a period of six months or less. The 6% tax is made up of the following 3 elements:

* Three 3% Convention Development Tax (CDT) collected throughout Miami-Dade County, with the exception of the cities of Surfside and Bal Harbour. Two-thirds of the CDT receipts are distributed to Miami-Dade County, and one-third is used to fund the Miami Arena.

* Two percent Tourist Development Tax (TDT) collected throughout Miami-Dade County, with the exception of the cities of Surfside, Bal Harbour and Miami Beach. Sixty percent of the TDT is distributed to the Greater Miami Convention and Visitors Bureau, 20% to the Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs, and 20% to the City of Miami.

9 * One percent Professional Sports Facilities Franchise Tax collected throughout Miami-Dade County, with the exception of the cities of Surfside, Bal Harbour and Miami Beach. This 1% tax is used only for debt service payments on county debt for professional sports facilities.

A regular survey of DMOs in the United States is carried out by the Destination Marketing Association International (www.destinationmarketing.org). This study indicated that in 2007, around 86% of DMOs received income from bed taxes. The average bed tax in 2007 was 7.4%, with the total tax burden reaching 12.2% (incl. hotel room tax, sales taxes, etc.). The average number of hotel rooms served by a DMO is approximately 13,000. In addition, many DMOs have car rental taxes (an average of 11.3% on each rental including tax, sales tax, etc.) or Special Restaurant Tax (an average of 2.9% excl. sales tax).

The sums of money raised in major tourist centres can be quite considerable. In Phoenix, Arizona, for example, the revenue from a 17.75 percent car rental tax and a 12 percent bed tax is estimated to be $1.2 billion over 30 years. This will go towards raising the $1.8 billion needed to build a new Arizona Cardinals stadium, promote tourism and support youth sports. Even in relatively small destinations the revenue implications can be significant. For example, the City of Des Moines in Iowa, with a population of 200,000 people, generates around $3.8 million a year from its tourism taxes (see case study below).

One of the key characteristics of the tourism taxes levied in the United States is that they are JHQHUDOO\GHVLJQDWHGWD[HV RUK\SRWKHFDWHGWD[HV – in other words the money raised from tourism taxes can only be used for specifically designated purposes. In most cases, the tourism taxes go to fund tourism marketing or tourism development, for example through the provision of conference or sports facilities. For example in San Antonio, Texas:

Chapter 334 of the Texas Local Government Code requires that the Visitor Tax only be used to fund athletic and entertainment venues and related infrastructure that will positively impact tourism. Venues, as defined by this law, would include a stadium or other facility used for professional sports, amateur sports or community events that require an admissions fee. The term could also include a convention center, auditorium or music hall.

Similar provisions in Florida state that tourism tax revenues may only be used:

1. To acquire, construct, extend, enlarge, remodel, repair, improve, maintain, operate, or promote one or more publicly owned and operated convention centers, sports stadiums, sports arenas, coliseums, or auditoriums, or museums that are publicly owned and operated or owned and operated by not-for-profit organizations and open to the public, within the boundaries of the county ….

2. To promote and advertise tourism in the State of Florida and nationally and internationally; however, if tax revenues are expended for an activity, service, venue, or event, the activity, service, venue, or event shall have as one of its main purposes the attraction of tourists as evidenced by the promotion of the activity, service, venue, or event to tourists[.]

These kinds of provisions are fairly common, and effectively prevent tourism taxes being

10 used for general purposes. Of course, there are always discussions about what might be covered under ‘infrastructure that might positively impact tourism’, but in general funding of sports facilities is a widely-accepted target of tourist tax investment. The Florida example also makes it clear that a mixture of tourism and sports investments is seen as a legitimate destination for such funds. Although the sports investment is often made in the form of professional sports facilities, community facilities are also funded. In many major cities a concern with professional sport is driven by the high mobility of American professional sports teams – a phenomenon which is still relatively rare in the UK.

The 2007 survey shows that on average, 53% of the hotel room tax revenues are allocated to the DMO for administration costs and marketing. Slightly more than one-third of destinations use hotel room tax revenues for conference centres (operations, construction, debt service). Other uses include non-visitor related purposes (38%), other visitor-related purposes (26%) and arenas/sports facilities (24%).

The restrictions placed on spending of tax revenues can vary, with some states having a base amount that has to be spent on specific purposes (e.g. tourism marketing) and then allowing the rest to be spent more flexibly. There is also evidence that legislators and the general public is beginning to put pressure on these dedicated budgets as public spending become tighter. In Florida, for example, some recent polls showed members of the public being in favour of using the money for roads and schools.

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LPSDFWV FDXVHG E\ WKH LPSRVLWLRQ RI WKH WD[ In other words, the tax is justified by appealing to the benefits-received principle, which states that revenues from a tax ought to be used to benefit those taxed or, in this case (from the perspective of the hoteliers), those negatively affected (Litvin et al. 2004). The result of such earmarking, it is hoped, is a ‘virtuous cycle’ in which accommodation taxes represent a tourism investment that in turn yields still greater income for the community.

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Driving greater

visitor arrivals & increased destination awareness.

Resulting in increased accommodation taxes

available for promoting additional events.

Increasing visitor arrivals and hotel occupancy.

Providing visitors a motivation to visit the destination.

Funds allocated to the promotion of a local

festival or event.

Accommodations tax

funds made available to the community

This virtuous cycle seems to be confirmed by the research results, which indicates that those communities that allocated their tourism tax dollars to providing and promoting the arts, cultural events, and other tourism-related events have been rewarded with a solid return on their expenditures (Litvin et al 2006).

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Des Moines residents voted in 1979 to impose a 5% hotel/motel tax; in 1985 another vote raised the amount to 7%, with the extra two percentage points allotted to the Convention and Visitors Bureau.

The State mandates that 50% of the revenues collected from the hotel/motel tax be used to maintain recreation and cultural facilities, or to promote tourism and convention business in the area.

As taxes raise the total cost of a stay, hotels lose some of the money they would have used to improve the property and pay employees because room rates must remain low in order to stay competitive. "We want to have things that make Des Moines pleasing for visitors and residents," an official said. "The Art Centre and parks are free; activities like that make the city more palatable, more friendly and more fun."

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Louisville 17,000 8.5% 69% $13,788,606 Minneapolis 6,000 6% 99.6% $9,300,000 Kansas City 14,000 7.5% 34.7% $6,997,433 Lexington 7,000 7% 66.7% $4,500,000 Milwaukee 13,000 9% 40.8% $6,500,000 Omaha 7,308 9% 50% $3,008,135 Grand Rapids (Mi) 6,884 7% 43% $2,922,106 Oklahoma City 13,000 5.5% 36.4% $3,300,000 Des Moines 9,528 7% 28.5% $3,072,000

Janet Ziegier, vice president of finance/administration for the Kansas City Convention and Visitors Association, said 35% of the Kansas City equivalent of the hotel/motel tax goes to her organization for marketing uses. The convention centre receives 55% for debt and operations and 10% is allocated to a neighbourhood tourist development fund.

The CVB works to attract visitors and Bravo, a nonprofit organization committed to strengthening the metro area’s arts and cultural community, which helps support the organizations that provide cultural opportunities for those visitors for Bravo. Bravo is responsible for granting the allocated funds from the hotel/motel tax revenue (from Des Moines, Polk County and other cities involved in the agreement) to cultural organizations, such as the Blank Park [Z(M)], the Des Moines Botanical Centre and the Des Moines Art Center. "Arts and culture enhance the quality of life," Leisha Barcus, director of strategic initiatives said. "...People choose places that have arts and culture amenities. It makes (Greater Des Moines) world-class if we have these experiences." After allocating four- sevenths of the hotel/motel tax revenue to the CVB and Bravo, the city of Des Moines is left with the remaining three-sevenths.

13

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Sometimes these oversight bodies include representatives from several groups including the hotel/motel industry. In addition to regular review of specific uses of funds, some cities’ ordinances call for periodic vote of the people to continue the lodging tax. The City of Lawton, Oklahoma, for example, votes every five years to renew or abolish their lodging tax. Hence, each city may customize its ordinance to local needs and interests.

In many areas, the spending of tax revenues is controlled by a local commission which has to approve the budget. For example in South Carolina there is a Tourism Expenditure Committee which oversees the distribution of revenues. Hoteliers are included in the membership of Tourism Expenditure Committees at the community level that receive and evaluate funding applications for use of accommodation tax revenues, and make their recommendations to their respective city councils or county commissions on their appropriateness. In addition, municipalities and counties are required to submit annually to the South Carolina Department of Revenue (SCDOR) and the South Carolina Accommodations Tax Oversight Committee (SCATOC) an Accommodations Tax Reporting Form that details how their accommodation tax funds have been spent. SCATOC, charged with monitoring local governments’ use of the accommodations tax, has historically included among its membership strong representation from accommodation and tourism interests. One result of this influence has been the restriction of permitted usages of such revenues by local governments. These restrictions generally require that at least a portion of the tax proceeds be directed toward tourism-related expenditures, rather than being siphoned to general operating funds for the community.

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14 requiring considerable amounts of investment. Between 1984 and 2000, there were 37 occasions when American voters were asked to decide whether public funds should be used for the construction of professional sport stadiums and arenas (Paul and Brown, 2001). The funds usually came from current and future tourism taxes, often based on the argument that without these sports facilities, there would be no tax revenue, and that the facilities are therefore effectively ‘free’. For example, for the construction of an arena in Norfolk, Virginia, was funded by advancing the tax revenues that would be generated by the arena after its construction: ‘That $5 million a year is tax money the state would never see if the arena were not built, so the state is giving up nothing it has.’

Sports facilities can be funded in a number of different ways in the United States, including selective tax breaks and “tax increment financing districts”1, cash subsidies, land, and/or infrastructure improvements. But perhaps the most popular option is an increase in the hotel tax or car rental tax. The economic impact of such taxes on the local area is often argued to be low, because the taxes are mainly paid by tourists and other visitors to the area. Chicago mayor Richard M. Daley commented while signing the $387 million deal to refurbish Soldier Field that the deal “won’t cost the people of Chicago a penny” because it relied on the city’s hotel tax. There has been criticism of the use of tax revenues to fund professional sports venues, in that it tends to benefit rich franchise owners rather than the local population as a whole. But WD[ UHYHQXHV KDYH DOVR EHHQ XVHG WR IXQG SXEOLF VSRUWV

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In San Antonio, Texas,  tourism taxes are being used for a plan that includes the construction of a state-of-the-art swimming stadium; professional-class fencing centre; a 2,000-seat football stadium; nearly four dozen soccer fields; 53 baseball and softball diamonds; three track and field facilities; and a cross-country running course. The total cost of this development is estimated at $80 million, of which the bulk will come from tourism taxes, but with additional funding from private sources. Voters in San Antonio approved a 1.75 percent tax increase on hotel rooms and an increased car rental tax to fund this and other infrastructure improvements totalling $415 million. The proposal for new youth facilities was approved by more than 70 percent of the vote (National Examiner 2008). The biggest challenge, according to the organiser of the campaign for the investments was trying to convince people that they were voting on an existing tax. The tax on hotel rooms and a levy on car rentals were originally introduced in 1999 to build a conference centre.

In Raleigh, North Carolina, an online poll was organised by the DMO which allowed residents to choose between options including a sports centre, a performing arts centre, a convention centre and an extension to the North Carolina Art Museum. The sports centre development topped the poll with 49% of the vote (although the tourism tax revenues were eventually large enough to cover a number of these development options).

In Canada, over half the ratepayers of Kamloops in British Columbia (population 83,000) recently voted 54% in favour of borrowing $37.6 million for a new sports complex. Kamloops is now registered as Canada’s Tournament Capital, which appropriately describes Canada’s premier location for tournaments, high-performance training camps,

1 Tax increment financing uses real estate value increases to fund development. A city will "freeze" the assessed value of real estate within a defined district. As the city and others invest in the area, property values go up. The property taxes above those that were collected when the values were "frozen" are used to pay for the improvements in the area.

15 national and international competitions and cultural events. “The Tournament Capital Program encourages a healthy economy by contributing more than $10 million each year to hotels, restaurants, and many other support services offered by Kamloops businesses,” says Kamloops Mayor Terry Lake. “In addition to our first-class sporting venues, Kamloops has a vibrant arts and entertainment sector, including a nationally-renowned art gallery, theatre company and symphony orchestra.”

In 2007 Kamloops hosted more than 100 tournaments in 294 days, with an estimated 26,000 participants. Over the past year, Kamloops has hosted Team Israel playing Team Canada in the International Federation of Women’s Tennis, National Founders Cup in Lacrosse, Western Canada Speed Skating Championships, and British Columbia Gymnastics Championships, among many other high profile events. Kamloops is hosting other notable events in coming years - the 2008 Canadian Inter-University Sports (CIS) Soccer Nationals, 2010 World Master’s Athletics, and 2011 Western Canada Summer Games.

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On average, around 88% of residents also support the City in its policy of spending on tourism.

For smaller communities in the United States, an increase in the tourist tax may be one of the few ways in which funds can be raised to provide community sports facilities. In the New Mexico mountain resort of Angel Fire (population 1,100) for example, a 2.4% increase in tourist tax was proposed to fund a soccer and baseball complex for use by local people and summer visitors. Village Administrator Melissa Byrne Vossmer said that the recreation complex “will strengthen our local economy and provide recreational opportunities for the residents,". Village officials estimate the fee will bring in revenues of $1.8 million over the course of its 20-year life span.

However, the use of tax funding for community sports facilities is not always without opposition. In Abilene, Texas, a proposal to develop a $30 million youth sports facility met with opposition from a lobby group call ‘Good Jobs for Abilene’, which argued that the 0.5% sales tax allocation to fund the centre would be better spent on investment in local businesses. The group argued that business investment would generate "six times the benefits that's being projected for the youth sports complex." Not surprisingly, this group was only looking at the economic benefits rather than the wider benefits to the community

16 and its quality of life.

The Abilene sales tax raised $8.3 million in 2007, and voters were asked to approve the use of $15 million in tax revenues to fund 50% of the costs of the youth sports complex. The other 50% would be raised from private sources. If the matching funding is not forthcoming, then the wording of the ballot precludes the investment of public funds in the project, and the tax revenue raised would have to be allocated to other uses. The opponents of the plan were at pains to point out that they were not against the provision of sports facilities, but thought that the tax revenue would be better spent on economic development.

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VHW XS WR GHYHORS VSRUWV IDFLOLWLHV ZLWK IXQGLQJ GHULYHG IURP WRXULVW WD[HV For example, the Arizona Tourism and Sports Authority (TSA) has an expected total budget of over $600 million from a 30 year allocation of a 1% hotel bed tax. The TSA was set up in 2001 with the following statutory funding priorities and responsibilities:

• Designing and constructing a new multipurpose facility, which will be the new home of the Arizona Cardinals football team and the Tostito’s Fiesta Bowl, and which will also host the 2008 Super Bowl; • Funding tourism promotion in Maricopa County by distributing monies to the Arizona Office of Tourism; • Awarding monies to renovate existing or construct new Cactus League (MLB) spring training baseball facilities in Maricopa County; • Awarding grants for youth and amateur sports facilities and programs in Maricopa County; • Funding TSA operations, including staff salaries, travel, and insurance, as well as funding the operations of the multipurpose facility; and • Establishing and funding reserves for its operations, youth and amateur sports, and for repairs and other long-term costs associated with the multipurpose facility.

The TSA gets its funding from two sources:

• Hotel bed tax increase - For 30 years, TSA receives revenue from a 1 percent increase in Maricopa County’s hotel bed tax. TSA expects to receive a total of nearly $610 million from hotel bed taxes up to February 2031. • Car rental surcharge - For 30 years, TSA receives a portion of the revenues generated by a 3.25 percent car rental surcharge in Maricopa County. TSA projects that it will receive over $382 million from this surcharge up to February 2031.

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WKLVLVVHHQDVKDYLQJDGLUHFWEHQHILWIRUWRXULVP. In Winston-Salem (North Carolina) the Sports Commission recently requested a 0.5% increase in the bed tax to 6.5%. The extra revenue would be used to promote and organize amateur and professional sports events in the local community. Tourism officials also said that the extra money is critical to the community's ability to keep attracting regional and national sports events, particularly those that require guaranteed fees. Those fees - based on a guarantee of a certain level of revenue - are required by many sports organizations in the US before they will agree to hold events in a community.

17 Attracting sporting events to the community has become a major economic factor. The city has hosted the first two rounds of the NCAA men's basketball tournament and the

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Other US developments have also gone a step further and had the developer of sports and other facilities guarantee that the increase in tax revenues will occur (both San Diego and Glendale in California have imposed such clauses).



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This section of the report briefly summaries some of the main arguments for and against the imposition of tourism taxes.

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Often, the logic for adopting a lodging tax is that the money collected will be used to promote economic development. Economic development, in turn, will result in additional business for the accommodation industry.

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A key advantage often cited is that the tax is levied on visitors rather than on local citizens. Local voters usually find this very appealing. Taken at face value, the tourist tax seems to be ideal since it taxes people from outside the community for the benefit of people within the community. There is also a growing logic to this kind of contribution by visitors, since they also use many of the facilities paid for by local residents through their taxes. As tourism consumption increasingly becomes integrated into the everyday life of the destination (tourists increasingly want to experience the everyday life of the locals) this type of partnership is likely to become even more important.

Because the tourist tax is levied on visitors who use locally-funded facilities, this is also in line with the widely accepted ‘user pays’ principle of taxation.

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Another major advantage of a tourist tax is that it provides an on-going source of funds for tourism promotion. If a community is to have an effective tourism industry, it requires a steady stream of marketing funding.

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By increasing marketing spend with the funds generated from tourism taxes, destinations can attract more visitors and thereby also generate more income from tourism. This is the

18 ‘virtuous cycle’ described by Litvin et al (2004).

In Michigan, for example, Longwoods International (2003) argued that:

 Tourism becomes a net revenue generator, not a cost, to taxpayers. It doesn’t compete with priority programs; it helps pay for them. It’s an investment to help lure more tourists to your state, who will spend more money and generate even more tax dollars for your residents.



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Because tourism taxes are usually ‘earmarked’, there is a high degree of transparency in the application and use of the tax revenue. In most cases, those affected by the tax (such as tourism businesses) can also exert influence over how the revenue is spent, and in almost all cases there is some form of democratic control on expenditure. This makes tourist taxes more popular with both tourist businesses and residents than most forms of general taxation.

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As the Nebraska State Tourism Commission argues, tourism taxes tend to make up a very small proportion of the total tourist spend. ‘The difference between a $53 room charge and a $54.50 room charge will have little or no bearing on consumer choices.’

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Because leisure tourism is an item of discretionary spend, there is often a degree of price elasticity in tourism purchases. This means that an increase in price may have a disproportionate negative impact on visitor arrivals. Similarly, some argue that by reducing taxes (and therefore reducing the cost of the destination) tourism will increase and any loss of tax revenue would be offset by higher visitor numbers.

In New York, for example, former mayor Rudy Giuliani reduced the New York City hotel tax from 6% to 5% in the 1990s, believing the city's hospitality sector had become uncompetitive and overburdened by tariffs.

‘’I wanted to send a powerful message that I believed that lower taxes would stimulate more than enough business to offset any immediate loss in revenue" wrote Giuliani in his 2002 autobiography. "That's exactly what happened. With more visitors, net revenue from the hotel tax was actually higher at 5% than it had been at 6%.

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VisitBritain’s 2002 research on tourism taxation indicated that during a seven-day stay in the UK, an American family of four contributes £331 (just under £50 per day) to the Exchequer. This is twice the average amount of tax (£166) that the same family would pay in the other leading European destinations when purchasing exactly the same goods and services. It should be noted that this average of £166 per European destination includes

19 those destinations where a specific tourism-related tax is already applied. One of the main reasons that tourists in the UK pay so much more tax in the UK is because the 17.5% VAT rate on accommodation in the UK is more than three times the rate applying in France (5.5%) and twice the European average of 8.5%.

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The argument that tourist tax is ideal because local residents don’t pay it is countered with the argument that tourists are being taxed for facilities they don’t use.

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This is a general argument against many types of taxation collected from businesses. Because the tax is collected from the consumer by tourism businesses, this does add to their costs. In many American cities, therefore, businesses are directly compensated for this additional work: In Saratosa, for example: ‘Owners are entitled to keep 2.5% of the tourist tax collected (maximum of $30.00) as compensation for this service. This collection allowance is subtracted from the tax on the return form - only the difference is paid to the tax collector’s office.’

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Tourism taxes are sometimes criticised as being unfair since they do not apply to all forms of tourism. This was one of the major arguments against the ‘ecotasa’ applied in the Balearic Islands in 2002, for example (see below). Because the tax was only levied on hotels, hoteliers were able to claim to claim that they were being discriminated against relative to other accommodation providers, and the tax was rapidly abolished. Similar objections have been raised in the Netherlands:

Tourist tax has been and will be debated in the Netherlands. Owners of campsites, hotels and other lodging facilities have continuously raised objections, not only because of the amount (which differs greatly from municipality to municipality) but also because of the fact that visitors are only taxed via accommodation facilities. Other sectors like retail and catering, also benefit to a large extent from the number of visitors, but are not levied. For these reasons, owners of tourist accommodation state that tourist tax leads to a distortion of competition. (BuroBuiten, 2007)

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The DMO survey indicates that some communities report varying degrees of difficulty in collecting taxes from hotels. Problems are likely to be minimised if some kind of incentive is present.

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The debate about tourism taxes has been highlighted at various times during the past 30 years, as different bodies have suggested levies as an effective means of generating funding for tourism and other purposes.

For example, in England and Wales, the introduction of a bed tax was mooted in the Lyons Report, after the Association of London Government had suggested that a tourism tax was, "an ideal minor tax in that it relates to a group that imposes clear costs on authorities but which presently contributes nothing directly towards those costs". Research conducted for the Association of London Government by Local Government Futures was based on the implementation of a 6% accommodation tax. According to opponents, this would push the total tax on accommodation to 24.55%, far higher than most other EU countries, and would produce only £4.5m in additional revenue per London council.

The Lyons Report (2007) noted that:

Accommodation taxes have been deployed in a number of places around the world, with varying degrees of success. For instance, an accommodation charge is levied on all overnight stays in France, with the level of the charge largely left to local determination. I also received evidence of voluntary schemes operating in England. For over a decade the Tourism and Conservation Partnership has operated a very successful and entirely voluntary visitor payback scheme in the Lake District and more recently the wider county of Cumbria... for example, Heart of the Lakes accommodation company automatically adds £2 to every invoice they raise. Guests are given the option of opting out of paying this, but rarely do...Many guests make a voluntary contribution in excess of the requested £2.

The basic conclusion of the Lyons Report was; “There are some arguments in favour of new taxes to reflect tourist pressures in some areas. The Government should conduct wider consultation before considering the introduction of permissive powers to allow local authorities to levy such taxes.” There was some support for a bed tax from local authorities, but “on the whole local authority enthusiasm for new taxes of this kind was less than might have been expected.” However, the report did go on to say that if such taxes are introduced they should be local: “It is imperative that a transparent and predictable link between local development and local resourcing exists if development is to take place, or incentive effects are to be realised.”

Therefore: “a local accommodation tax is only likely to be acceptable if a local authority can demonstrate that:

• there is a robust evidence base that the local economy could support the introduction of the tax, including the likely start-up, collection and enforcement costs; • existing alternatives, such as Business Improvement Districts, have been fully considered; • there is local support for the tax; and • the scheme has been developed in partnership with local businesses and residents, who should continue to have a voice in the evolution and review of the scheme.”

22 In Scotland the issue of a tourism tax has also been raised a number of times in recent decades. In the 1990s funding uncertainty for the Scottish Regional Tourist Boards caused Eddie Friel (then Head of Glasgow Tourism) to suggest the introduction of a bed tax to (partially) fund the RTBs. There was resistance to the idea from the tourism sector. The Scottish Division of the British Hospitality Association (1999, p. 3) argued that:

Unless the revenue raised is directly ploughed back into the industry or into the tourism infrastructure, such a tax would simply increase costs without improving the value of the visitor experience or the tourism product. The association believes that a tourist/bed tax in Scotland would deter visitors and it strongly opposes such a tax.

Tourism industry opposition to a tourism tax was also reflected in a 1999 survey of some 200 tourism and hospitality professionals in Scotland, with 92% rejecting the idea. However the same survey found support for the BHAs qualification that if monies thus raised were in effect hypothecated, going directly to the tourism sector, then some tolerance of a tourism tax might be contemplated. Of the respondents expressing hostility to a tourism tax, around 40% would be influenced in its favour if the revenues generated were directly reinvested in tourism industries (Kerr and Wood, 2000).

More recently the debate has been kick-started by the Edinburgh Tourism Action Group (ETAG), who raised the idea of a visitor levy following the Thundering Hooves report on the city’s festivals (AEA Consulting 2006). This report suggested that:

The capital resources to achieve the levels of investment required may prove to be considerable. Consideration should therefore be given to alternative sources of funding such as the introduction of a Tourism Bed Levy or casino levy or the hypothecation of Airport tax with resources raised directed into cultural and tourism infrastructure.

ETAG commissioned Deloitte (2006) to undertake a study of the feasibility of a tourism tax as a means of raising revenue for investment. As part of this study, research was carried out into the impact and levels of support for a tourist tax.

The results indicated that visitor numbers to Edinburgh may not be severely affected by the introduction of a bed levy, as long as the reason for this is clearly explained. For example, a survey was conducted to measure resistance to paying tourist tax. Respondents were asked the following question:

“Some cities are considering introducing a Visitors Levy, of between 1 and 3 euros (70p to £2) per person per night, added to the hotel bill. This money would be used to improve visitor amenities within the city. This system is already used all over the US and in parts of Europe”

75% of visitors said a tax of ¼ HXURV SHU SHUVRQ SHU QLJKW ZRXOG PDNH OLWWOH RU QR difference to their likelihood of visiting a destination (if they were told at the time of booking) and 17% could be easily persuaded to pay it. Edinburgh, together with London and Dublin, would be one of the least affected destinations, with only 2.5% of people saying they would avoid the city if it introduced such a tax.

Visitor research also indicated that 8 out of 10 visitors agreed that “I would not mind a small visitor tax if it was clear what the money was used for” and 7 out of 10 visitors

23 agreed that “I think visitors to a City should help contribute to the area”. On the other hand, 6 out of 10 would not pay if a tax was voluntary and 82% of visitors agreed that “I think that visitors paying a local tax should get something back for it”. In general, UK visitors were more resistant to paying higher prices than overseas tourists.

In the second stage of the study emails were sent to UK residents outside Edinburgh to gauge the likelihood of them visiting a city which had a tourist tax. These indicated that although three quarters of people said that the introduction of a Visitor Levy ‘would make no difference’ to the likelihood of them visiting a city, 22% felt that they would be ‘less likely to visit’ that particular city.

The research concluded tourists would not mind paying the extra fee, provided some of the money raised was also spent on environment, heritage, transport and tourist information projects, as well as extra marketing of Edinburgh across the world. It suggested that for every £1 spent on marketing and improving tourist facilities in Edinburgh, £12 will be generated in extra visitor spending. This indicates that £3.2m could be raised every year, resulting in £38m to be reinvested.

Overall the study recommended that:

• The risks to visitor demand, and to existing taxation revenues, should be carefully considered

• Consideration must be given to the choice of system, including questions of: specific or non-specific taxation; voluntary or statutory; the ability to raise money efficiently from tourists as opposed to residents; application by sector and governance.

• Alternative measures should also be considered

• A defined policy decision on the levy should be agreed by ETAG

• A review should be taken of tourism funding in Edinburgh, including sources of partnership funding, earmarked event levies and voluntary bed levies.

In the wake of the general discussion about tourist taxes in Scotland, Aviemore’s new private-public partnership marketing body, Aviemore and the Cairngorms Destination

Management Ltd, also proposed a YROXQWDU\ levy. The aim of doing this was to raise sufficient funds for marketing in order to reach the target of substantial industry growth. This effort was estimated to have a total funding requirement of £845,000 per annum, of which a levy was initially estimated to contribute £300,000 (35%).

 The idea was to invite guests in tourist accommodation to contribute £1 per room per night, with a maximum of £2 contribution. The funds would be committed to environmental and heritage projects, which would open up possibilities for Heritage Lottery Fund match funding.(Yvonne Crook, ACDM Director). However, as has often been the case with other initiatives in the past, the plan was shelved in the face of resistance from accommodation owners.

The issue of tourist taxes in Scotland was also taken up in the Burt Report (Scottish

Government 2006). The Burt Committee was set up in 2004 by the Scottish Executive to

24 look into local government funding. Responses to the consultation paper suggest a local tourist tax would be very unpopular among the public. Most comment from local authorities was also critical, although there was some interest in this option from UNISON, West Lothian Council and, particularly, City of Edinburgh Council. In oral evidence, Edinburgh pointed to the possibility of local authorities being given an enabling power to set a local tourism tax if they so wished (including, for instance, for a limited period of the year). Only one tourism industry body - the British Hospitality Association (Scotland) - made a submission in relation to a tourism tax. They strongly opposed the option.

The following excerpts from the final report set out the arguments.

City of Edinburgh Council put forward a strong argument in favour of an enabling power for local authorities to impose a levy on tourism-related businesses. They argued that council investment in their festivals held in August and December/January have helped to boost hotel occupancy rates. However, present non-domestic rates arrangements prevent local authorities which invest in tourist- related activities from benefiting from that investment, as the returns of any increases in the rateable values of visitor-orientated facilities that arise from increased tourism activity are channelled into the national non-domestic rate pool and redistributed across Scotland. City of Edinburgh Council proposed a discretionary power for local authorities, intended for use at times when visitor numbers - and council investment in tourism - are at their strongest.

A sample survey of enquiries we made to a number of hotels and guest houses in Edinburgh confirmed that prices quoted for August are often substantially higher than at other times of the year (in our sample, we compared prices for October). Many of the hotels belong to multi-national chains and it is questionable whether much of the proceeds from these mark-ups is retained within the local economy, or even within Scotland.

There is a question as to whether a local authority should be given a discretionary power to apply a tourism tax on accommodation or other tourist-orientated facilities in its area. We recognise the merits of the City of Edinburgh Council's argument and are minded to support the suggestion.

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One of the biggest objections raised to a tourism tax in Scotland and elsewhere is the argument that it will lead to a reduction in visitor numbers. However, this argument is usually posed in general terms, based on the price elasticity of tourism consumption. It is usually argued that because tourism products have a relatively high degree of price elasticity, any increase in price will lead to a relatively large decrease in demand. However, empirical evidence to back up these claims is hard to come by (and neither the Lyons Report in England and Wales or the Burt Report in Scotland produced any hard evidence regarding this question).

In this section of the report we review what little empirical evidence there is for the impact of taxes on the tourist industry.

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Where empirical studies of the impact of bed taxes on tourism demand have been carried out, they have produced ambivalent results. For example Bonham et al (1991) used time series analysis to measure the impact of bed tax imposition on hotel revenues, and found that tax increases had a ‘negligible effect’. In a later paper Bonham and Gangnes (1996) measured the impact of a room tax in Hawaii, and found no evidence of tax impacts on revenue. This was in spite of an earlier paper on tax impacts in Hawaii (Fujii et al 1985) which indicated that ‘taxes imposed on tourist spending have a moderately large negative output effect on the visitor industry.’

Similarly, Combs and Elledge (1979, p. 203) found that a small room tax on motels and other accommodation in the United States would have little impact on the industry and would generate substantial revenue for the government. Combs and Elledge argued in terms of the resort sector:

[W]e expect the demand for lodging in the resort to be inelastic with respect to price. An interesting observable phenomenon supporting this conclusion is the growth of cut-rate, minimum service motels along interstates and in metropolitan areas, but not in resorts. A logical conclusion is that the demand for resort lodging is inelastic.

Hiemstra and Ismail (1992) found the demand for accommodation to be price elastic, although their estimates of a 4.4 percent decline in the number of rooms rented for a 10 percent room tax actually indicates that the elasticity of demand is actually lower than many suggest (The Economist Intelligence Unit estimated at around the same time that the elasticity of short haul travel was between 1.0 and 1.5%). For smaller room tax rates, they also found a smaller decline in rentals. It should also be borne in mind that this study was conducted for the American Hotel and Motel Association. This research also indicated that about $6 out of $7 of the tax is ultimately paid by the guests and $1 is paid indirectly by the lodging industry. Im and Sakai (1996) also posited that increases in hotel room tax rates may have large adverse effects on the financial viability of the sector.

In the UK, Ramesh (2008) suggested that the decline of the UK’s tourism market share began in 1980/81, when the rate of VAT applicable to tourism and other services increased from 8% to 15%.The rate was further increased to 17.5% in May 1981.Since then, there has been a gradual decline in share implying that if tourism prices increase by 1% in the UK, tourist arrivals will fall by around 2%. This implies that tourism demand for

26 the UK is price elastic, hence very sensitive to price changes.

Mak and Nishimura (1979) investigated the effect of a hotel room tax on the length of stay in Hawaii. They showed that length of stay was insensitive to price changes and that an increase in the room tax would not reduce arrivals in Hawaii significantly. However, they also examined the effect of a hotel room tax on non-lodging consumption and found that tourists “respond to marginal increases in price of lodging partly by reducing some of their non-lodging expenditures and partly by reducing their savings and/or spending at home” (1979:4).

In the case of Spain, Gago et al (2006) estimated that ‘the effects of a 10% tourist tax on lodging on the economy as a whole is not significant, in terms of either the GDP or employment. There are not also significant variations in prices, capital or labour income. Perhaps most noteworthy is the limited effect of the tax on the activity of the hotel and restaurant sector (HOST), which falls only slightly, by -0.8%. As a consequence, there is also a small reduction on employment in this sector, of -0.9%. Despite this, the tourist tax is able to generate a tax yield for the government of about 359 million Euros.’

One of the problems with the majority of these studies is that they depend on modelling of demand to forecast the impact of taxes rather than measuring actual changes in tourism flows. An additional problem is that the different aspects of price increases are not separated out – for example tax increases and exchange rate changes. Agullio et al (2005) explain that: ‘The reason for inclusion of the nominal exchange rate separate from relative prices is that some researchers have argued that tourists respond to exchange-rate movements but not to changes in inflation rates when they make their decision to travel, because they have limited knowledge of the latter. They gather information on changes in exchange rates, because some idea of price changes in destinations can be gleaned in advance.’ There is some controversy in the research literature, however, over the appropriateness of the inclusion of both prices and exchange rates as VHSDUDWH explanatory variables in empirical analyses of the demand for tourism. This indicates that many of the studies of the impact of tax rises are not evaluating the full picture, because in isolating tax changes from price rises in general, they ignore the important psychological impact of shifts in exchange rates, which will often have a much larger impact on the price of travel and therefore on tourism flows.

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In Australia there have been a number of proposals to introduce a bed tax in tourism areas. One of the most high profile of these was in Sydney, where an accommodation tax was introduced in the run-up to the 2000 Olympic Games. The 10 per cent bed tax was intended to raise A$64 million (£31 million) annually to help Sydney pay for the Olympic Games, In the event, pressure from the tourism sector forced the New South Wales Government to alter the proposals, eventually introducing the tax at 5% , and rising to full 10% by September 1998. Welcoming the deal, Minister for Olympics and SOCOG President Michael Knight said ``this agreement overcomes a significant problem which had

27 arisen in our preparations for the Games... We can now proceed with confidence.''

In the final event, this Sydney bed tax was abolished in 2000 due to the introduction of General Sales Tax on tourism by the Federal Government. The introduction of this 10% tax on accommodation and other tourism services in Australia was forecast to raise the price of tourism products by almost 6%. This in turn was estimated to lead to a loss of 34,100 jobs.

In actual fact, although there was a slowdown in the growth rate of Australian tourism in the years immediately after 2000, this did not lead to an absolute fall in employment as suggested by the estimates. However, tourism did grow more slowly than the economy as a whole, suggesting that there might have been a loss in job growth.

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It was also argued that a tax increase would increase the volume of outbound tourism, while decreasing the volume of inbound tourism. However, both inbound and domestic tourism grew more slowly in the years following the tax increase (and subsequently recovered).

However, Australia’s share of tourism in the Asia-Pacific region has declined (arguably because of higher oil prices).

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The case of the Ecotasa (ecotax) in the Balearic Islands has been studied closely by many academics because the introduction of the tax in 2002 and its subsequent rapid withdrawal in the face of industry opposition provides a good case study. The imposition of this bed tax raised strong opposition among the tourism local sector and foreign tour operators. The impact of this tax was felt to be particularly important as tour operators could react by moving their business to other Mediterranean countries. Indeed, perhaps that is one of the reasons why the Ecotasa was removed after only two years of application.

Before the introduction of the Ecotasa, the regional government assumed that the

28 introduction of a tourist tax of ¼SHUWRXULVWSHUGD\ZRXOG\LHOGDULVHLQWKHUHJLRQDO government’s budget on the assumption that tourism is not sensitive to prices (Aguillo et al

2005). The individual, daily, mean tourist expenditure was estimated as being ¼SHUGD\ while the tax was imposed at ¼SHUFDSLWDSHUGD\SD\DEOHLQWKHORGJLQJHVWDEOLVKPHQW This amount led to an effective increase in daily tourism cost of 1.44%.

Taking the calculated price elasticity for the four main nationalities visiting the Balearic

Islands Aguillo HW DO estimated that ¼WD[ RQ WRXULVP ZRXOG OHDG WR D GURS LQ WKH GHPDQG for tourism of 117,660 tourists, a figure that represents 1.44% of the tourist arrivals for these four nationalities in the year 2000. In the event there was a much larger drop in tourism to Mallorca in 2002 – but the longer term figures indicate that this is due to a change in the style of tourism (more short breaks, growth in city tourism) rather than the immediate effects of the tourism tax (see below).

In a study of the impacts of the Ecotasa on car rentals, Palmer-Tous et al (2007) found that the price elasticity of car rental was generally low, and therefore the impact of a tax increase would also be small.

In general, a low elasticity of less than 1 is obtained in all the estimated models, ranging from 0.19 ….. to 0.34 ….. In more practical terms, it can be seen that a daily

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between 0.14 and 0.20 days, whilst a tax rate of ¼ ZRXOG UHVXOW LQ D GHFUHDVH RI 0.42–0.58 days.

At first sight, the actual tourism figures for the Balearic Islands indicate a dramatic effect of the Ecotasa when it was introduced in 2002, with a 6% drop in total arrivals (domestic and foreign) and a 2% drop in total overnight stays.

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 In 1998 the Hong Kong Airport Departure Tax was halved and hotel tax was reduced from 3 to 5% in an effort to increase tourism by reducing the relative price of tourism.

Hong Kong received 10.68 million visitors in 1999, an 11.5% growth over 1998 and the highest number since the peak of 11.7 million visitors in 1996. However, total tourism

30 receipts for 1999 were 4.1% less than in 1998. Asia accounted for the bulk of receipts among the regional markets. Visitors from Mainland China were the largest contributors in 1999, while Taiwan was second with a growth of 2% over the previous year.

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The City of Rotterdam decided to remove its tourist tax payable on accommodation in 2005. The Dutch Hotels Association welcomed the decision, saying that taxation had got out of hand and that tourist taxes were used for general purposes. The Dutch Association of Local Authorities, on the other hand, argued that the tourist tax should be broadened to help destinations cope with the additional costs of tourism.

In 2006, immediately after the abolition of the tax, hotel overnights in Rotterdam rose by 5.6%. However this increase was dwarfed by the 23% rise in 2005, when the tax was still being levied. Similarly, Rotterdam’s market share in the Netherlands remained exactly the same in 2006 as it was in 2005, indicating no improvement in the competitive position of the city as a result of removing the tax.

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In Alberta, the provincial government replaced a controversial 5% hotel room tax with a lower 4% levy that went directly into tourism marketing. The $42.4 million generated by the 4% tourism levy boosted the province's tourism budget by 75 per cent. This was badly needed after overnight stays in the province dropped by 9% in 2002, mainly due to SARS and mad cow disease. The biggest decline was in Japanese tourists who arrive in Toronto and then travel to Alberta, and getting them back was a major priority. Strong marketing campaigns were launched with the new funds in the U.S., U.K. and Germany.

31 The tourism figures for Alberta indicate that after the tax was lowered in 2004, total visitor numbers fell. However, overseas tourism increased, indicating that extra marketing activity had made an impact, while the US market continued to weaken.

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In Toronto, SARS had a particularly dramatic effect on tourism because of the specific travel advisory issued by the World Tourism Organisation for the city. As part of a general recovery plan, the city decided it had to spend more on tourism marketing, particularly as a lack of investment in previous years had put the city at a disadvantage relative to competing destinations in terms of marketing budgets. In order to raise the money, a 3% levy was imposed on hotel stays. The tax was estimated to raise CA $15- to $20-million annually, which was all given to Tourism Toronto to promote the city.

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Vancouver introduced a 2% hotel tax in 1988, designed to continue the gains made by staging the World Fair in 1986. The long term trend indicates that the tax has had no negative impact on arrivals, and the marketing activities may have helped give a significant boost to tourism.

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Paul Vallee, executive vice-president of Tourism Vancouver, said the Canadian city uses money from a levy to finance international marketing campaigns, and added that at least 200 other cities in North America operated similar schemes. "The charge is so small most customers don't even notice. Only a handful of them make mention of it in any year.’’ he said.

33 &RSHQKDJHQ

More than 20 representatives of the Danish business community and Danish labour market lobbied the Danish government to remove the special DKK 75 tax levied on airline passengers. Abolishing the tax, they argued, would make Denmark more competitive and could even add as many as 2000 jobs nationwide. The tax was progressively removed from 2005 onwards.

To date, however, the effects seem to be minimal. Although Copenhagen performed better than the European average in terms of bed nights in 2006, in 2007 its performance declined again.

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Warsaw’s market share in Poland also grew rapidly after the levy was introduced. It is difficult to judge the extent to which this rise is due to the promotional activity funded by the tax.

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From the empirical evidence gathered from different parts of the world, it seems there is a significant divergence between studies which use models to forecast the impact of taxes being imposed, which assume a high price elasticity of tourism demand, and therefore a significant negative impact on tourism flows, and the actual behaviour of tourists following the imposition of taxes (or a change in taxation).

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Calculating the actual amount of money generated from a bed tax is difficult, because of uncertainties surrounding the impact of tax on bed nights and the efficiency of collection. However, we can gain estimates from the revenues currently being generated in North America and elsewhere, as well as the estimates that have been made for the likely tax revenues in Edinburgh.

Some examples from North America indicate how much is currently being generated by tourism taxes there.

The Hillsborough County Tourist Development Council (TDC) in Florida is an 11-member advisory board appointed by the Board of County Commissioners to oversee and make recommendations regarding the uses of the Tourist Development Tax revenues. The TDC is comprised of four elected officials (Chairman of BOCC; Mayors of Tampa, Temple Terrace and Plant City) and seven representatives of the hotel/motel and tourism industries. The Tourist Development Tax is a 5% sales tax on all overnight accommodation within the County with less than a 6 month lease. With 4.5 million staying visitors in 2007 generating 18.7 million overnight stays, tax revenues amounted to $21.7 million (£ 10.8 million). This money is reinvested into the local economy through the promotion of Hillsborough County as a tourism and convention destination, as well as helping to provide tourism/sports facilities.

Also in Florida, Miami-Dade County collects a 6% (bed tax) on all transient rentals. 3% of this tax is a Convention Development Tax, 1% of this tax is a Professional Sports Facility Tax, and the last 2% of this tax is a tourist development tax. The county collected over $9 million in bed tax revenues in 2006.

The Kissimmee/St. Cloud Convention & Visitors Bureau in Florida first introduced a 2% bed tax in 1977, which was gradually raised to 5% over the years. By 2000 the tax was generating almost $24 million a year, of which 31% went to CVB operation, 35% to tourism marketing and 11% to sports facilities.

Over time, the bed tax revenues can add up to substantial sums of money which can be used to fund sports facilities and other major developments. For example, the $200 million price tag for the Georgia Dome stadium was funded almost entirely by bed tax revenues over a number of years.

Looking at the figures collected from a number of different DMOs by Des Moines (see section 3.1), we can calculate the average annual return from the bed tax.

37 Tax revenues for selected cities in the USA

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These figures indicate that DMO revenue from tourist taxes are equal to about $600 (£300) a year per hotel room.

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TOMSA (Tourism Marketing Levy for South Africa) was set up in 1998 to provide additional marketing funding for South African Tourism for international promotion. TOMSA grew from collecting R9.9 Million in 1999 with under 50 members, to collecting in excess of R60 Million in 2006 (£3.9 million). The marketing of Destination South Africa has increased dramatically over the same period and South African Tourism now actively promotes the country in twelve core markets around the world. They now have sufficient funds to address both tactical and potential source markets for the 2010 Soccer World Cup.

TOMSA was created thanks to the recognition both by government and industry that for South African Tourism to be successful, a marked increase in the budget was required. The tourism industry business sector committed to play an active role to assist government in increasing the money available. A voluntary levy system was agreed upon and TOMSA was incorporated as an association as a basis for a sustainable public-private partnership.

The level of the voluntary levy was agreed with the tourism industry. The accommodation sector agreed on a 1% addition to all accounts for the accommodation portion. Car hire companies agreed to 1% addition to the daily/weekly rate. Coach operators agreed on a set amount per passenger. Other providers collect by other agreed methods.

The Tourism Business Council of South Africa (TBCSA) was appointed as the collecting agency. A pro-forma invoice is raised for each levy collector on a monthly basis, to be remitted to TBCSA with a breakdown of actual figures.

The levies collected have steadily increased over the life of the scheme, as the number of affiliated organisations has grown and as tourism to South Africa has increased.

38



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In Edinburgh, the Deloitte study concluded that a Transient Visitor Levy would be likely to raise around £3.2 million.

For Scotland as a whole, one could estimate the yield of a tax applied to all hotel overnights. In 2007 the total number of tourist nights spent in Scotland was 71.65 million. Of these, around 40% were spent in hotels and similar establishments, giving a total of 28.66 million nights in this form of accommodation. At £1 per night, therefore, the gross annual yield of such a tax would be £28.66 million, assuming there is no negative impact on tourist flows to the country. If self catering accommodation and bed and breakfast were included, this figure would increase by approximately 10%.

More revenue could be raised if the level of tax were increased, although the higher the tax, the more likely it is that tourist volumes would be reduced, which would in turn decrease the total yield of the tax. On the basis of the price elasticity figures from the different studies quoted in section 5.1, it is likely that at low levels of tax the reduction in demand will also be relatively low (-1%), while raising the tax to around 10% would produce a 4-5% reduction in demand. The potential total yield of different tax rates is indicated below:

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39

A further option to consider would be the introduction of a car hire tax, which is also widely used in the United States and elsewhere. Of the 16 million holiday trips in Scotland, about 15% use a hire car. If we assume that about half of these are hired in Scotland, this indicates a volume of about 1.2 million car hire transactions by tourists. Assuming an average of rental period of five days, this would generate a total of around £6 million pa, at a rate of £1 per day.



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It is clear that any attempt to introduce tourism taxes would encounter initial opposition from the tourism sector. However, based on experience with those areas where tourism taxes operate successfully, the following strategies would be advisable to counter the anticipated initial criticism:

• Show that tourist taxes are needed • Present evidence of the positive impacts of tourism taxes • Counter negative impressions • Provide reassurance to the industry about the use of tourism taxes • Create a partnership • Use 2014 as a catalyst.

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Scotland needs to increase tourism funding to deal with a number of major challenges, including growing competition from other destinations and the threat to public funding of tourism marketing.

"There is no doubt we are facing a tough couple of years ahead; we must continue to plan and invest for the future and not fall behind the highly industrious world competition, either on quality or offer." Iain Herbert, the chief executive of the Scottish Tourism Forum (July 2008).

At the same time, sport in Scotland is also suffering from a funding deficit, and is unable to serve the needs of either residents or visitors as effectively as it should.

Tourist taxes provide a means of generating the necessary revenue to support sports and tourism while linking into the user pays principle as well as ensuring greater industry input into the tourism development and marketing process. There has been criticism from the tourism sector that current marketing strategies are not responsive to industry needs, and this would be a way of giving them more direct control of the marketing budget and the development of facilities.

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Research in North America has indicated that tourist taxes can be used to feed a virtuous cycle of development, through which the increased investment in marketing and facilities made possible by tourist taxes in turn helps to increase tourism and generate even more tax revenue. A number of other destinations around the world have also demonstrated the link between effective marketing investment and increased tourism and tax revenue.

The case for tourism taxes can be effectively backed up by a number of case studies from around the world, including some of those in the current report. Thought should also be given to developing more specific estimates of the economic benefits, perhaps through a return on investment basis, as is done in many American states. For example,

41 VisitScotland estimates that for every £1 it spends on promotion, £14.50 is generated in return on behalf of Scotland’s tourism industry. This indicates the level of returns which might be generated for the tourism industry if extra funding were made available for promotion. If this ratio is applied to the estimated revenue of a tourist tax, then the eventual return on £28 million invested in tourism marketing could be over 400 million.

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There are a number of widely-held negative views of tourist taxes which are largely based on assumption rather than empirical studies. Counter-arguments need to be marshalled to blunt the effectiveness of these ill-informed impressions:

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There is no clear evidence of a direct link between tourism taxes and the volume of tourism. As tourism tends to be affected more strongly by much more significant economic factors (such as exchange rate fluctuations), tourist taxes tend to have a relatively weak impact, if any. On the other hand, case studies from some areas suggest that a well- managed tourist tax scheme can raise significant revenue for tourism marketing and development which can support the growth of tourism.

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Tourism is generally taxed in line with other goods and services. However tourists do not pay towards many of the facilities that they use in the destination, which are funded out of regional or local taxes. A tourist tax helps to restore the 'user pays' principle, as long as it is sensitively applied.

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The facilities that tourists do use directly also depend on a wide range of supporting services that are paid for largely by the local population (transport, infrastructure, cleaning services, etc). Part of the attractiveness of a tourist destination for many tourists also consists of the 'everyday life' and popular culture of the regions they visit. These elements of 'atmosphere' depend to a large extent on the quality of life in the destination.

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This depends on how the tax is administered, and by whom. Some local tax schemes allow tourism businesses to retain some of the tax they collect, helping to offset the costs incurred.

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This depends on how the tax is applied. It is clearly more equitable if a tourism tax applies to all tourism businesses, although it has to be recognised that the diverse nature of the tourism product may make this difficult to achieve.

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42 problems can be minimised.

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In order to reassure the tourism sector about the impact of a tourist tax, a number of issues need to be thought about:

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The easiest way to gain acceptance for a tourist tax is to ensure that the tax is earmarked for specific purposes which are related to stakeholder needs. In the case of a tax designed to improve sports facilities it would be important to ensure that these are related to the needs of the tourism sector as well.

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The US examples also show that acceptance of tourist taxes is high because the tourism industry feels they have more control over the spending of the revenues generated.

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From the American experience it seems that local taxes are more acceptable than national taxes. With a locally administered tax, there is a clear relationship between investments in facilities and marketing and the growth in tax revenues. Local taxes are also effectively earmarked for local use, preventing cross-subsidy.

However, generating significant revenues would probably need a national system – but with an allocation system that would reflect to some extent the contribution of each area or region in the generation of tax revenues.

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When partnership is established and the tourism industry is given a say in how the money is invested, support for tourist taxes is much higher. The Edinburgh research indicates that resistance to taxes is much lower when these are earmarked taxes which are clearly invested in tourism.

In the United States, the tourism industry has even taken the lead in calling for taxes when a specific benefit can be identified. For example, The Travel Industry Association of America has pledged to raise $300 million through a tourist tax in order to improve visitor reception at major US airports. It has begun a pilot project, training staff at two international airports to question visitors in non-threatening ways and to forecast arrival flows in order to reduce queuing. The money will be raised through a tax on hotel rooms, car rental, air tickets, or an industry-wide levy. "It has to be paid by someone and it will be the traveller….The tax will probably be collected on transport. We don't have a preferred option, but will settle on one next month….We know people are choosing other countries to visit despite our weak currency. The perception of Americans in the world is deteriorating" said William Maloney chief operating officer of the American Society of Travel Agents (Travel Weekly 2007).

The system for the collection and distribution of the tax should be designed in collaboration

43 with the tourism sector, making sure that they have direct influence over the use of the money raised.

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It is clear that tourism and sport are increasingly linked. The global growth in sports events has stimulated an increase in sports-related tourism, and the growing interest in health and fitness means that sports facilities are increasingly important for tourism destinations. This would allow arguments to be made for the development of sports facilities which serve the needs of residents and visitors alike. It may also be politic to develop these strategies in tandem with tourism marketing activities which relate to the needs of the tourism sector (particularly related to sports tourism).

This is where the example of the Canadian city of Kamloops (see section 3.3) might provide a potentially useful model. By developing a marketing and facility development programme around a central theme which is of interest for both the sports and tourism sectors, it may be possible to create a positive synergy between the development of attractions for tourists and facilities for local residents. Scotland already has a number of major sports facilities and events that could form the basis of a ‘Tournament Scotland’ programme, in which Visit Scotland, Event Scotland and regional and local authorities could work together to develop facilities, attract events and expand tourism flows.

Such schemes need to be developed within an overall strategy to develop the necessary revenue streams to improve the quality of life (and therefore the quality of sports and tourism products) in Scotland. Such a strategy would clearly develop benefits for local communities, but it would also deliver a number of benefits for the tourism sector as well. A partnership between sport and tourism would help to place tourism at the heart of local communities, rather than being seen as an external activity. It would also place the emphasis more clearly on the social and cultural benefits of tourism to local communities, balancing the primarily economic view which has been developed in the past. Such partnerships would also give the tourism sector a more direct influence over the marketing of sports tourism and the branding of events and regions, so that a closer fit can be achieved with the needs of the tourism industry.

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 As well as developing positive partnerships between sport and tourism, it is also important to emphasise that tourism is not being singled out as a cash cow, but rather forms one part of a broader strategy to generate resources for local communities. Other forms of revenue generation should therefore also be considered, particularly as tourism taxes alone are unlikely to fill the funding gap for tourism marketing and sports provision.

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In Norfolk, Virginia, an arena-funding bill will allow the City of Norfolk and the state to rebate taxes generated at the arena - mostly income and sales taxes - to the Hampton Roads Sports Facility Authority. That authority would build the arena and use those taxes, estimated at $5 million a year, to provide most of the arena debt payments of about $8.9 million a year. The Sports Facility Authority argues that the $5 million a year is tax money the state would never see if the arena were not built, so the state is giving up nothing it has.

44

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A Business Improvement District ( BID) is a precisely defined geographical area of a town, city, or commercial district, where businesses vote to invest collectively in local improvements resulting in improved economic performance. BIDs are developed, managed and paid for by the business sector by means of a compulsory BID levy on each business's non-domestic rates bill.

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After ten years of operation, in 2006 the Surf Coast Council in Australia abandoned its Special Charges on businesses and adopted an innovative new system. The hybrid system retained a Differential Commercial Rate to capture revenue from commercial businesses, but instead of the Special Charges, businesses can now opt-into a membership scheme that provides them with specific local and regional marketing benefits. Businesses who pay the commercial rate can now apply for part of their payment to be credited against a full membership in both the local and regional tourism organization.

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 In addition to tourist tax, a number of Dutch municipalities also charge an ‘event-tax’ to organisers of large events (in general: over 1000 visitors). Returns of this tax are mostly not used for long-term investment in tourism, but to finance additional activities that have to be carried out by the municipality because of the event that is being held. This varies from cleaning of public space to police surveillance, and so on.

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This scheme was launched was launched in Scotland in 2008 to use money seized from criminals to help sports and other organisations. The Scottish Football Association has benefited from the scheme, receiving over £2.2 million of the proceeds of crime to provide free football coaching and playing opportunities for upwards of 30,000 young people throughout Scotland. And over £1.4 million will provide free rugby coaching and playing activities for over 32,000 young people throughout the country by 2011.

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The impetus given to Scottish sport by the 2014 Commonwealth Games needs to be seen as an opportunity to build new partnerships across the tourism and sports sectors.

It is estimated the Games will have a net impact on the Scottish economy of £81 million, with £26 million of that going to the city of Glasgow alone. There will also be a four per cent increase in visitors in the three years following the Games, according to the Scotland bid team. This equates to approximately £30 million in income generated, and does not include spin-off benefits such as conference bookings generated by the Games.

A bed tax would be an effective way of ensuring that VSHFLILF projects to benefit the sport

45 and tourism sectors are developed from the additional cash flowing from the Games. Without such mechanisms, the impact of the event will be felt as a general impulse to the economy as a whole, and it will be much more difficult to develop VSHFLILF legacies.

46 5HIHUHQFHV

University of Nebraska (2006) Nebraska's Tourism Lodging Tax: Estimating Tourism's Economic Impact

Abiline Onkine Reporter News April 4th 2008 PAC formed opposing funding for youth complex (http://www.reporternews.com/news/2008/apr/04/no-headline---aysa_for_web/)

Aguillo, E. Riera, A. and Rossell J. (2005) The short-term price effect of a tourist tax through a dynamic demand model. The case of the Balearic Islands. Tourism Management 26 (2005) 359–365

British Tourist Authority and Caledonian Economics Ltd. (2001) The price sensitivity of tourism to Britain. London: British Tourist Authority.

British Tourist Authority, The Economic Effects of Changing VAT Rates on the British Tourism and Leisure Industry, London: British Tourist Authority VAT Working Group, Deloitte and Touche (1998).

Buro Buiten (2005) Policies on Sustainable Tourism in the Netherlands: Review of existing tourism policies and legislation. Wagenigen: Buro Buiten.

Combs, J. P., and B. W. Elledge (1979). “Effects of a Room Tax on Resort Hotels/Motels.” National Tax Journal, 32 (2): 201-7.

Couchman, M. (1993) Tourist tax: the case against. Insights Vol 5, A45-47.

Deloitte (2006) Transient Visitor Tax – Investigation Study Report. Edinburgh: ETAG.

Destination Marketing Association International http://www.destinationmarketing.org/images/pdf/DMO_Profile_2007.pdf

Frewin, Angela (2006) Scotland looks into imposing its own bed tax. Caterer & Hotelkeeper, Vol. 196, Issue 4425.

Gago, A., Labandeira, X., Picos, F. and Rodríguez, M. (2006) Taxing Tourism in Spain: Results and Recommendations. Nota di Lavoro 40.2006, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei.

Gooroochurn, N. and Sinclair T.M. (2005) Economics of tourism taxation: Evidence from Mauritius. Annals of Tourism Research. Volume 32, Issue 2, April 2005, Pages 478-498

Hiemstra S. and Ismail, J. (1992) Analysis of Room Taxes Levied on the Lodging Industry, Journal of Travel Research 31 (1), pp. 42–49.

Jensen, T. and Wanhill, S. Tourism’s Taxing Times: Value Added in Europe and Denmark, Tourism Management 23 (2002), pp. 67–79.

Kerr, W.R., & Wood, R. C. (2000). Political value of tourism and hospitality professionals: a Scottish case study. Tourism Management, 21, 323–330.

Kerr, Bill, Barron, Gordon and Wood, Roy C. (2001) Politics, policy and regional tourism

47 administration: a case examination of Scottish area tourist board funding. Tourism Management Volume 22, Issue 6, December 2001, Pages 649-657

Lansford, N. and Woods, M. (undated) Hospitality or Lodging Taxes as a Source of Revenue for Tourism Economic Development Efforts.

Litvin, Stephen W., John C. Crotts, Calvin Blackwell, and Alan K. Styles Expenditures of Accommodations Tax Revenue: A South Carolina Study. Journal of Travel Research, Vol. 45, November 2006, 150-157

Longwood International (2003) Making the Case for Michigan’s Tourism Funding. September, 2003.

Lyons Report (2007) The future of local government in England and Wales. London: HMSO.

McKinnon, S. (2000) Prop. 302 won't hurt tourism, fans say. The Arizona Republic. November 3, 2000.

National Examiner (2008) San Antonio voters overwhelmingly approve visitor tax. National Examiner, May 11, 2008

Nevin, M. (1999) Are high taxes damaging British tourism? Journal of Vacation Marketing 5; 94.

Palmer-Tous, T.; Riera, A. ; Rosselló, J (2007) “Taxing Tourism: The Case of Rental Cars in Mallorca” Tourism Management 28(1): 271-279

Paul,D.,and Brown,C. (2001). Testing the limits of elite influence on public opinion: An examination of sports facility referendums. Political Research Quarterly, 54(4), 871-888.

Ramesh, D. (2008) Tourism Taxes: Implications for Tourism Demand in the UK.Review of Development Economics, Volume 12, Number 1, February 2008 , pp. 21-36(16)

Ripp, Amanda (2007) Hotel/motel tax - a help or a hindrance? Business Record, December 3, 2007, pp 19-21.

Saleem, N. (1993) Lodging tax and its impact on the local economy in Britain. Insights Vol 5, A37-40.

Scottish Government (2006) Report on local taxation in Scotland by the Local Government Finance Review Committee.

TACIR (2004) Property Tax Abatements and Payments in Lieu of Taxes: Impact on Public Education. Tennessee Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations. Commission Report to the 103rd General Assembly

Tourism Industry Association New Zealand. The case against ‘bed taxes’: a tourism. industry perspective. July 2005

48 Travel Weekly (2007) US trade is 'friendly face' of tourist tax. 16th March 2007.

49 $SSHQGL[%DFNJURXQGWR75$0

75$0 is an independent consultancy with a long track record in tourism attraction and event evaluation and a reputation for excellence and a consistent professional approach to management and marketing problems. TRAM produces studies and strategies which are sensitive to individual client needs and which offer practical assistance in realising their goals. TRAM UK was founded in London in 1980, and TRAM offices were opened in the Netherlands in 1994 and Barcelona in 2002.

TRAM operates in many sectors of the tourism industry, with an emphasis on research, feasibility studies and strategies in the following core areas:

• Tourism marketing

• Cultural and creative tourism

• International Conference and Exhibition Research, Facility Development and Marketing

• Tourism Attraction Feasibility, Development and Marketing

• Sustainable and alternative tourism development strategies

*UHJ 5LFKDUGV, the author of this report is a partner with TRAM, who has worked on projects for numerous national governments, national tourism organisations and municipalities. He has also worked extensively in tourism research and education, with posts at London Metropolitan University (UK), Tilburg University (The Netherlands), Universitat Roviria I Virgili, Tarragona (Spain) and is currently a Reader in Tourism at the University of the West of England (Bristol, UK). He was recently a European Union Marie Curie Fellow at the Interarts Foundation in Barcelona.

He is a European Executive Member of the Association for Tourism and Leisure Education (ATLAS) and has directed a number of ATLAS projects for the European Commission on topics including cultural tourism, crafts tourism, sustainable tourism, tourism education and labour mobility in the tourism industry. He has also worked extensively on the analysis and development of cultural and creative tourism in cities such as Barcelona and Burgos (ES), London, Newcastle, Manchester and Edinburgh (UK) Amsterdam, Rotterdam and Den Bosch (NL), Sibiu (RO), Amman (Jordan) and Macau (China). His major publications include Cultural Tourism in Europe (1996); Cultural Attractions and European Tourism (2001); Tourism and Gastronomy (2002); The Global Nomad: Backpacker Travel in Theory and Practice (2004); Cultural Tourism – Global and Local Perspectives (2007) and Tourism, Creativity and Development (2007).

He was a member of the Palmer/Rae team evaluating the impact of the European Cities of Culture for the European Commission, an international jury member for the selection of the Hungarian Capital of Culture in 2010, a contributor to the European Travel Commission study of City Tourism and Culture and an adviser on the development of national cultural tourism policy in Austria. He is currently advising the Dutch city of Den Bosch on the development of multi-annual cultural events programme to celebrate the 500th anniversary of the painter Hieronymus Bosch, conducting research for the evaluation of the European

50 Capital of Culture in Sibiu (Romania) and preparing a book on Eventful Cities in collaboration with Robert Palmer. He is also currently preparing a study for the OECD on the role of culture and tourism in increasing the attractiveness and competitiveness of regions.

51 Scotland’s schools of sporting excellence – an agenda for change

Research commissioned by The Scottish Institute of Sport Foundation (‘The Foundation’) from the University of Stirling (Coalter, Taylor and Jarvie 2006) concluded there is a lack of a coherently managed sports supply chain in Scotland. The contribution of school sport within the sport development continuum was acknowledged as a critical prerequisite to success on a world stage.

The Foundation has now published further research, commissioned from the University of Stirling (Prof Fred Coalter and Dr Sabine Radtke 2007), examining policies and practices of sports schools in ten countries around the world.

This latest review of existing sports school systems operating within successful sporting nations delivers a proven road map for our new Scottish Government to build upon existing world class best practice and contribute to the performance sporting culture in Scotland.

The newly published report (“Sport Schools: An International Review”) demonstrates that sports schools in countries which enjoy sporting success cater for a substantial number of elite sports pupils in a systematic way, rather than providing ad hoc arrangements for a limited number of pupil athletes. The research highlights that such schools need to:

 integrate young athletes within standard secondary schools for their own educational and social benefit;  include pupils of all abilities and educational levels;  establish flexibility of curriculum (achieved in a variety of ways);  consider the possibility of permitting pupil athletes to extend the duration of their studies;  create a variety of educational support systems (e.g. pupil partners; summer schools; distance learning);  provide boarding facilities (especially where expertise is limited or sports require particular facilities);  establish close working relationships with NGBs this (e.g. selection of pupils; provision of elite coaching; assessment of progress); and  be situated in reasonably close proximity to centres of excellence in core sports.

The report highlights the fact that the fabric which binds successful elite sport development appears to be systematic deployment via selected institutions, a conclusion echoed within previous sportscotland commissioned research (Thomson 1999). Therefore, redirected or additional investment to fund sports schools in Scotland would need to be channelled through a collaborative partnership between schools, the Institute network and national governing bodies, all of which form the supply chain for sport.

Scotland has only one specialist sports school at present; the Glasgow School of Sport at Bellahouston Academy, established in 1998 with an initial intake of 7 pupils. The school now has 132 specialist sports pupils on its role and over sixty pupils have already represented Scotland in their sport. International highlights include gymnast Lynne Donaghy competing for Scotland at the 2002 Commonwealth Games, swimmers Rebecca Hillis and Charles Mills winning gold medals at the Commonwealth Youth Games in 2005 and hockey player Kenny Bain winning a silver medal at the Youth Olympics in Australia in 2007. The school is funded by the Scottish Executive.

The new Government promised in its recent manifesto to expand the number of centres of sporting excellence in Scotland, based on the Bellahouston model. It also pledged to ensure that the regional Institutes of Sport and sports governing bodies work closely with the designated schools to provide seamless support to young athletes throughout their school years and beyond. The primary responsibility for the elite athlete programme was tasked to the Scottish Institute of Sport.

Based on the extensive research conducted by the University of Stirling, The Scottish Institute of Sport Foundation now recommends the creation of a national elite sport school structure in Scotland.

We believe that a strategy of establishing a small number (eg six) of such multi-sport schools across the country would nurture a culture of winning with the following benefits:

- it will enable a sporting culture of excellence to be offered to more of our young people, thereby harnessing the latent potential of untapped talent; - it will ensure that a multi-sports base is established within the system from a young age; - it will allow the state sector to build a sporting culture of excellence, adding to the existing private sector contribution; - it will establish strong inter-club/community links and alignment to existing and future regional sports facilities; - it will facilitate the development of a systematic talent id system, supported by the existing Area Institute network and by NGB elite coaches; - it will offer an opportunity for sporting excellence to those from less affluent backgrounds; - It will enhance the opportunities for females to remain in sport for longer; - it will, through the Scottish Curriculum for Excellence, allow a flexible approach to the provision of high quality academic and sporting education; - it will allow elite coaches to be on site to develop their athletes with a direct link to local and regional systems; - it will, through a reprioritisation and redirection of current resource, significantly enhance the quality and effectiveness of the sporting supply chain; - it will create an environment in which business investment could be attracted to these schools, with a further opportunity to develop a coaching model similar to CoachCorp in New Zealand 1.

It is now clear that Scotland lags behind many other countries in fostering schools of sporting excellence, where academic progress is not sacrificed for sporting success. However, the opportunity exists today for sport to be seen in the context of being a valued enhancement to a quality (primary, secondary and tertiary) education experience, where ‘student- athletes’ will be better prepared to achieve their potential in life because they have participated in sport at an advanced competitive level.

Sport sits comfortably within the Scottish Curriculum for Excellence, which aims to develop successful learners, confident individuals, effective contributors and responsible citizens. It is also opportune for a collaborative model to be developed which requires a working partnership between the Education and Health & Wellbeing Ministries to offer a performance solution to sporting culture in our society.

There is an opportunity to seek business and philanthropic support for a critical mass of specialist schools within the existing system. However, clear strategic roles and responsibilities between Sport and Education Ministries, sportscotland, the Scottish Institute of Sport, Area Institutes and NGBs need to be agreed and implemented at the outset if such a partnership is to succeed.

We believe that much of the funding necessary to implement such a programme could come from existing budgets across the portfolios of Health & Wellbeing (including Sport) and Education.

1 CoachCorp creates relationships between companies and community sport in New Zealand to get more people involved in sport and physical activity. Coach Corp is a SPARC (sportscotland equivalent) initiative which was run initially as a pilot within the main metropolitan areas, originally Auckland city, to recruit volunteer coaches into schools during the afternoon with the full support and endorsement of their employer i.e. they are allowed to take time out of the working day to fulfil this role. Companies that are part of the CoachCorp programme contribute to New Zealand sport by allowing participating employees flexi-time to be coaches, managers and officials in school and club level sport. This lets more people participate in sport and raises the performance of the athletes.

Recommendation

The Foundation recommends that investment should now be directed at developing six (initially non-residential) secondary schools of sporting excellence in Scotland – to align with the existing Area Institutes of Sport (in Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Inverness and Stirling) – with the objectives of:

 discovering and developing sports talent;  achieving international excellence in sports performance;  offering a structured, systematic and strategic approach to lifelong education for elite athletes;  providing an exceptional physical, mental, social and educational learning environment; and  providing the highest international standards of sport science services.

The implementation of an elite school sport system such as is proposed above, offers the prospect of aligning the development of academic excellence alongside athletic excellence, both in school and at University, in such a manner that the educational experience of the ‘student-athlete’ is paramount. It is recognised however that further work needs to be done to engage with all Scottish Universities to recognize the role of sport in the development and well being of students and to foster a healthy competitive sporting culture at such establishments.

This is a unique chance to augment the multi disciplined benefits of a dedicated school sport system for the future benefit of Scotland.

The Scottish Institute of Sport Foundation August 2007

Agenda Item 4 HS/S3/09/1/9 14 January 2009 Pathways into Sport

Submission by Scottish Disability Sport

Scottish Disability Sport (SDS) is delighted to submit this paper to the Health and Sport Committee’s inquiry into pathways into sport. The paper contains information relating to the issues affecting disability sport in Scotland at this time with regard to the decline in participation by young people with disabilities in sport in Scotland. We have also endeavoured to highlight some of the work currently being undertaken by SDS to reverse this trend and some recommendations on how the work that is being undertaken at this point to address these issues and recommendations for future actions required to secure the future for athletes with a disability in Scotland.

Children and sport

• What level of sport and physical activity should be provided by primary and, separately, secondary schools? At primary school level young people with a disability should experience a fully inclusive and developmental PE and sport curriculum focusing on the development of physical literacy skills required for enjoyment and participation in sport and physical activity for life. These young people should have the opportunity to progress in their chosen sport and have access to regular coaching and competitive opportunities. It is important to ensure a balanced programme with a range of activities available for all ability levels in a range of appropriate environments. SDS also promotes a choice of inclusive and separate opportunities as appropriate for the needs of individual athletes.

Within secondary schools, the demands of the PE curriculum and the increased physical development of able bodied peers makes inclusion much more demanding. However, PE and sport practitioners must work across the “Inclusion Spectrum” and make appropriate adaptations to ensure equal access to young people with disabilities.

Research, published in 2001, showed that the greater the number of impairments, the lower the number of sports disabled young people were involved in, and the average number of sports undertaken frequently by disabled young people (at least 10 times) in school lessons was only two, half the average number (four) undertaken by the overall population of young people in. The proportion of children and young people with a disability spending two or more hours in PE lessons was 20% compared to 33% of the overall population of young people. The study also showed that the proportion of children and young people with a disability or severe illness taking part in sport after school on school days (whether organised or just for fun) was 40%. This compares to 79% of the general population of young people. (Finch et. al. for Sport England 2001).

There are undoubted issues surrounding the inclusion of children and young people with disabilities in sport and PE in mainstream schools. Whilst there are many examples of good practice across Scotland, there is also evidence to suggest that many young people are not being provided with a quality experience, with some being excluded. It is vital that children and young people in a mainstream education Agenda Item 4 HS/S3/09/1/9 14 January 2009 setting are not lost to physical activity and sport. These pupils must be identified and a quality programme of opportunities put in place to ensure their ongoing physical and social development.

• Is a lack of the right type of facilities in schools compromising sports education? Access to school facilities can often be a significant barrier to participation for many children and young people with disabilities. Much of the school infrastructure in Scotland was built with little regard to the needs of disabled pupils and there are still instances of new builds failing to take into account the access requirements of those with disabilities. The Disability Equality Duty places a duty on all public sector authorities to positively promote disability equality. All 32 Scottish local authorities are covered by this legislation.

• Who has the responsibility for ensuring that there is adequate sports education in the school system? There must be a partnership approach to the development and delivery of PE and sport in Scottish Schools. Local Authority Education Departments clearly have the responsibility for the delivery of an inclusive PE curriculum. Research confirms that there is a clear need for a comprehensive programme of education and training for teaching staff relating to the inclusion of disabled pupils within mainstream PE. Evidence suggests that inclusion issues receive little attention during teacher training and that instances of in-service training for teachers are limited. SDS is committed the roll out of such a training to Scottish schools commencing in 2009.

Classroom assistants also have a key role to play in supporting pupils with disabilities within mainstream classes. Evidence suggests that classroom assistants are less likely to be active within the PE curriculum than in any other area of the pupil’s education. PE staff rely heavily on this much need support and more must be done to ensure the recruitment and development of classroom assistants with the confidence and competence to be fully involved in school PE.

Within the wider context of school sport schools must work more closely in partnership with local sports clubs and associations to recruit the appropriate expertise and experience to put in place a wide ranging programme of participation, coaching and competition. From an SDS point of view this must take into account the needs and abilities of disabled children and young people with a focus on development across the “inclusion spectrum”. Issues such as after school transport, teacher supply cover and education & training must be addressed if the Sport 21 target for participation of 60% of all disabled people in sport is to be achieved by 2020.

Ultimately, the Scottish Government must act to ensure that ALL children and young people receive a quality PE and sport experience.

• Are there enough of the right facilities in schools to deliver appropriate levels of sports education? Many of Scotland’s primary and secondary schools still lack the right facilities to ensure a comprehensive and quality PE and sport experience. Physical access to much of the school estate remain a significant barrier to participation for children and Agenda Item 4 HS/S3/09/1/9 14 January 2009 young people with disabilities. There is also a real lack of accessible and affordable community sports facilities available for those who wish to follow a sporting pathway outside education. There is a need to open up access to Scotland’s schools to fill this gap in provision outside the school day and during holiday periods.

• How can the links between schools and sports clubs be improved? The identification and recruitment of young people with disabilities is a huge issue at this time. The mainstreaming of pupils with disabilities, means that identifying these young people has become extremely difficult and as a result, it is virtually impossible to communicate information about opportunities to participate and compete in sport.

Unless children and young people with disabilities are offered the opportunity to become fully included in PE and school sport, the transition from school to community sport simply will not happen. If young people with disabilities do not adopt active lifestyles in a school setting, they are unlikely to become involved in sport and physical activity in their community. As a national Association, SDS has fewer young people, (particularly those with physical disabilities), involved in its squads and programmes than ever before.

SDS supports a structure of 16 local branches across Scotland. These branches are volunteer led and have a responsibility for the provision of grassroots sports and physical activity as well as the recruitment of volunteers and coaches. These branches should be the key link between school and community sport. Scotland’s local authorities are key partners at a local level. SDS has endeavoured to work with these key partners to establish local development officer posts with a remit to develop opportunities and support voluntary structures. SDS is also in the process of putting in place a regional structure of development officers which will have the remit to assist local branches and support the development of sporting talent. This regional structure will play a pivotal role in identifying talent and supporting athletes with a disability to meet their full potential in sport.

• What differences have Active Schools Co-ordinators made to the links between schools and clubs? The Active schools network introduced by sportscotland across the country is a huge opportunity for an inclusive approach to be taken to the development of physical activity and sport within schools. SDS is currently working closely with sportscotland and a number of local authorities to facilitate this approach. At this time there are 17 Active Schools Co-ordinators in 14 local authorities with a specific remit for disabled pupils. SDS has worked in partnership with sportscotland and the Youth Sport Trust to deliver a Disability Inclusion Training programme to the Active Schools Network. This course has provided every active school co-ordinator in Scotland with the awareness and skills to include pupils with disabilities in mainstream activities. Local authorities should also be encouraged to appoint Active Schools Co-ordinator (Inclusion) posts to identify and provide opportunities for young disabled pupils in mainstream schools to take part in physical activity and sport and to provide support and training for teachers and volunteers.

At present, the Active Schools network does not monitor participation by children and young people with a disability so it is difficult to say exactly what impact is being had within the system. SDS has certainly benefited from close working relationships with Agenda Item 4 HS/S3/09/1/9 14 January 2009 individual active schools co-ordinators but to date there has been no significant impact on SDS programmes. However, we do believe that there is real potential within Active Schools to work inclusively and help address the issue of lack involvement in sport by children and young people with disabilities.

• What are the barriers to universal access for children to sport, for example travel costs and the cost of equipment and kit? The Scottish Parliament Equal Opportunities Committee (Scottish Parliament 2006) felt that there was a need for local authorities and sportscotland to develop mechanisms for identifying disabled young people and for promoting the participation of disabled children in sport to schools.

The key barriers identified included a lack of information, little encouragement and unsuitable facilities or activities, particularly in rural locations. In addition, disabled people lacked confidence to participate and feared being the victims of discrimination. There was also a lack of support for those looking to progress in the form of back-up from official sporting bodies and opportunities for identifying individual coaching and development needs. Another key factor appeared to be the attitudes of significant others such as parents and carers.

Flexible transport systems must be put in place to ensure that access to sport and physical activity is open to all people with disabilities. This is particularly important in the school environment where school transport systems currently exclude large numbers of disabled pupils from after school programmes.

Attitudinal barriers are consistently quoted to SDS as the major barrier to participation and this is supported by research undertaken by sportscotland entitled, Sport & People with a Disability: Aiming at Social Inclusion (2001). There is a clear need to provide education & training for those with a responsibility for the delivery of sport and PE in Scotland’s schools as well as those with a responsibility for the administration and delivery of sport across Scotland.

Community facilities

• How effective has the National and Regional Sports Facilities Strategy been in delivering facilities for community use? sportscotland has developed a policy that any facility which it funds should be accessible to all people including disabled people. This has included assessing designs to ensure that they meet the requirements of DDA 1995. SDS has also been consulted on the design and build of many of the new facilities planned to ensure that they are accessible for use by people with disabilities. sportscotland has also established an access panel to consult and advise on the key issues affecting access to sports facilities.

• Do local authorities have their own community sports facilities strategies? Where such strategies exist, what role do community planning partnerships and community health partnerships play in developing those strategies? Agenda Item 4 HS/S3/09/1/9 14 January 2009 Given the importance of improving access to sporting facilities and the measures taken by sportscotland to achieve this goal, there has been less evidence of progress being set out in local authority strategies. Only a minority of authorities have specifically mentioned improving access to facilities.

• What are the barriers to making better use of school and other facilities, such as by the wider community, and how can such barriers be overcome? Accessibility of school and other sports facilities is the key. We are aware that physical barriers are still an issue despite recent legislation changes but the changes that would make the biggest impact on participation by disabled users would be in additional areas such as staff training, facility programming, positive marketing, etc.

• How can examples of best practice in the provision of facilities be learned from and rolled out on a wider basis? There are numerous examples of good practice in terms of sports facilities providing accessible and inclusive programmes for people with disabilities across Scotland. These range from facilities built to address all the issues related to physical access through to older buildings which have become centres for disability sport due to the positive approach and commitment of centre staff. Much can be learned from all aspects of these examples and should be compiled and disseminated to all key providers.

Coaching

• Are there enough coaches and volunteers to support sport in Scotland? SDS works closely with key Scottish Governing Body partners to recruit and train coaches to work with athletes and players with a disability. This approach has worked extremely effectively over the years and large numbers of coaches have made a seamless transition into disability sport. However, SDS does not have this relationship with all sports and as such we do not have pathways for participants into as many sports as we would wish. SDS also strives to access the country’s best coaches to develop potential in those with the ability to achieve at the highest level but often these are the coaches in greatest demand and are unable to commit additional time. Disability sport is also dependent on large numbers of volunteer support and care staff and in recent years it has become increasingly difficult to maintain these numbers.

• What systems exist to make sure that best use is made of the coaches who are currently available? SDS co-ordinates an annual calendar of education and training for coaches, volunteers and paid staff across the country. The calendar includes a range of courses designed to provide expertise, instil confidence and raise awareness with those working most closely with disabled athletes.

SDS also works closely with Scotland’s National Governing Bodies of Sport to design sport specific disability coaching modules. The Association has worked with the Scottish Football Association to put in place a “Coaching Footballers with a Disability Certificate” and has is currently working with the sports of athletics and badminton to establish similar qualifications.

Agenda Item 4 HS/S3/09/1/9 14 January 2009 SDS is also active at a Great Britain level, through the Great Britain Disability Sport Coaching, Learning and Leadership Group, working with key partners in disability sport and coaching to ensure that the UK Coaching Framework offers a fully inclusive approach to coaching and leadership.

• What are the barriers to more people coaching, and volunteering to support, sport in Scotland? There are a number of barriers indicated to us such as lack of time and lack of opportunity. However, from experience the biggest barrier to involvement is the fear factor of working with disabled athletes for the first time. SDS has found that education & training linked to good quality hands on experience is the best method of overcoming this perceived fear.

Gavin Macleod Chief Executive Officer Scottish Disability Sport 21 November 2008

Agenda Item 4 HS/S3/09/1/10 14 January 2009 Pathways into Sport

Submission by the Scottish Sports Association

Introduction

The Scottish Sports Association (SSA) thanks the Health and Sport Committee for the opportunity to contribute to this consultation.

The SSA is the independent voice for sports governing bodies in Scotland. We represent their interests and currently have 52 full members and 17 associate members. The governing bodies of sport are responsible for the governance, development and delivery of their individual sports and provide a formal structure for over 12,000 sports clubs in Scotland. Many of these organisations are run on a not for profit basis and managed by volunteers. They provide coaching, competition and youth participation development opportunities to their local communities and most of the 146,000 people who volunteer in sport do so within the club structure.

The SSA welcomes this inquiry and believes it is an important opportunity for the Committee to hear first hand from the wider sporting community. It provides an opportunity for the governing bodies and their clubs to present their views on the questions asked and provide some detail and potential solutions.

As part of the Glasgow 2014 legacy consultation process and its ongoing work with members the SSA has been engaged with its member governing bodies over the past 12 months identifying what are the key issues they face. The following issues have consistently been top of the list;

• ensuring there is sufficient PE in schools, • addressing the poor physical literacy of our children, • access to suitable facilities, and • support for coaching

These issues are generic, applicable to all sports and are clearly identified as areas for action within Reaching Higher, the National Strategy for Sport in Scotland.

The need for a player pathway is identified with Reaching Higher as one of the four national objectives. It is essential that everyone has the opportunity to progress to the next stage of their own individual pathway dependent upon their ability, ambition and personal journey. For many this will be a horizontal pathway in which they participate in recreational activity and enjoy sport for many years. For others it may be fulfilling their talent.

Agenda Item 4 HS/S3/09/1/10 14 January 2009 A strong club structure with motivated volunteers and well trained coaches will provide some of the infrastructure required to ensure the pathways exists. If a strong school to club link exists it is more likely that the participation work started in school will lead to lifelong participation in the community.

The SSA are delighted that these are the key areas around which the Committee has based its questions for this inquiry.

In addition, there is a need for sports clubs to have somewhere to call “home” and access appropriate support. This need not necessarily be their own club house, but should be linked to suitable facilities. This will provide the members with a regular meeting place and provides some form of identity within a community. Appropriate support must also recognise the essential contribution of volunteers.

Children and sport

There is no doubt that the levels of fitness and lack of basic physical literacy skills presented by children when they join sports clubs is of major concern to many sports.

• What level of sport and physical activity should be provided by primary and, separately, secondary schools?

There should be sufficient curriculum PE for all school children and it should be of the right quality. The SSA recognises the pressure on curriculum and facilities, but this should not prevent a minimum of 2 hours of quality curriculum PE for every child until at least S3.

SSA also believes that PE and Sport is essential for the S4-S6 group. Allowing children to opt out from participation in physical activity programmes around age 15 can be detrimental to their long term participation in sport and physical activity. If the appropriate programmes are in place it also provides a welcome break from the academic curriculum and can reinforce the message that sport is a worthwhile activity that can and should be carried on into adulthood.

In addition to this should be an extensive programme of both recreational sport and inter school competitions to provide a range of opportunities for all children. A minimum of 5 hours of physical activity across the combination of these programmes should be the target.

In terms of the PE delivery, at the P1 to P3 stage this should focus on core skills to enable children to run, jump, throw, catch and swim. This is what we call physical literacy and is described as the FUNdamentals in the sportscotland Long Term Player Development pathway.

Agenda Item 4 HS/S3/09/1/10 14 January 2009 By ensuring that children have these skills evidence shows that they are more likely to enjoy sport, find a sport that suits them and maintain a healthy lifestyle.

• Is a lack of the right type of facilities in schools compromising sports education?

Facilities are important. A lack of space and facilities in poor condition will impact on the quality of the experience. Inevitably some schools will have to use multiuse spaces, but the sharing of facilities with other schools and leisure centres where appropriate should be considered. Additional time may need to be planned in to allow this to happen. Good staff can adapt lessons to make best use of the local circumstances.

The motivation and experience of staff also has a significant effect on the quality of sports education. Well trained teachers and coaches and the method of delivery of sport is important so that the children enjoy their PE and sports lessons.

• Who has the responsibility for ensuring that there is adequate sports education in the school system?

Education Services within each Local Authority for ensuring that there is adequate sports education in the school system.

Nevertheless, ultimate responsibility should rest with the Scottish Government. They provide guidance and direction through national policy. The curriculum for excellence provides clear guidance on the provision of PE and sports education.

• Are there enough of the right facilities in schools to deliver appropriate levels of sports education?

SSA does not have access detailed statistics on the facilities available within schools. It is clear that in order to meet the aspirations of the Scottish Government’s strategic aim of a Healthier Scotland, there must be sufficient space and facilities to deliver the appropriate levels of sports education. The minimum levels of PE and additional sport is currently not being met. Anecdotally, reasons often given are a lack of space and facilities. Therefore, this means an increase in current facilities is required.

This is not necessarily the only factor that prevents the delivery of a full sports programme. In rural schools and those with limited dedicated sports facilities there are examples of innovative approaches. Using the natural environment around the school and the use of suitable clothing to adapt to the Scottish climate may be necessary in some situations.

• How can the links between schools and sports clubs be improved?

Agenda Item 4 HS/S3/09/1/10 14 January 2009

By schools being more outward looking and encouraging partnerships with the local sports clubs. This may be achieved by: ¾ active schools coordinators and managers going to speak to local clubs where they practice and play; ¾ the school co-ordinating and hosting meetings with coaches and volunteers from the clubs and local authority development staff; ¾ encouraging local coaches to deliver sports coaching within the school; ¾ allowing local sports clubs to use the school facilities for their clubs; ¾ signposting talented and enthusiastic children to local clubs.

• What differences have Active Schools Co-ordinators made to the links between schools and clubs?

The increase in participation sessions, particularly within the primary school setting has been positive. SSA does not have any statistics on whether this increase has resulted in an increase in school children joining local sports clubs.

At secondary school level it appears that the impact is less significant. Active Schools Co-ordinators within secondary schools have far less time to carry out their role. A significant number of young people drop out from sport within the age range of pupils in the first three years of secondary school. The need for maintaining participation of young people who have shown an interest in sport is at its greatest during these years. It is therefore most disappointing that additional funding was not allocated to strengthen the co-ordinator role at secondary school level.

• What are the barriers to universal access for children to sport, for example travel costs and the cost of equipment and kit?

Travel costs are only significant for maintaining participation if there is no local access to sport. If local clubs are supported and they have access to local facilities, especially schools, then travel will not always be a significant issue at the early participation stage.

Travel costs become significant if clubs and schools participate in competition with others from out side their local area. This aspect of sports participation through competition is crucial to maintain interest, provide ongoing sporting and personal development and continuance of the sporting pathway.

The cost of equipment and kit can be significant, but is sport dependent. Many sports have limited equipment and kit costs. Those where specialist equipment is required often use “hand down” and “club pool” systems. As a general rule as a participant improves their performance and competition levels the costs for both travel and equipment and kit increase.

Agenda Item 4 HS/S3/09/1/10 14 January 2009

Community facilities

• How effective has the Strategy been in delivering facilities for community use?

SSA recognises the commitment of sportscotland and Lottery Funding into the National and Regional Sports Facilities Strategy. It also recognises the commitment of a number of Local Authorities in partnership funding arrangements to deliver these facilities.

However, it is disappointing that the procurement and development of these sports facilities takes so long. SSA is not aware of the completion of any of the planned facilities under this current Strategy.

• Do local authorities have their own community sports facilities strategies? Where such strategies exist, what role do community planning partnerships and community health partnerships play in developing those strategies?

SSA does not have sufficient information to answer this question.

• What are the barriers to making better use of school and other facilities, such as by the wider community, and how can such barriers be overcome?

SSA recognises that issues such as janitor cover, the PPP contract, the perception that damage may occur, access routes to the sports facilities and security of the school have all been mentioned as reasons. To address some of these issues there may be resource implications.

Nevertheless, SSA and our member sports have some difficulty in understanding why they can not be overcome. There are examples where some Local Authorities do provide community access to school facilities out side normal school hours, at week ends and during holidays.

Political will and the possible redirection of existing resources could provide an effective solution.

The SSA and member sports see the wider use of school facilities for community use, and in particular sports clubs, as a key legacy opportunity from Glasgow 2014.

• How can examples of best practice in the provision of facilities be learned from and rolled out on a wider basis?

Communication between Local Authorities and the sports governing bodies is crucial. SSA is keen to work with both sportscotland and COSLA to play an

Agenda Item 4 HS/S3/09/1/10 14 January 2009 enabling role in ensuring this information is collated and then cascaded to other agencies.

• What lessons can be learnt from the way in which community sports facilities are used in other countries?

There are examples of extensive community use of such facilities in other countries. There may be some value in considering such models, but there are significant cultural differences and funding priorities between these examples and Scotland.

Coaching

• Are there enough coaches and volunteers to support sport in Scotland?

Coaching Scotland the strategy framework for coaching in Scotland identified the need for more coaches. It also highlighted that there may be a perceived lack of quality amongst our coaches. Given that coaches are so important to the success of sport in Scotland, both from a participation and performance perspective, it is critical that this is addressed.

The recent survey on sports clubs highlighted the importance of good coaches to ensure that children enjoy their sporting experience and that there is a sufficient ratio of coaches to athletes. The potential uptake in participation following major sporting events can only be maintained if clubs are equipped to deal with the additional numbers before they arrive at the “club door”. Coaches are a crucial part of this equation.

The same argument can be applied to volunteers within sports clubs. Many volunteers carry out a variety of tasks which can become challenging if the support mechanisms are not available.

• What systems exist to make sure that best use is made of the coaches who are currently available?

The introduction of the UK Coaching Certificate (UKCC) is designed to ensure that the quality of coaches is improved through improved coach education and delivery. The SSA supports the principles of this approach.

There are some increased costs and time commitment associated with delivery of the UKCC. Careful management of the process and additional support and resource is required to ensure it does not adversely affect the numbers of individuals applying to become coaches.

Agenda Item 4 HS/S3/09/1/10 14 January 2009 The recent sportscotland funding available to governing bodies to support coaches participating in the UKCC programme is most welcome. The SSA believes it is essential that support is continued to offset additional costs for coach education.

The development and deployment of coaches is carried out on a sport by sport basis. A number of sports now have full time staff to manage this aspect of the sport. The coaching network is an example of such staff coming together to share best practice.

• What are the barriers to more people coaching, and volunteering to support sport in Scotland?

Time is often quoted as the biggest barrier to greater involvement. However, many parents of children who participate in sport will volunteer if asked. Some of these parents progress into coaching, whilst other coaches are ex athletes who no longer compete.

The increasing cost of coach education will need to be monitored to see if it reduces the number of coaches. The UKCC has also increased the time commitment for educational courses.

There is only one sport that employs a full time member of staff dedicated to volunteering. Additionally, there is only one member of staff within sportscotland that has a distinct volunteering focus.

The SSA believes that greater synergy needs to exist between the sporting infrastructure, both clubs and governing bodies, and the wider volunteer networks, i.e. the CVS network and the Volunteer Centres. All can benefit from working together in partnership and investment in strengthening these relationships would be beneficial.

Summary

The Scottish Sports Association believes this inquiry is important for sport. The findings of the inquiry can help shape future action for the implementation of Reaching Higher.

The opportunities provided by the London 2012 Olympic Games and the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games must be seized upon. Addressing the challenges facing the pathways for young people to progress into sport must be a priority.

These actions will need to be addressed by a range of partners that include governing bodies of sport and local authorities, supported by sportscotland, the Scottish Government and other agencies.

Agenda Item 4 HS/S3/09/1/10 14 January 2009

To remove all the barriers that prevent young people participating in sport would be a fitting legacy from the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games.

Chris Robison Policy Director Scottish Sports Association 21 November 2008