That is okay. Thank you, convener. As you noted, I am joined by Derek Grieve, who is head of the active Scotland division.
As the committee is aware, I am absolutely clear about the importance of sport and physical activity. My ministerial portfolio—public health and sport—signifies a deliberate, clear and connected approach that exploits the benefits of physical activity and sport to improve the health of the people of Scotland. We want to create a culture in which healthy behaviours are the norm, right through people’s lives. The Scottish Government’s vision is of a Scotland where more people are more active, more often, and sport has an important role to play in realising that vision.
In Scotland, sportscotland is developing a world-class sporting system at all levels, connecting sport in schools and education, clubs and communities, and performance sport. That system has helped Scottish athletes to achieve huge success at a number of levels—in the Commonwealth, Olympic and Paralympic games, as well as the national, European and world championships. Through their successes, Scottish athletes are inspiring others on their own sporting pathway and providing the rest of us with immense pride and the motivation to get more active.
Through our investment in facilities, we are providing participation opportunities for people and communities across Scotland. Since 2007, sportscotland has invested more than £168 million in supporting local clubs, local authorities, sports governing bodies and other organisations to deliver a wide range of new and upgraded sports facilities.
The recently published “The Scottish Household Survey: Scotland’s People—Annual Report 2016” showed that participation in all physical activity and sport has increased slightly, from 72 per cent in 2007 to 79 per cent in 2016. Although we would all like to see higher numbers, I am encouraged by the increase in numbers of children who now meet the chief medical officer’s physical activity guidelines. However, we recognise that there is still more to do. That is why, in order to better evidence the impact that sport has across our communities, my officials are working directly with Scottish sports governing bodies to help them to improve their data collection in order to measure the impact of their outcomes against the active Scotland outcomes framework.
To ensure that children from all backgrounds have access to sport and physical activity, this Government has invested £11.6 million in supporting schools to meet our physical education commitment of two hours or periods per week. That figure is up from 10 per cent in 2004-05 to 98 per cent in 2016. It is backed up by significant investment in the active schools programme. The latest figures from that programme, published a couple of weeks ago, show that active schools participation levels have increased by 52 per cent over the past five years, with 6.8 million visits recorded during the academic year 2016-17.
Our ambition to create a more active Scotland is why we committed in our manifesto to making Scotland the first daily mile nation. Getting the nation active requires action across Government, which is why we have put record investment into walking and cycling and will continue to do that for the rest of the parliamentary session; it will be doubled to £80 million in 2018-19. Active travel will improve health outcomes for individuals, improving both their mental and physical health. Those initiatives aim to assist people from across Scotland to become more physically active, as well as more integrated with their local community.
A big part of the committee’s focus has been on the accessibility of the school estate. We know that there are thousands of sports facilities in the overall school estate, including sports halls, pitches, multi-use outdoor areas, swimming pools, running tracks and tennis courts that are available for community use, but we also know that more can be done to maximise the use of that resource and investment. As I mentioned in my response to the committee’s phase 1 report, I would find it very useful and informative if the committee will share any evidence that it has collected on those issues so that we can take action as appropriate to build on the on-going work that we already do with local authorities to unlock barriers to access.
Finally, I would like to put on record that a lot of sport and physical activity would not take place without an army of volunteers. The dedication of so many, and the time that is put in, to create opportunities and nurture new talent is the lifeblood of our sporting heritage and future. Volunteers are vital not only for sports clubs but for the active schools programme, which is possible only because more than 19,000 volunteers deliver sport and physical activity in their communities.
A lot of good work is going on, but we are alive to the challenges that exist. We welcome the committee’s work on the issue so that we can collectively create the country that we all seek, which is one that is healthier and more active.
I am happy to take any questions that the committee has.