Memorandum submitted to Scottish Affairs
Committee by the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA)
1. INTRODUCTION
1.1 COSLA welcomes this opportunity to provide
evidence to the Scottish Affairs Committee on The Potential
Benefits for Scotland of the 2012 Olympics.
1.2 The Convention of Scottish Local Authorities
represents 31 of 32 Authorities across Scotland. In addition to
monthly meetings of Council Leaders, there are quarterly Executive
meetings, for example of Arts, Sport and Leisure Convenors and
of Economic Development Convenors. COSLA also takes advice from
a range of professional associations, including VOCAL—the
Voice of Chief Officers of Culture, Arts and Leisure, and SLAED,
the association of chief officers of Scottish Local Authorities
Economic Development Services.
1.3 Investing over £200 million per
annum, Local Authorities are a major contributor to sport across
Scotland. In addition, Local Authorities contribute over £140
million per annum to the economic development of Scotland and
make a significant contribution to delivering and investing in
the tourism infrastructure.
2. CONTEXT
2.1 Scotland is internationally renowned for
its enthusiasm and support for and achievements in a wide range
of sports, from football, rugby, and golf to sailing, curling
and athletics. However, participation rates in some areas of Scotland
remain low—a 41% differential between the areas with the
highest and lowest participation rates in Scotland and across
all socio-economic groups. Against this background of low participation
rates, Glasgow is seeking to bring the 2014 Commonwealth Games
to Scotland.
2.2 To address issues of low participation,
to nurture talent and to improve the sporting infrastructure,
key stakeholders from local government, Scottish Executive, sportscotland
and sporting bodies have jointly developed the Sport 21 Strategy
which will be reviewed and refreshed in 2006, taking into account
the opportunities and challenges presented by the 2014 Commonwealth
Games bid and the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
2.3 Within this context, COSLA identifies
three underpinning principles or tests which Scottish Local Authorities
would seek to apply to all elements of delivering the Olympic
and Paralympic Games, namely:
— Sustainability—for example,
venues and facilities should be built in response to clearly-identified
long-term community need and with sustainable management and resourcing
plans in place;
— Added value—the Olympic and
Paralympic Games must add value to existing strategies, plans
and programmes;
— Olympic quality—all elements
of Scotland's contribution to the Games will be delivered to the
highest standards, whether at Hampden Park or at community events.
2.4 Local Authorities also identify as priority
outcomes from the 2012 Games:
— Wider, sustained participation in
sport and physical activity at every level;
— Flexible, sustainable sports facilities
to meet identified long-term national, regional and local needs;
— Sustainable economic growth, particularly
in manufacturing, construction, hospitality, catering and tourism,
and design and marketing;
— International recognition of Scotland
as a world-class tourist, business and learning destination.
3. SCOTTISH LOCAL
AUTHORITIES' UNIQUE
CONTRIBUTION
3.1 Scottish Local Authorities are at the
forefront of planning, co-ordinating, delivering, enabling and
financing a range of social, economic, cultural and environmental
services. They are also democratically accountable champions for
their local communities, responding to local needs and priorities
and raising local concerns in the national arena.
3.2 Partnerships and Strategies:
Local Government is uniquely placed to facilitate effective partnership
working, whether across council Services, internally; across neighbouring
Councils or those with common cause; and with external partner
agencies. With its lead role in Community Planning Partnerships,
Local Government is in a position to ensure that the 2012 Olympic
and Paralympic Games add maximum value to regeneration, health
improvement, community safety, lifelong learning, social justice
and other cross-cutting strategies and programmes.
3.3 Infrastructure: Scottish Local
Authorities are at the forefront of economic development in Scotland,
driving regeneration and city transformation, creating conditions
for economic growth, developing tourism, and leading strategic
transportation activities, all of which are key to the successful
delivery of the 2012 Olympic Games and their "legacy".
3.4 Venues and Facilities: Scottish
Local Government, together with sportscotland, the Scottish
Executive and other partners, is delivering a range of new and
upgraded sports facilities of international standard across the
country over the next five years as part of a National and Regional
Sports Facilities programme, independent of the Olympic and Commonwealth
Games bids. These venues are being developed in response to locally
and nationally identified need and demand, and are assured high
usage and attendance rates and sustainability well beyond 2012.
New and upgraded facilities will include: in Glasgow, a new velodrome,
flexible national indoor arena with capacity for 5,000 spectators,
an additional training facility at Tolcross Pool, improved facilities
at Scotstoun track; in Edinburgh, a major refurbishment of the
50m Royal Commonwealth Pool, a new velodrome and outdoor athletics
stadium; and in North Lanarkshire and Aberdeen, indoor training
facilities for football and other sports. These flexible indoor
and outdoor arenas, swimming pools and training facilities will
complement and add value to the existing network of National Centres
and other high quality sports facilities across the country. In
addition, Scotland boasts a number of first class conference and
exhibition centres, all easily accessible by road, rail, air and
sea, which together with our national sports venues offer prime,
flexible facilities for training camps, event training for officials,
conferences, exhibitions, events and seminars associated with
the Olympic Games.
The Potential Benefits of the 2012 Games: a Local
Government Perspective
4. WIDENING PARTICIPATION
With the review next year of Sport 21, Scotland's
strategy for sport, the Olympic and Paralympic Games offer clear
opportunities to add value to our shared goals of widening participation
and nurturing and improving the performance of talented athletes.
Increasing participation requires not only building enthusiasm
for sport and physical activity with individuals and families
and within schools and communities but also ensuring affordable
access to Scottish supporters at Olympic and Paralympic events.
Local Government is clear from the experience of previous host
countries that sustained wider participation cannot be taken for
granted. If that particular "legacy" is to be achieved
for Scotland, the work must start now both nationally and within
our communities, with 2012 as the culmination of our shared efforts.
4.1 2012 additionally offers an opportunity
to increase participation in cultural events and celebrations
in communities across Scotland—in schools, linking with
existing twinning, friendship and exchange partners; through Young
Ambassadors programmes; making new links with guest Training Nations;
and through projects on related history, geography, cultural and
environmental issues; in wider communities through local mini-Olympics,
cultural festivals, events and celebrations. Scotland should also
be well represented at the planned cultural Olympiad in the run-up
to the Games. Again, there are opportunities in 2006 to ensure
that the cultural opportunities offered by the Olympic and Paralympic
Games in 2012 are aligned to the cultural outcomes identified
as part of the current National Review of Culture.
4.2 Across both culture and sport, 2012
offers new opportunities for volunteering. Local Authorities,
together with Volunteer Scotland, the Scottish Executive, and
other partners will seek to ensure that the long-term benefits
of volunteering are extended to "non-traditional" groups.
4.3 Scottish Local Authorities are also
working in partnership to widen and support the pool of elite
athletes in Scotland through coaching and training programmes,
coach and club development programmes and the Institutes of Sport.
For example, Angus Council, Dundee City Council, Perth and Kinross
Council and Fife Council are working together to maximise the
potential support, facilities and coaching expertise available
to talented athletes in their authorities.
5. ECONOMIC GROWTH
There are a number of ways in which Scotland's
economy can benefit from London 2012. Scotland welcomes the opportunity
to host a quarter final in the Olympic football tournament. However,
our other major venues and facilities should also bring economic
benefit to Scotland, hosting training camps, conferences and seminars,
cultural events and festivals in the run-up to the Olympic Games.
Tailored packages will be available across Scotland, offering
a range of large and small, high quality training and conference
facilities, accommodation, cultural programmes, business promotions
and telecommunications links.
5.1 Scottish businesses should also benefit
from winning contracts not only related to hosting of training
camps but also to the wider delivery of the Olympic Games—in
construction and manufacturing; hospitality and catering; design
and marketing; languages and media; security and logistics; cultural
and creative industries; and a range of other services. In tendering
for and winning major Games contracts, it is likely that Scottish
companies will in turn enhance their international reputation
and be well-placed to bid for future Olympic contracts.
5.2 Local Authorities are ideally placed
to add value to these potential economic benefits by ensuring
links with regeneration, employability and social justice agendas
and by enabling opportunities for economic growth related to the
Olympic Games through the planning and procurement processes wherever
possible and appropriate.
6. PROMOTION
OF SCOTLAND
AS A
WORLD-CLASS
TOURIST, LEARNING
AND BUSINESS
DESTINATION
The 2012 Olympic Games provide an unparalleled
opportunity to promote Scotland, with its distinctive natural
heritage, culture and quality of life, as a leading tourist, learning,
sporting, events and business destination. From Shetland in the
north to Galloway in the south, Scotland should benefit from the
global exposure offered—from the Olympic torch relay and
other organised, televised showcase events to informal relationships
built with visiting teams and nations.
6.1 Local authorities already have a very
significant role in Scottish tourism, providing and maintaining
attractions which drew almost 15 million visitors in 2001; supporting,
promoting and delivering a wide range of international and community
events and festivals; and investing in the tourism infrastructure.
There is now an ideal opportunity for local government to work
in partnership with Visit Scotland, Events Scotland, the Scottish
Executive and other partners to develop a revised National Strategy
for Tourism which incorporates, reflects and builds on the unique
tourism and marketing potential of the Olympic, Paralympic and
Commonwealth Games.
7. FLEXIBLE,
SUSTAINABLE SPORTS
INFRASTRUCTURE
While a Strategy is in place to deliver a small
number of additional sports venues—stadia, velodromes, swimming
pools and indoor arenas—which will meet international standards,
there remains a well-documented need to improve and upgrade many
ageing local sports facilities and venues across Scotland. Significant
investment is required to improve the indoor and outdoor sporting
infrastructure to meet the needs and expectations which will be
generated by increased enthusiasm for and participation in sport
and physical activity as a result of the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic
events.
8. 2014 COMMONWEALTH
GAMES
With the prospect of hosting the 2014 Commonwealth
Games in sight, Glasgow and Scotland have a heightened interest
in the 2012 Olympic Games. Already, the Commonwealth Games' bid
team has the welcome opportunity to benefit from the experience
of the Olympic bid. Should Glasgow's bid be successful, the run
up to the Olympic Games will provide further invaluable experience
for the Scottish Games' organising team. Additionally, achieving
the Commonwealth Games for Scotland two years after the Olympic
Games will provide further opportunities to ensure the Olympic
"legacy" is sustained and built on in Scotland.
9. REQUIREMENTS
While Scottish Local Government very much welcomes
London's successful bid for the 2012 Olympic Games and the opportunities
it presents for Scotland, the benefits will only be delivered
if a number of issues are considered and resolved, including:
— clarity about how local authorities
in Scotland can play their full role;
— ensuring routes and mechanisms are
in place to enable Scottish local authorities collectively and
individually to play their full role;
— development of a strategic response
by the Scottish Working Group to the opportunities offered and
early dialogue with the Nations and Regions Group, British Olympic
Association and London Organising Committee for the Olympic Games;
— resource issues, particularly concerning
Scotland's sporting facility infrastructure, which cannot currently
be met;
— clarity about responsibilities and
mechanisms for marketing and promoting potential training and
"holding" camps;
— resource issues to enable wide participation
in and support for the Olympic and Paralympic Games;
— clarity about processes to ensure
small and medium-sized Scottish businesses secure a proportionate
number of contracts;
— research on the potential "Olympic
effect" in drawing migrant workers from Scotland to London;
— how Scotland will articulate with
London 2012 on Olympic-related devolved issues;
— resource and capacity issues related
to co-ordinating delivery of benefits for Scotland—eg bringing
together working groups, inter-council partnerships and consortia
to develop, promote and deliver training camp packages;
— ensuring that rural as well as urban
areas of Scotland can benefit from the Olympic effect.
15 November 2005
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