Examination of Witnesses (Questions 340-354)
MS PATRICIA
FERGUSON MSP AND
MR IAN
CAMPBELL
13 DECEMBER 2005
Q340 Chairman: The funding that is
allocated to Scotland, who will make the decision? Will the ODA
make the decision in consultation with the Scottish Executive
or what will happen?
Ms Ferguson: I am not sure exactly
what circumstances that might be, Chairman. I am sorry I am being
a little bit vague here.
Mr Campbell: One point is that
Scottish Enterprise will be represented on the Scottish steering
group which Julia Bracewell will chair. Scottish Enterprise are
the main link with business and they are the ones who will be
working hardest with the Scottish companies to be involved in
ODA contracts when they are being let. That is where the money
is likely to come through, so any money that the ODA has budget-wise,
they will be in competition with other organisations and other
companies trying to get that, the same as other regional development
authorities around other parts of England who will be trying to
do as well. They are the main link in trying to get that sorted
out.
Q341 Danny Alexander: Can I follow
up on that point. Obviously the Olympic Delivery Authority is
there to ensure that the infrastructure projects and so on happen
on time and award and allocate contracts and the first part of
the Chairman's question was will there be a specifically Scottish
voice on the ODA in terms of its board and its structure as well.
I appreciate the fact that there is a Nations and Regions Committee,
but that is somewhat detached from the ODA so will there be a
strong Scottish representative around that table to make sure
at least, even though, obviously, appropriate rules have to be
followed in terms of awarding contracts, that Scottish companies
and so on are given a fair hearing, rather than there not being
a Scottish voice around that table when those decisions are being
taken?
Ms Ferguson: I do not think that
there will be someone specifically Scottish on it necessarily,
but obviously the main link in will be through the London Organising
Committee and through the Nations and Regions Committee, that
is really one of the purposes of Nations and Regions. I do not
think there will be someone, if you like, that we are nominating
onto the ODA, I do not think it will work like that.
Mr Campbell: DCMS will determine
who goes onto the board or whatever it is that is constructed
from there, and presumably they will want the best people to go
on there and if Scots are the best to be involved then I expect
they will have a place there. We could find out a bit more, but
I think the DCMS are probably best placed to give information
on how they will constitute it.
Q342 David Mundell: Minister, earlier
on I touched on negative elements and one focus for these negative
elements has been football and the SFA's decision not to participate
in a unified GB and Northern Ireland football team. What is the
Scottish Executive's view on the SFA's decision?
Ms Ferguson: We really have to
allow the SFA to have its position because they are the governing
body of that particular sport and it is for them to make that
decision, so I do not think it is really for the Executive to
have that kind of view. Obviously, we understand the SFA's position,
but it is not really for us to have that kind of a view on it.
Q343 David Mundell: Do you have a
dialogue?
Ms Ferguson: We do obviously discuss
many issues with the SFA over the course of the months and years
so I am sure that comes up now and again.
Q344 David Mundell: That sounds like
a ministerial answer, both in the Scottish Parliament and here.
Would you prefer that they had reached a different decision?
Ms Ferguson: It really is a decision
that they have to come to and obviously they are not alone in
that, the Welsh FA have come to the same decision, so there seems
to be a stream of thought in football that suggests that that
is not the favoured option. It will be interesting to see though
because obviously we are talking about football that will be participated
in by those who are under 23 and it will be interesting to see
whether or not there might be young Scottish footballers who might
be disappointed that they are not able to compete in the Olympic
Games. Having said that, I think perhaps for most footballers
the World Cup is the focus of their ambitions, so I am not sure
whether that would actually be the case in reality. It really
is a call that they have to make, they are the only people who
can.
Q345 David Mundell: Do you think
that maybe over the next six years there is scope to change that
decision?
Ms Ferguson: I suppose there is
always that possibility.
Q346 Danny Alexander: Can I just
follow that up briefly, if I may? You mentioned of course that
there may be Scottish footballers who might be disappointed at
not being able to be part of Team GB. Would the Scottish Executive
support the right of any Scottish footballer who would qualify
on the grounds of their skill and ability to take part in a UK
team to do so, against the wishes of the SFA?
Ms Ferguson: From memory—you
would probably have to check this with the SFA—the SFA have
said that if Scottish footballers decide to take part in it then
that is a matter for them, so I am not sure that actually the
kind of support you are suggesting would be needed. I think the
SFA are quite realistic about what that actually means in practice.
Q347 David Mundell: What do you gauge
is the level of support in Scotland for England hosting the 2018
World Cup, and do you think the SFA's approach in relation to
the Olympics played any part in no attempt really to forge a wider
bid than simply an English bid?
Ms Ferguson: It is too early to
tell what the level of support is; I am not aware that any in
depth or proper studies have been done to gauge that, but I do
not honestly think that did have any bearing on the FA's decision,
it is more to do with the rules that cover those kinds of bids
having to be based around footballing nation as it were rather
than more than one. I do not honestly think that that was part
of their deliberations, but who knows, it may been, but I do not
get that impression at all.
Q348 David Mundell: Do you think
there will be any adverse consequences from the SFA's decision
on any other basis, such as fewer training camps in Scotland or
fewer visitors?
Ms Ferguson: No, I really do not
think so.
Q349 David Mundell: But there is
absolutely no truth in some negative-inspired suggestions that
the SFA's decision could lead to the Games schedule for Hampden
Park being withdrawn?
Ms Ferguson: No, I have not had
any indication that that would be the case. We know the dates
of those matches and we know what is happening, so it is certainly
not something that has been suggested to me. I do not think so
at all.
Q350 David Mundell: The extent to
which the SFA's responsibility extends to those events, do you
think they will be there on the day in a fully supportive capacity?
Ms Ferguson: I am sure they will
be. International football is international football and I think
the tickets will go very, very quickly for those events. There
will be capacity crowds for the events held at Hampden, I am quite
sure there will be.
Q351 Chairman: Minister, you will
have heard about C-ScOT's campaign for a separate Scottish Olympic
team.
Ms Ferguson: Indeed.
Q352 Chairman: In paragraph 5 of
your memorandum you say that "Scotland does not have the
infrastructure to host a future Olympic Games. Therefore, a London
Games will provide Scottish athletes with their best opportunity
to compete on home soil as part of Team GB." Can we take
it from that, that the Scottish Executive has little enthusiasm
for the idea of a separate Scottish team, or are you simply being
pragmatic?
Ms Ferguson: I think both. A modern
Games is a very complex thing to pull together and requires a
huge range of facilities of all kinds and a huge infrastructure
to scope. I think Scotland is too small a country to be able to
do that for the Olympic Games, but also the Executive has no enthusiasm
for a Scottish Olympic team and in fact the rules of the Olympics
would prohibit a Scottish team as they stand, their own rules
would make that impossible. It is not something that we are pursuing
at all.
Q353 David Mundell: It is not worth
changing the status of Scotland within the United Kingdom to achieve
an Olympic team?
Ms Ferguson: To take the question
literally, it would not be about changing the status of Scotland
within the UK, it would actually be about Scotland being entirely
separate from the rest of the UK before it would be possible for
Scotland to compete as an Olympic team—as the rules of the
Olympics currently stand. We have no enthusiasm for that whatsoever.
Q354 Chairman: Minister, could I
thank you and Mr Campbell for your attendance this afternoon.
Before I declare the meeting closed, do you wish to say anything
in conclusion—perhaps on the areas not covered already during
our questioning?
Ms Ferguson: I think it might
be worth saying very briefly, Chairman, that I do genuinely see
a great opportunity for Scotland in these Olympics, and one of
the reasons I say that is because I think that what we learn and
what we get out of those Olympics can stand us in particularly
good stead as we go towards the 2014 bid for Glasgow. I think
we are learning all the time from what London did and I think
we are able to make our bid the best possible bid that we can
by learning from these examples. So while we are talking to our
colleagues in Melbourne, who are about to host the Commonwealth
Games in 2006, it is also of vital importance that we learn from
the example of London and that we take advantage of that. I think
too for the UK as a whole the opportunity to host those two major
sporting events within two years means that we have a real opportunity,
both to put Scotland and the UK on the map as hosts of sporting
events but also to genuinely increase the participation levels
and to make sure that our young people do participate in activity
that will be beneficial to them in the longer term and beneficial
to the country as a consequence.
Chairman: Thank you for your evidence
which I am sure we will find very helpful when we compile our
report. Thank you very much.
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