Scotland’s concern with physical activity (PA) has been apparent ever since the establishment of the devolved Government in 1999, when the white paper, “Towards a Healthier Scotland” was published. However, 25 years later it is fair to ask the question: has Scotland become a more active country?
This blog explores the current data to try and answer this question. It draws from the recently published SPICe Briefing on Sport and PA Policy in Scotland. This is the first blog in a series of publications on Sport and PA from a SPICe academic fellowship project. It summarises some of the key themes from the briefing, with a focus on how the sport and PA operates in Scotland and the main sources of evidence available when considering the success of previous Sport and PA policies.
Views expressed in this blog are those of the authors and not those of SPICe or the Scottish Parliament.
What does Sport and PA look like in Scotland?
Sport and PA in Scotland are organised in a complex way, with responsibility shared across a range of organisations at both a national and local level. This can be seen in the below image, which attempts to summarise the various relationships involved:
(Adapted from Murray et al., 2024)
Typically, Local Authorities are responsible for the provision of public local sports facilities, although many of these are now operated through arms-length leisure trusts. There are also other sport and PA facilities which are owned and run through a wide range of private and third sector organisations which are available for the public to use. The education sector is required to provide Sport and PA opportunities across all age groups who attend, with additional extra-curricular opportunities being made available through activities run by the Active Schools network. Similar opportunities are available at Further and Higher Education levels, with Scottish Student Sport running competitions, events, and social sport programmes on behalf of the UK-based organisation British Universities and Colleges Sport (BUCS). For those who wish to participate in more competitive environments or in specific sports, sports clubs are often run by their associated National Governing Body.
As can be seen from the image, this explanation only scratches the surface of the various relationships and overlaps existing in Sport and PA provision in Scotland. This might provide an indication as to why aligning policy priorities and goals can be challenging.
How is Sport and PA funded in Scotland?
The Scottish Government acts as the main provider of funding, and as such is influential in determining the priority areas that this money should be spent on when it comes to Sport and PA. This is made explicit within their policies, white papers, and communications. However, the majority of this funding is distributed through sportscotland, a nation-wide non-governmental organisation which retains a certain amount of independence when it comes to decision making, although it is still required to meet certain governmental targets and goals. sportscotland then distributes this funding to various other organisations, agencies, and delivery partners, such as National Governing Bodies of Sport, Scottish Club Sport, and Community Sports Hubs. Again, this highlights the complexities involved in determining where responsibilities lie in enacting Sport and PA policy in Scotland, with a wide variety of organisations and individuals to navigate.
How successful has Sport and PA been in Scotland so far?
A quick glance at the current evidence might suggest that Sport and PA participation is actually on the rise. For example, the 2021 Scottish Health Survey indicated that significantly more adults met the guidelines for moderate or vigorous PA than in previous years, which continued a general upwards trend since 2012.
However, the picture is more complex and nuanced than this might suggest. When looking at the evidence in more depth, there are still many issues across various groups in society affecting their ability to access Sport and PA. Ultimately, there are significant disparities in how people of diverse backgrounds and demographics engage with Sport and PA.
It is also worth noting that the evidence from which we tend to draw our conclusions from is varied, meaning that there is a lack of consistency in what exactly is being reported. For example, there is a lot of reliance on the Scottish Household Survey and Scottish Health Survey, even though neither of these focuses specifically on Sport and PA. There are also many one-off reports which provide greater depth and focus on specific areas, such as the Scottish Parliament Health, Social Care & Sport Committee’s inquiry into female participation in Sport and PA. However, there is no centralised form of monitoring and evaluation across Sport and PA, similar to the Active Lives survey run by Sport England, which provides reliable and comparable data to provide robust conclusions regarding Sport and PA participation across the population.
What other considerations need to be taken into account when discussing Sport and PA in Scotland?
Sport and PA is not an isolated field and is affected by wider societal issues. For example, the impact of the 2008 financial crisis and prolonged stagnation of real wage growth that has followed is still being keenly felt by the sector, while the more recent COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent cost of living crisis, including substantial rises in energy costs, continue to have significant consequences.
There are also changing trends across the wider sporting landscape. For example, there are emergent patterns of participation in fitness activities, such as weight training, yoga, and running, as opposed to more traditional sports, such as golf, martial arts, and rugby, amongst younger demographics throughout the whole of the UK and the Global population more generally. These changes in popularity require different approaches to targeting younger generations to instil positive attitudes to Sport and PA from a young age, as well as the infrastructure which facilitates these activities.
Disengagement with Sport and PA can also be considered in relation to broader social and health influences across society. This means that collaboration about Sport and PA priorities is needed across local and national decision makers within various sectors, such as healthcare, transport, planning, education, environment, and others. With ongoing financial challenges affecting local authority funding, greater creativity and co-operation will be needed across these sectors to ensure each of their priorities can be met, including those of Sport and PA.
Dr David Meir, University of the West of Scotland, and Dr David Scott, Abertay University
SPICe Academic Fellows