Scottish Government

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Background and Introduction

1. The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that the whole of Scotland enjoys a clear, positive, and lasting legacy from the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games. It issued a consultation paper in February 2008 seeking views on proposed actions designed to harness the power of the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games to help the Scottish Government to achieve its five strategic objectives - to make Scotland Wealthier and Fairer; Smarter; Healthier, Safer and Stronger; and Greener.

2. The consultation paper - Glasgow 2014: Delivering A Lasting Legacy for Scotland¹ - was structured around the Scottish Government's five Strategic Objectives and 15 National Outcomes. Under each outcome it outlined possible high-level actions and suggested proposals for how these could be achieved. It sought respondents' views on four questions:

• Are the benefits you would like from the 2014 Commonwealth Games covered in this paper?
• Is there anything else we should be doing?
• How can we, individually or collectively, best achieve these aims?
• Do you have any other comments to offer on what should feature in the final games benefits and Legacy Plan?

3. The results of the consultation exercise along with feedback from other elements of the consultation exercise - 16 public meetings and a survey undertaken by Young Scot - will be used to inform a detailed Legacy Plan which will be published in the Summer of 2009.

4. Chapter 1 of this report provides the background to the consultation and outlines the methodology adopted to analyse the consultation responses. Chapter 2 provides an analysis of respondents including a breakdown of respondents by geography, type of organisation and sectoral interest. An overview of responses and key findings is provided in Chapter 3. Chapters 4 - 8 provide a summary and detailed review of comments made by respondents on the actions proposed in the consultation paper to achieve the National Outcomes under each of the five Strategic Objectives. Chapter 9 provides conclusions drawn from the analysis of responses.

5. A total of 169 written responses were received to the consultation paper. Just over half of the respondents (53%) were Scottish organisations (national agencies, national voluntary organisations, business organisations and sports governing bodies). Just over one in ten respondents (12%) were Glasgow-based organisations or individuals living in Glasgow. Just under a third (30%) of respondents were local organisations (e.g. local authorities, local voluntary organisations and health bodies) or individuals from the rest of Scotland (i.e. not Glasgow). The remaining 4% of respondents were from outside of Scotland or did not provide their address.

6. Respondents have been classified according to type of organisation and their sector or main area of interest. A breakdown of how respondents have been classified is provided in Appendix 1. The analysis of respondents by sector or main interest of the respondent shows that sport, local government and health interests were the most heavily represented with respectively 18%, 12% and 10% of respondents.

Key Findings

7. Respondents expressed a high level of support for the consultation paper. They particularly welcomed the early opportunity to comment on the developing Legacy Plan, the general approach taken and specific actions proposed in the paper.

8. A majority of respondents agreed that the consultation paper identified the potential benefits in terms of lasting legacy from the Games. Many respondents made suggestions as to the opportunities that need to be taken up in order to achieve the desired outcomes from the Games. These included:

• increasing physical activity amongst children and young people and the general population;
• increasing physical literacy amongst school children;
• developing and implementing a Volunteering Strategy;
• developing the tourism infrastructure and promoting Scotland as a visitor destination; and,
• developing the 'greener' agenda.

9. However, a significant minority of respondents expressed some concern that the consultation paper only covered their specific interests in part, or did not cover all the benefits they would like from the Games. Respondents identified three key gaps or missed opportunities:

• the sporting legacy was undervalued;
• tackling health inequalities was not specifically mentioned as a key objective of the 'Healthier' part of the legacy; and,
• the 'Greener' part of the consultation paper could have contained more detail.

10. The analysis of responses identified three key contradictions or areas of disagreement in the views of respondents:

• the consultation paper was aspirational and challenging because it covered the whole range of Scottish Government objectives and the alternative view that it was too general and not focused enough;
• a strongly expressed view that the consultation paper undervalued and downplayed the sporting legacy and the alternative view that the Legacy Plan should look beyond sport to areas such as health improvement, the green agenda and employment and training; and,
• differences in opinions about targeting volunteering opportunities at long-term unemployed and hard-to-reach groups in the East End of Glasgow or ensuring that volunteering opportunities are open to people across Scotland.

Wealthier and Fairer

11. Respondents generally were satisfied that the consultation paper identified the benefits they would wish to see from the Games in relation to the Wealthier and Fairer objective. They welcomed the proposals made in this section of the consultation paper and provided comments on how the legacy benefits could be developed further in four areas:

• procurement;
• promoting Scotland;
• tourism - infrastructure and promotion; and,
• employment and training (and the link to volunteering).

Procurement

12. Respondents agreed that procurement opportunities for Scottish business could be one of the main potential benefits of the Games and that support should be given to small and medium-sized enterprises ( SMEs) across Scotland to bid for contracts. Several respondents suggested that the Legacy Plan should highlight the potential of social enterprises and ensure that they are included in any measures to support business to bid for contracts.

Promoting Scotland

13. Respondents from all sectors supported the proposal that the Games could be used as a catalyst to bring other major events to Scotland and that Scottish business should be supported to understand the demands of, and maximise the potential benefits from, the major events market. They commented favourably on the proposal to use the Games to showcase different aspects of Scotland's economy and cultural life and proposed ways in which this could be developed beyond the areas highlighted in the consultation paper, including design and creative industries.

14. Local authorities and several Universities suggested that visiting teams should use venues and facilities across Scotland as their training bases to spread the benefits and experience gained from the Games and promote all of Scotland.

15. Several business organisations emphasised that while the Games will offer inward investment opportunities there is scope also to focus the Legacy Plan on trade opportunities with other Commonwealth countries. They highlighted the potential to develop Business Clubs and Networks to promote business opportunities in Scotland.

Tourism

16. The tourism potential of the Games was acknowledged by many respondents, most of whom mentioned the need to encourage visitors to the Games to travel outside Glasgow. Local authorities and several national bodies suggested that financial support needs to be provided to deliver improvements in tourism infrastructure across Scotland.

17. Respondents supported the proposal to extend the use of national entitlement cards and integrated ticketing (venues and transport) and suggested ways in which this proposal could be developed.

Employment and Training

18. Several respondents with an interest in regeneration and skills development commented on the potential to use 'social clauses' to target training and job opportunities at local people in the East End of Glasgow.

19. Respondents linked the issue of employability to the proposal to develop accredited volunteering, especially for young people. There was strong support from Glasgow-based organisations and some national organisations for the proposal to target training and volunteering opportunities at long-term unemployed and hard-to-reach groups in Glasgow. However, there was also a strongly held view from local authorities and other national organisations that training and volunteering opportunities should be open to people from across Scotland.

20. Respondents from the business sector highlighted the need to plan ahead to ensure necessary construction skills are available. Some respondents suggested other skills should also be included in a Games training strategy.

Smarter

21. Responses to this section of the consultation paper mainly focused on the three main proposals made in relation to achieving the 'Smarter' objective:

• developing volunteering;
• increasing children and young people's participation in civic life and expanding their influence on local and national decision making; and,
• capturing the enthusiasm of children and young people for the Games.

Volunteering

22. There was a high level of support for the proposal to adopt a system of accreditation for volunteers. It was pointed out that there are programmes and an awards network already supporting volunteering in Scotland. Several national agencies and voluntary organisations suggested ways in which they could support the implementation of a Volunteer Programme.

23. Respondents supported the proposals to target disadvantaged groups in the East End of Glasgow and highlighted ways in which they should be developed. However, sports groups, local authorities and other organisations suggested that the volunteering strategy should focus on people who are already involved in sports, students and/ or older interested people from across Scotland.

Children and young people's participation in civic life

24. The proposal to use the Games as a means of encouraging children and young people to participate in civic life and expand their influence in decision making was welcomed by respondents. Several organisations suggested ways in which children and young people are being encouraged to participate in civic life as examples of how this proposal could be taken forward.

25. Youth organisations supported the proposal to explore opportunities to extend the use of the Young Scot Entitlement Card as a means of providing a direct and lasting benefit to young people.

Capturing the enthusiasm of children and young people for the Games

26. A small number of respondents expressed the view that the Legacy Plan should include specific reference to supporting the development of active play, adventure playgrounds and adventure activities.

27. Several respondents, including Learning and Teaching Scotland ( LTS) and local authorities highlighted the potential to use the Games as a focus for international education through developing curriculum ideas and teaching materials. Also they welcomed and supported the idea of developing cultural and educational links between Scottish local authorities, schools and other Commonwealth countries.

Healthier

28. This section of the consultation paper generated a substantial amount of comments around two key issues - the health legacy and the sporting legacy.

Health legacy

29. Comments on the health legacy concentrated on three issues:

• tackling health inequalities;
• promoting physical activity and healthy lifestyles; and,
• sports injuries.

Tackling health inequalities

30. Respondents welcomed the emphasis on using the Games as a vehicle for stimulating increased physical activity, healthy eating and other vehicles for improving health. They welcomed the eight actions put forward to meet the 'Healthier' objective including proposals to improve physical activity levels, wellbeing through volunteering, access to healthy food and a non-alcohol related night-time culture.

31. However, several health organisations expressed concern that the consultation paper did not show a direct link to health inequalities. For example, NHS Health Scotland made the point that a generalised whole population approach to the Legacy Plan could widen health inequalities by providing greater opportunities for highly-motivated individuals who are in least need of additional support. Therefore, it advocated a more focused approach in three key areas: physical activity, healthy eating and volunteering.

Promoting physical activity and healthy lifestyles

32. The emphasis on promoting physical activity and healthy lifestyles was strongly supported by respondents. For example, local authorities and NHS bodies highlighted the importance of encouraging young people to participate in healthy exercise in schools and the opportunities relating to healthy weight/ obesity reduction. Several respondents emphasised that ill-health prevention should be promoted through encouraging healthy life-style choices and working with Health Promoting Schools and Active Schools Co-ordinators.

33. There was general support for the proposal to use athletes as positive role models. However, several respondents pointed out that there is little evidence that this is an effective way in which to promote physical activity and healthy lifestyles amongst key target groups.

34. 'Special interest' groups pressed the case for the Legacy Plan to address their particular area of interest. For example, the Scottish Association for Mental Health promoted the use of social marketing campaigns to address mental health problems. ASH Scotland proposed that the Games should be declared 'smoke-free' in order to tackle ill-health caused by smoking.

Increase awareness of, and reduce the incidence of, sports injuries

35. Several respondents suggested that any strategy to increase levels of physical activity and participation in sport should be accompanied by greater support for, and investment in, sports injuries surveillance and prevention strategies, as well as training for sports medicine advisors and practitioners.

Sporting legacy

36. Whilst there was strong support for the proposals relating to developing the sporting legacy respondents raised two key criticisms. Firstly, many organisations from the sports sector and others with an interest in sport, suggested that the Legacy Plan needs to be more specific about how the Games will contribute to achieving the objectives set out in Reaching Higher, the national sports strategy for Scotland.

37. Secondly, national sports governing bodies, and representative organisations, including sportscotland and Commonwealth Games Scotland expressed concern that the consultation paper did not give enough priority to sporting legacy and contained few sporting targets and outcomes. The Scottish Sports Association consulted its members and found agreement about three key areas that need addressing:

• physical education and sport in schools - improving the physical literacy of school children;
• facility access and provision - in particular improving the provision and access to quality sporting facilities in schools; and,
• volunteering and coaching - increasing and sustaining sport's volunteer workforce.

38. Local government respondents also raised the issue of funding and several made the point that the Legacy Plan should be more specific about what funding will be made available for local authorities and partners to support the Games and local initiatives.

Safer and Stronger

39. The responses to the Safer and Stronger section of the consultation paper concentrated on three issues:

• physical regeneration;
• improving opportunities for offenders; and,
• community engagement.

Physical regeneration

40. Although respondents commented on economic regeneration under the Wealthier and Fairer Objective, relatively few respondents commented specifically on how the Games can deliver physical, social and environmental regeneration of deprived parts of Glasgow.

41. Several respondents, expressed concern that the physical legacy of the Games (in terms of changes to the environment and infrastructure) "is either missing or is underplayed" and suggested that the Legacy Plan should include explicit reference to environmental improvement.

Improving opportunities for offenders

42. Relatively few respondents commented on the consultation paper's proposals to provide employment and training opportunities for offenders and those at risk of offending. Whilst organisations such as APEX Scotland, the Wise Group and the BIG Lottery Fund offered their expertise in this area, Victim Support Scotland expressed some concerns.

Community engagement

43. Several respondents supported the proposal to apply 'secure by design' principles to the Athletes' Village and other public buildings. They made the point that active engagement of communities generally, and young people in particular, can make an important contribution to tackling anti-social behaviour.

44. Respondents welcomed the suggestion that local communities should be consulted in relation to safety and security aspects of the design of the Athletes' Village. The Scottish Federation of Housing Associations suggested that consultation should go further with local residents being involved in the planning and designing, ownership and management of the new accommodation.

Greener

45. Although most respondents supported the proposals aimed at achieving the 'Greener' objective several suggested that the consultation paper should have had greater emphasis on the 'green' agenda, including 'green transport' such as walking and cycling. There was strong support for the proposals to use the Games as an 'environmental exemplar' and as an 'exemplar of sustainable transport'.

Environmental Exemplar

46. Comments in relation to the Games being an 'environmental exemplar' focused on four issues:

• energy and climate change mitigation;
• design for sustainability;
• planning for green Infrastructure; and,
• environmental procurement.

Energy and climate change mitigation

47. Respondents supported the proposal to use the Games as an 'environmental exemplar' especially in relation to being a carbon neutral Games. Several respondents welcomed the proposal to establish a carbon off-setting fund to support climate change adaptation in Commonwealth countries. However, some suggested that this commitment should be additional to domestic efforts and should be a 'last resort'.

Design for sustainability

48. Several respondents highlighted the potential of the Games to demonstrate the best of environmentally sustainable design in relation to energy efficient buildings, renewable energy technologies, sustainable building materials and landscaping. Various organisations highlighted areas of particular expertise or experience that they or their sector could bring to assist in fulfilling this objective.

Planning for green infrastructure

49 Environmental groups expressed the view that the Games could be used to demonstrate that integrated approaches to the planning and delivery of buildings, public open spaces, greenspace and path networks can create attractive and sustainable places that will encourage physical activity and active travel. Planning the Athletes' Village and other infrastructure required for the Games provides an opportunity to incorporate green infrastructure and support for the 'green network'.

Environmental procurement

50. Several respondents suggested that procurement for the Games should be based on sustainable development principles. Also they highlighted issues such as the importance of minimising waste and maximising recycling and running a campaign for a cleaner, litter-free Scotland.

Exemplar of Sustainable Transport

51. Respondents, including those from the transport sector, were generally supportive of the proposals to use the Games as an 'exemplar of sustainable transport'. They focused on four issues:

• developing and fully pursuing the concept of 'active travel' in the development of transport infrastructure;
• support for integrated ticketing, extending the issue of entitlement cards and a one-stop-shop travel information service, using the existing Traveline Scotland service;
• investigating the potential of Quality Partnership and Punctuality Improvement Partnerships between local authorities and bus operators; and,
• developing the road and public transport infrastructure in and around the Games venues.

52. Several transport operators expressed the view that the transport stakeholder consultation should be widened to ensure that all parts of the transport sector are fully consulted and involved in devising and delivering a Games Transport Plan.

Conclusion

53. Respondents suggested a wide range of requirements that they would like to see put in place. Mainly, these related to what respondents would like to see from the Scottish Government - principally a commitment to provide funding and resources. However, many respondents also identified specific action that they themselves or other agencies or organisations could/ should take to contribute towards achieving the legacy aims.

54. The consultation exercise showed that there is a high level of support for the 2014 Commonwealth Games and ensuring that it leaves a lasting legacy across Scotland. This commitment and enthusiasm to deliver a successful Games and lasting legacy has to be nurtured through the Scottish Government, Games Organising Company and Legacy Board following an inclusive, partnership approach to developing and implementing the Legacy Plan.