 The final item of business this evening is a member's business debate on motion 819, in the name of Murdo Fraser, on Dewar's Centre in Perth. The debate will be concluded without any questions being put. I invite members wishing to participate, to press the request-and-speak buttons, or put the necessary indication in the chat function if they are joining us online. I call on Murdo Fraser to open the debate around seven minutes. Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. I start by thanking all members who signed my motion from across the chamber to allow this matter to be brought to debate here in the Scottish Parliament. Whilst my motion focuses on the future of the Dewar's Centre in Perth, curling has a reach right across Scotland and the issues that affect the Dewar's Centre affect many other venues in different parts of the country. It might seem strange to be debating a sport played on ice on one of the warmest days of the year so far, but curling is a real Scottish success story. It is a sport in which Scotland excels, with Olympic gold medal-winning teams and world champion winners in recent times in both men's and women's sections. The 2022 women's gold medal-winning curling team at the Winter Olympics was led by Eve Muirhead, for whom Dewar's was the home rink. As a consequence of that victory, the whole team was awarded the freedom of path and conross by the local council. Curling is a success story, not just for those at the elite end of the sport. It is a pastime enjoyed by many thousands of people across the country and is popular with the older generation who can continue playing when other sports become more difficult. There is also an important social aspect to the sport in helping to tackle loneliness and isolation, particularly among older members of society. However, it would be wrong to characterise curling as just a sport for older people, with a growing interest among the young, something that has been fostered at Dewar's and at other rinks across the country. Curling will only have a future, however, if there are facilities that can host it. We have a network of curling rinks across the country, but the Dewar's centre is regarded as the Hamden park of the sport, hosting national tournaments as well as providing a regular playing venue for locals. In addition, the Dewar's centre hosts indoor bowling and provides space for a range of exhibitions, conferences and other events. The Dewar's centre is owned and operated by Live Active Leisure Limited, an arms-length organisation but wholly owned by Perthincan Ross Council and with an independent board to manage it. Live Active Leisure also operates the adjacent Perth leisure pool, the Bell Sports Centre on the North Inch in Perth and a range of other community sporting facilities across the county. Just a few weeks ago, the future of the Dewar's centre was very uncertain, with real concerns that it might face closure. Like many other similar venues, we have seen substantial increases in operating costs, particularly in energy, and also a drop-off in user numbers since Covid. Live Active Leisure now has an annual deficit of some £600,000. It has managed to keep the facilities open for a further year by dipping into reserves, but that is clearly not a sustainable funding model for the future. The ultimate owners of these leisure facilities are Perthincan Ross Council, but given the scale of funding cuts that the council has seen, it is simply not realistic to expect greater council funding in the foreseeable future. Live Active Leisure is looking at other ways to increase the revenues at Dewar's. For example, by hosting more events, by increasing fees to users, but that is unlikely to fill the funding gap. There are also other interesting ideas such as creating a new Scottish curling museum at Dewar's, which could attract more visitors. The UK Government did announce back in March a swimming pool fund to help under-pressure leisure facilities meet rising costs, and there are Barnett consequentials from that. While the sums involved are not substantial, it would be interesting to hear from the Minister whether the Scottish Government intends to provide specific assistance to Scottish swimming pools to reflect the help that has been made available south of the border. There are plans to replace Dewar's and the adjacent leisure pool with a new combined complex under the PH2O project, but due to rising construction costs, this has had to be delayed and is unlikely to be taken forward for some years. In the meantime, we face a real on-going uncertainty over the future of Dewar's and other similar facilities. I am very clear that we cannot contemplate the closure of a facility like Dewar's. It is only through the provision of sports and leisure facilities such as those that we can encourage sports such as curling and indoor bowls, sports that are vital in terms of encouraging fitness, reducing barriers to inequality and fostering a sense of community. Without facilities in which to play sports, they will wither and die with enormous consequences for wider society. I am bringing the matter to the chamber for debate, because I think that those are issues that the Scottish Government needs to seriously reflect on. The health and wellbeing agenda is rightly at the heart of what this Government says is important to it, but the provision of local sports and leisure facilities where it is delivered is left to local authorities and is not a statutory function. That means that, at a time when local councils are having real-terms cuts in their operating funding, it is facilities such as Dewar's that are under threat. The closure of ice drinks, swimming pools, gyms and sports halls, all of which are at risk today right across the country, would have a devastating impact on what is a shared ambition right across the political spectrum to improve our national health and wellbeing and with a knock-on impact on our economic output. I know that this is an issue dear to the heart of my colleague Brian Whittle, who will be contributing to the debate in a short time, but those facilities will only survive with a long-term and sustainable funding model. In closing, I would encourage the Scottish Government to engage directly with bodies such as Scottish Curling, the umbrella organisation for the sport, which has been campaigning for the future of rinks such as Dewar's across the country to ensure a bright future for this sport. If we are to continue to see successes such as those of Eve Muirhead and Bruce Mowatt, that will only happen if the venues are there to support them and to produce the new generation of gold medal winners that we all want to see. I welcome the opportunity to contribute to this debate on the future of the Dewar's centre, which is in the constituency of my colleague Jim Fairlie, who I anticipate will try to contribute to the debate and is adjacent to my own parliamentary constituency boundary in the city of Perth. The Dewar's centre, as Murdo Fraser has properly set out, is a really important and significant facility, very much the home of Curling and a facility that has attracted a formidable amount of the talent that Scotland has produced in the sport of Curling. Murdo Fraser correctly attributes a huge amount of appreciation to the achievements of Eve Muirhead, who originates from Blair Athel in my constituency and has gone on to have the most extraordinary career in international curling, becoming an Olympic champion in 2022. It is a welcome opportunity to complement Eve Muirhead and her squad in this parliamentary debate. Of course, Eve Muirhead is not the first woman to blaze a trail for Curling in Scotland. It is a special opportunity for me to pay tribute to one of my late dear neighbours, Francis Brodie, who was the driving force behind the group that established the First World Ladies Curling Championship in 1979 and chaired the First Official Ladies Committee of the International Curling Federation, later renamed the World Curling Federation. Francis was a most wonderful lady who graced our village and all aspects of the life of our village. From a very quiet Perthshire village, she made a phenomenal contribution to opening the sport of curling to women. She was, in every respect, a true trailblazer. In 1989, her contribution to World Curling was recognised by the Federation with the introduction of an award in her name, which has been presented at the conclusion of each women's curling championship since then. The recipient is selected by the curlers participating in the event to honour the curler who, I quote, by deed and action in the course of their performance best exemplified the traditional curling values of skill, honesty, fair play, friendship and sportsmanship. I cannot think of a finer description of Francis Brodie, so I am delighted to have the opportunity to put that on the record today. The issues that face Jures Centre, as Murdo Fraser has said, are challenging. I noticed a quote from David Macklewhals, the chair of Live Active Leisure, which cited the significant pressures of reduced customer income, rising inflation, high energy costs and the impact of long-term public finance constraints. These are issues with which we all wrestle. I set a budget for 2023-24 as one of my last acts in government, which was, as I told Parliament, in the most challenging context that I have ever had to operate. The issues of the pressure on the public finances will be felt by Governments, local authorities and leisure trusts into the bargain. It is essential that we try to ensure that in every step that we take, we try to ensure that the resources are available to support activities that are precious in our society, but to recognise that often involves hard decisions. I have to make the point that I was prepared to take a hard decision to increase the resources available in the Scottish budget by increasing taxation. Mr Fraser and his colleagues were not prepared to support us in that endeavour. There are hard choices if we want public expenditure to be used to support facilities of this type. If we are going to have debates of this nature in Parliament, we have to follow them up by being prepared to take the hard decisions that are necessary to increase the resources that are available. I hear the usual muttering from the Conservatives when I point out the hard financial realities that exist in their respect. While I am wholly supportive of the future of Dure's Centre, I point out the hard financial realities that the Conservatives are always ducking in this chamber. Alexander Stewart, to be followed by Clare Baker in four minutes. I am grateful for the opportunity to contribute to this debate, and I congratulate my colleague Murdo Fraser on bringing it to the chamber. I would also like to put on record that I am a past chairman of Perth and Cunroth of Live Active Leisure. As we have already heard, Dure's Centre is reckoned to be the hand-in-park of Curling because of its reputation. Murdo Fraser's motion rightly states that the potential closure of Dure's Centre in Perth would be the death nail of the legacy of Curling in Persia dating back decades. At this stage, let me make it clear that, as a former chairman of that leisure company and a past councillor for 18 years in Perth and Cunroth's council, I am acutely aware of the issues that take here. During my tenure as chair and the board and I and other colleagues had to make very difficult choices on a number of occasions, but we always looked forward to what we could achieve in Perth and Cunroth. However, Dure's Rink was always seen as a priority to ensure that funding was always available for that facility during my time to ensure, because it was talked about under circumstances in that stage because of the stature of that facility, the local, the national and the international level of Curling enjoyed and Perth's reputation worldwide. We felt that, at that stage, it had to be seen as a priority. The families and the organisations that have supported Curling during and over the decades have to be congratulated for the pioneering work that they did in supporting and ensuring that it was given the status that it rightly deserves. You only have to look at the accolades, the awards of reputation, ranging from local champions to, as we have already heard, Olympic gold medalists to see how much the facility matters to the community and matters to that sport. The closure threat stems from nothing more than, as I have said before, decades of chronic underfunding councils have had to endure and Perth and Cunroth has been no different under this SNP Government. Back in March of this year, the UK Government announced that there would be a £63 million of investment support for leisure centres and sporting swimming pools in England. As we have already heard, major sporting bodies urged the Scottish Government to match and to do prorata bases, to do something here in Scotland. Funding did come through Barnett consequentials that could have been and might have been. I know that Mr Swinney has made comments about making difficult decisions, but when you have a facility that is a world recognised and has a reputation throughout the globe, that would be of a possibility to be considered. The speciality of the sport is vitally important, not least for whether we acknowledge that sport pursuits, given individuals of all ages, the possibilities to expand their potential and develop their physical and mental health and wellbeing. We already know that an NHS is estimated at £357 million as saved from people who are actively involved in doing things. We look at where we are, but it is once again the fact that, time and time again, the threats of closure of sporting facilities are happening across Scotland. In conclusion, the overwhelming evidence is that the Jewish Centre has a contribution to make to curling and its stature is on the world stage. The addition of doing all that, and I strongly urge the minister to look into the situation and view and look at the long-term security of facilities like the Jewish Centre, because they have a massive contribution. The closure of the facility of the nature would be far-reaching consequences for Scotland's curling and the sport, so we need to support that rink. We need to support that sport and we need the Government to stand up and support those facilities to ensure that our communities, our constituents, can well act. I now call Clare Baker, who joins us remotely to be followed by Brian Whittle around four minutes, Ms Baker. I would like to thank Murdo Fraser for bringing this debate to the chamber today. I also apologise to members as I have to lead the debate early, and I will miss the contributions of others. I thank the Presiding Officer for accepting this request. Although the motion itself predates the decision to continue funding for the Jewish Centre for the next year, it gives us a welcome opportunity to talk about the need for longer-term security, as well as to highlight its role in supporting participation and community activity alongside the well-known success stories. We are always happy to celebrate Scotland's successes on the sporting stage, such as the winning of the world's men's curling championship in Canada recently, but behind those victories lie years of dedication of sports people and coaches, spent in venues and facilities that allow them a place to develop, to train and to work towards their goals. A key part of sporting success is the provision of quality facilities for those starting out to professional-level competitors, and that needs long-term investment and commitment. While the decision to continue funding the Jewish Centre for the next 12 months is welcome, there is still a question mark over its longer-term position. I know that Scottish Curling is committed to working to ensure that curling remains a prominent place at Jewish. As I am sure other members have, I have been contacted by constituents employing MSPs to do what we can to help to ensure the continuation of curling at Jewish, highlighting the various clubs of members who travel some not inconsiderable distances to regularly play there. Earlier this year, I was pleased to visit the Jewish Centre and meet with Vincent Bryson and Graham Lindsey of Scottish Curling, as well as Debbie Scott, who is the senior facilities manager for live action leisure, to talk about their work to increase participation in curling, as well as the importance of the centre as a training venue. We also discussed what the centre offers in addition to its importance to curling, both as a leisure venue and in providing permission space in conference facilities. Alongside the swimming pool the Jewish Centre is an important part of the Perth community. This was demonstrated when proposals to close both venues emerged and many people contacted live action leisure to plead them not to do this. While both facilities have been secured for another year, part of the funding solution was to allocate funds from LAL reserves, alongside a fee increase across activities, and come next year that maybe I need to look again at this issue. While the planned PH2O looks a great prospect, the construction timeline is not clear and a way forward has to be found, which recognises the strategic importance of the Jewish Centre and commits to the PH2O project. More broadly, we are increasingly seeing leisure facilities and provision across the country at risk as a result of under-investment in local authorities and more recently increased energy costs and much more needs to be done to prevent access to services at risk of being left without access. For multi-use venues such as the Jewish Centre, we need to see them supported to attract more exhibitions and conferences that can help to increase their income across the year that offers diversification and expands their offer into other areas. By encouraging a more active population, we can increase participation, which in turn generates income needed to keep these facilities open in our communities. It is in those communities that our sporting successes can begin. It is also where we see the related benefits of pursuits like curling, what it contributes towards social cohesion and addressing loneliness and allowing people to get and stay active for physical and mental health. These are important cross-cutting benefits of sporting activity that extend across our lives and we should recognise the vital role of quality venues in delivering that across Scotland. I thank my colleague Murdo Fraser for bringing such an important debate to this chamber and for broadening the debate out from not just the threat to the world-class curling facility at the Jewish Centre in Perth, but also for recognising the increasing threat to so many other key sporting facilities across Scotland. The debate once again allows me to focus on the wider implications of continuing to lose sports facilities. Physical activity in sport has such a significant impact across all of society. The health benefits are maybe the most obvious, especially physical health, but as Murdo Fraser alluded to, it has a massive impact on mental health outcomes, loneliness, isolation and inclusivity. There are wider impacts across the whole of the country. The greatest drag on Scotland's economy, for example, is our poor health record. We are the unhealthiest nation in Europe. Last time, I looked to some 13 per cent of our working population unable to work because of ill health. Given the need, as Mr Swinney alluded to there, to raise the tax take to pay for those under-pressure services, surely that would be a focus for the Scottish Government, tackling that inactivity. If that were the case, the Scottish Government would have been ensuring that physical activity was easily available to all irrespective of background or personal circumstances. However, as I have consistently highlighted in my time in this place, sport is becoming the bastion of the middle class. To compound that decline, school physical activity, especially in extracurricular activities, has also seriously declined, and school was the introduction of sport for so many of us with that positive effect on attainment and behaviour, much discussed in this chamber in the last couple of weeks. Murdo Fraser's motion highlighting the threat to Jewish Centre is reflected in threats to sports facilities across Scotland. Ice rinks, including in-air, swimming pools, hockey and football pitches, and even the national athletic stadium in Graegemouth was under threat. If the facilities themselves have not been under threat, we have had so many stories of councils considering significant hikes and costs to use the facilities, which will exclude even more. If we do not reverse that decline, the nation's health will continue to struggle, requiring more and more investment in ill health, leading to even less investment in facilities and that slow spiral downwards. Would it not be better, to begin to move investment upstream, invest in our sports facilities and give everyone the opportunity of that joy and pleasure of physical activity? Thank you, Mr Whittle. I now call Finlay Carson to be followed by Liz Smith. Up to four minutes, Mr Carson. Thank you, Presiding Officer. I congratulate my colleague Murdo Fraser for bringing this member's debate to the chamber today, celebrating Jewish ice rink. They may be the Hamden, but Dumfries and Galloway certainly provide the feeder clubs for our national success. This is clearly a worrying time for ice sports enthusiasts whether they are curlers, skaters or ice hockey players. Sadly, many of Scotland's ice rinks face prohibitive energy increases that now threaten their very existence. As the Scottish Ice Rinks Association has stated, I quote, we have literally come to the end of the road unless someone can wave a magic wand and get energy prices down to a realistic level, or we receive significant external funding. Where once annual bills used to be between 50,000 to 60,000, many are now heading towards almost 200,000, a three to four times increase just purely for energy. But without energy to make ice, there is no way around it because there are essentially massive refrigerators. But talks are being held with governing bodies, utility firms and the Scottish Government to find a way forward. Given that Scotland's ice rinks have been the breeding ground for such exceptional international talent, we need to support them in their efforts. In the south of Scotland, we have three different ice rink models, one in a hotel in Sronar, one council run facility in Dumfries while Lockerbie is now a registered charity. The north-west of Castle in Dumfries was the first hotel in the world to have its own indoor curling rink and continues to attract visitors from around the globe. It was taken over recently by bespoke hotels at the time the energy crisis was hit the strongest. But like other groups, they were worried about how to continue curling but now, thankfully, having got a season under its belt, things are looking slightly more encouraging. I want to put on record my thanks and that of the people of Sronar in the wider community to bespoke hotels, management including the ice rink manager, Gailman Row, for the sterling work they have done to keep curling in Sronar. Arguably, in my view, the most prolific breeding ground for world champions. Dumfries Ice Ball has a enviable reputation for nurturing world-class curlers as well. On that side, it is also successful in attracting world ice hockey championships. In our home to the award-winning figure skaters and synchronised teams, the Sawie Stars, the Sawie Eclipse, the Sawie Lightning and Comets, all helping to sustain the venues to ice rinks along with the ice hockey team that is based there. The hard work of the team deserves to be recognised because much of the success has been initiated by Dumfries and Galloway council staff's vision and a particular Richard Greaveson, who went on to be the chairman of Ice Hockey UK for five years. Sport Scotland has provided £1.75 million to mitigate the pandemic, but more financial aid is needed. We need to ensure that the legacy from the phenomenal success enjoyed by our curlers is felt for years to come. Winning a gold medal at the World Championship in Ottawa was the crowning glory of the Scottish men's curling team skippered by Bruce Mouatt. He was assisted by three team-mates who all came from the south of Scotland. Bobby Lammie and Hami Macmillan from Srinar are the latest trailblazers who have carried on the fine skills developed previously by their respective families. Those lads were joined in the winning roster by Dumfries Curlar at Grant Hardy with their near perfect percentage. Curling see them defeat the home nation in favourites in 9-3. That glory achievement came just months after Team Mouatt clinched their third men's European curling championship in Sweden, adding silver medal, the one in the 2022 Winter Olympics. Joining them on the Srinar talent conveyor belt is Hugh Nibblow, who helped Scotland win bronze at the World Wheelchair Curling Championships in Canada, reaching a century of international appearances for the Scotland national curling team and has also represented Great Britain at the Paralympic Games where he won a bronze medal in 2017 and a silver medal in 2019. But not to be outdone, Faye Henderson from Dumfries and Robin Monroe from Srinar helped Scotland's junior women strike gold at the World Junior Championships this year in Germany. Scotland's junior men team, skippered by Orrin Carson and team-mates Logan Carson, Archie Hyslop, Charlie Geb and Scott Hyslop, all of Dumfries curling club won bronze medal at the World Junior Championships. It was a success for Blair Haswell from Srinar and Jack Carrick from Dumfries, who in the Team GB won gold at the Winter edition of the World University Games staged at Lake Placid in New York State. I cannot allow this opportunity to go past without praise my own daughter who scored the one and only and the first ever goal for Team GB Ice Hockey scored against Japan in those same games. She has had the wonderful experience of playing ice hockey and ice rinks right across Scotland and the UK and indeed the world and it has been a huge part of our life and continues to be so. Their achievements, Presiding Officer, now inspire many youngsters to take up the sport which can only be good and to ensure that we need to ensure the future of our much-loved ice rinks. Thank you, Mr Carson. I now call Liz Smith to be followed by Jim Fairlie in four minutes. Thank you. I want, if I may, Deputy Presiding Officer, to make a very, very brief comment and I do so not just at Mid Scotland and Fife MSP who for many years has greatly valued the Dures facility for all the reasons that Murdo Fraser set out in his introduction but also as convener for 10 years of the cross-party group on sport and I know my predecessor, the late Margo MacDonald, would have been saying exactly the same thing in this debate namely that Dures is the epitome of a local sports facility which not only provides for elite athletes most especially curling in the case of Dures but also for the grass roots and we lose that at our peril. In an age when grass root sports matters more than ever in helping to address the concerns and anxieties resulting from Covid and the dearth of extracurricular activity in too many schools something that we've just been debating early this afternoon I implore the Scottish Government to think very carefully about its current approach for the reasons that Brian Whittle cited I've no doubt whatsoever that the Scottish Government wants to be constructive and helpful but I believe that the time has come to properly re-evaluate policies and the effects that they're having on grass roots sports and I know that the members of my cross-party group feel exactly the same. So thank you to my colleague and very good friend, Murdo Fraser, for bringing this debate, not just about Dures but I think for the wider implications for Scotland. Thank you very much, Ms Smith. I think as Brian Whittle and myself can testify after our football exploits on Monday there are downsides to physical activity as well. I now call the final speaker in the open debate, Jim Fairlie who joins us, hopefully, remotely. Ms Fairlie, up to four minutes please. Thank you, Presiding Officer. I apologise to you in the chamber for not getting here in much better-to-mere time. Unfortunately, the Edinburgh traffic had a lot to play with my time getting into the debate. But there is no question that perth in the surrounding area as a world-renowned place for curling excellence and its facilities helping to spawn the golden-spawn careers of legends such as Rona Howe Eve Muirhead, Dave Murdoch and others. Whilst we should take every opportunity in Parliament to highlight these wonderful achievements I regret that Murdo Fraser has muddied a happy and celebrated issue by introducing local politics to the attention of the chamber. By the way, he is doing it with an issue that he frankly does not have a like to stand on. My constituents tuning into the debate today should be aware that this is a member's debate. The Scottish Parliament does not vote in this matter as it is rightly a local government issue to decide. As we address the issue ahead, let's discuss what Murdo has brought to the local matter before us today. Looking back in his own words from September 2019 Mr Fraser went on to encourage the introduction of Mares in Scotland to the cities with a view and I quote, this would give the opportunity to devolve more power from the centre. The SNP is very keen in devolution from Westminster to Edinburgh but not at all keen in devolution from Edinburgh any further afield. This situation needs to be reversed. There is much greater autonomy for local areas. A couple of years on, we are discussing a local government decision in Parliament. If there is one thing that is not good, it is how to do hypocrisy. Perthner and Ross councillors of all affiliations have long advocated for a modern replacement of leisure facilities such as Perth leisure pool in your centre. So it is surprising to read the motion fearfully described that there might be imminent threat to curling facilities locally. The modern replacement is known as PH2O project and it will provide modernised leisure, water facilities as well as additional, 25m pool and training pool, bowling, curling, skating, a health spa, family play activities, conference support and cafe. It is a centre fit for the 21st century built to pass of house standards and represent a major step forward in the areas contribution to meeting Scotland's net carbon zero target with 2045 and necessary to replace the existing facilities that are showing their age both from a financial and environmental perspective. That was recognised back in 2021 by the Conservative leader of the council, Maria Lyle, who in committing to replacing Perth leisure pool and your centre said both were coming to the end of their useful lives. It is clear that Maria Lyle has a point as the annual utility costs for Perth leisure pool and your centre are running at a highly expensive £500,000 whilst facing significant pressures primarily from reduced customer income, rising inflation and high energy costs and I can think when I will agree that that is something that we should be talking about. All of those factors including a lack of workforce has caused another great economic disaster but they are making in Brexit and not to forget less trust. I have meant that it is probably a difficult project to get off the ground. However, it has not been the case as when in the administration they did that on introducing the project despite financial evidence from the council officers warning that both the necessity of the project and the significant cost implications of delaying. So when in power the Tories knew that this should have been a priority but it wasn't until they were voted out of office and replaced by the SNP that this project has got going with the current administration ring fence and £90 million for it to go ahead. Something else that does not add up is that as soon as the Tories were voted into opposition they introduced an amendment targeting an uncost of £350,000 commitment to keeping live active leisure facilities opening Perth during 2023 and 24. I understand that there is a need to ensure convenient availability to leisure facilities but why throw the money blindly at an issue other than to create a political stir. In contrast, the SNP administration has reacted responsibly not only by securing the long-term future of the curling services in Perth by setting the gears in motion for PH2O but also by working alongside the arms length organisation Live Active Leisure to provide £110,000 additional support to assist the financial challenges faced by jewellers in this financial year and so doing saving hundreds of thousands of pounds that could well be used. The SNP celebrates Scottish curling and is ensuring that Perth continues to be the home of champions in years to come. Thank you very much. Thank you, Mr Fairlie. I call on the minister to respond to the debate for around seven minutes, minister. Thank you, Presiding Officer, and thank you, Murdo Fraser for bringing this motion to the Parliament this afternoon and also to those from across the chamber who have contributed. As you all know, I am absolutely passionate about sport and I have watched with immense pride the fantastic achievements of Scottish curlers. From Rona Howe's final stone triumph in Salt Lake City to Eve Muirhead's skippering her team to Olympic gold in Beijing and just recently Bruce Mawrott's team winning the world men's curling championship Scotland's curlers continue to succeed at the very highest level on the world stage. The Scottish Government understands that part of the success is owed to the fantastic facilities that are available not only the Jewish Centre in Perth but other facilities around Scotland. We also have the Olympic performance programme for curling based here in Scotland. In fact it's the only UK sport Olympic and Paralympic supported programme based in Scotland. This reflects both the history of the sport which many of you will know was invented in Scotland as well as the fact that the overwhelming majority of curling clubs are located here in Scotland. Now I truly believe that you have to be able to see it to be it and the children and the young people of Scotland are fortunate to have these amazingly successful Scottish curlers as role models. But this visibility is only part of the story as our young people also need the opportunity to be able to try curling and to fall in love with the sport so any threatened closures are a real concern. Now as it's been noted during the debate live active leisure have committed to keep the Perth leisure centre and the Jewish centre fully open until the end of March 2024. That's really welcome news in the short term because we've got a lot of time for active leisure to work collaboratively with Perth and Kinross Council for a long-term solution. Now I'm aware that that's resulted in price increases of between 10 and 15 per cent and I understand that some will be disappointed with that decision but I'm delighted that live active leisure have committed to freeze charges for those people who are in receipt of a qualifying benefit. It's really essential that we don't increase to physical activity especially for our children and young people freezing prices for concessions will help to protect the people who are most disadvantaged in our society and can make a real difference in reducing health inequalities for the people across Perth and Kinross. Now we all know that local authorities are operating under very challenging financial circumstances. Certainly happy to. Thank you minister for taking this intervention. As Mardo Fraser mentioned in his contribution, the Scottish Government received Barnett consequentials as a result of the UK Government announcing extra funding for swimming pools in England. Will the money be passed on to our local authorities so sports facilities like Buxburn swimming pool in Aberdeen can be saved? We've seen over the last few days it's a really hard thing for my Conservative colleagues to understand but devolution enables us to make different decisions in Scotland. The UK let me finish the UK decision to fund swimming pools results in Barnett consequentials for the Scottish budget but that goes into the block grant as a whole and Scottish ministers make decisions on how to allocate the resources. Now some of the different decisions that we have made in Scotland are things like protecting Scottish citizens from the bedroom tax things like that game changer in tackling poverty the Scottish child payment and so on. Certainly. I thank the minister for taking this intervention. What she seems to not understand is that this was additional funding after the block grant allocation so this student would have been allocated something else so it could be moved to local authorities to save our local sports facilities. Minister. What the member doesn't seem to understand is that the Scottish Government spends millions of pounds every year mitigating policies that wreak havoc on our citizens in Scotland and cause immense pain and poverty the bedroom tax targeted particularly at people with disabilities. I'm proud that in Scotland we protect people. Now, as part of the process I'll give way to Mr Swinney. John Swinney. I think for the sake of completeness I need to advise Parliament that Mr Lumsden is wholly incorrect that the allocation of funding for the swimming pools fund was made at the United Kingdom budget in October of 2022 and therefore formed part of the block grant that I distributed in December 2022. So Mr Lumsden is wholly wrong in what he's just put to the minister. Minister. Absolutely. As part of the process we will consider what support can be provided to the sport and leisure sector in Scotland. We'll continue to work with Sports Scotland our national agency for sport to accurately understand the current facilities provision and the landscape in the short-term, medium-term and long-term to ensure the sustainability of the important facilities. I've given away a number of times just give me one moment I want to continue and finish this point. We have repeatedly called on the UK Government to use all of the powers at its disposal to tackle this cost of living crisis and to provide appropriate energy bill relief to fit leisure facilities I ensure that something we all in the chamber can agree would be a useful strategy for the Westminster Government to pursue. Given that most of the levers to respond to the financial challenges are reserved we do continue to urge the UK Government to use all of its powers to tackle the cost of living crisis and let me remind the chamber the UK is facing a worse cost of living crisis than EU countries and the UK Government should act now for its part the Scottish Government has increased the resources available to local government by over £793 million in 2023-24 that's a real-term increase of £376 million or 3% but as independent corporate bodies it is for local authorities to manage their own budgets and to allocate total financial resources available to them including on-leisure facilities on the basis of local needs and priorities we will continue to work in partnership with our colleagues in local government to ensure that the people of Scotland continue to receive the high quality public services they expect and deserve Sports Scotland and Scottish Government officials recently met with the Scottish Ice Rink Association and said that we know that they face significant energy costs and that energy efficiency remains a concern so between 2008 and 2018 Sports Scotland invested nearly £4 million in capital projects to replace the refrigeration systems in Scotland's ice rinks we also supported 13 privately opened operating ice rinks over the course of the pandemic with £2 million on-leisure facilities place such a critical role in improving people's lives whether it's taking part in sport and physical activity for the first time attending regular clubs and activities that help to develop friends as well as confidence and skills progressing and achieving success they are community hubs that bring people together and make a positive contribution to building healthier, happier and safer and stronger communities with the significant physical and mental social benefits of physical activity and I as minister want everyone, even my colleagues who are limping this week from their football game on Monday I want everyone to be able to benefit from sport and physical activity we are working hard to remove the barriers that still exist to people being physical active I have to inform my colleague Brian Whittle it's not a new problem it's reserved to the middle classes it has always been thus sport has always favoured the rich and this government is determined to change that it is really important that facilities including ice rinks are accessible for everyone in Scotland so that everyone has the ability to benefit and that the future curling world and Olympic champions of tomorrow can access that pathway to success I'm sure my fellow members across the chamber would all delight in seeing Scotland's curlers continue to be successful on the world stage and as minister responsible for sport I'll continue to look for opportunities to provide support for the Dewar Centre and indeed for all sport and leisure facilities throughout Scotland thank you thank you minister that concludes the debate thank you