 The next item of business is a debate on motion 4145, in the name of Clare Haughey, on behalf of the Health, Social Care and Sport Committee, on female participation in sport and physical exercise. I invite members wishing to participate to press the request to speak buttons as soon as possible, and I call on Clare Haughey to speak to and move the motion around 10 minutes. Thank you very much, Presiding Officer, and I move the motion in my name. As convener of the Health, Social Care and Sport Committee, I am pleased to open this afternoon's debate on female participation in sport and physical activity. On behalf of the committee, I would like to thank everyone who engaged positively with our inquiry for their input, and to place on record the committee's thanks to the clerks for their work. I joined the committee as convener at a late stage in the inquiry, but I know that it was originally prompted by a key finding from the committee's previous inquiry into health and wellbeing of children and young people. That found a significant decline in the number of girls participating in sport and physical activity as they reached puberty. The current inquiry subsequently found evidence of a gender gap in the rates of participation that persists up to women in their early 40s. We wanted to find out more about the reasons behind that worrying trend. The purpose was to identify key barriers to participation in sport and physical activity for females of all ages, and to make recommendations to break down those barriers. Teenage girls faced particular barriers when taking part in sport and physical activity, both in and outside of school. A lack of understanding and awareness around menstrual health and negative attitudes by boys are important factors contributing to the decline in girls' participation from the age of adolescence. We need to improve learning and normalise discussions in school about the impact menstruation can have on girls' participation and to remove stigma around managing periods. We must also do more to tackle misogynistic attitudes and to foster mutual respect between boys and girls when taking part in sport and physical activity. We heard about the positive impact that the active schools programme has had in broadening girls' access to a wider range of sports and physical activities. However, the last full evaluation of active sports took place in 2014, almost 10 years ago. An updated evaluation of the programme is needed, with a particular focus on how it is helping girls to access the same range and quality of opportunities for sport and physical activity as boys. Beyond school settings in teenage years, a lack of understanding, education and appropriate support creates barriers to participation in sport and physical activity for women of all ages. That means that they lose out on the benefits of remaining physically active with knock-on impacts on the long-term health. Leadership is equally important in giving more women the confidence to be physically active. We need to do more to break down the barriers that currently prevent women from putting themselves forward for coaching, leadership and volunteering roles. That will create a virtuous circle where the existence of more positive role models will encourage more women to participate at all levels. We also need to find solutions that will help to make it easier for women with childcare and other caring responsibilities to be able to participate regularly in sport and physical activity, including in leadership roles. Sadly, the inquiry heard extensive evidence of girls and women being subjected to harassment and abuse while exercising. That is completely unacceptable. In sport and physical activity settings, we need to improve processes for receiving, handling and dealing with complaints to ensure that they are clear, transparent and easy to navigate. Too often, sports and active travel infrastructures and facilities are designed, constructed and maintained in a way that fails to take account of basic safety requirements for female users. Our report recommends encouraging the systematic use of feminist town planning to improve the safety of basic infrastructure so that it is better suited to the needs of female participants. Clare Haughey, on the intervention, mentions that some active travel infrastructure is not suitable for women. Can she explain a bit more about that? That is based on evidence that the committee heard from both written evidence and also in committee in the hearings. Simple things like lighting in parks or on psychopaths would make them a much safer place for women, and they would certainly feel safer there. The Scottish Government's commitment to double investment in sport and active living to £100 million per year over the current term of this Parliament is welcome. A significant proportion of that funding needs to be targeted towards increasing rates of female participation in sport and physical activity, particularly by those facing intersecting barriers to participation such as disability, ethnic, religious or socioeconomic background, or being from the LGBTQ plus community. On that subject, the committee heard evidence in support of greater use of equality impact assessments to ensure that sports infrastructure and facilities are designed to facilitate access for all. Imagery and messaging aimed at encouraging greater participation in sport and physical activity should actively promote inclusion and diversity, and we should be improving equality education in schools to help overcome stigma and discrimination that might otherwise discourage girls facing intersecting barriers to their participation in sport and physical activity. Decision makers need to work together to identify and promote positive role models that will properly reflect diversity and inclusion and to pursue strategies aimed at recruiting a greater diversity of female applicants into coaching and leadership roles. Although we have come a long way in recent years, there is still much further to go for elite female athletes to achieve anything approaching parity with their male counterparts. The Scottish Government should consider setting up an independent women's sports trust for Scotland, which could help to grow revenue from women's sport and reduce reliance on funding from men's sport. Women in elite sport need sustainable career pathways that enable them to pursue their sport while earning a sustainable income. The industry needs to do more in producing clothing and equipment that meets the needs of women in elite sport. There is also a chronic lack of research into female physiology and the impact of menstruation and women's health conditions on training and performance. Women in elite sport still lack appropriate support when it comes to decisions around pregnancy. It cannot be right that so many elite sports female athletes continue to be forced to make a choice between continuing their career and starting a family. Sexism and abuse is an on-going concern. To address this, our report calls on the Scottish Government to consider setting up an independent body to tackle cases of misconduct and abuse in elite female sport. The media has a crucial role to play in promoting women's elite sport. Here, too, there has been progress, but there remains much to be done. Shockingly, the Scottish Women and Girls in Sport advisory boards 2019 levelling the playing field report found that more than a fifth of online news articles related to women's sport included sexualised reporting and images. That has a hugely damaging impact on self-confidence and self-esteem and undermines female participation at all levels. TV sports coverage remains significantly skewed towards male sports, and while the quantity and quality of coverage of major women's sporting events has improved, outside the window of those events, levels of coverage dropped to a small fraction of overall sports coverage in the media. At the same time, there is evidence to suggest that the public has a real appetite for following more women's sport in the media. The number of people watching TV coverage of women's sport in the first half of 2022 doubled to more than 36 million compared to the same period a year before. To further stimulate that encouraging growth in coverage of and public interest in women's sport, our report recommends that the Scottish Government considers whether additional public investment might be needed and, if so, we are to target it for maximum effect. It would also be helpful to receive an update from the minister on the planned Scottish sport media summit and what bearing the outcomes from the summit might have to further improve the quality and quantity of future media coverage of elite women's sport. For good or ill, social media has an undeniably huge impact on female attitudes to an engagement with sport and physical activity. Sports organisations and governing bodies can play an important role in disseminating and amplifying positive messaging around the health benefits of regular participation in sport and physical activity by girls and women and in challenging misogynistic attitudes and behaviours. The Scottish Government can also play a role by providing support and guidance around social media strategy development. The UK online safety bill, or act as it now is, could also provide a framework for stronger action, including sanctions, to address the harmful impact of negative body image content on social media. To effectively benchmark progress towards closing the gender-based participation gap, we recommend commissioning a new population level survey to give us an accurate and comprehensive picture of current rates of participation across all segments of the population. We should also explore incentives to encourage research organisations to direct additional resources towards sport science research, specifically focusing on women. In conclusion, I look forward to hearing the minister's initial response to the findings of our inquiry and other contributions to this afternoon's debate. As our inquiry has found, breaking down the many persistent barriers to female participation in sport will require on-going determination and focus. I now call Marie Todd to the minister around nine minutes. It is my pleasure to respond to today's debate. I am sure that you will be aware that this is an area that I am incredibly passionate about. I am committed to creating the change that we need to see more women and girls across Scotland get active. I thank the committee members for their report and the individuals who came forward to share their experiences and knowledge. On Friday 24 November, the Scottish Government published an interim response to the committee's report. Although the interim report provides a response to a number of the recommendations, we will provide a full and depth response to all the recommendations in due course. It is important to highlight that we recognise that there are barriers for women and girls to be physically active and that our priority remains to support participation across all groups and to tackle inequalities in participation. I was recently told that I am one of only three ministers across the world whose portfolio includes both health and sport. This is no accident. We understand that increasing the participation of women and girls is crucial if we are to ensure improved long-term health outcomes and life opportunities. We have to ensure that women and girls are given every opportunity to participate in sport and physical activity across all stages of their lives. I am very grateful to Marie Todd for giving way on that point on this very positive report from the committee. With regard to paragraph 132, which is the boys' domination of playground spaces, which I found particularly interesting, will the Government undertake the additional work to reach out to local authorities about the design of playgrounds, the availability and the openness, and more possibly important, the messaging that stands behind who those playgrounds are for? I am certainly more than happy to do that. The member will be aware that I engage very regularly with local authorities and with a diverse group of leaders in sport and physical activity across Scotland, and that is exactly the sort of territory that we like to get into. As I mentioned, this is an interim report that I have provided, the response that I have provided as an interim, and some of the areas that you have asked for answers on the answers that lie outside my portfolio, but I am absolutely determined to get in about that and make sure that we deliver a real lasting change for women and girls, which starts in the playground. I am persuaded. Whilst there are many pressures in our society that can lead towards less active lifestyles and a decline in activity levels, the good news is that Scotland is bucking the trend. The most recent Scottish health survey showed a significant 4 percentage point increase for women in meeting the UK chief medical officers recommended levels of activity. That is an increase from 61 per cent to 65 per cent, and that the gap between levels of participation between men and women is closing. Whilst that is positive, I am not complacent, and we must continue to work to ensure that more women meet the CMO guidelines, given the consequent impacts on long-term health and wellbeing. We are awaiting the 22 Scottish health survey results, which will be published on 5 December. I hope that we continue to see a positive trend. We know that a higher proportion of boys and girls meet the physical activity guidelines, and it is significant among those aged 13 to 15 with a 20 per cent percentage point difference, 73 per cent and 53 per cent respectively. That particular drop-off in female physical activity is one that we have all been aware of for some time, and it is one that I know and I am grateful that the committee has focused on. The reasons for that are multifaceted and require different interventions, but there is a lot of fantastic work going on across the sector to address those issues. Our active schools programme is successfully engaging girls in sport and physical activity in every local authority across the country. We have committed to ensuring that the programme is free for all children and young people by the end of this Parliament. I am grateful to the minister for giving way. Does she recognise the evidence that was given to the cross-party group on sport that one way of engaging with local authorities is to ensure that the premises that are used by schools and local authorities sometimes lie empty for a long part of the day? That would be a way of trying to improve the usage of these facilities and encourage more women to take part at times where, at the moment, they are prohibited from doing so. I recognise the point that the member is raising, and it is a vexing issue that has been around for a long time. Again, I am determined that we will work together to try to unlock that and free up the school estate to make sure that everyone in the community, and you have seen that in many parts of the country that these estates become part of the community and encourage participation of the whole community. We need to be doing that particularly in these financially constrained towns. The work that we are doing with Active Scotland will provide more children with more opportunities to take part in sport before, during and after school, and it takes an inclusive approach with a particular focus on poverty, additional support needs and care experience to young people. The 22 to 23 academic year, during that, over 124,000 girls made over 2 million visits to active schools sessions, making up 46 per cent of the participants. The fit for girls programme, delivered in partnership between Sport Scotland and the Youth Sports Trust, provides support to local authorities governing bodies and other national partners who have identified a need to improve the provision for girls and young women who are committed to empowering girls as part of that process. There is also the incredible partnership between the Scottish Sportfit Futures and the Sweaty Betty Foundation, which aims to reduce as many barriers as possible to participation, as well as encouraging important conversations about breast health periods, hormonal changes and issues that affect girls and young women. However, we also know that many girls have already decided that they do not belong in sport before adolescence. The women of sport published research earlier this year highlighting the message that girls as young as five here and see on a day-to-day basis undermine self-confidence and makes them feel that sport isn't for them. Providing positive experiences that develop physical confidence and competence from the earliest age is key. Our active play development programme targets areas of disadvantage and will support more children from more deprived backgrounds to develop the skills and confidence to enjoy being more physically active. Progress in relation to the other inequalities remains a concern and it is therefore vital that we understand and address the intersectionality of additional barriers to participation. Disabled people, ethnic minority communities, living and more deprived communities all have lower levels of participation. There is no one-size-fits-all approach to provision. Those who deliver locally are best placed to identify the needs of their communities. This week is Scottish Disability Sport week 23, led by Scottish Disability Sport, and today's theme focuses on overcoming barriers to participation. It is the first year of the campaign, which is a nationwide celebration of disability sport and a chance to inspire and support disabled people throughout Scotland to get active. We are working closely with Sport Scotland and partners to ensure that we embed a culture of inclusion across sport. In October this year we celebrated Scottish Women and Girls in Sport week, our annual campaign, which is hugely important to increasing the visibility and participation of women and girls in sport and physical activity, as well as highlighting the many health benefits it can bring to their lives. The theme for the week was celebrating inclusion, and it was so encouraging to see the positive stories shared during the week and the buzz right across the sector. I was also pleased to see that there was support from all of the leadership and relevant spokespeople across all five parties in Hollywood. Many MSPs supported the motion lodged by cross-party group on sport convener Liz Smith MSP in recognition of the week and all five parties represented among those six signatories. There is genuine consensus to the importance of access to sport and physical activity for women and girls in recognition of the benefits it brings and significant desire to collaboratively reduce barriers to access. Early data from the evaluation of that week showed that there were over 38 million campaign impressions on Twitter alone demonstrating its powerful reach to engage partners across the sector. Sport and physical activity brings so much to our communities. I feel so strongly that it has the power to lead the way on some of the many challenges facing wider society. Leadership and visibility are vital. We are working with the Scottish Sports Association to support their on-board for sport programme, which is focused on improving the diversity and skill base of Scottish governing bodies of sport boards. Sport Scotland Young Ambassador programme has been successful in attracting large numbers of young women into leadership roles in sport and physical activity. Their role models and leaders for other young people, the young ambassadors can have an absolutely pivotal role within their school and their wider community. There is more that we can do and I expect that to be the focus for the coming year. To reiterate, I want to see the change to support women and girls of all ages and all backgrounds to be physically attractive. I know that there is a real appetite for change amongst us all and that consensus is welcome and necessary. I wish to draw members' attention to my register of interest as a practising NHS GP. I would like to thank all those who contributed to the committee evidence gathering. Participating in sport or simply making physical exercise part of our daily or weekly routine is crucial for health and wellbeing. This applies to each and every one of us. Exercise reduces the risk of chronic diseases and fosters a much healthier population. As the stats show, Scotland is not healthy. As parliamentarians, through communications and policies, we must be able to create the conditions where more and more people adopt healthier lifestyles. With regard to women and girls, however, we need to go much, much further. Our committee has discussed in depth how female participation in sport and physical exercise empowers women, builds confidence, resilience and a sense of accomplishment that extends beyond the playing field. Moreover, increased female participation contributes to breaking gender stereotypes, advances inclusivity and cultivates a more equitable society where everyone has the opportunity to thrive. Of course, participation comes in many forms, from groups of walkers to the local boxercise class, even competing at a high level. Participation is not just something for those at school or the under 30s. Last Friday, the 2023 Scottish Women's Sports Awards were held in Glasgow. The awards recognised and celebrate the hard work, dedication and commitment that enables young girls and women to participate in every aspect of sporting life. And guess who won Team Scotland, Team of the Year? Well, it was a Scotland's over 60s masters hockey team. Scotland's over 60s women's were crowned European champions beating England in a nail-biting final. The Scottish Sports Association has been following our committee's work very closely, and it's reassuring to know that the SSA feels our recommendations provide a strong foundation from which to advance female participation in sports and exercise. But the SSA goes further and highlights a number of areas of particular importance if we are to optimise the sporting environment for women and girls, and I'd like to cover some of these in the time that I have today. To create the conditions for greater participation, we need to change our culture when it comes to spending on sport and physical activity, and this should not be seen as a cost but as an investment. Deputy Presiding Officer, let me give members an example of why we need to change thinking in sport. Let's stick with hockey. On the edge of Glasgow Green we have a fantastic facility, the National Hockey Centre, built in 2013 at a cost of £5 million. One of the city's 2014 Commonwealth Games legacy venues, yet it's not fully open. Since last September, Glasgow Life, which is owned by the city of Glasgow, to run its culture and sports facilities, well, it's continued to rent pitches for training and competitive matches, but it's not open the changing facilities, the first aid room and cafe. This despite the fact that Scottish Hockey's governing body is a legal tenant of the facility through till 2032. That seems strange, doesn't it? With no use of the changing or other facilities, hockey players are expected to walk to a neighbouring football ground to change before and after matches. Please, let's all close our eyes and picture the scene. 100 yards away football players have changing facilities, but those who enjoy another key sport, hockey, well, they're provided with a second rate service in what is a relatively new facility. Glasgow Life currently seems happy to take payments for pitch bookings, but it's not that keen on providing the full facilities. I'm told that Glasgow Life does not have the funds to operate the National Hockey Centre as normal. Too many of Scotland's cultural and sporting assets, which are based in Glasgow, do not receive the national funding they need to operate. They are often squeezed through Scottish Government funding cuts to our local authorities. So yes, we need to look at solving problems like this, not through the prism of cost but as an investment. The social return on this spend comes in terms of improved physical and mental health. Investment in sports and exercise remains one of the best buys in population health and wellbeing. It's miles better than any Black Friday deal. Paul Sweeney makes an excellent point about the national hockey facility, which, of course, was less than a decade old and was meant to be part of the legacy of the 2014 Commonwealth Games. Does he agree with me that allowing that facility to languish in the States and destroy the legacy of the Commonwealth Games to Scotland? I do agree that it does and also it doesn't show the equitable nature that we need to have when it comes to all sports, especially one as important and key as hockey. The investment that I was talking about cannot be a one-off, as the best laid plans have multi-year targets. Sports and exercise need multi-year funding, so we can improve the certainty of delivery. Local authorities, which are responsible for much of the targeted spend, must be more accountable for meeting sports and physical activity targets. Of course, a love of sport or simply experiencing the benefits of physical exercise should ideally be instilled in us when we're young. PE and games in schools should not be an afterthought. As our children go older when they reach 15, 16, 17, there should be a concerted effort on encouraging girls in particular to keep fit and healthy, and this can extend beyond playing a sport. There could be opportunities for coaching. We need to change the narrative around sport. It's not just for those who are good at it. While there is indeed a place for competitive sport, and this should always be encouraged, sports and exercise for most should be about having fun, clearing the head and keeping healthy. But we can't ignore what young women experience when participating in sports at school. According to the young women's movement, 74% of young women survey say their body image had stopped them from engaging in sports or exercise activities. They describe feeling vulnerable, exposed and scrutinised by boys in mixed sports classes. There is a case that teenage girls in particular would benefit from women-only spaces. Finally, I'd like to focus on an area of particular importance to me as a GP. Scottish Action for Mental Health, or SAMH, is calling for an expansion of the GP links worker programme to help improve knowledge and access to exercise referral schemes. Community links workers provide GP practices and patients with invaluable support. I fully agree that they do so much to encourage physical activity, particularly within marginalised communities, and among women who are in menopause life stage, who would benefit best from a personalised approach to mental wellbeing and physical activity. Investing in participation by girls and women of all ages in sports and exercise will contribute to a healthier Scotland in terms of physical wellbeing and fostering confidence. The benefits far surpass any costs, and by providing a diverse range of opportunities we can ensure inclusivity, recognise the needs of individuals, be they teenage girls or much older women. I fully support efforts and initiatives that champion the cause of female investment and involvement in sports, and let's reap rewards of stronger, more vibrant communities. I welcome this important publication, which highlights the significant gender gap between male and female participation. I commend committee members and clerks for their work on what is an extensive and thorough report, which highlights the many and varied barriers women and girls face and the challenges that we need to overcome. I have previously spoken in this chamber about the importance of sport to our society. Therefore, if we want to seriously tackle gender inequality across society, we must tackle it in sport. I have also previously spoken about the power of sport and its ability to change lives. Not only does sport and activity promote physical and mental wellbeing, they also have the power to tackle anti-social behaviour and many other societal problems. The power of sport, therefore, should be harnessed to change the lives of women and girls as much as men and boys. That is in part why the committee's findings are so concerning. I am a man who loves sport, but I believe that it is vital that the voices of women are heard and elevated. I am pleased that the committee has done so much to listen and take evidence from women in producing its report. It is clear that we need to address not only the barriers to participation but to address the challenges and attitudes that many women in sport face every day on every level from the grassroots to the elite. Tennis champion Serena Williams was once asked about being considered one of the greatest female athletes of all time. She responded, will I prefer the words one of the greatest athletes of all time? She highlights the inequality that women face in sports every day, that their gender is seen first and foremost rather than their sporting ability. If this is the attitude towards a sport star at the top of her game, then it is clear that every women and girl will face a culture which must change. We must change that culture from an early age, which the minister spoke about and the community spoke about earlier. The report highlights that the current gender participation gap between begins at puberty with just 11 per cent of girls aged 13 to 15 meeting Scotland's physical activity guidelines. Barriers faced by teenage girls include restricted offerings of sport as well as negative attitudes by boys, which have been mentioned. It is deeply concerning that girls are given limited opportunities to participate in sports that are male-dominated, like football, rugby and cricket. It is even more concerning that when girls do participate, their male classmates too often make comments on their bodies and sporting abilities. We must tackle that body-shaming and inequality of opportunity. That is why I am fully supportive of the committee's recommendations to carry out an updated active schools programme evaluation with a focus on supporting female participation. The committee also heard extensive and alarming evidence that has been mentioned on harassment and abuse towards women while exercising that this is totally unacceptable. Safety is paramount and I agree with the committee that there has to be a zero-tollance approach when it comes to perpetrators of such harassment and abuse. Active travel infrastructure should also be improved in and of itself to allow physical activity and that should include adequate street lighting, as the convener mentioned, but also to allow more women to access the outdoors and sporting activities safely. We know that budgets are limited at present, but active travel is one of the budget lines that is increasing significantly. It is vital therefore that communities and the voices of women are heard on what they actually want in terms of active travel investment. This is particularly the case when so few women are in senior positions in ministering this funding as the report highlights. Facilities and funding issues were also identified as a key barrier and this is something that I have spoken at first hand with many stakeholders. It is not that long ago that women at football clubs like Glasgow City FC were forced to use car headlights as floodlights to train at night. I still hear concerns consistently that there is more restricted access to facilities for women. For example, men's teams often get priority bookings on football pitches and I am glad that this is being acknowledged by the committee. I echo the committee in welcoming the Scottish Government's commitment to doubling investment in sport and active living to £100 million a year. However, this is taking place against a background of savage cuts to local council budgets who provide so many sporting facilities. Continued cuts to local council sports provisions will hit everyone but will undoubtedly have a disproportionate impact on women and girls. I will happily take an intervention from Mr Cymru. I am grateful for the member for taking an intervention. I wonder if he agrees with me that those savage cuts are a false economy. By taking the money out of that page of the ledger just means that it will appear somewhere else in a much bigger number than another page of the ledger. Neil Bibby. I absolutely agree with Mr Wirtle. I was just about to come on to that point and he absolutely is right. Investment in sport, investment in physical activity is prevented of spend. The preventative spend that we talk about in this Parliament and that is why we need to protect those budgets. Presiding Officer, it is equally important that we acknowledge some of the barriers for women at an elite level. As has been mentioned, women's funding and pay as well as media coverage in comparison to men provides is not only a barrier, it is an injustice. The committee reported that 84 per cent of elite female athletes in the UK felt sports women were not paid enough and that between September 2022 and 2023 there was 28 times as much coverage of men's football as women's and 26 times as much coverage of men's rugby. I support the committee's call on the Government to explore the creation of an independent women's sports trust for Scotland to support growth in women's sport and including funding and media exposure. It is important to note, as has been mentioned, that many disabled LGBT and ethnic minority women face intersecting barriers to participation. We know role models are important to show young women that anyone can get involved in sports and compete at the highest level. This is perfectly illustrated by the gymnast Simone Biles who said, growing up I didn't see very many black gymnasts so whenever I did I felt inspired. I remember watching Gabby Douglas win the 2012 Olympics and I thought if she can do it I can do it. It is therefore welcome to hear the success of the Welsh Labour Government's anti-racist Wales action plan in encouraging participation in sport by women and girls from minority ethnic backgrounds. The Scottish Government should also explore the possibility of a similar initiative. I also want to touch on the power of social media. Unfortunately, I know the committee heard evidence that there has been an increase in misogynistic behaviour towards women and that needs to be tackled. We need to look at regulations in following the UK online safety bill act, whilst recognising that it can amplify women's voices. It is vital that we understand the barriers to participation for women and girls in sport. This report highlights many. We now need action from the Scottish Government and others to break them down. I like running in the mud when it is wet, cold in the middle of winter. I love going up and down hills for hours on end but I am weird. Most people do not enjoy that. It is not for everyone, particularly women and girls. I think that everybody should be encouraged to do their own sport in their own way. We also need to make sure that it is attractive and enticing. There is a wide and varied offer for people. For me, sport and exercise improves my mental health, my memory and my sleep. I think that I come up with my best ideas when at the top of hills. I know that there are many of them. I enjoy it and I think that that is what I want everyone to enjoy in their own way. I think that it is worth recognising the improvements that have been made in sport for women and girls. I want to start off with paying tribute to the minister because I know from the sporting community that they appreciate her contribution to sport. They know that she is passionate about it. They recognise that she is tied together with health and that she is a woman who is passionate and is tying it to health, which is critically important. I think that we have heard from our contribution how much she cares about it. Sport and exercise is a microcosm of wider society. The problems that we experience elsewhere in the attitudes, stigma and harassment that women experience is reflected in sport. There is no excuse for sport in any way whatsoever, but it does indicate that we have a much wider problem in society that we need to tackle. I think that the sport offered it, certainly. I thank Willie Rennie for giving way. Could he perhaps expand on what he thinks as a man that the male population can do to tackle that misogyny that women experience in sport and physical activity? I think that a bit more encouragement and a little less mocking is at the centre of this. I have seen it for myself and I am embarrassed when I do not challenge it. Men have a particular responsibility that when they see that harassment and that stigma being before them, they need to say something and we need to stop it. That laddish male culture exists as much in sport as it does elsewhere, so we have all got a responsibility to challenge it. I think that in particular it is all about culture and attitude and response and language. All of that is incredibly important. I think that we have seen some improvements in sport kit recently, which I think has recognised the desire of women to be able to wear kit that makes them feel comfortable and recognises the differences and the changes that they go through in their life. I think that the active schools programme is a great advancement. We need the evaluation to see how effective it has been, but to bring in experts into school who can improve the range and quality of sport offer and exercise offer, because it is not just all about sport, but those alternatives in school is part of the answer to make sure that we have something that is suitable for everyone. I was watching, I think, I have heard earlier on about the Scottish Women in Sports Awards. There is a great picture of two sportswomen. One is Ailey Doyle and the other one is a young sportswomen called Ayla Headley. They met when Ayla was 12 or 13 round about that time. Ayla won the young sportswomen award this year and her role model was Ailey Doyle who would not won the sportswomen award. That shows you very clearly the role of role models, people that you can look up to, people like you in the room who are performing exceptionally well. I think that the more we have of excellent sports people like Ailey who is prepared to take time out to encourage the next generation is something that will improve things as we progress. I think that we also need to recognise we made progress in terms of pay for women in elite sport. Now 83 per cent of sports pay the same for men and women, but the big differences are in golf, cricket and football, the old offenders. Now it is closing, the gap is narrowing but it needs to narrow so much more. We need to recognise and praise those sports that are closing the gap but to send a clear signal to those that are not that they need to do so much better. I have noticed a difference in the language on television and broadcast now. When you are listening, when they are describing football it is football for men and women. They do not see women's football any more, they do not see football when it is men, they actually have a neutral term now. Now it is subtle, it is a small change but it is an important change. I think that the presenters on the television, so many more female presenters including in football and many other sports, I think that it is less laddish now. I think that it is more open, the language is different, I think that that is a big improvement as well. We are covering many, many more sports in that coverage too, so smaller, more niche sports are getting covered and often women are taking part in those. I just want to say a few things, one thing about hockey, Madras College, St Andrews, getting a new building, they scrapped the hockey pitch, they replaced it by rugby pitches and football pitches. There was a group challenged it, it did not succeed, it should never have happened. Of course men play hockey too but it is predominantly a female sport and that should never have happened. The excuse was that more women are playing football and rugby, that is not good enough. We need to have a much more wider range of facilities available to suit everyone. Leaders in sport, 80 per cent are men. We need to change that. If you have leaders in sport who are women, you have a greater chance of changing the culture. Communities, sport centres, we need to stop the reduction in the hours because women feel much more safer in these centres quite rightly. Jog Scotland is one of the best innovations that we have had. You get an awful lot more people who are involved in Jog Scotland, easy entry, low cost, brilliant leaders, that is the model that we should be progressing. Sport is so important. I really welcome the report by the Health, Social Care and Sport Committee. I think that we will know instinctively how important it is for our physical and mental health, for social and cultural connectivity. There is also extensive evidence of the benefits of regular exercise on physical and mental health and wellbeing. We all need a tribe or a team to be part of and perhaps particularly in our younger years sport can provide that shared purpose and belonging that is so important, a good gang to join if you like. Not just in youth, as adults it is really important to have opportunities for social connection. Sport provides that. We should all be concerned that there is a persistent gap between boys and girls in rates of participation in sport and physical activity, beginning at the age of puberty and persisting up to women in their 40s. This is a substantial part of a women's life and we have to understand the barriers and dismantle them. The committee's report found that teenage girls faced barriers around puberty and there has been some welcome progress to date in implementing the Scottish Government's women's health plan, which has included learning about menstrual health as part of the Scottish curriculum. I share the committee's hopes. This will be beneficial in terms of normalising discussions about menstrual health, improving awareness and understanding about the impact that menstruation can have on girls' participation in sport and physical activity and removing stigma around managing periods, particularly as this relates to girls' participation in PE classes. I support committee calls on the Scottish Government to set out how it will evaluate the impact of improved learning about menstrual health as part of the school curriculum in addressing the significant decline in participation of girls in sport and physical activity that is connected with puberty. We are debating the matter during the 16 days of activism, so many of our minds will be on wider matters of inequality for women and girls. I think that it is important to acknowledge how all those issues connect and overlap. The committee highlighted negative body image and a lack of self-confidence as a barrier to participation. Recognising many may be deterred from participating in sport and physical activity because they lack self-confidence or experience negative body image. Our girls from a very young age are bombarded with airbrushed, sexualised images of unattainable aesthetics and content that can give the entirely wrong message about who and what their bodies are for. Participation in sport can be a really healthy counter to that and help individuals to love their bodies for what they can do and not for how they look to others. Surrounded by teammates of all different shapes and sizes reinforces that, as do the many of the wonderful sportswomen and coaches that we have in this country. I share the committee's concern but wasn't really surprised to hear extensive evidence that negative attitudes of boys continue to create major barrier to girls' participation in sport and physical activity, particularly during adolescence. The committee highlighted and commended the don't be that guy campaign to tackle sexual harassment run by Police Scotland and the positive impact that that had in addressing negative attitudes by boys, which in turn helped to foster an environment of mutual respect between boys and girls when participating in sport and physical activity. There are some messages in there that might be helpful for male colleagues who wish to address behaviour that they witness. The committee is right to call on the Scottish Government to consider what more it could do to learn lessons for future policy development from the implementation of don't be that guy. Consider how perhaps a wider roll-out of this campaign and other education programmes across school could help tackle misogynistic attitudes and behaviours. I see that there was a mixed response to the topic of single-sex sports and would agree with the committee that there is no one size fits all for this. However, that said, I absolutely recognise the benefit of female-only activities and competition, and there must be a retention and protection of female-only space and sport for girls and women who need it. To close on a success story, I think that active schools programme is one that we can look to as just that. It's successfully engaging girls in sport and physical activity and offering a range of fun activities in schools across the country. In my area, in North Ayrshire, I'm always particularly impressed by the range of activities going on and the young leaders who are doing sterling work. In the year 2022-23, girls and young women made over 2 million visits to active schools, sport and physical activity sessions, and females made up to 46 per cent of participants in the active schools programme, so there's definitely learning for us in that. I was interested to read that the highest participation activities among female participants were netball, football, multisport, dance and movement, and basketball. Active schools teams have worked really hard to engage girls and young women with additional support needs and young people from areas of social economic disadvantage. I think that in doing the review of that, we can learn what is working well and where we need to make that investment. I thank everybody who contributed to the report, particularly the legion of volunteers in this country who have run the clubs and activities that support women and girls participation in sport. Thank you very much, Ms McGuire. Just to advise the chamber, the limited amount of time we had in hand has now been exhausted, so I will have to urge members to stick to their time limits from here on in. I call Tess White to be followed by David Torrance. Ms White, up to six minutes please. Presiding Officer, I'm delighted to contribute today. During the Health, Social Care and Sport Committee's inquiry into female participation in sport, MSPs visited the Fighting Chance project in Dumfirmland. That project, which inspires young people to make positive changes in their lives through judo, is transformational. For me, the physical and mental benefits of doing martial arts have been massive. Working in industry all over the world, karate has given me the confidence to travel alone and hold my own in what often felt like a man's world. A contact sport, it taught me well when to pull my punches and when to land them. Karate also taught me the importance of perseverance and how to push through failure. Often sport is so much more than physical activity. In the committee, I fully supported doing an inquiry into female participation in sport because we need to understand the barriers to participation and we need to find ways to finally overcome them. Some of these barriers are systemic, misogyny, sexism and stereotyping, as we've heard today. The media has a huge role to play in shifting the dial here. Some are structural, funding and resource allocation and access to facilities particularly come to mind. The leisure sector in Scotland is under significant pressure and something I know all too well in my own region following the closure of Bucksburn Swimming Pool earlier this year. The SNP Government must step up and do all it can to predict these facilities because the unintended consequences will be considerable. Finding innovative new ways to access facilities is also important and I was especially interested in the Scottish Sports Association's recommendation to look at access to the school estate. I hope that this is something that we can take forward as we build on the inquiry. I am encouraged today to hear Mary Todd say that she is supportive of this. However, there are other factors to which deter women and girls from sport. In her evidence to the inquiry, Baz Moffat from the well HQ persuasively made the point that until we educate the people who look after girls about female health and implement that into our coaching education, we will still see a gender gap in female participation and performance. Presiding Officer, self-consciousness, managing periods, changing physiology, women's health conditions like endometriosis and PCOS, pregnancy, childbirth, postpartum recovery, pelvic floor dysfunction, urinary incontinence, lack of time owing to caring responsibilities, perimenopause and hormonal changes. It is little wonder that the gender gap in sport begins at the age of puberty and persists up to women in their early 40s. We have different physiology, different patterns of mental and physical development, different milestones from menstruation to menopause that impact us profoundly. Fair play for women shared in their submission to the inquiry that some sporting injuries for women occur at certain times of the month because ligaments are affected by variation of female hormones throughout the menstrual cycle. I echo their calls for greater funding and research in this area. Earlier this year triathlet Emma Pallant-Brown shared a powerful photo of herself on Instagram bleeding through her swimsuit during a race. It sparked an international conversation, some of it positive and sadly some of it not, but Emma simply said that she felt it wasn't healthy to feel ashamed of your period. Other female athletes and Olympians celebrated Emma's pragmatic approach to periods. She managed to de-stigmatise menstruation by showing she was comfortable with it. In her evidence to the inquiry former athlete Eileen Doyle highlighted the importance of sportswear and feeling comfortable when competing. It's not just about fit, it's about colour. I know first hand from karate the anxiety that wearing a white geek can cause. Sport associations and governing bodies must show sensitivity in this regard. One further consideration is the safety of women in sport and the implication of trans inclusion for competitive fairness. Sport should be welcoming but not at the expense of women's safety or fairness and this extends to the changing room too. One of my constituents told me she no longer took her granddaughter swimming because a local leisure centre had introduced mixed changing facilities and her granddaughter no longer felt safe or comfortable. Women and girls must have safe and protected spaces where they can get changed. Presiding Officer, our inquiry covered a huge amount of ground and I wish I had more time to do it justice. Following the shared passion that we all have, I do hope that our inquiry is built upon by the sports leadership in Scotland to bring about the change that we need. David Torrance, to be followed by Carol Mawrkin, up to six minutes. Thank you, Presiding Officer. I very much welcome the opportunity to participate in the committee's debate on a subject that is very important to me. Sport has always played a significant role in my life and can you tend to do so to its very day, a bit through slightly less vigorous activities these days? It has therefore been both insightful and concerning to sit in the health and social care and sport committee and to hear evidence first hand about barriers to female participation in sport and physical activity. Opportunities to take part in all forms of sport should be available to everyone so the question would be faced was how do we make that happen? I very much welcome all the work that has gone into the committee's inquiry and have confidence that our report published in October this year can serve as a call to action and more importantly a blueprint for change. There is undenial evidence that the benefits of regular participation in sport and physical activity are both physical and mental health and wellbeing. Yet despite these benefits we face a persistence gender gap that begins at puberty, extends into early adulthood and persists up to women in their early 40s. This gap is just not a number, it represents a loss of opportunities, untapped potential and a failure to provide equitable access to the benefits of sport for half of our population. I would like to thank the Minister for Social Care and Mental Wellbeing and Sport for her thoughtful and detailed interim response to the committee's report on behalf of the Scottish Government. It is encouraging to know that the Scottish Government has been working diligently to budget gap and funding for support for women in sports with initiatives like active schools programme, Scottish women and girls in sports week and the women's health plan. It is clear that this work along with positive media coverage for women's elite sport has been instrumental in creating change. A 2022 women's sports trust report showed that 36.1 million people watched women's sport on TV between January and July 2022. That is an increase of 18.6 million during the current period of 2021. We know that the media plays a crucial role in promoting female participation in sports, with women's sports historically receiving far less attention and coverage compared to their male counterparts. A lack of representation and the visibility has contributed to the cause of stereotypes and barriers for women in sports. However, with the rise of digital media and social platforms, there has been a very clear and positive shift towards increasing the visibility and recognition of women's sports. Make no mistake, the power of the media cannot be overstated. It can reshape societal norms and challenge gender stereotypes by highlighting female athletes' achievements and telling their inspiring stories. Through comprehensive coverage, documentaries, interviews and features, the media can showcase women's sports as exciting, competitive and noteworthy. That exposure not only legitimises women's athletes' abilities but also creates role models for young girls and encourages their activity participation in sport at all levels. Why we continue to build upon the progress so far and why the Scottish Government continues to take ambitious action, including a commitment to doubling the funding for sport and physical activity to 100 million a year, is important to recognise the competing demands for this funding. In this context, I look forward to the Scottish Government's plans to set out how funding will be suitably targeted to ensure that goals of increased participation and visibility of women and girls in sport and physical activity is made a key priority. Crucially we must acknowledge the intersectional barriers faced by girls, particularly those from minority backgrounds, and ensure diversity and inclusion at the forefront of the Scottish Government's strategies. During the committee's inquiry, we had evidence supported by the findings of UK wide research, which suggests that many girls and women are given limited opportunities to participate in sports and physical activities that are stereotypically viewed as being male-dominated and therefore unlikely to be uninterested in them or suitable for female participation. As some of you may know, I am passionate a member of the Scout Association, and I have been a scout leader in Kirkcaldy for too many years, spending most of my summer recess leading a mixed gender scout group. Throughout my years, I have seen first hand just how important it is to encourage girls of all ages to participate in diverse sports opportunities and physical activity, particularly in coeducational settings and at community level. A 2009 observatory of sport in Scotland report found that although girls are more active than boys between the ages of 5 and 7, their participation dropped significantly from the age of 8 onwards, and by age of 13 to 15, approximately 11 per cent of girls in Scotland meet physical activity guidelines compared to 24 per cent of boys. The alarm statistics are echoed by what I have seen time and time again on the ground. Negative body image, poor confidence and issues related to puberty are all major barriers to participation in sport. It is vital that we provide safe spaces for girls to overcome these issues and learn important life skills such as teamwork and leadership. The matter is an issue that transcends the boundaries of athletics, and it is about empowerment, equality and the salvation of talent and teamwork. The benefits of our efforts go far beyond the sports arena. We extend into society when we support women and girls in participating in sport and physical activity. We are not just creating athletics, we are nurturing future leaders, role models and advocates for gender equality. In conclusion, empowering women in sport and physical activity is not just about access to sports facilities or creating equal opportunities. It is about building a society where every girl and woman can realise their potential, and 100 by societal norms, physical barters or gender bias. Let us all commit to its cause, not just in words but in actions to create more inclusive, healthier and equitable Scotland. I add my thanks to the Health, Social Care and Sports Committee for the report and, of course, for bringing it to the debate to the chamber to give the subject the prominence it deserves and an opportunity for all members to debate this important issue. For me, it was really important that the inquiry took the decision to focus on participation not only at an elite level but also at a community level. The interesting recommendations around how female participation in sport is supported, reported and promoted will help us all move the dial forward in breaking that job off and gender gap that we have heard about in today's debate. The committee aimed to identify actions that should be taken to help increase the numbers of women and girls participating in sport and physical activity and, crucially, what can be done to ensure that they are able to remain active and engaged throughout their lives. The reality is that we are talking about a long-standing issue that is a really tough nut to crack. Sadly, there is still a huge disparity between the participation levels of women and girls and those of men and boys. As I have raised in the chamber before, the figures are compounded by deprivation, with higher levels of non-participation in areas of high deprivation. I think that we all wish for sport to be a great equaliser, but the figures suggest that, for too many people, opportunities are limited and personal as well as national potential is not being realised. During one of the committee's evidence sessions with the Young Women's Movement, the committee heard about the scale of the challenge in that area and I quote, we were shocked by how much someone's socioeconomic background impacts their ability to access sport. We assumed that there would be an impact, but 81 per cent of the people who responded to our survey indicated that that was a key barrier for them, which was really disheartening, although we thought that there would be an impact, we were surprised by how big it was. In 2020, the Observatory for Sport in Scotland identified socioeconomic deprivation as the main barrier to participation in sport in Scotland. The reality is that, if we want to ensure that women and girls have the best chance to participate in sport and activity throughout life, we need to acknowledge the reality of affordable sport facilities being closed as local government funding is squeezed and squeezed. I hope that the minister will talk to this issue and will bring it up again with those in power. In this debate, I want to focus the small amount of time that I have left and what young girls tell me about participating in sport. Last night, I had the great pleasure of joining in a session of the third Mochland Brownies, and as well as having my debating skills challenged by a very vibrant and able group of young girls, I was also able to take the time and the opportunity to ask them about sport and physical activity. There was a great enthusiasm for sport and activity, with a big bubbly round of discussion about football, rugby, gymnastics, running and swimming, with all the girls agreeing they loved sport and they knew that it was really good for them and important to participate in. I then went on to ask them if it was easy to participate in all those activities, and that's where it changed. The girls talked about getting time at school for sport. Sometimes that was difficult because important lessons mattered. They also talked about transport and facilities in their rural community. It is often more difficult, and even at this very young age, they could identify that local community centres where they had participated in sport were closing and that swimming pools were about to be closed in the local area. By far, the biggest challenge that they faced was definitely boys. That is in line with some of the evidence that was collected by the committee. It struck me so much that this group of young girls in front of me are approaching this 14-year age drop-off range. The young girls last night very much echoed the evidence from committee, and they said to me that boys dominate the playground space and often seek to exclude us girls from the open areas. They also told me that the boys sometimes say to them that girls are not very good at sport, and in certain sports they were able to tell me, although they loved to participate in football and rugby, that sometimes some of the boys did say to them that that was not a girls sport. It was very striking to me that this was the experience of young girls here and now. Given the research and the report, we should be doing all that we can to change attitudes and in turn trends. Changing participation of women and girls in sports is not just about speaking to women and girls. It is definitely about having conversations with boys, men, teachers, sports coaches and the wider community. I do not believe that these attitudes at this early stage are ingrained, and I do believe that we can change it, but it takes us all to work together to ensure that we change this for the good. It takes Government to acknowledge the barriers and put this to the very top of the agenda with funding sources to support it. There is so much more to say in this, but I do not have any time left. I thank members from across the chamber for raising other important issues from this report. Again, I really thank the committee and the clerks for all the work in this important area. I hope that we all move on together to make the changes necessary. There is a lot of chat these days of inspirational female hero sporting stars, in particular female footballers, so that I can take this opportunity to acknowledge the success of the Scottish women's team, which has recently gained growing support, qualifying for the 20th year. In 2019 World Cup, and the last time the men's team qualified for a World Cup tournament was in 1998. However, women's football in Scotland is not a new thing. It grew in popularity during World War 1. While the men were away fighting on the front line, women kept those at home entertained with well-mannered matches. Lily Sinclair was reported in the Glasgow Herald as Scotland's first-ever goalscorer in her blue jersey, white knickerbockers, red belt and high-heeled boots. No doubt looking fabulous, if not entirely practical. The team then, in 1918, demolished their English opponents 3-0, a stunning victory. Of course, they were told to get back to looking after their homes and their children upon the men's return from war. We know the value of role models not only to see the achievements but to inspire us to also be able to relate to them and think that it is possible for us to get that job, play that sport and be valued equally as our male counterparts. The accelerating popularity of female sports is contributing to that. However, this year's report on female participation in sport from the Health, Social Care and Sport Committee also highlighted that there is much more to be done. 25 per cent of female elite athletes earn less than £10,000 from sports tells us that there is a job to do in promoting female sport as an investment opportunity. Improved funding will open up greater earning potential for elite athletes as well as improving training and equipment that is better suited to women's bodies as opposed to the male counterparts. Women's health is an issue that we are getting much better at talking about. More women and our male allies in this Parliament has meant that we have been able to talk more openly on matters such as menopause, period health, endometriosis, for example. However, that has not yet filtered through to all corners of society. A survey in 2020 of elite sportswomen by the BBC found nearly 60 per cent of respondents felt that their period affected their performance, with nearly 40 per cent saying that they felt uncomfortable discussing that with their coach. I know that the committee took evidence on that, and I would urge members who have not yet had a chance to do so to read the report, particularly where Scotland goalkeeper and captain Gemma Faye and judo champion Connie Ramsey are quoted discussing their experiences. I echo minister Marie Todd, also quoted in the report, praising the circumstances that female athletes have begun to discuss openly issues around menstruation, contraception, pregnancy and menopause in sport. Of course, wider issues such as sexism, misogyny, personal safety and abuse, heightened by social misia, remain major contributing factors to why fewer women feeling safe or comfortable enough to participate in sport. However, the problem begins early. Girls get more active than boys in early years, but that changes by the time they become teenagers we have heard from colleagues. According to the Observatory for Sport in Scotland, by the age of 13 to 15, only 11 per cent of girls are meeting physical activity guidelines compared to just 24 per cent of boys. Of course, intersectionality plays a big part in discouraging women from participating in competitive sports. For women from ethnic minorities, that can be particularly pronounced. Glasgow Life has pointed out that research consistently shows that Muslim women have among the lowest participation rates for sport. Sport Scotland, along with the sport funding councils across the UK, published a report on tackling racism and inequality in sport earlier this year. That included forums exclusively for women. Participants came together to discuss the pervasive impact of stereotypes on the involvement of women in sports across Scotland. It delved into the early effects on confidence and motivation, making individuals feel out of sync with their expectations imposed by coaches and team leaders. They expressed being nudged towards certain sports in school based on perceived suitability, leading to feelings of objectification and being typecast. Those encounters were compounded by cultural expectations within communities and families, resulting in experiences of microaggressions, casual racism and sexism. Many voiced feelings of being overlooked in team sports, raising concerns about the media's portrayal of women of colour across various sports contributing to a perpetually negative culture. Time is running out here, but I just wanted to highlight the work of women on wheels, who teach women and children, especially from ethnic minorities, to cycle in a very supportive, nurturing environment. I myself was inspired by the recent world cycling championships, and I am taking lessons with women on wheels as an ethnic minority woman now on wheels. I really do not expect to be an elite cyclist any time soon, but I am enjoying the physical exercise and working towards more active travel. Ms Stewart, that is good to hear, but you do need to conclude, thank you. I commend the report, thank you Presiding Officer. I now call Gillian Mackay to be followed by Brian Whittle. I would like to follow others by thanking committee members, clerks and witnesses for their participation in what was a very interesting and engaging inquiry. As many have already covered, barriers to engagement in sport, as well as on-going participation, is multifaceted for women and girls. From previous committee work, it was noted that there is a significant drop-off in participation in girls during their teenage years. During the inquiry, we found that there was an additional inequity in participation in physical activity up until the age of 40, and often significant barriers to coming back particularly late to organised activity. One contributing factor that was raised for young women and girls is the focus on competition rather than fun. In PE, in school, a shift towards building skill levels in competition rather than movement for fun and feeling good has put some off for an engaging fully. The Royal College of Pediatric and Child Health noted that what constitutes fun varies and emphasised the importance of giving children the opportunity to try different sports. This is easier said than done both in a school setting where teachers are trying to cater to everyone and for parents after school, particularly where there are multiple children in the family and where participation costs are high. Ailey Paterson from Scottish Student Sports said, and I quote, Nobody should be sending a child to a class session or sport with the aim of them winning. The idea is that they are there to enjoy themselves, to have fun and to make friends with other people. I therefore encourage that to be the central point of all sport and activity, no matter the age or stage of the people involved, although that should certainly be the case in the very early stages. After all, if people do not find sport fun, they will not come back. They will see themselves as being othered or will be inactive, possibly for life, because they will not see themselves as being welcome in that space. We heard in evidence sessions of many adult sports clubs who have regular social sessions such as football, hockey and netball, but getting women to that stage of engaging in adult clubs requires overcoming the barriers that we heard of during the inquiry. The committee also heard that the practical issues of managing periods in puberty, such as bringing in dark kit and the right facilities, are essential to allowing girls to get on to the pitch or court in the first place. Changing societal attitudes, menstruation and providing coaches who have been given an understanding of the impact of periods on players can also help many young women and girls to feel comfortable in their sport. For those who drop out of sport this time, we need to make it easier for them to come back into physical activity and to also find new activities that they enjoy. I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to find a love of both hockey and rugby at university, two sports that were not offered at my school. I knew I was not as good as those who have been playing all their school careers, but the environment was supportive, encouraging and allowed others to share what they had learned to help those of us who were new to the sport. We also need to be aware of the practical barriers that persist for adults too. Cost, as I mentioned earlier, is undoubtedly a factor in the current climate. Moving from education to the work environment and the change in how we live our lives is a factor too. I know from myself and many others my age who commute, trying to make it home from work even before this job for a 7pm training session is not something that we can commit to every week. The other option is playing in a team in the area that you work in, meaning that you get home later. At this time of year, the early or darker nights, as we heard from Clare Hawhey, are not perceived as safe by many. I use this example because we need to be aware that some of the issues in this area cannot be solved purely by sports clubs and sporting bodies. We have created working environments where it is difficult to get in all the other things that keep us well and lead fulfilling lives. Looking at flexible working, 4-day working week and a universal basic income would be a help to many. Adults are also frightened of taking up something new, going into a new social environment or potentially at the outset not being very good at something. We need to work on how we normalise trying new things throughout life. There are many other issues that I will not have time to cover fully, including maternity, sports facilities, caring roles, body image issues, lack of positive role models and the lack of visibility of women's sport also contributes. I want to note that this is the start of Scottish disability sport week and more needs to be done both in terms of representation and support to engaging in lifelong sport for many of those athletes. In closing, while there were many issues raised in the inquiry, we need to remember that many of those are interrelated and cannot be tackled in silos. We need to address them across portfolios to ensure that, as many people as possible have the access to physical activity that they need to keep them well. I thank the health and sport committee for taking some of their precious time and I know how much pressure they are under to look into sport. I know that it is often the one that is left on the shelf, but I really do appreciate you taking the time to do this. I would, of course, declare a significant interest in sport given that it has defined my life. I am a level 4 senior coach and have been since 2000 having coached football at all ages rugby, hockey, mixed basketball as well as athletics at all ages. I was just amusing listening to Willie Rennie discuss his running through the mud in the gore in the wet and up and down hills and thinking strange man. I did say that he did a lot of his best thinking. I really resonate with that because, when thinking time was required, I do pull on my kit and go for a run much slower than I used to do these days. A lot of old ladies carrying heavy shopping go past, but thinking nonetheless is done. I am going through my third cycle of coaching, taking from youngsters through to senior. Interesting enough, all three of my daughters have gone through that process. I would say that much progress has been made, especially in football, rugby, tennis, cricket. However, I think that we have a long way to go until we get from parity to get to parity and equal opportunity. Another thing that I think I heard Willie Rennie say is that sport mirrors life. If we look at the participation in clubs in Scotland, there are some 645,000 members of sports clubs. 102,000 of them are female ladies, 67,000 are girls. That is 26 per cent of members of clubs in Scotland are female. We are starting from a point where there are three times as many male participants as there are female. There is also a much greater drop-out rate for girls and boys and they drop out at an earlier stage. Puberty has been mentioned. We have talked about the issue of menstruation and the issues that that raises in participation in sport. I see that as a problem with coaching and coach education. I think that we need to develop our coaches to be able to understand the differences in physiological demands, female to male, not just incidentally in terms of things like pubert administration etc. Even looking at a male 800 metre runner versus a female 800 metre runner, there are different physiological demands because the female takes longer to run in 800 metres. Therefore, it has a difficult connotation. I also think that coaches are key in tackling misogyny. I think that we have to be strong enough to be able to speak out. I have to say that I have done it myself. I have evicted a couple of athletes from my own squad in the past. One of them happened to be an international squad. It should be noted that I was challenged by other coaches at international level. They did not want me to do that, but I was not prepared to have that kind of attitude in my squad. I also want to note that there is a central belt bias in that many of the opportunities to participate are in the central belt, with rural once again being the poor relation when it comes to access, even if public transport is available, as it is mentioned before. Many girls do not feel safe travelling on public transport after dark. One of the things that people continue to say about this poor body image is that the irony of that is that in participating in support sport develops a healthier body that would actually tackle poor body image. The other thing is that during Covid, I think that the bounce back from Covid has been a disparity in that, as fewer women came back into the sport, and this is anecdotally from my own perspective, came back into the sport than the men did. Incidentally, in disability sport as well, there was a big drop-off during Covid. One of the things that surprised me greatly was that the women that came back into sport, more of them were non-competitive, so they will come down and do the training, but they will not compete. I need to understand a little bit more than that. The importance of sport to society cannot be overstated in my view. This is against the backdrop of Scotland being the unhealthiest nation in Europe. I have talked a lot about our need to tackle our £5 billion obesity tag, our £4.5 billion mental health tag, diabetes and COPD, heart disease and musculoskeletal conditions. I have spoken about the poor health being the biggest drag in our economy. Sport is such an inclusive activity. It breaks down so many barriers. I was listening to a radio programme this morning in the way through, and I was listening to the women who are more prone to poor mental health and social exclusion because of the lifestyle they had. Sport, to me, is one of the very big answers to that. Sport gives us confidence, resilience and aspiration. There are tangible things that help us in the rest of our life. I have asked a poster on my wall in my office that says that food is the most abused anxiety drug but exercise is the most underutilised antidepressant. As I said, poor health is the biggest drag in the Scottish economy. The way to tackle that is in the school. The school is our battleground. We need to start in nursery and primary through secondary and beyond and give our children more time, more opportunity to participate because at the moment you have to go home to go somewhere else and sport has become the bastion of the middle classes. All you have to do is look at the Olympic team to see how many were privately educated. I know I am running out of time. I will leave it there and just say thank you once again to the Sport and Health Committee for having this debate. It is really nice to follow Brian Whittle for this debate this afternoon because he has got a lot to contribute with his direct experience in sport. For me, as a member of the Health and Social Care and Sport Committee, I am quite happy to speak in this debate about our report. I want to add my thanks to everyone who provided input for our committee, including our clerks. A lot of the points from the report have been well rehearsed by members this afternoon. The one thing that we all agreed on is that more participation and visibility of girls and women in sport is essential. On the committee's webpage, there is a wee video submission by Daisy Drummond, which starts with the stark figure. It says that by the age of 14 girls are dropping out of sport two times faster than boys of the same age. It is important to highlight that. We know that the inquiry has emphasised that being physically active is one of the best things that we can do for both physical and mental health. The minister, Willie Rennie, has described how it benefits them individually. We know that sport and physical activity boosts self-confidence, self-esteem, learning skills, socialising and, more importantly, having some fun. Specifically, health issues are something that, as a nurse, I think about when it comes to dealing with issues of preventing heart disease, stroke, diabetes and a number of cancers, as well as playing an important part in helping to maintain a healthy weight and reducing the risk of developing depression even. The number of women and girls in Scotland participating in sport and physical activity has increased in recent years, but the report shows that we must do more to address the barriers that stop women and girls taking part. Those who took part in the inquiry identified poor self-confidence and issues around body image as a barrier to participation in sport and physical activity for many girls and women. One contributor to the committee's call for evidence suggested that the relationship between body image and physical activity is a vicious cycle. The more conscious they feel about their bodies, the less likely they are to take part in physical activity. Many people may be deterred from participating in sport and physical activity because they lack self-confidence or experience negative body images. Others have mentioned that as well. To combat that, the committee recommended that sporting venues should do more to demonstrate themselves as welcoming and inclusive to participants of all abilities and to offer tailored advice and support to those who may be reluctant. I would like to ask the minister whether any support such as Sport Scotland could be made available to meet that aim. Crucial to overcoming barriers to self-esteem is leadership and role models. The committee heard that negative attitudes and behaviours by teachers and coaches and the lack of positive role models on women in leadership roles discourages female participation in sport and physical activity. It was clear through the inquiry that men play an important role in increasing female participation in sport and we heard how it is so crucial for men to demonstrate a real commitment to promoting and encouraging female participation. That also includes through educating male coaches and leaders within their sport about the important role and responsibilities they have in this regard and to encourage them to demonstrate positive and inclusive behaviours. As part of the inquiry, I wrote to 162 local sporting and activity groups across Dumfries and Galloway and the Scottish Borders and I received a fair few responses. I got 68 responses back. I also visited Wallace Hall academy in Thornton hill to discuss female participation in sport with six young women who were sport participants themselves. From the engagement and responses, a number of key issues were raised, including many specific to our rural area. These include lack of local buses to enable travel to and from venues, the cost of equipment and of membership fees and some women and girls reported male dominated clubs as being a barrier. Those experiences are replicated by those who participated in the inquiry. It is useful to see that what is experienced in Dumfries and Galloway and the Scottish Borders is replicated by those who did participate. In our report, Ewa Lina Chinn from HSTAR Scotland affirmed that. She noted that women who reside in rural places and places that are more deprived experienced barriers to participation not only related to cost but because either the infrequency of public transport or because of safety concerns related to public transport like night time and loan travelling. In addition, the committee recognised male dominance particularly for young school age girls and that has been outlined by members as well talking about the participation in the school grounds. To address that and to provide improved opportunities for girls to take part, the committee called on the Scottish Government, local authorities and schools to work together to develop support and guidance for teachers and playground staff to help ensure equal opportunity. While at Wallace Hall academy, I met the headteacher Barry Graham and then the young women separately involved with sport. I met Kiever, McKayla, Zena, Daisy and Matilda. They were all inspiring young women. They reported that access and availability of funding can be significant barriers to participation. One of the concerns around that was that often schools, their sporting teams and community clubs often do not know about the funding streams available and that those can be complex to access. I would be interested if the minister would be able to tell us whether more emphasis can be put on advertising the various funding streams available for sports. I will close there because I am conscious of the time. We now move to closing speeches. I call on Martin Whitfield on behalf of Scottish Labour up to six minutes. I am very grateful, Deputy Presiding Officer. It is a great pleasure to close this debate on behalf of Scottish Labour. I want to open as so many people have done by thanking the committee, the clerks but probably more their witnesses and those that sent in evidence to tackle this most important question. Scottish Labour is, of course, committed to seeing more women and girls live active lives and participate in sport at all levels. It is important that the committee looked at the participation from the very start all the way through to the elite level, because it is in that participation, as we have heard, that so much good can come simply from physical health, mental health, but also the emotional health of working with friends. We have heard a number of speakers talk about the teams and the involvement. The tribe that someone belongs to when they grow up. The ability to have a group around you who will support you when things go wrong. It might just be slipping over a football as I saw at the weekend, but it can be more substantial matters that you can turn to and get good advice. It is about belonging that allows you to develop and test out your character as a young person growing up into adulthood. I think that there is so much that is so positive in this report from the initial paragraphs of 3 through to 69, which talks about and identifies the breakdown in the barriers that are faced by women in sport. From women's health that we have heard so much about, the negative body image that so many people have drawn attention to, the harassment, safety concerns, the access to facilities. Above all, just being made to feel welcome when you walk up to a door next to a playing field or walk up to a door of a squash club or whatever the sport be, that someone opens their smiles and says hello and come in. That is so important for everyone participating in something new. When we've heard in a number of contributions about the challenges you get older, it's hard to do something new. It's even harder to do something new when you don't even know it exists as a young child, when you don't see people who look like you, who talk like you, participating in sport. When you don't see it on television or on social media or indeed on YouTube, which I keep finding my young children looking at so frequently. When you don't see those sports being played, like the women's 15 rugby that's gone on so recently, where Scotland have done so well against the rest of the world, quite frankly, you can't then decide to participate yourself. There are huge parts of this report and this debate this afternoon doesn't actually do it justice and it would be good to return to see where we are in a few months time. But there are areas that have been picked up by a number of speakers that I'd like to pick up on. The first is obviously that negative body image, the convener, Neil Bibby, Ruth Maguire, Brian Whittle and Emmett Harper all made reference to. Because it comes up in so many reports, it comes up in so many meetings, it comes up in so many talks that we have with young women that happen around. That actually it is a real challenge being a young woman growing up in this world about what the expectation is placed on you, quite frankly, by mysterious social media or others, by those that apparently earn vast amounts of money and live wonderful lives about what you should or indeed shouldn't look like. Sport is one of those areas, through just having fun in the playground, through just growing up and developing an understanding of the support. I'm thinking about evidence that was taken during the inquiry about the Norwegian handball beach team that got a fine of 1,500 euros for wearing shorts instead of the regulated bikini bottoms. Do you think that if we need the leading bodies to champion comfort and uniforms rather than regulate something that might deter women from sport? I think that Emma Harper makes about a very powerful contribution and it goes to a netball team that could only get sponsorship if they agreed to do a calendar in a certain way. The fact remains that for sponsors, which talks to the finance that goes into it, sport should be about the product of the sport, be it what it may. We've heard of the data that's lacking, the research that's lacking, the skills are lacking in producing comfortable, usable clothing for women to use in sport. Of course that should take the priority. It shouldn't be about what it's wrapped up in and what it looks like. It should be the joy of watching someone do something brilliantly at elite level, participating at medium level and just having a go at earlier levels. I raised with the Minister the discussion about paragraph 132 about the boys' domination of playground and physical spaces. I think that this, amongst a number of matters, speaks to the very heart of the change of culture that so many people have spoken about. Because if girls don't feel safe in a playground, be it a school playground, be it a local authority playground, be it just the field out of the back of their house, they are not going to enjoy the physical experience of being there. I think that it's interesting that the report goes on a paragraph 179 and particularly at 180 with regard to PE schools and the submission from the Gender Equality and Education and Learning report to provide trained supervision in playgrounds and spaces where girls experience sexism and sexual violence so that they feel safe. I'm very tight for time so I'm inconclusive Mr Whittle. I thought yours was a very powerful contribution and I would love to have had time to discuss it. But I think that if we look at the challenge that our playgrounds have for young girls, we see in that all the challenge that sport and participation for the rest of the life takes place and it is an area where we understand the difficulties. It is an area where we can make a difference and perhaps it's only a small start but it is a significant start to making life easier. Thank you Mr Whittle. I now call on Megan Gallacher to close on behalf of the Scottish Conservatives up to seven minutes please Ms Gallacher. Thank you Presiding Officer. Scotland is lucky to have so many talented women in sport. Ailey Doyle, Ailey Headley, our Scottish women's football and rugby team and many others were mentioned over the course of today's committee debate. For me, I've always admired Laura Moore and Ailey Schmuckolgan. Not just because I was a member of a running club in the Bellshill Harriers but because they are excellent role models for women looking to enter elite sports. MSPs in this Parliament, including the minister herself, have expressed their passion for promoting women in all sporting roles and their commitment to increasing participation in sport and physical activity. You only need to look at the number of sporting motions that MSPs submit a year. Motions that congratulate and recognise the efforts of clubs, organisations and sporting talent to know that this Parliament backs women in sporting roles. But our motions don't show us the whole story and we need to understand why participation for women is so low. We have heard a lot of arguments today that highlight the barriers women face when participating in sport and physical activity. Clare Hawke mentioned the decline in the number of girls participating in sport, with the gender gap persisting in women up until the age of 40. The stigma around puberty exists for many teenage girls wanting to participate in sport at school. That was a key takeaway from the committee report. Scotland has come a long way to breaking down the stigma when it comes to menstruation during teenage years, and that includes the roll-out of free period products in schools and public buildings. Much more needs to be done to smash the taboo around menstruation and the sports industry is key to breaking those barriers down. Tess White rightly said that until those involved in women's sport fully understand women's health, barriers to sport and physical activity will still exist. From Wimbledon, allowing dark-colored shorts to national campaigns to spread awareness around menstruation, parliaments and sporting bodies need to start telling women that they can and should participate in sport. Culture was another key theme discussed during today's debate, and at present the pay gap for women in sport compared to their male equivalents remains far too wide. Women feel undervalued, unaccepted and less likely to pursue a career in sport. I am pleased that the committee has highlighted that as a requirement for change, as golf, cricket and football still remain the worst offenders, as pointed out by some this afternoon. Both Dr Sandesh Gulhane and Neil Bibby spoke about the current inequality of opportunity for women in sporting roles. We heard arguments that women are not yet seen for their talents, but just for their gender. Concernly, the cases of harassment and abuse that prevent women from entering the world of sport. Ruth Maguire mentioned that there do not be that guy campaign. We do need to break the gender stereotypes and ensure the zero tolerance approach that we have so frequently mentioned today has put into practice. An interesting point raised by many members related to community facilities being underused or not used to their full capacity. Dr Sandesh Gulhane raised an important local issue of the national hockey centre at Glasgow green, as the assay is not being sufficiently funded. I am sure Willie Rennie was about to talk about the length of time facilities were opened, so we can maximise the hours and the types of sports that are available for women. As Brian Whittle said earlier, women are not heading home in the dark because most women would feel uncomfortable doing that. Scottish Government cuts to councils are having a detrimental impact on sporting facilities, as many are under three. That is particularly relevant over the next three financial years for councils. When only 26 per cent of clubs in Scotland have female membership, it shows that we need our local facilities open to encourage and support women into sport. As that is a debate about women's sport, we need to speak about single sex spaces. Ruth Maguire rightly raised that issue during her contribution. We need to look at women's sport and the safety of women while they are participating in activities. I agree with Tess White that sport should be welcoming for everyone, and we also need to look at ensuring that women's sport is fair and provides the correct safeguards. Otherwise, we will further deter women from entering the world of competitive sport. I want to finish on the most important point that I mentioned today. Sport is about having fun. Sport should be for everybody, and that is why I back the Keep Our Playing campaign. Taking part in sport is not just about the cheers, the wins or the bragging rights, although that is fun too. They are about developing confidence, important life skills such as resilience and discipline. It is about improving self-esteem and mental health. There are far too many points to run through today, but if there is something that we can all agree on, I hope that it is that. We need to improve female participation in sport and physical activity. Tonight's debate has covered a lot of ground, and I am hugely encouraged by the progress that we have made. I am under no illusion that a lot of work remains to be done. I firmly believe that sport should be a safe and enjoyable space for women, whether they are participating, coaching or watching. It is our duty to ensure that every girl and woman, regardless of age or background, has access to the array of physical and mental benefits that come from being active. The committee report underlines the importance of breaking down the barriers that have hindered female participation at every level of physical activity. We know that data remains a challenge. We publish data on participation from the Scottish Household Survey and the numbers meeting the CMO guidelines from the Scottish Health Survey. While those provide a range of information on, for example, age, gender, socioeconomic status, we are working to identify ways that we can also report on ethnicity, sexual orientation, pregnancy, maternity and religion. Of course, it is not just about increasing the number of women participating. It is about harnessing the transformational power of sport to enhance wellbeing, foster community and to empower individuals. It is also a critical part of improving the health of the nation. Through targeted work, community engagement and a diverse offering, we can definitely improve our sporting system so that it enables women to thrive on and off the field. We are fortunate in Scotland to have committed individuals throughout the sporting sector and that our national agency, Sport Scotland, foster an environment where every female athlete has the chance to succeed and feels welcome. During Scottish Women and Girls in Sport week, I visited Sport Scotland Institute of Sport and I had the opportunity to hear about the work that they are carrying out on female athlete health and performance training. I also got the chance to speak to some Scottish athletes about their experiences and how they were being supported by the institute. However, this work does not just support elite athletes. The female athlete health group has developed a new e-learning resource aimed at anyone working with female athletes at any level in sport. True progress requires addressing challenges at every level, from local community clubs to the national stage and the coverage of elite athletes in the media. We clearly have still got some way to go, particularly to ensure that women have the same sponsorship opportunities, investment and that we are able to see women sport, televised and reported on. There have been some huge changes over the last few years alone, but there is definitely more to be done. I recently visited Ross County's women's team and met players who hope to enter the Highlands and Islands league next year. Scottish Power has announced that they are sponsoring the league and they are keen to ensure that they leave a lasting legacy. It is the first time that that league has secured sponsorship, further underlining the upward trajectory of women's football in Scotland and highlighting that women's sport is worth investing in. Earlier this year, I heard Lisa O'Keefe, the Secretary-General of the International Working Group on Women in Sport, speak at the Scottish Women in Sport Conference. The Secretary-General is based in the UK for the next three years and that provides a fantastic opportunity to create real, sustainable impact on women and girls sport beyond 2026. As I mentioned earlier, leadership is likely to be a focus for this Government. I believe that that is an important topic, both to highlight those women in leadership positions but also to open up conversations around the barriers or drop-off in leadership as well as participation beyond the teenage years. It has long been recognised that there is no single solution to reducing inactivity across the population. We are working through our national leadership group for physical activity and sport to agree recommendations and actions for a whole systems approach, which reflect particular conditions in Scotland based on the international society for physical activity and health, the eight investments that work. I am very grateful to the minister for giving me a hand. I know that her and I share our passion to promote sport in general, but would she agree with me that it is the educational environment in the broadest sense of the word where we are going to get our biggest return for investment? Certainly that is one of the areas where we will get a big return for our investment and it is a vital area because it sets the culture for life, in fact. Clearly, that is an issue that is very close to my heart, as well as many people in this chamber. I found much to agree with in this debate. There are a number of things that I want to pick up on. For the record, the last evaluation of the act of schools was in 2018, not in 2014, as several people have mentioned. It was great to hear from Cocab Stewart the long view of women's football, although I have to say perhaps a little poignant in that many women today still face media reporting that focuses absolutely on their appearance more than their sport. A number of members raised the media summit and I am very happy to share information with the committee when we have any more information about that available. As I said, much to agree on, I agree that sport has the power to change lives, that is one of the reasons I love it. I agree that sport is good for our physical health, that is obvious, but there is a solid body of evidence that it is good for our mental health too and it is definitely good for our social health from making friends to building cohesive communities. I agree that spending on sport is an investment, not a cost. I definitely agree that sport and exercise should be fun, that is what drives me to participate. Although I do hear from many women that celebrating their competitiveness is important, it is not unfeminine to compete and I do acknowledge that I have more fun when I am winning. Dare I say, I agree with Willie Rennie. He is weird although I am clearly weird too because I like running my daily mile in the mud and being the Highlander I have no chance of avoiding hills. I agree that sport reflects society. We live in a man's world. Women are not equal in our society. We face misogyny, discrimination and violence in our society and sometimes we face that in sport too, but I profoundly believe that sport can lead the change in our society. Sport has the power to change our world. I look forward to the Halcyon days when our cross-party male colleagues challenge the misogynistic abuse that their female colleagues face day in, day out in this place as well as in sport. Martin Whitfield kindly mentioned the women's XV2 tournament, which the Scottish women's rugby team did so brilliantly. The entire nation has watched that team develop and charged towards success. It was great to see. It is clear today that our shared commitment to gender equality demands that we address the multifaceted challenges for women and girls. Each challenge requires a collaborative response. The Government welcomes the committee's report and the recommendations in principle. We will respond fully in due course. I want to thank everyone who contributed to the discussion tonight and absolutely thank all those working tirelessly in our clubs and our communities to provide opportunities for women and girls to be active. As deputy convener, I am pleased to be able to close this important debate on behalf of the Health, Social Care and Sport Committee. As we have heard this afternoon, the inquiry has pinpointed a range of persistent barriers to female participation in sport and physical activity that need to be broken down. The committee's report has made some important recommendations as to how that might be achieved. I am very grateful for all contributions to this afternoon's debate and indeed to the entire effort to build such a purposeful inquiry. At the outset, the convener, the member for Rulligland, helped to set out the background to this inquiry and its purpose. Reinforced by many of the contributions that we have heard this afternoon, our inquiry has confirmed that the root cause of the significant gender gap between participation in sport and physical activity lie with girls' experiences at the age of adolescence. As evidence submitted to the inquiry powerfully demonstrated for too many teenage girls, negative experiences of physical education in schools undermine their confidence and discourage them from sport and physical activity for many years afterwards. Indeed, the gender gap at that age continues for women at a rate that is not surpassed by men until they are in their late 40s. That is an extraordinary gap that has emerged and it is really worrying. To tackle that issue at its root cause, our first priority must be to give teenage girls a more positive experience of physical education in schools to make them feel welcome, included and positively supported. That extends to membership of sports clubs. We heard, for example, from the member for South Scotland for the Conservatives, Mr Whittle, that male membership of sports clubs is an order of three times more than women's membership of sports clubs, a significant issue. Indeed, it also extends to participation in sport and youth clubs, as the member for Cacoddy mentioned in his own role as a scout leader. That transcends not just school environments but also those adjacent sports clubs and youth societies. As many have said this afternoon, including the member for Cunning South, who I welcome to the committee and made a very valuable contribution, that means in proving education around menstruation and managing periods and how that can affect teenage girls' participation in sport and physical activity. It also means tackling negative and misogynistic attitudes and fostering a culture of inclusion and respect, as he mentioned by the Labour spokesman, Mr Bibby, for West Scotland. He is also a member for North East Fife, who spoke about his own experiences and his constituency. Indeed, Ms Mocken from South Scotland spoke very powerfully about her own experience of her young constituents and how they have been dealing with terrible attitudes in their school environment and how that has affected them. We have heard no more powerful experience than that actual witness experience from young people who are seeing it today. It was pretty shocking to hear about those continuing persistent attitudes. If the experience of teenage girls is a root cause of lower rates of female participation, that gender gap, as we have heard today, is sustained into adulthood by many other factors. Those include a lack of knowledge and support around a range of women's health conditions, from pregnancy to menopause, from urinary incontinence to endometriosis, a lack of positive role models and women in leadership roles. The additional barriers created by childcare and other caring responsibilities and a failure to design facilities and infrastructure in a way that makes female users feel safe. We have heard powerful examples this afternoon from the member for North East Fife about school facilities at Madras College being casually closed down in a gendered way. We have also heard from Dr Gilhane, the Conservative member for Glasgow, about the scandalous situation at the National Hockey Centre in Glasgow-Green, a squandered legacy of the 2014 Commonwealth Games if we are not careful. As part of any effective strategy to boost rates of female participation in sport and physical activity, funding is a crucial lever. The Scottish Government's commitment to increase investment in sport and active living is welcome, but we will miss an opportunity, an important one indeed if we do not look to carefully target a significant amount of that money towards encouraging girls and women to take part in sport at a younger age and to live active life throughout their growth. We have also heard how many girls and women face intersecting barriers to participation in sport and physical activity. That may be due to disability. They may come from a minority ethnic or deprived social and economic background, or they may be part of the LGBTQ plus community. As set out in our committee's report, wider use of equality impact assessments, inclusive imagery and messaging, the promotion of positive role models and targeted investment all have a role to play in increasing rates of participation in sport and physical activity amongst those girls and women who face these intersecting barriers to their participation. We simply cannot tolerate panicked end of your budgetary decisions and discard those important considerations, as was powerfully mentioned by the member for South Scotland, Ms Harper. As we have also heard this afternoon, while the status and profile of elite women's sport has made real progress in recent years, there is still much more to be done. The committee's report has made some practical suggestions as to how that might be achieved, and that includes in relation to funding and pay for professional athletes. There are some examples of positive progress in certain sport disciplines, such as golf, cricket and football, but many others have a lot to progress with. We have also heard about the issue of clothing and equipment. I think that the member for Glasgow Kelvin made an interesting observation about the experience of a century ago. There was some interesting sporting attire that women were expected to wear in the 19th century. It is important to note that the origin of organised sport began in the late industrial age, and we still carry the cultural norms and baggage from the expectations of gender-based roles of Victorian society to the present day. It is important to reflect that, despite the significant progress that we have made, it is clearly not good enough and we have to redouble our efforts. The member for North East Fife made an interesting point about the changes to coverage in sport. That is important when considering health conditions, those considering pregnancy or who may be pregnant, and the general zero-tolerance approach to tackling sexism and abuse directed towards women in elite sport. Despite concerted efforts to stamp it out, I am happy to get away. I am very grateful to Paul Swinney for giving way. On that point, can I ask what his views were with regard to sponsorship within sport is? Because there seems to be an attitude from certain sponsors that they require a product that is perhaps historic in nature rather than funding it. Does he feel that there is a role for sponsors to better understand both their responsibility but also the opportunity that they could give in changing the balance with regard to performance by women within sport? Paul Swinney? Thank you very much. It is a very important point. It certainly was one that was noted in evidence from both broadcasters and sponsors about the need to ensure there is balance and particularly the income security or insecurity faced by women who want to progress to elite sport. There is a significant gap that still needs to be tackled. I mention, of course, that despite that positive improvement in coverage particularly in areas like football, as was mentioned, elite female athletes continue to be on the receiving end of absolutely appalling and unacceptable sexist and abusive behaviour. We heard some pretty devastating accounts of that in evidence to the committee. We need to redouble our efforts to bring this to an end. Sorry to give way not quite. I appreciate Paul Swinney giving way. Forgive me for going back just a little there to the sportswear and the uniforms. Would you agree that the clothes that they ask sportswomen to wear is another element of what we are telling young girls that women are there to be looked at not to compete so that sorting that has got a deeper purpose as well? Paul Swinney. I couldn't agree more with that point. I think that there is a significant subconscious potentially bias, but certainly one that is controlled heavily by the sportswear manufacturers and one that we need to continue to engage with about dealing with that. We also know that media has a crucial role to play in promoting women's elite sport to a wider audience. Our report makes practical recommendations as to how we might make that happen in the future. A key focus here should be to expand routine coverage of women's sport outside the window of major international tournaments. I think that that is a critical moment for realising someone's potential, that inspirational moment, but it can't just be contained to the Commonwealth Games or the Olympic Games. It has to be a more normalised idea that someone can take this to the next level. Yes, happy to give away. Sandesh, go ahead. As an Arsenal fan, I listen to Arsenal Vision, I listen to podcasts about football and it's actually completely normalised where I hear about the women's team. I know just as much of what's going on in the women's team as I know what's going on in the men's team. Is this the type of thing we need to start doing in mainstream in making women's sport mainstream? As a member for Glasgow, I won't hold his support for a London team against him, but nonetheless, he makes a very important point about the role of podcasts increasingly, the democratisation of fan media being an important part of what we should consider. It's not just traditional media channels about normalising attitudes, it also falls to the fan base as well. I think we're seeing encouraging signs, particularly in the football world about that moving in a positive direction for making that important point. As is too often the case though, whilst we see democratisation of fan base media often used maliciously, social media provides a platform for the dissemination of negative body image and misogynistic content that can further discourage women and girls from taking part in sport and physical activity. However, used positively, social media offers an opportunity for sports organisations, governing bodies and other key stakeholders to promote the positive health benefits of being physically active, to give positive role models a platform to demonstrate leadership and to challenge negative content. I want to conclude by echoing the convener's earlier words of thanks to all those who engage so positively and constructively with our inquiry, often with very distressing and detailed, but nonetheless emotional evidence. I hope that the Scottish Government will give careful consideration to the key recommendations from this important and vital inquiry and that by working together to implement those recommendations we can close the gender gap in participation in sport and boost the long-term health and wellbeing of girls and women throughout our country. Thank you, Mr Sweeney. That concludes the debate on female participation in sport and physical activity on behalf of the Health, Social Care and Sport Committee. It is now time to move on to the next slide of business and there is one question to be put as a result of today's business. The question is that motion 11455 in the name of Claire Hoche on behalf of the Health, Social Care and Sport Committee on female participation in sport and physical activity be agreed. Are we all agreed? The motion is therefore agreed. That concludes decision time and there will be a short pause before we move on to the final item of business.