 Felly, rwy'n gylech i chi eisiau, rwy'n gylech i chi wedi ddechrau'r ddweud, rwy'n gylech i chi wedi ddechrau'r ddweud. Rwy'n gylech i chi wedi ddechrau'r ddweud. Rwy'n gylech i chi wedi ddechrau'r ddweud. Rwy'n gylech i chi wedi ddechrau'r ddweud. Y ffinal item of business is a member's business debate on motion 15106, y name of Jeremy Balfour, on the Scottish Power Chair Football Association. Ys debate will be concluded without any questions being put. Can i ask those members who wish to speak in the debate to press the request of speak buttons now, and I now call on Jeremy Balfour to open the debate. Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. This afternoon, I have the great pleasure of opening the debate on the Scottish Power Chair Football Association. I have incredible support of all the work that SPFA do and have been doing to see the growth and development of the sport both within Scotland and internationally. I would like, on behalf of I'm sure the whole Parliament, to take this opportunity to welcome Ryan Galloway, who works for SPFA and a number of players who are watching this debate from the public gallery. The Scottish Power Chair Football Association is the official governing body of power chair football in Scotland, which was only formed back in 2015. Some of its various roles include organising competitions and events and promoting and participating in the growing sport of power chair football. Power chair football is a unique sport that provides opportunities for people with a high level of impairment to access the game of football. The game is for anyone who uses a powered wheelchair or those who have limited movement in a manual wheelchair. The sport is fast-paced, dynamic and allows all ages, disabilities and genders to compete alongside together. Indeed, players range from 12 to 58. A few of my colleagues, including Brian Whittle, took part in a Sunday afternoon game last year. I'm sure that Mr Whittle will give us his experiences later on. The game comprises of two teams, each made up of four players, who use power chairs equipped with foot guards to attack, defend, spin kick and football in attempts to score goals. There are two national competitions, the SPFA League Cup and the Scottish Cup, plus the development of a national squad and the desire to see the sport go increasingly internationally. I'm pleased that, later this year, some international games will be taking place. There are around 70 players who are currently involved in the sport throughout Scotland. Indeed, here in Lovians we have the Lovian Wolves, who were established back in 2016 by Lovian Disability Sport and have seen tremendous success. They regularly train at Heriot-Watt University, and the hard work by the players and the coaches has obviously paid off as Chris Jackgreen, who only started playing the sport back in 2016, was recently selected for the first-ever Scotland squad in power chair football. That is a fantastic feat, and with my natural bias I wish Chris and the team every success in the years ahead. Research commissioned by Sport Scotland and the Quality and Human Rights Commission identified that disabled people in Scotland are less active, have poorer experience of school PE and less likely to participate in sports as adults. That is something that the SPFA, along with its players and other sporting organisations, are trying to tackle with sport. They want to raise awareness of power chair football through many partners, interlinking the health sector, the voluntary sector and the sports sector, among others, to see it more accessible for all. Since the SPFA's creation, power chair football has seen a huge rise in its popularity and is a clear trend to see the work expanding through volunteers and others. One thing that I would like to highlight is the desire to make power chair football accessible to all wheelchair users. Given the potency of sport for a person's wellbeing, I fully support the mission and drive by the organisation to see this happen. However, there are barriers that are preventing this from happening, and those need to be addressed. The way that wheelchairs are set up and the speed that they work at is something that stops people playing. Too often, health boards across Scotland have a no-do attitude, and they should be far more positive. The second is in regard to sport centres across Scotland. Although there are centres across the country that can accommodate a single football team, there are very few venues—in fact, only four—in Scotland capable of hosting multiple teams, which is absolutely essential for the creation and maintenance of league and national cup competitions. Any tournament that requires the use of at least two courts with additional space needed for viewing officials' place to move around in power chairs safely. Further to that, there is a need for changing places toilets. Even now, the current home in the Park Sports Centre in Stirling is lacking accessible toilet facilities. Our own Lothian wolves here in Lothian also do not have a changing place toilet given to them at Herriot Wat. It would be great if sporting centres such as Herriot Wat and the one in Stirling would consider adding these types of toilets to the places that they have. They have access to mobile hoist, changing bench, which fits with one accessible toilet, but leaves little room for carers and safe transfers. That is totally unacceptable and a huge barrier to those who would like to play power chair football but cannot access it because they do not know the simple fact of how they are going to be able to go to the toilet. I support the Court to see existing sport venues updated with changing places toilets. I am pleased to report that an amendment put down by myself in the current planning bill has been passed with cross-party support advocating that the building of changing places toilets is suitable for all new sport centres. That is a positive step of progress for increasing accessibility for people with disabilities, and I hope that we will pave the way to create more accessible and inclusive society. However, that will take time, and I would still urge sport centres, which are up and running at the moment, to look at the issue seriously. The players, members and volunteers are a class act and are certainly something for Scotland to be proud of. I urge the Scottish Government to continue to invest in disability sport, in governing bodies to facilitate the help to provide the infrastructure that is needed for cultural change and, ultimately, to support and encourage the disabled community that is involved in sport. Open debate speeches are four minutes. I call Bruce Crawford, followed by Brian Whittle. I also congratulate Jeremy Balfour and thank him sincerely for securing this debate on this important issue this evening. As the motion that we are debating today points out, the peak in my constituency is the home of Scottish power chair football. I know from those who work at the peak, which is part of the active stilling portfolio, they have a pride in the provision of an array of inclusive sports activities suitable for people across a range of disabilities, as well as those obviously with abilities. As Jeremy Balfour rightly pointed out, more needs to be done when issues such as changing places and toilets. I understand that, with regard to power chair football in particular, classes started in association with Stirling Riverside FC last August. It is an accessible sport to anyone who uses an electric wheelchair, which I have the technicalities right here. Mr Balfour requires a bumper, allowing the player to dribble, pass and shoot something that I could never manage when I was playing football myself. I like the way that Jeremy Balfour described that in his speech. With the support provided by the Scottish Power Chair Association, there are now weekly classes of the sport with monthly league fixtures taking place at the peak. It is clear that power chair football has taken off in a significant way in the Stirling area, while it is also opening up opportunities across the country. Despite the improvements that are required, all those that are involved, I believe in this initiative, deserve to be commended. Jeremy Balfour covered a lot of ground in his speech about the specifics about power chair football, so I would like to use my contribution to the debate to look at the wider offering of disability for sport in my constituency. The Stirling wheelchair curling club, for instance, is also based at the peak and is open to adults of any age. It gives members the chance to take part in full-length curling, short curling and competition curling. Full membership is just £28 a club trains on a Wednesday evening. I know that active Stirling is also open to sport classes, to people who have physical sensory and learning disabilities. Currently, swimming classes are being run on a Friday evening at Stirling High School, which classes are being supported by qualified coaches who can adapt to each class to the needs of the children who take part while developing their swimming skills. Beyond that, activities that are provided by active Stirling, Stirling City, All Stars provides recreational football for adults with disabilities in Rapplock community campus. That involves weekly coaching sessions by volunteers and the club gets involved with tournaments up and down the UK every year. Members pay just £20 a year in membership fee, and that includes social events. The National Swimming Academy, the University of Stirling, also benefits many of my constituents. The facility provides competitive swim coaching to junior swimmers with a physical disability. It is available to young people aged over the age of nine with land training available for swimming sessions on the pool side. Stirling has a well-deserved international reputation for developing local athletes. It is clear that a lot of work is going on to ensure that people with disabilities get the benefit from the widest possible range of activities. However, it is also clear that a lot more work needs to be done and undertaken to include as many people as possible with disabilities in sport. It is true to say that the more we can work together to achieve that, the better we can improve the confidence of those with disabilities in the local sports services. The level of inclusion is not only good for physical health, but also mental wellbeing. I am delighted this evening that we have had the opportunity to come to the chamber and share some of Stirling's experiences on the topic this evening. In conclusion, I thank Jeremy Balfour very much for bringing this important topic to the chamber. I thank you, Mr Crawford. I call Brian Whipple Whittle to fall by Jackie Baillie. My answer to many things, Deputy Presiding Officer. Can I say that, as a seasoned power tier footballer, I welcome this debate and congratulate my colleague Jeremy Balfour for bringing this debate to the chamber. I was not long into this job when I had the opportunity and invited some of my colleagues to come along and take part in power tier football with the Asher Tigers down and air. It was interesting to suggest that John Scott and I could be in the same sports team, along with Colin Smyth. We were originally shown up by the power tier footballers. It was a real pleasure to be part of that, to see the way that those teams trained together and how they put us to the sword with a great deal of glee. I then managed to organise a parliamentary team to go along to the peak in Stirling, as Bruce Crawford has said, where we did an exhibition match during the Scottish Championships. We played our Joker card, which, of course, is Alexander Stewart. Now, he has the nickname of Davros. In his attempt to take a penalty, he manoeuvred his chair back and forward and sideways and roundabout, spun around there and let a little ball stay exactly where it wants. I am quite happy to share that video evidence with anyone who would like to see that. Of course, the unflappable Dean Lockhart also took part in that, and it was interesting to watch him spinning around there and going in no general direction at all. In fact, I am quite sure that during the game, in his attempt to manage his power tier, he moved postcodes. Within 10 minutes, we were beaten 6-0, which is a lesson to anybody who is taking part in sport. If you are going to take part in sport, you have to train to do that sport, and those athletes do exactly that and train as hard as anybody else. One of the things that highlights this from me is barriers to participation, and that can be applied across any sport at all. In particular, with the power tier footballers, one of the things that struck me as they talked about was the ability to get to training and to get to the facilities, the transport that is required to take the equipment and the power tiers to the venue. That is one of the big barriers to sport, and that is something that we need to consider, the equipment that we need to go there. Also, as Jeremy Valfour has very eloquent suggested, is the venue itself and what is required of that. Like any sport or activity, it is important that we look at the barriers to participation and break them down to give as many people the opportunity to participate as possible. One of the things that I want to discuss is the importance of access to the opportunity and the ability to be included. That inclusivity is one of the key pillars of health. I have been lucky to coach people with so-called disabilities over the piece. I still have some just now. They train along with the rest of my squad. They do not get shown any special treatment. The approach is the same as any other athlete. Every single athlete that I work with has some kind of special need that is individual to them. Whether you are in a wheelchair or whether you have some sort of physical disability or whether you have a mental disability, the approach is exactly the same. That is exactly what any athlete of any description would want. The idea of somehow approaching the sport in a different way from any able body sport is something that I would like to break down that kind of barrier. I always think that disability is a misnomer. It is all about ability. If you wanted to talk about ability, you would just have to watch the MSPs attempting to play that sport. You could see where the ability lay. As I said, we have beat 6-0. We would go back and do it again. It was one of the greatest ones that I have had since I have been an MSP. I would like to finish by congratulating Jeremy Balfour for bringing this debate to the chamber and giving us the opportunity to discuss it. I call Jackie Baillie to be followed by Alison Johnstone, Ms Baillie, please. Let me start by thanking Jeremy Balfour for bringing this debate to the chamber and declaring interest as the convener of the cross-party group on muscular dystrophy. Let me also name-check John Miller of Action Duchenne for bringing the debate to my attention and phoning my office every two minutes to insist and confirm that I would be speaking tonight, so I am delighted to do so. It is important that we celebrate the work and achievements of the Scottish Powerchair Football Association and the very positive impact that they have on individuals with physical disabilities, never mind half the Tory party as well. However, when you think about where powerchair football started, it is even more remarkable to see what they have achieved today. Back in April 2010, just six players in nine short years has now become the fastest-growing disability team sport with over 1,100 participants across the UK, 62 of whom are based in Scotland and play for the Scottish Powerchair Football Association. The Scottish Powerchair Football Team took part in their first international match, as I understand it, against the English Powerchair Football Team in December 2018. The less said about the result, the better. However, as I have learnt in my 20 years as a Scottish Labour MSP, it is the taking part that counts. Although recent results have to be said are much more promising, just days ago, the Scotland Blue team came second, the Scotland Yellow team came third at a national tournament in Leeds, so everybody had better watch out because they are working towards that top place. That is indeed without the help of Brian Whittle and his colleagues in the powerchair football tournament that they were playing in. More than half of the players have a muscle wasting condition, which rabble-bodied people can seem daunting, demoralising or even debilitating. However, powerchair football has given people with complex and very physical disabilities the opportunity to play as part of a team at both an amateur and professional level and has allowed them to reach their potential while doing something that they clearly love and enjoy. A charity close to my heart, Muscular Dystrophy UK, has collaborated with the Scottish Powerchair Football Association to sponsor MD UK Premiership and MD UK Premiership in Scotland until the 2021 season. The hard-working staff and volunteers at Muscular Dystrophy UK, along with the Scottish Powerchair Football Association, cannot be praised enough in my view for the welcome space and opportunity that they have given to individuals across the UK and in Scotland who may not have discovered their skill for powerchair football had it not been for the opportunity presented. Powerchair football brings together people from all different ages, different genders and different backgrounds to form one united team. It brings communities together and ignores their varying levels of physical ability and bonds them over a shared love of football. That level of dedication, which is shown by powerchair players and the physical and emotional barriers that many of them had to overcome to get where they are today, shows just how passionate they are about the sport and how deserving they are of every success in it. The transferable skills that are learned through playing powerchair football include teamwork, communication, but they will undoubtedly have a very positive effect on every aspect of a player's life. Praise should be given to the local powerchair football clubs across the country who, year on year, have inspired new potential powerchair players to take up the sport. That continuous support of coaches and volunteers creates a huge amount of positive energy for the players and inspires them to achieve even greater things. A number of overseas powerchair football clubs, including the European Powerchair Football Association, have supported the SPFA. Their generous support has helped to buy the necessary equipment for the players and make venues more accessible. However, there certainly needs to be more funding and investment in powerchair football, and I will not let the minister off lightly, because there are still clubs that struggle to find an appropriate venue and struggle to buy appropriate equipment. Many powerchair football players end up having to crowdfund in order to get wheelchairs suitable for the sport, which can cost up to £8,000. I hope that the debate today, which again I thank Jeremy Balfour for bringing to the chamber, does not just inspire potential powerchair football players to try it out, but will encourage the minister and others to look at how they can provide investment and awareness so that this fantastic organisation can continue to go from strength to strength. Thank you very much, Ms Bailey. I call Alison Johnston, the last speaker in the open debate. It is fair to say that disability sport in Scotland has had a huge number of achievements to celebrate recently. Wheelchair tennis player Gordon Reit from Alexandria has won an amazing 11 grand slams across singles and doubles tennis. Most recently, it last year's US Open and also won two medals at the 2016 Paralympic Games. T-34 sprinter Maria Lyle from Dunbar has won a whole armful of medals in recent Paralympics world and European Championships and Commonwealth Games, including a silver medal representing Scotland at the 2018 Gold Coast Games. In August last year, the UK team won the BC1 Botcha World Championships, with a team including three Scots, Stephen McGuire, who Brian Whittle and I challenged to our game in the garden lobby. I think that we foolishly thought that we might have had a chance. We were soon put right there—Patrick Wilson and Jamie McEwen. In March, Scotland will play host to the biggest wheelchair curling event outside of the Paralympic Winter Games at the 2019 wheelchair curling championships when it comes to sterling. I would particularly like to highlight in this debate the fact that Lothian Woolf's power chair player Chris Jackwin has been selected for the first ever Scotland squad in power chair football. I think that disability sport is going from strength to strength. We are becoming more aware of the achievements that are receiving the attention that they deserve. Here we are today talking about the amazing growth of power chair football and adding that to that list of achievements. I would like to thank Jeremy Balfour for the opportunity to congratulate the Scottish Power Chair Football Association's work to develop the sport in Scotland. I am really pleased that we are debating this in the chamber this evening. As someone who has been involved in athletics for almost 40 years, it is clear that developing a sport can be really challenging. There are teams to be established, there are league rules to be drawn up, officials have to be trained and retained, we need to find funding for kit and venue hire and so much more. There are particular challenges when expensive equipment is involved. It involves time, dedication, perseverance, passion and even more so when, as with power chair football, the sport is still a relatively new one and there is limited existing support. Clearly, this is the fastest growing disability sport in Scotland, so the organisers and the players have the qualities needed in spades. The number of teams playing the sport has doubled in four years and in that time the game has gone from being a grassroots organisation to having well-established leagues in a national team. Having watched a little just on-screen so far, but I will give it a bash, I am not surprised that it looks great fun, really enthralling and I can understand why people get hooked. I understand that the first European Championships Cup will take place in 2020 and it will be fabulous to see Scottish players having an opportunity to take part in that. After that, the SPFA will be able to move the sport on even further by hosting the first cup held in Scotland. I would like to offer congratulations from the Scottish Greens on that incredible expansion of the sport in just a short time. As colleagues have said, there are additional challenges, the challenge of finding venues that are able to accommodate large numbers of power chair users. As the helpful briefing provided by the SPFA notes, only a few sport centres are suitable for the football tournaments and even the sports home base at the Peak Sport Village in Stirling lacks the accessible toilet facilities needed, so we can and must do better. Although the development of the sport has been impressive, there are barriers to further growth. The SPFA is concerned that there are currently no power chair football teams south of Edinburgh and north of Dundee and we need to ensure that Scots who want to try out the sport are able to do so wherever they live. That is not easy, given the complexities and costs in holding power chair football taster days, which can cost between £800 to £1500. The SPFA currently has no budget for that. I know that it is appeal to the Scottish Government for support with funding and signposting to sources of funding. I look forward to the minister's comments on that when he is closing the debate. I also understand too that some players have met resistance from NHS wheelchair services to adapt to the power chair so that they can go at the speed needed to play the game properly. As the SPFA has stated, there is a real opportunity for them to work with the NHS wheelchair service to promote power chair football when, for instance, someone comes to collect a new chair. I know that the association has already been in touch with the minister on the issues, so it would be interesting to have an update on that. Before closing, I would like to take a moment to congratulate the Lothian Wolves team who play at Herriot-Watt University. They came third in the league cup in September and are currently five points clear at the Scottish power chair championship. I wish them well in their campaign for promotion to the premiership. It is great to see another sport grow and thrive in Scotland. Everyone, no matter their age, disability or background, should have the opportunity to take part in sport professionally and for leisure. Thank you very much. I now call on Joe Fitzpatrick to close the Government. Minister, please. Thank you, Presiding Officer. I join others in congratulating Jeremy Balfour in securing this evening's debate. That is an important debate. Before I move on to talk about power chair football in specifics, I will say a few words about disabled sport in general, as a number of members raised that. Obviously, first of all, we had Bruce Crawford, who gave a fantastic advert for the disabled sport facilities in the Stirling area, and the home of power chair football in Scotland. It was also good to hear Alison Johnson reminding us of the significant successes that we have had in disability and para sports here in Scotland. There were also a number of points that were made by Alison Johnson and Jeremy Balfour and others about some of the challenges that people have in general with disability sports. The access to suitable toilet facilities is probably one of the most basic things that most of us take for granted. You would go to take part in a sport and you would be able to use facilities that will be accessible to you. The fact that that is not the case for many people is something that I agree with Mr Balfour. It is something that we need to improve. Clearly, the changes that the Parliament unanimously supports in terms of the planning bill going through Parliament will help with that in the future. I hope that, across Scotland, those in charge of leisure facilities will hear the call for changing facilities and if there is refurbishment work going on, that that is very much to the centre. That is the only way that we will manage to make the major progress here, if that work is at the top of the list when works are going on in our leisure facilities and other places across Scotland. I think that it is a basic right for people to be able to use a toilet when they enter our public buildings, so that that will hopefully make progress. Back to football. Football is Scotland's national game. It is enormously important to individuals, communities and for the Scottish Government. It does not always get the most positive press and many of the discussions that we have in this chamber are about football and focusing on the negative aspects. Yes, Scottish football does have its challenges and we are working with clubs and football authorities and other stakeholders to address them, but it remains a powerful force for good. Football can inspire individuals and deliver a range of positive outcomes. We see that the breadth and depth of work in excellent community activity that is delivered by the Scottish FFA, SPFL trust, Scottish Football Partnership trust and individual trusts and foundations is remarkable right across Scotland. This afternoon has highlighted the positive impact that our national game is having on people with disabilities. Football is our national game and should be enjoyed by everyone. Mr Whittle made the point about making sure that there are no barriers to participation in sports and that is equally true for football. Jackie Baillie gave us a brief history of power chair football going back to 2010 and the Scottish Power Chair Football Association was founded in 2015 in response to the growth in the game. Jackie also went on to say how that continued to grow. With the support of the Scottish FFA, it has achieved a great deal in a short time. It now organises the national league competition, two cups, the Scottish cup and the league cup. It has arranged a para-football event last year when a number of players were selected for the Scotland national score, as we have heard about. Its work has helped almost double the number of teams in the country and it is playing an absolute crucial role in the growth and development of power chair football in Scotland. I recognise that, but there is more to do to extend its reach. Success can be attributed to the dedication and enthusiasm of its volunteers, some of whom are in the chamber who are the lifeblood of the association. It is important to acknowledge that the work of the Scottish FFA has been undertaken in this field. Although it may not generate the headlines, it is groundbreaking, leading the way in world football. In 2017, the Scottish FFA rebranded its work on disability football as para-football. The aim was to ensure greater emphasis on the diverse work carried out by the Scottish FFA, including groups dealing with issues such as dementia and mental health, as well as creating a stronger voice for the game. The para-football Scottish national association will be the first dedicated national association in the world. As well as funding for all member organisations for domestic and international competition, a representative is also eligible for a place on the Scottish FFA board as a representative of the non-professional game, meaning that disabled football will have its own voice at the top table for the first time ever. I play tribute to the Scottish FFA and to David McArdle, in particular, for this commendable initiative. Like others, I have seen first-hand the positive impact that the power of football can have. One of my earliest engagements following my appointment as sports minister was to attend the power chair football league cup final on 9 September, which was won by my local power chair football team, the Tayside Dynamos, but even if they had not won, it was still going to be a really enjoyable day. Anyone in the chamber and colleagues who have not been to a power chair football match, I highly recommend it, is as competitive as any other football match, perhaps even more competitive. It has the other complexity of everyone in the room virtually that is involved in the game is our volunteers. We had the interesting situation where the referee was giving points against her own son. It is an absolutely fantastic, exciting game. I really encourage members to go along and show support to their local power chair football teams. If they do not have one, there are other folk that we can get in touch with to try and help to support the development of more teams elsewhere. I know that, in some parts of Scotland, that is being supported by the professional team, and I commend Clyde for that action. On 13 November last year, I met John Miller from Action Deshennah. Jackie Baillie has mentioned John's grandchild plays for Lothian Wools. Our discussion had originally been arranged to be a wider discussion about support, but it became very much, and most of the discussion was about Scottish power chair football. Many of the issues raised by members today, Jeremy Balfour, Alison Johnstone and others, were very much what that discussion was about, about how we can improve and support the sport going forward. The Scottish Government recognises the value of power chair football, and I and the Government very much recognise the importance of Scottish power chair football association and its volunteers. I know that the Scottish power chair football association has applied for charitable status, and I hope that that will allow it to access more funding opportunities to further strengthen the game. Much has already been achieved in that small time since 2015, when the association was first formed. I have no doubt that the sport will continue to go from strength to strength. The new para-football Scottish National Association will provide further opportunities when it formally goes live later this year. I again like to congratulate Mr Balfour for securing this debate and to pay tribute to the Scottish power chair football association and its volunteers for their dedication to the excellent cause. Thank you very much. That concludes the debate, and I close this meeting of Parliament.