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MSPs given detail on sportscotland plans |
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Wednesday, 23 January 2008 |
The relocation of sportscotland to Glasgow is expected to cost around £3m, Sports Minister Stewart Maxwell told MSPs today, comparing the figure to Labour's £15m original relocation bill.
This figure comes from an estimated £7.9m for the move itself, but with
sportscotland being allowed to keep the proceeds from the sale of its
Edinburgh headquarters, expected to be between £4m and £6m.
Maxwell also told MSPs on the Health and Sport Committee that
sportscotland would have, in addition to its Glasgow headquarters,
regional hubs in Edinburgh, Stirling and Aberdeen, as well as the
Scottish Institute for Sport retaining its area institutes in
Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen, Dundee, Stirling and Inverness.
Queried on whether radical changes really were being made to the
organisation, Maxwell pointed out that as well as the creation of new
regional hubs, overlap between the two bodies would be addressed, with
freed-up resources moving to frontline work. One example, he gave was
the Scottish Institute for Sport's area institutes, which currently
each have two boards - this would be reduced to one each, he said.
He also stressed that the changed structure would allow the Scottish
Institute for Sport a much more sustainable funding model, with cash
coming from the Scottish Government rather than unpredictable Lottery
funding.
He told MSPs: "In the very near future we'll have an organisation
that’s streamlined and even more focused on delivering for sport across
the board; we'll have an organisation that's on a more secure financial
footing; and we'll have an organisation that's closer to the users."
Maxwell also said he welcomed the chance to give more accurate detail
on his phone conversation with Scottish Institute for Sport chair
Dougie Donnelly.
Donnelly had been asked to come in for a face-to-face meeting but was
uable to attend, and said he was happy to speak on the phone instead.
Maxwell said that the conversation lasted for quarter of an hour, and
that at the end he gave Donnelly the opportunity to make any other
comments.
Donnelly reiterated that he disagreed with the merger of the two
bodies, but that the decision had clearly been made and that the best
thing was to move forward.
Conservative MSP Mary Scanlon asked Maxwell if the reversal of his
party's manifesto promise to abolish sportscotland meant that he
recognised he had been wrong.
Maxwell said that the concerns about sport that had inspired the
manifesto pledge had been addressed by the plans to merge sportscotland
and the Scottish Institute for Sport, but also admitted that the
Government had listened to the many sports governing bodies that said
they wanted to retain a national sports body.
No one has commented on this article.
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Last Updated ( Wednesday, 23 January 2008 )
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