Official Report · Committee

Continued Petitions

Sports Ombudsman (PE1811)

Wednesday 27 January 2021 Public Petitions Committee About 10:30 Petitions 6 contributions · 5 speakers

Speakers

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The record

6 contributions

Johann Lamont Lab The Convener · Glasgow

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PE1811, lodged by Ken White, calls on the Scottish Government to establish an independent sports ombudsman to provide a duty of care to all participants, coaches, officials, support staff, volunteers and clubs, ensuring all are treated fairly and without prejudice, and review and arbitrate on disputes with Scottish governing bodies.

The committee has received a response from the Scottish Sports Association and the petitioner. The SSA states that SGBs are independent organisations, most of which are companies limited by guarantee and are accountable to their members. They are bound by the terms of their grant from sportscotland, which includes a requirement to have completion of an independent governance audit, which includes processes and systems.

The submission also explains that any disputes in sport where a final arbitration is required through an independent and expert body can go to Sport Resolutions UK, although it notes concerns regarding the costs involved in using that model for every dispute raised. In closing, the SSA states that the sportscotland appeals process remains the template that some SGBs use and it would be happy to contribute to any review to ensure the application of best practice.

In his submission, the petitioner questions how policies and procedures are applied consistently and transparently across SGBs, given his experience with his own. He also highlights the need for an escalation route when a club has an unresolved dispute with its SGB.

I think that this is an interesting and difficult petition. The role of volunteers and small sports clubs in contributing to our communities cannot be overstated. It is important to get the balance right in terms of how much pressure is put on them with regard to managing the process. However, at the same time, people should feel that they have the right to complain.

I will be interested to hear members’ thoughts. I think we need to close the petition, but I was encouraged that the SSA said that it would be like to be involved in any new hearing. In closing, we could write to the Scottish Government and say that we think that that is something that could be taken forward. I will be interested in members’ views on this because I am not sure how this is resolvable, given the nature of the groups that we are talking about, but I think that the petition highlights some important issues.

Gail Ross SNP Caithness, Sutherland and Ross

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I agree that the petition highlights some important issues. As with other petitions that we have considered over the previous months, it highlights a gap between policy and practice. We get evidence from whatever organisation oversees a sector that certain things should be happening, and then the evidence that we get, which has driven the petition, shows us that those things are not working in practice.

An overseeing dispute-resolution person or body would probably be quite a good thing. There is guidance there and I know that the SSA has stated that it is willing to work on that. That is a good suggestion and it is something else for the new Minister for Public Health, Sport and Wellbeing to address.

Until we see what that updated guidance looks like, we cannot take this any further. I would suggest closing the petition. However, in closing, we should write to the Minister for Public Health, Sport and Wellbeing suggesting that the Scottish Government work with sportscotland and any other body that is willing to feed into this to make sure that the governance framework and the appeals process are fit for purpose. If the finding is that they are not fit for purpose, given what we have seen with the petition, they should be updated to ensure that they are.

Maurice Corry Con West Scotland

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I endorse all that my colleague, Gail Ross, has said about this petition. I believe that we have an option to close the petition under rule 15.7 of standing orders, and I commend that to you.

I would like to say a massive thank you to the volunteers who take part in these organisations and clubs. I know that is an enormous amount of work and they take on lots of responsibility, so they also need to be helped out. In writing to the Minister for Public Health, Sport and Wellbeing, as has been suggested, we should also reflect the level of effort that goes in from volunteers.

I would like to thank the petitioners for bringing this to our attention because it is an extremely important issue for the health and wellbeing of our people, particularly the young people, as well as senior people.

David Torrance SNP Kirkcaldy

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I do not have the same confidence as the Minister for Public Health, Sport and Wellbeing that sporting governing bodies do what they say is on the tin, just from the examples that I have seen from different groups in my constituency. The Government says that independent sports resolution is there to help resolve issues, but it is expensive to go down that route, especially for small bodies or individuals who cannot afford it. However, I am fully supportive of my colleagues that we write to the Minister for Public Health, Sport and Wellbeing to make sure that the governance framework and appeals process is fit for purpose and moves forward. I ask that the petitioner be involved in that and can highlight the issues he has had with his governing body. If the petitioner is not happy with the final outcome, I urge him to lodge another petition in the next session of Parliament.

Tom Mason Con North East Scotland

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I agree with my colleagues. I think that we should close this petition at this stage. You have highlighted the issues quite effectively and we should write to the minister to make sure that progress is not destroyed by a lack of attention in the future.

Johann Lamont Lab The Convener · Glasgow

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I think that we are all acknowledging the important role of volunteers and of these bodies in relation to people’s ability to have confidence in the system. We agree to close the petition, but we will write to the Minister for Public Health, Sport and Wellbeing to ask that the Scottish Government works with sportscotland on the SGB governance framework. We will advise that the SSA has offered to support that, and we will include the point made by David Torrance about our hopes that it will engage with the petitioner and other groups when taking the work forward, as they will clearly have a view on how the dilemma could be resolved.

We agree to close the petition and we thank the petitioner for highlighting these issues, understanding and recognising the frustration that he has about the gap between what is theoretically supposed to be happening and his direct experience of it. We hope that these matters can be taken forward by the next Parliament.

In this meeting

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