Health, Social Care and Sport Committee
Update request: 2018 Active Scotland Delivery Plan
Letter from Minister for Public Health, Women’s Health and Sport in response to Convener letter of 15 October - 29 October
Dear Gillian,Thank you for your recent correspondence informing me that the Health, Social Care and Sport Committee plans to hold a one-off evidence session focused on sport and physical activity. I welcome this session as an opportunity to hold a constructive discussion on the importance of physical activity and sport to the physical, mental and social wellbeing of people in Scotland with particular emphasis on the impact of the pandemic.
Sport and physical activity remains a policy priority for the Scottish Government. Our approach, as described in our Outcomes Framework and in the Active Scotland Delivery Plan, is based on the firm belief that we can only achieve progress through continually improving partnership working between all sectors of society. The World Health Organization sees this ‘whole system’ approach as key to success and recognises Scotland as one of the forerunner countries in its implementation.
While we have made steady progress in implementing the actions in the Active Scotland Delivery Plan through this collaborative approach, we also recognise that the pandemic has undoubtedly had an impact in this sphere, as it has in all others, and that further support is required. We also believe that physical activity and sport can be central to Scotland’s recovery from the pandemic, providing the boost we all need to our physical and mental health, and bringing us together within our communities. We have therefore committed to doubling investment in sport and active living to £100 million a year by the end of the Parliament, ensuring more people can enjoy active lives as we recover, improving physical, mental and social health.
You note that the available data on progress towards achieving the six Active Scotland outcomes and against the National Performance Framework indicator on physical activity is from 2019. This remains the latest available data. This is due to the impact of the pandemic on the conduct of the two main surveys (Scottish Health Survey and Scottish Household Survey) that provide the large majority of the data for the indicators in the Active Scotland Outcomes Framework. Traditionally these have been conducted by face-to-face interviews with those responding. This has not been possible during the pandemic leading to a change in methodology which has impacted comparability to previous face to face data. Analysts have advised not to include the methodologically different 2020 data in our Active Scotland Outcome Framework indicator trend lines.
Both surveys plan to publish 2021 survey data in Autumn 2022. It is currently too early to comment on whether these results will be able to be incorporated into trend lines. However, it is proposed to include links on the Active Scotland Outcomes Framework website to the relevant published 2020 and 2021 Health Survey and Household Survey published data.
Although the 2020 data cannot be used to update the indicators, it does provide some suggestion of the impact of the pandemic. It is clear that some groups in society have been particularly affected by the pandemic itself and by the essential restrictions which were put in place. For example, data from Scottish Health telephone survey Aug-Sep 2020 show that those who were asked to shield at the beginning of the pandemic were less likely to meet the Chief Medical Officers recommended levels of physical activity in Aug-Sep 2020 than individuals who were not asked to shield. That is why our new investment and our ongoing work will have an even greater focus on addressing inequalities in opportunities to participate amongst disadvantaged groups. We are fully committed to breaking down the barriers that keep too many people from leading active lives.
We do want to ensure that the actions we take and the ways that we assess our progress is kept under review. The National Indicator is the proportion of the population meeting the recommended level of physical activity indicated by the UK Chief Medical Officers’ Physical Activity Guidelines. Given that this is a standard measure of progress shared by many countries across the world, there would seem to be no reason to change this. The more detailed indicators which support each of the Active Scotland Outcomes have been significantly expanded and revised since 2018 and we will continue to develop these as new sources of data become available.
Our Active Scotland Delivery Plan was always intended as a dynamic document. We recognised that the actions would necessarily require to be adjusted and new actions taken forward over time, particularly where the latest international evidence suggested different approaches. The impact of the pandemic creates new conditions and opportunities and we recognise the need to consider the extent to which the existing plan is still appropriate as we emerge from the difficulties of the last 18 months. We are working closely with our partners to examine this issue and I would be happy to update the Committee at a future date on the results of that exercise.
I look forward to keeping the Committee informed of future progress, and thank you and the Committee members for your continued interest in the role of physical activity and sport in improving the health and wellbeing of Scotland’s people.
Regards
Maree Todd
Minster for Public Health, Women’s Health and Sport