The next item of business is a debate on motion S1M-2285, in the name of Allan Wilson, on sports promotion in Scotland's schools, and two amendments to the motion.

Many members want to speak so time limits will be strictly enforced. If members can finish before their time is up, so much the better.

I am delighted to open the debate, which emphasises the importance that the Executive places on sport in Scotland's schools. I am committed to making Scotland a nation that provides opportunities for all to participate in sport and that identifies and nurtures its sporting talent.

The debate is primarily about sports in schools, but I would like to open it out and consider physical activity in general. I am aware that sport switches some young people off and that not everyone is attracted to competitive, team or outdoor sports, but aerobics and dance can be very attractive options, particularly to young, teenage girls.

That is recognised by sportscotland, which provides funding to Fitness Scotland and through the TOP programme. We must provide a range of opportunities and encourage more young people to become more active more often. To use the modern idiom, a lifestyle that includes physical activity must be seen as cool and attractive. Once that is achieved, increased participation in sport will follow as night follows day.

The ultimate aim is to develop good habits and practices in young people that will set lifelong patterns of physical activity and produce the world champions of tomorrow. An added benefit will be that the population will be healthier in body and mind and less of a burden to the health service in old age. All members should encourage others and strive to achieve that.

The Standards in Scotland's Schools etc Act 2000 includes a duty on authorities to ensure that education is directed to the development of the personality, talents and mental and physical abilities of the child or young person so that they achieve their full potential.

It is accepted that young people and the rest of the population are not as active as they should be—that has prompted us to set up the national physical activity task force under the chairmanship of John Beattie.

So far, I agree with everything the minister has said—I do not know if that is good or bad. Does the minister agree that the fact that there are no specific physical education teachers in our primary schools is a major disadvantage and does not encourage young people to become involved early in sport and physical activity?

I do not know whether Mr Sheridan's agreement is good or bad, but it is probably progress.

I agree with Mr Sheridan's substantive point. Jack McConnell, who has primary responsibility for PE teachers in primary schools, and I are considering how the existing resources can be used to best effect.

The task force is made up of a range of interested specialists with areas of expertise that include health, sport, education and local government. The aim is to produce in the spring of next year a strategy for increasing physical activity in Scotland.

Numerous reports have been produced and a lot of research has been carried out on sport in schools. The Education, Culture and Sport Committee, of which my friend and colleague Karen Gillon is the convener, produced a useful report on the subject last year, which included a number of important recommendations. We have given careful consideration to the report and its recommendations and we will shortly submit our formal response to the committee.

Action has been taken on a number of the recommendations. For example, we have provided an additional £2.8 million to sportscotland to expand the active primary schools programme.

My question is about procedure. It strikes me that as the deputy minister has initiated a debate on sports promotion in schools, and as the Education, Culture and Sport Committee has produced a report on sport in schools, it would have informed the debate if the Executive had responded to the report before the debate, rather than having the debate before responding to the report. The order does not help the Parliament.

That is a fair point—I would have preferred to have the response in advance of the debate, but that is not the situation in which we find ourselves. The sport policy unit has been heavily engaged in the past few weeks and months on matters such as the bid to host the Ryder cup and the Euro 2008 football championships, but the response will be produced in due course.

As I said, we are implementing a large number of the measures that are in the Education, Culture and Sport Committee's report. I will make an announcement in the next minute, if members are patient, which will address another important aspect of that report.

We wait with bated breath.

You should. We are providing opportunities and we call on local authorities and others to engage fully in the initiatives.

One of Karen Gillon's recommendations was that consideration should be given to the establishment of a central body to co-ordinate the delivery of sport in school and to provide evaluation and monitoring of best practice. I am delighted to announce that we accept the need for that body. We will soon establish a school sport alliance involving interested groups. The precise remit and membership of the alliance is yet to be determined, but work is under way and the alliance will be established and operational in the new year.

Sport in schools can bring wider educational benefits. Most important, sport in schools can equip pupils with the foundation skills, attitude and expectations necessary to prosper in a changing society.

Will the minister take an intervention?

Will the minister take an intervention?

I will take Cathy Jamieson's intervention.

Does the minister agree that it is vital to target resources to those areas that have suffered the most social deprivation? The children in such areas tend to need their confidence built up and need sport as a way of integrating themselves into the local community.

As ever, I agree with my good friend and colleague Cathy Jamieson. Through sportscotland we are targeting £3 million to social inclusion partnerships for the promotion of sport in deprived areas because we recognise that the children there are the most disadvantaged in our society.

Will the minister give way?

If the member does not mind, I would like to move on. Interventions militate against the amount of time that I have.

The many benefits that are gained from sport and physical activity should make it clear that sport and other forms of physical education are not an add-on, but an integral part of the school curriculum. It is up to all of us to work together to ensure that sport and physical education play their part to the full.

The agreement on teachers' conditions and pay marks a watershed after years of instability and destruction. Teachers have a positive contribution to make to the successful promotion of sport in schools. That is why I am happy to accept Brian Monteith's amendment. The McCrone settlement has introduced a framework for continuing professional development for teachers. That framework will enable teachers and schools to identify and address individual training needs, including those relating to sport and physical activity.

Will the minister take an intervention?

Will the minister take an intervention? It relates to McCrone.

I will take an intervention from Margaret Jamieson.

I thank the minister. He was talking about the impact of McCrone on the education of our young children. Does he accept that we should take the opportunity of modernising the pay structure for teachers to modernise sport in our schools, to encompass non-traditional sports and provide, for example, skateboarding facilities? I understand that that is currently one of the cool sports for young people.

I am nothing if not a moderniser. I agree with Margaret Jamieson. That is in large part included in our new opportunities fund programme, which I will say more about later. It is about investing in community facilities. As I understand it, kids who prefer to skateboard are not likely to do so within the confines of their school but want to do so in their local community.

Will the minister take an intervention?

I would like to make progress.

Through sportscotland, we have introduced several programmes and initiatives that will help to deliver our aims. The school sport co-ordinators programme is proving very successful. To date, sportscotland has offered awards to 23 local authorities and 13 individual secondary schools for co-ordinator cover. Funding has been committed for co-ordinator cover in 297 secondary schools in Scotland.

At the beginning of the year I announced the first awards under the TOP programme, which, for example, will benefit children aged from four to 11 years in 65 primary schools and four special educational needs schools—£2.8 million is earmarked for the programme over four years On the new opportunities fund and links between schools and the community, by 31 August this year, sportscotland had made—through the school facilities strand of its lottery facilities programme—87 awards, totalling £17.6 million. sportscotland has recently announced the results of its audit of swimming pools and will also conduct an audit of the rest of Scotland's sports facilities.

We are conscious of the need—as Margaret Jamieson pointed out—to maintain and enhance the facilities that are available to our young people, especially playing fields. sportscotland plays a pivotal role in that and takes its responsibility seriously.

Members will be aware of the massive investment in physical education and sport in schools by the new opportunities fund: it totals £87 million. Of that investment, £43.5 million will be allocated to the refurbishment of existing or the building of new indoor and outdoor sports facilities for school and community use. In addition to that, up to £21.75 million will be committed to supporting programmes and facilities designed to promote the role of sport in diverting young people from criminal activity. Up to a further £21 million will be committed to supporting out-of-school-hours programmes based on school facilities and organised through schools, which offer children and young people a wide range of sporting and cultural activities.

I am aware of the oft-repeated call for sport to be guaranteed in the curriculum. National guidance recommends that a minimum of 15 per cent of time is spent on expressive arts, which include physical education, but leaves it to individual education authorities and schools to decide how much of that time is allocated to PE. In addition, schools have the option of devoting additional time to PE from the 20 per cent flexibility time that is built into the guidelines.

Will the minister give way?

No. Allan Wilson is in his last minute.

Following the distribution of a Scottish Executive education department circular on flexibility and innovation in the curriculum, schools have been encouraged to deliver a curriculum that meets the needs of individual pupils, which includes the provision of physical education.

I will conclude on the key role of local authorities. One of sport 21's four key recommendations was that local authorities should publish a strategic plan for sport and recreation. I am encouraged by the work of local authorities that have already developed or are developing such strategies. A strategy on playing fields should form part of the wider sport and recreation strategy. sportscotland and I stand ready to assist local authorities with that work and I hope that over the next year or two we will see progress. That is important in building the effective local partnerships that enable sport in schools to be enhanced.

I move,

That the Parliament recognises the contribution sport makes to both the physical and mental health of young people as well as providing a positive and attractive alternative to anti-social and offending behaviour; endorses the various initiatives, such as the School Sports Co-ordinator and Active Primary School Programmes put in place by the Scottish Executive through sportscotland and the increasing opportunities for young people to participate in sports in schools; and calls on local authorities, and others, to engage fully with these initiatives.

Everyone agrees that the provision of sport and PE in schools contributes significantly to a healthier, more dynamic and proactive population and a more interesting and exciting way of life for our young people. However, Scottish children are among the least fit in Europe. There can be only one conclusion—that the current physical education programme is inadequate, as it is failing to deliver physical health and well-being to the young people of Scotland.

Allan Wilson's motion contains nothing new or radical to address that fact. It calls for very little progress or innovation and, quite frankly, praises initiatives that, although well-meaning, have not gone nearly far enough in accomplishing what is necessary to ensure that Scotland's youngsters are fit and healthy and have adequate access to sport and sporting facilities. In effect, the motion achieves nothing, although the announcement of the school sport alliance is very welcome. It would have been useful to include that announcement in the motion.

The first review of Scotland's sporting strategy, sport 21, found that the lack of regular physical education and sport in primary schools was still a major concern, despite the fact that one of the strategy's initial targets was

"to ensure that every primary school provided a minimum of two hours of physical education per pupil per week".

The review exposed the fact that the target has not been met; in fact, it has been only 50 per cent fulfilled.

In reply to my question about how the Executive would ensure that sport was given priority in the school curriculum, since it does not feature as one of the national priorities in education, Jack McConnell said:

"Increasing the amount of time devoted to sport could ... only be done at the expense of other areas of the school curriculum.

There are no plans to review current arrangements for providing physical education programmes in the school curriculum."—[Official Report, Written Answers, 8 March 2001; Vol 11, p 127.]

That is despite the fact that a decent allocation of time for PE with properly trained teachers would help to counteract the unhealthy lifestyle adopted by many young people today, which is of great concern to health professionals.

Will the member accept an intervention?

A brief one.

I thank the member for having the grace to give way, unlike the minister.

Does the member agree that it is important that children are allowed to be children? Our children go to school at a much younger age than do the children of many of our continental neighbours. Is it not somewhat shocking that five and six-year-olds are being burdened with homework when they should be out playing on their bikes, climbing trees, picking brambles and enjoying themselves? The issue is not just about school and sport; it is about children having the ability and time to play, enjoy themselves and be children.

Exactly. I will make that very point later in my speech.

Section 3 of the consultation document on the new opportunities fund is dedicated to PE and sport in schools and prioritises increasing the participation of children and young people in physical education and sport. However, much of what would be achieved by throwing lottery money at the various initiatives outlined in that section could be accomplished simply by introducing a set number of hours of PE in our primary schools. That would lay the foundations of a sporting culture.

Is the member proposing a statutory curriculum for Scottish schools?

I am proposing that the sport 21 recommendation of ensuring a minimum of two hours of PE a week for every pupil should be introduced.

By statute?

It is recommended in the Executive's sporting strategy.

Will the member give way?

I must get on.

If a comprehensive physical education programme were implemented in our primary schools, fewer than 8 per cent of Scotland's boys and 7 per cent of Scotland's girls would be considered obese. Scotland has one of the highest incidences of heart disease in Europe. The lowest incidence of heart disease is in France, where there are 11 hours of PE in the curriculum. The trend is confirmed by the experience of other countries.

If it is recognised across the spectrum that changing lifestyles is the key to improving Scotland's health, why wait for the NOF to identify sport in schools as a priority? Why not implement sport 21's recommendations?

Will the member give way?

I am sorry; I must get on.

PE in the curriculum is just the starting point. If we want children to develop their talent for and enjoyment of a particular activity or sport, there must be—as Kenny Gibson pointed out—an opportunity for them to do so outwith the school day. The McCrone report has raised its own concerns on this point, saying:

"Teachers will spend more time on courses, pursuing their careers and the hard educational agenda, probably at the expense of the extracurricular".

Although school sport co-ordinators are designed to counteract that possibility, what does it mean for schools at which teachers are either unable or unwilling to devote time to out-of-school activity or which have no money to fund such co-ordinators? The programme relies heavily on local authorities or schools having enough money to provide 50 per cent of the funding for the posts.

We know that, in areas such as Aberdeenshire, where there have been financial difficulties, it is hard for schools to deliver such funding. That must contradict the recommendation in another Executive document, which states:

"it is essential that resources are committed to physical education and provision for sport is targeted at both primary and secondary schools in socially deprived areas and that such schools should not be deprived of the proposed school sport co-ordinators because of lack of funding."

Can the minister also tell us how many of the current school sport co-ordinators have been given disability awareness training so that the needs of disabled children are taken into account and met? Is sufficient specialised or adapted equipment available in Scotland's schools, and how many of our schools have changing rooms and facilities that are fully accessible?

A recent report from the Scottish school of sport studies found that children at one in seven secondary schools no longer have access to a grass playing field; that 40 per cent of schools do not have a football pitch; and that 18 per cent of state school students take part in extra-curricular activities, compared with 60 per cent of students in the private sector. Are those statistics on which the Executive and sportscotland should be congratulating themselves? I do not think so.

The amount of green space, especially in urban areas, continues to decrease. If parks and pitches are sold off for housing and retail development, where is there left for children to go and play or practise when the school gates are closed? The loss of space in itself will have a detrimental effect on much of the good that is being done elsewhere to promote physical activity. It serves to underline the need for sport to be made a priority in schools.

Let us hope that the findings of the recent study into our crumbling swimming pools and the likely results of the forthcoming audit of best practice in the use of schools' sports facilities will allow the Executive to see the error of its ways and take meaningful action to prioritise sport in schools and ensure that facilities are available and accessible to all.

I move amendment S1M-2285.1, to insert at end:

"; notes that other European countries prioritise sport in the curriculum but that Scottish schools do not even offer the recommended minimum of two hours of physical education per week and that children at one in seven secondary schools no longer have access to a grass playing field; further notes that almost 40% of schools do not have a football pitch and that the already unacceptably high obesity rates among young Scots are still rising, and therefore calls upon the Scottish Executive to cease lodging self-congratulatory motions, to take meaningful action to prioritise sport for children and young people and to ensure that locally available and appropriate facilities are accessible to all."

I have the pleasure of moving the amendment in the name of Brian Monteith on behalf of the Scottish Conservatives. The amendment seeks to strengthen the motion by highlighting the key role that the promotion of the merits of sport in schools must have if we are to make progress. That progress can come only from increased awareness and participation by all those who are involved in sport and education in Scotland, not least through its promotion among parents and pupils. Our amendment is meant to make a positive contribution and I am delighted that it will be accepted by the Executive in that light.

The principle that sport in school is valuable is unlikely to be challenged today, although I am wary of the thought police in the collectivist education establishment who tried to remove competitive sport from the Scottish education system because they believed, for ideological reasons, that any form of competition was elitist. Thankfully, that approach is finally receding, as its basis was clearly nonsense. It failed to recognise the important lessons that competition teaches about future life and valuing others, whatever their outcomes. School sport should encourage competition and epitomise that philosophy, to allow everyone to take part and find a sport and a level of participation that fits their abilities and to encourage physical activity.

Mr Fraser is talking about competition. Some children are good at sport and have high self-esteem, but what would he suggest for the children who are not good at sport?

My concern is that, in the 1980s, there was a trend towards anti-competitive education, which meant that some schools, for example, did away with sports days altogether. That was a sad thing for the children who were good at sports, especially those who did not excel in other areas, but who could have had the opportunity to compete and win prizes. Competition is good because it equips children for later life.

The Conservatives oppose the SNP amendment because it suggests a prescriptive, top-down approach to the provision of sport in schools. We want to encourage participation in sports from the bottom up; therefore we would have schools setting the priorities. That would allow, for example, an emphasis on minority sports, which may vary from school to school.

When I was at school in Inverness, I participated in the school shinty team. That opportunity was made available, not as part of the curriculum, but through an after-school club run by a physics teacher. I would like schools in the Highlands and elsewhere to be able to include in the curriculum shinty and other minority sports for which there was a demand. However, we do not need a national curriculum telling us what to do.

Will the member take a positive intervention?

That would be unusual.

Mr Fraser must get used to surprises in the chamber.

I commend Mr Fraser's views on shinty and suggest that it is a great pity that the innovations in shinty, for example those made by schools in Argyll, are not spread more widely in Scotland. I hope that the member will join Fergus Ewing and me in arguing for much greater support for shinty, to get it into schools and to have it recognised as the exciting sport that it is, although, as Mr Fraser no doubt knows, it can lead to damage to the head from time to time.

I am glad to acknowledge both how exciting shinty is and how dangerous it can be. I shall be happy to discuss with Mr Russell how I can help to promote the cause of Scotland's traditional sport.

To improve standards, we must allow schools to set local priorities. It would be tempting to set standards for specialist teaching involvement but I do not think that that is the way forward for the culture that we need. Decent budgets for specialist provision must be devolved to clusters of schools. That would allow schools to choose the amount of specialist provision that they need, involving parents in the decision.

It will come as no surprise that we argue for parental involvement. The case for that in relation to sport and PE is overwhelming. In the independent sector, PE is usually taught for three periods a week in primary and sport is a major part of school life during and after school hours. Sport is used as a selling point for many independent schools and applications this year indicate that more and more parents want to buy into that type of education. Academic standards are not affected—indeed, they are extremely good in the independent sector—and parents will pay more on top of their taxes for what they feel is a more rounded education.

Not all parents are in the fortunate position of being able to opt into independent education—my parents could not afford to do so. However, we should use the ethos of the independent sector to improve sport in state schools, get the parents involved and allow them to help improve the facilities. Let the parents participate. We must change the culture and have specialist teaching of primary PE, which should be seen as indispensable rather than as an add-on for interested head teachers, those with spare money in their budget and those who cannot access specialist music tuition.

The Scottish Conservatives want there to be greater diversity in education through community school boards. There is no reason why they should not encourage far greater sporting participation in state schools through local control of budgets, which I have talked about. We would encourage schools to specialise in sport, as already happens, to an extent, at Bellahouston Academy.

We must allow all our children to achieve through the most appropriate type of schooling for their needs and potential. For many children, PE and sport will play a major part in that. Doing so will require a culture change in Scotland rather than more Government direction. That culture already exists in the independent sector, where it is successful and encourages sport, which sells schools to parents. There is no reason why that culture should not exist in the state sector.

Our amendment encourages the required culture change and I urge Parliament to back the opportunities that we speak of and support the amendment.

I move amendment S1M-2285.2, to leave out from "and others" to end and insert:

"head teachers, teachers, school boards and other sports and educational bodies to embrace and participate fully in these healthy initiatives."

Since dangerous sports were mentioned, I should point out that I have a badly deformed finger from the time when I saved a penalty in the last minute for Scotland against England in the back green of Jimmy Stewart, one of my pals.

A week or so ago, we had an informal meeting of the Education, Culture and Sport Committee. When we were discussing curriculum matters, I referred to a book by Professor Stanley Nisbet of Glasgow University called "Purpose in the Curriculum", in which subjects that contributed to the development of youngsters were analysed and a case was made for why they should be included in the curriculum. Karen Gillon did something similar when she produced her report for the Education, Culture and Sport Committee on sport in schools. She pointed out the importance of sport for the individual in terms of health, self-esteem and self-confidence, which I think is one of the most important things that we can give our youngsters. She also pointed out that sport was important in terms of weight control and obesity, and academic achievement, although I know that the link between sporting participation and academic achievement is slightly doubtful.

Our society benefits from sport in schools as a result of increased social inclusion, community development, crime reduction and improved infrastructure, as there are dedicated facilities in the community. In no other subject do we get a battery of items that improves individuals and the community more than sport does. I am therefore delighted that the Executive is gathering force and driving forward its agenda on sport in schools. I am extremely pleased by the minister's upbeat speech and all the initiatives that are being drawn together to form a range of opportunities, such as social inclusion partnerships—to which Cathy Jamieson alluded and which are being directed at areas in which youngsters are not readily assimilated into sporting activity—and the physical activity task force. At the meeting that I mentioned, it was also good to meet Ian Robson from sportscotland and to see that he is focused on all those activities.

Irene McGugan talked about the timetable. I would love to embed two hours of physical activity into the timetable in primary schools. I would, however, be extremely upset if that impinged on drama, which I would like to encourage, music or modern languages, which we talked about last week. It is no use us all talking. Somebody must, at some time, bite the bullet and make decisions about such things.

Mr Jenkins is aware that one of the big issues in education is the question of its purpose. Discussion of that issue unites him, me and other members of the Education, Culture and Sport Committee. One aspect of that question is what goes in where. My colleague Irene McGugan's point is that there is strong evidence from abroad, and in the Executive documents, that two hours is the right amount. We take that as one of the building blocks. I am sure that Mr Jenkins would welcome—as I would—an initiative to talk about the overall purpose of education, which would enable us to make progress on the matter. In fact, I think that the Education, Culture and Sport Committee is now going to take such an initiative.

I am happy to accept that. I was going to make just that point in the last sentence of that part of my speech.

I was pleased that Irene McGugan also mentioned disability in her thinking about sport, because it is vital. The examples that we saw in the Paralympics were heartwarming, inspiring and should teach us lessons about how we treat those who are further down the scale of sporting ability.

Training for teachers is important. The McCrone report is an opportunity. We can encourage those who want to become chartered teachers to take qualifications in sport as part of the process of becoming a chartered teacher and should not confine such qualifications to subject-specific training. Continuing professional development is one of the best aspects of the McCrone report and I hope that it will be implemented in the way that I have suggested.

In school, we found residential outdoor education, which is not often mentioned, extremely helpful in developing self-awareness and self-respect and in offering physical activity to youngsters. We used to send first and second-year youngsters for a week away that allowed them to get the kind of experience that we are talking about without it having to be two hours in the timetable. Those experiences were not always team sports, but included activities such as canoeing and climbing.

Will the member give way?

No, he is in his last half minute.

We are trying to get sport into the daily lives and the mindsets of pupils. We want Scotland to give the proper place to sport.

A visionary element came into Allan Wilson's round-up of initiatives. I was pleased to hear the First Minister say that the golf initiative that was associated with the Ryder cup bid would go ahead. I look forward to going out for a game of golf in 2014 and then seeing some of the youngsters who have learnt golf under the initiative helping Great Britain and Europe to beat the Americans in the Ryder cup.

We now move to open debate. We have lost some time on this debate, so I ask members to keep their speeches as close as possible to three minutes.

Sport's contribution in schools has moved on substantially from the popular images from films such as "Kes", in which Brian Glover played the role of the typical PE teacher. I welcome the minister's statement, which is the beginning of a continuing process to address how we improve the range and quality of sport in schools.

Brief as my time is, I want to spend it by considering some of the points that other members have raised. I do not accept that we should consider the independent or private sector as a model, as if it were the only way in which sport and schools should be connected. The Deputy Minister for Sport, the Arts and Culture identified a much more interesting development, which is the way in which many councils have utilised the opportunity to redefine how they deliver quality services and have provided facilities that are much better than anything that I ever experienced when I was a youngster.

For example, there is a popular mythology in Glasgow's soccer arena that there was a golden age when people could play in wonderful facilities, but I recollect red blaes and black coal dust as the regular experience. Like my Liberal Democrat colleague, I was daft enough to be a goalkeeper, and it strikes me that diving into a shard of concrete can only deliver harm. That may explain Ian Jenkins's political contributions, but it was certainly not an appropriate way to develop sport.

I want to pay tribute to the work that has been undertaken by the schools and council in my constituency to develop facilities.

Will the member take an intervention?

I would prefer Margo MacDonald to intervene, if she is invited to do so. I await that opportunity, but she has been lapped five times already today, so it has been a wee bit unfortunate.

In my constituency, the sports and leisure centres have prioritised key integration with schools. Glasgow City Council has developed the kidzcard, which facilitates access for free swimming. The card has made a substantial difference and youngsters' access to swimming has increased by 300 per cent.

The quality of advice and support that is provided by teachers and those who support youngsters in the development of sport must also be developed. Perhaps if I give Margo MacDonald a second invitation to intervene, she can enlighten me on that? I await her contribution with interest.

Does Margo MacDonald want to intervene?

I thought that you would never ask.

Although I agree with my generous colleague that the provision of facilities and hardware in Glasgow has, along with the sports card, been excellent, I wonder whether the sport co-ordinators on their own will be enough. Does my colleague agree that the employment of more PE teachers by Glasgow City Council would provide an all-round package that would be bound to raise standards in Glasgow's sport?

I ask Frank McAveety to answer and close.

It was almost like that other sport, dancing. I was asking and she was contributing. I thank Margo MacDonald for her intervention.

The allocation of PE teachers is a legitimate point that needs to be looked at. I have raised that matter with Glasgow City Council and its education service needs to address the matter.

We are in an environment in which academic and leisure pursuits always compete with one other for youngsters' time. I have a nine-year-old who does sport five times a week. The difference between his life experience and mine is that he does five different sports each week, whereas only one sport occupied my time. The other day, I was trying to encourage him to do some homework, but he said, "Da, gonnae get off my back a minute. Ah'm an active sort of guy." A balance needs to be achieved between the two aspects. I hope that, through the initiatives that the Executive has announced and through the work of volunteers and of local authorities, we can get a more coherent position on sport.

I am sorry that I had to race round. My speech may have sounded more like a sprint than a middle-distance effort.

If I am to get everybody in and balance the debate, there can be only one intervention per member during the three minutes. That is the only way that it can be done.

As Ian Jenkins said, today's debate is about not only sport in our schools, but the self-fulfilment of our children. It is about building their self-confidence, self-development, personal development, health and fitness. As far as society is concerned, the debate is also about how to save the national health service a fortune. All our children, especially those in primary schools, would, if I had my way, get a taste of all sports so that we could try to get them hooked at an early age.

Without a doubt, the minister and coalition members will give us lots of warm words, but the reality in the country is very different. For many sports facilities in many schools in parts of Scotland, there has been no capital expenditure by local government over the past four years. In many rural communities, in particular, there are no community facilities for kids or the rest of the community to turn to. That issue has to be addressed.

Although in some areas there is great investment, in many areas the facilities are withering on the vine. I ask that throughout the debate we do not limit consideration of sport to schools, but focus on community education as well.

That is a fair point.

I turn to my area of north-east Scotland. In Ellon Academy, one of the biggest schools in Scotland, there is a severe shortage of PE changing facilities. That situation has not been addressed for years. There might be 70 girls changing in a tiny space at the same time. The assembly hall has to be used for PE, so when exams take place, PE is simply curtailed.

In Aberdeenshire, the situation in the primary sector is deplorable. The minister will be aware that the five-to-14 guidelines recommend that 20 per cent of the working week should be spent on expressive arts—PE, art, drama and music. That works out at five hours per week in the upper stages of school, which means an hour and 25 minutes for PE. The situation on the ground is that, because of the time that it takes to get changed, the pupils are lucky if they get 40 minutes a week. Time is tight and there is a great deal of demand.

Often in primary schools, particularly in Aberdeenshire, the gym hall doubles up as the dining hall. That means that PE has to be curtailed before lunch time. That situation is serious and has to be addressed.

Local government cuts have, for example, decimated the number of specialist teachers in schools in Aberdeenshire. That has had a knock-on effect on the ability to deliver sport in our schools. The children in our primary schools often encounter the expertise of specialist PE teachers for only one term per year. At a rate of 40 minutes a week, that does not amount to a lot of time. Class teachers do not feel confident taking the kids for difficult PE lessons, which has implications for the range and quality of those lessons.

I say to the minister—if he would like to listen—that putting money into sport in schools is an investment in our children that will save cash in the national health service. Sport in schools makes our children happier, fitter and healthier. We must put more cash into employing specialist teachers. If we invest now, Scotland will reap major economic and social benefits and might also do better on the sports field.

As members can no doubt tell from the athletic figure before them, I was something of a sportsman when I was at school. My sport of preference was football, but people thought that the way I played looked more like rugby—so I went and played that instead.

The opportunity to play rugby at my school—Mackie Academy in Stonehaven—came along weekly because there was an appropriate allocation of time within the curriculum. The school team was not all that successful all of the time, but it was supported by enthusiastic members of the teaching staff who were willing to give of their time to ensure that boys of every age were able to get out and play rugby on a Saturday morning. The man who was most involved was a chemistry teacher—the head of the chemistry department—whose name was Alan Cameron. I pay tribute to him and to the hundreds if not thousands of teachers who, in the 1970s, devoted themselves to ensuring that young people got the opportunity to get involved in extra-curricular sport.

As it happens—this connects with what Richard Lochhead said a moment ago—Alan Cameron unfortunately left Mackie Academy in Stonehaven and became the head teacher at Ellon Academy. After retiring, he went on to develop a political involvement—

In the SNP!

—but the less said about that the better.

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, my children attended the same schools that I had attended in my younger years. An unfortunate change had occurred: when my children were at the schools, sport happened as part of the curriculum, but no longer happened as an extra-curricular activity. That was because of decisions that were made—by teachers themselves in many cases—during the 1980s. It is sad that the opportunity to take part in extra-curricular sport was lost to my children.

Opportunities may be afforded us by the McCrone settlement. However, while ministers on the one hand are saying that this is the greatest opportunity for sporting activity in years, with the reduction in teaching hours, many people in schools believe that the cut in class time means that teaching contact time is limited and becomes even more concentrated on literacy and numeracy. I would be grateful if the minister could indicate how that conflict could be resolved. The whole Scottish Parliament is looking for firm direction to reassure us on the issue.

I am delighted to support the Conservative amendment.

At the risk of damaging Allan Wilson's local reputation, I say that the minister is renowned for having a catholic interest in sport, art and culture. I am glad that when he talked about sport in schools he took the opportunity to broaden its definition.

Wide consensus about the significance of sport in life generally has developed in recent years. No one would argue now that sport does not contribute to improving self-esteem and health or that sport does not lead to increased educational achievement in schools. It is a tremendous step forward that we are using that as a starting point for our debate.

However, it is regrettable that instead of focusing on some of the positive things that have been done and can be done, the SNP, and Irene McGugan, yet again indulged in its own adage whereby "a whine a day keeps the voters away." Instead of considering the opportunities, the SNP always considers the negative side. What about the opportunities that are presented by the £6.6 million from the sports lottery fund?

Will the member acknowledge that he does not live on the same planet as schools in many areas of Scotland, which, as a result of local government cuts imposed by the Government, have been unable to develop sport?

I cannot speak for how SNP councillors develop facilities locally, but Frank McAveety has mentioned the positive contribution that is being made by Labour councillors in Glasgow. I can speak about some of the positive initiatives that are taking place in Renfrewshire Council area.

Will the member give way?

I am sorry, but the Presiding Officer has said that we can take only one intervention per speech.

There is positive partnership between the lottery, schools and many other local organisations. We could have focused on the positive things that have been happening, but the SNP has fixed on the negative things instead.

I want to finish by talking about what is happening in my constituency. I was pleased to launch the health improvement through sports initiative—the minister is aware of it—at St Peter's Primary School in Glenburn. That initiative was eventually rolled out to 20 primary schools, involving 600 children from social inclusion partnership areas, throughout Renfrewshire. I was delighted that the First Minister was able to meet many of those children at an event at Love Street. Indeed, not only was the First Minister able to display his soccer skills at that event, he probably performed to more than twice the average attendance that he had when he was playing for East Fife.

There is partnership with schools and many good things are happening, such as Total Soccer Experience, through the work of Tony Fitzpatrick. The debate should have been taken as an opportunity for us to look forward and to move forward.

I am happy to support the motion because it says some sensible things and does not seem to be unduly self-congratulatory. As Hugh Henry was saying, I wish that the SNP had stuck to making some of the specific points in its amendment, which are true and relevant, rather than calling on the Scottish Executive to do things that no Executive would ever do. There is no prospect of the Executive supporting the amendment because of those words. I presume that the purpose of the amendment is artificially to divide the chamber, which is quite unnecessary.

For the avoidance of doubt, the purpose of the amendment is to reiterate some facts about the situation, and to reiterate the fact that self-congratulation is no praise, a point that Hugh Henry demonstrated amply in the past five minutes.

Mr Russell is an experienced politician. He knows perfectly well that the points that are made in the last few lines of the SNP amendment would, if said in a speech, be perfectly okay—I personally have said them in a speech—but to put them in writing and expect people in the Executive to vote for them is absolutely idiotic. I am quite sure that the SNP is not idiotic, therefore the wording of the amendment was deliberate and merely stirs up the issue, which is not helpful.

That is opposition.

It is the gentleman's interpretation of opposition. I thought that we came here to try to improve things for Scotland, so for God's sake let us try to do that.

Will the member give way?

One intervention only was the Presiding Officer's injunction, Miss Gillon. We are not taking any more interventions.

Sorry, my ration has been used.

My other point is somewhat similar to Hugh Henry's. Sport in schools cannot be looked at in isolation. I was involved in a review of voluntary organisations and listened to a lot of sporting bodies, which pointed out that with some local initiatives, schools in certain areas may get pupils all excited about curling, for example, but the curling clubs cannot possibly cope. There is no point in stirring up enthusiasm that cannot be satisfied, so the Executive must examine more widely how it funds sports clubs and community education, which are part of the sports parcel.

In many schools, and for many pupils, a half-hour spent on sport would improve their maths, for example, much more than would another half-hour spent on maths. We must consider the whole person. Evidence has shown that doing music helps pupils enormously with maths and many other activities. Sport is exactly the same. Let us consider the whole person and use sport in schools. Above all, let us have outlets for pupils to use when they are older and in the wider community, and develop sports. If we do that, someday we may have a decent team to represent Scotland in some sport.

Three members wish to speak, and I intend to call them all, but they really must stick to three minutes.

Earlier this year, the Scottish school of sport studies at the University of Strathclyde produced a report, which was the most comprehensive survey of physical education in Scotland for a decade. The report is a damning indictment of the state of physical education in our schools, as can be seen from some of the findings: less than 20 per cent of pupils in local education authority schools take part in out-of-school sport; 42 per cent of schools offer no core physical education or games to 5 ^th and 6 ^th -year pupils; 53 per cent of schools never report pupils' fitness scores to their parents; one third of schools have no access to a swimming pool; 31 per cent of schools have no access to an athletics track; and access to a football pitch has declined from 82 per cent to 61 per cent.

No wonder we cannot beat Belgium and Croatia in the world cup, and no wonder that in last Sunday's old firm encounter, only three Scottish players started the match. No wonder that a quarter of 11 to 14-year-old children have signs of heart disease. No wonder that child obesity has more than doubled during the past decade.

What is at stake is not just the nation's sporting prowess, but the health of the nation. The Scottish Executive must face up to its responsibilities. Irene McGugan mentioned the parliamentary reply that she received from Jack McConnell, which stated:

"There are no plans to review current arrangements for providing physical education programmes in the school curriculum."—[Official Report, Written Answers, 8 March 2001; Vol 11, p 127.]

That reveals a staggering degree of complacency on the part of the Scottish Executive. Urgent action is needed now to improve participation levels and standards in school sport.

The appointment of school sport co-ordinators has been welcomed, and I also welcome it. It will help, but it is not enough. The problem will not be solved if we rely entirely on school sport co-ordinators and physical education staff. Every teacher in our schools must be made aware of the importance of sport and encouraged to help out in some way. The implementation of the McCrone report is a golden opportunity to offer teachers some incentive to give some of their time to the promotion of sport.

It is interesting to note that, in private schools, 10 times more teachers of subjects other than physical education help out with school sport, compared with teachers in local education authority schools. Perhaps that has something to do with the schools' priorities and the fact that staff in private schools are paid an average of 5 per cent more. I am not arguing for private schools. I am arguing for more opportunity and higher standards in our local education authority schools, which serve 96 per cent of the children of Scotland. Our children deserve nothing but the best and, if we give them the best, they will be the winners in sport, in health and in education. Who knows? Maybe one of these days we will win the world cup.

If members will indulge me, I will conduct a wee exercise of my own so that we do not just preach without practice. Hands up those members, apart from me, who took part in organised sport or exercise before they came to work today?

I knew that Frank McAveety was a good boy.

That response was an indication of how seriously we politicians are taken when we try to tell people that we can organise sport. One of my few good habits is that I have maintained my interest in exercise and sport—I think I am the only professionally qualified physical educationist in the Parliament. Exercising regularly is one of my few good habits. You do not need to be a wee skelf to exercise. That should be some comfort to some of the shyer members in the chamber.

I am glad that my bandwagon for more PE teachers is finally coming home to stay. The minister assured me in his speech that the Executive will consider again the provision of PE teachers and specialists in primary schools. Dennis Canavan is right. Every teacher should be encouraged to take part in the development of every child in every way.

So much benchmarking and administration is done now, particularly in primary schools, that primary school teachers who may not have a background in PE cannot be expected to participate. For the past 20 years, a huge gap has developed between the people who had the opportunity to play sport in schools and the folk who were educated in the 70s and 80s and did not have that opportunity.

The minister must go back to basics—if he will excuse the expression—and get PE specialists into the primary schools, where they will do three things: they will properly teach and coach the pupils; they will teach and support the teachers; and they will co-ordinate with the parents, because parents, too, must be brought into this. The message must be sold all over again to parents, because they probably did not take part in organised school sport. The key to all this—I hope that the minister hears me—is more PE specialists in primary schools. I am glad that the minister is nodding, because I did not want to hear once again in a debate that we have school sport co-ordinators. I am glad that we have them, but they were meant to co-ordinate something that was already there; they were not meant to be coaches, teachers and sport developers.

If the minister wants to add to the welcome announcement that he made about the sport alliance, I suggest that he looks at the example that was set by the British Airports Authority youth games, which were held in Edinburgh at the weekend. I attended them and I was absolutely knocked out by how good they were. The games involved parents, coaching to a high standard, organisation and hundreds of active children. By the way—I am sure that Murdo Fraser will be pleased to hear this—all those children understood competition and understood that competition is a part of growing up that allows them to learn to win and to lose, and to learn to do both with equal grace.

Further to the idea of the sport alliance, it might be a good idea for the minister to set a target for the sport co-ordination strategy to look forward to an all-Scotland youth games for all Scotland's young people. That would be a target and an innovation. That is why I will probably support the motion, because it talks about innovation.

I am delighted to participate in the debate. Sport and physical activity play a vital role in our schools, for all the reasons that have been outlined—given the time available, I do not intend to go into them. Sport is undervalued and does not sell well enough what it can do in our schools.

Like Alex Johnstone, I was an active participant in sport, although members will probably not believe that now. I tried anything—even country dancing, which was certainly a sport in my school—and that has set me up well. I was a wee bit worried when Margaret Jamieson said that skateboarding was cool in 2001, because it was also cool when I was a teenager. This morning, I received a letter from a young boy in my constituency who is anxious for facilities to be developed in his village. That puts the debate in context.

It is disappointing that the Education, Culture and Sport Committee's report on sport in schools has not received a response from the Executive. I understand that the response is coming, but it would have been better to have it before the debate. It is also disappointing that a minister with responsibility for education is not present for the debate, because much of what members have said relates to the school curriculum. I hope that the deputy minister will feed back to the education ministers the points that have been made.

I welcome the deputy minister's commitment to developing a school sport alliance. An array of good practice is out there—I am not as down on Scottish sport as some people are. We need to develop that best practice and ensure that the materials that are being used in some of our schools can be disseminated to others, so that we do not keep reinventing the wheel and can co-ordinate school sport better and more constructively.

I will offer another couple of constructive suggestions that I hope the deputy minister will consider. Given the vital role of local authorities in developing and delivering much of what has been talked about, will consideration be given to asking the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities to facilitate an audit of best practice in the use of school and sports facilities in all local authorities, to ensure that local resources are used in the best and most imaginative way? We have many good resources; let us not pretend that they do not exist. We should use and co-ordinate them better. We should also have better community use of schools and better use by schools of community sports facilities. We should also find a better way of involving national governing bodies in the support and development of sport in our schools.

If kids are involved in sport at an early age, they and, ultimately, Scotland will benefit. Some examples of good practice exist. The Scottish Rugby Union even involves girls in some of its programmes, although it is too late for me. The Scottish Football Association has an excellent partnership with North Lanarkshire Council. Those initiatives are bringing invaluable experience and a significant number of volunteers to sport.

Local authorities should be told in guidance, not in a national curriculum, about the importance of physical activity, particularly in primary schools. We need to bring about a change of hearts and minds so that people can and will participate in sport. Excellent initiatives are occurring in Biggar High School and Carluke High School in my constituency. Good work is being done.

I welcome the debate, but we must continue to progress. I hope that the Executive will work with me and the Education, Culture and Sport Committee, as we aim to produce another report to follow the report on sport in schools that we have already produced.

I have greatly enjoyed the debate—my last before the recess. In responding on behalf of my party, I point out that, as many members will gather from looking at me, I was no great shakes at sport. I was always the last to be chosen for football when the class was split in two.

I was the guy who never scored a goal and whose specs fell off when he ran while playing rugby.

Sport was anathema to me. There are some kids like that—I will return to that point. I hated sport so much that I took up the fiddle to avoid gym periods. Mr Keith Harding told me that he took up the fiddle to avoid dancing with women in dancing classes, but we will draw a discreet veil over that.

I will put a pertinent point to Murdo Fraser. He goes in for competition, competition, competition, but some children lose out and are not as good as others. Because of a fairly enlightened regime at my school, I was sent out to dig the garden or to go hillwalking. There are ways of staying fit other than kicking a ball or running. We must be mindful that young people have a broad spectrum of ability and that we need to fine-tune provision.

Mary Scanlon made a good point that it is more than just school that is important. In Invergordon, in my constituency, a gentleman by the name of Mr Sutherland Rhind has formed a gymnastic group on an entirely voluntary basis. The young children in that group are doing fantastic things in gymnastics. That is related to, but is not entirely the same as, mainstream kick-the-ball type sport.

I shudder when I hear talk about compulsory, statutory, two hours per week PE. When the SNP sums up, I hope for some guidance and hope that its summing-up will be as free-ranging as my outline of the other ways of staying fit has been.

We are short of time and I have been asked to keep my remarks short. I will conclude by saying that the debate is not solely about football pitches; it is also about indoor, wet-weather facilities. Coverage in Scotland in that respect is patchy. Up until local government reorganisation in 1995, the Highlands was forging ahead; building sports leisure centres in certain areas, but not in others. Since then, the situation has been pickled in aspic. Caithness, for example, lacks any form of acceptable sports leisure centre, as does my home town, Tain.

I fully recognise the points that Cathy Jamieson made about deprived areas that are the most in need, but rural areas, too, need to be targeted. When the minister audits the good work that sportscotland is doing, I hope that he will examine that issue. If the minister does not care to respond to that point in the debate, will he bear it in mind for the future?

I have kept my comments to close to three minutes. As this is the last time that I will speak before the recess, it falls to me to wish all my colleagues a happy recess. As one who is in the autumn of his life, I will be playing a little autumnal golf. I hope that all members have a rewarding break.

I thank Jamie Stone for his good wishes. I am sure that members will bear them in mind.

I welcome the debate and have no difficulty in complimenting the Executive and sportscotland on the initiatives that they have taken. Many of them began with my friend Raymond Robertson, when he was minister with responsibility for sport.

Traditionally, a bi-partisan approach has been taken to sport in Scotland. Sadly, the SNP's aggressive posturing has made that impossible. Sport—be it team or individual physical exercise, including dance—is to be encouraged. Not only is it good for physical health, it can be good for interpersonal skills and the understanding of rules and of how to plan ahead. That is why physical exercise can be of so much benefit in schools such as the Church of Scotland's Ballikinrain residential school at Balfron, which looks after children with difficult family circumstances and where outdoor pursuits play a particularly helpful role. If we consider the needs of looked-after children, we will find that 61 per cent of 13 to 18-year-olds in care have a mental disorder. Sport and physical exercise have a role to play in enhancing their lives. We must ensure that we help to improve that work.

There are a number of problems that relate to the delivery of sport in school. I introduce these in a constructive manner, so that the minister might address them in the future. As my colleague Murdo Fraser has said, the involvement of parents is crucial. It is proving difficult to give parents a role in primary schools. In the many conversations that I have with parents, I am told of the offers of help that are refused. Teachers often cite the Cullen report, possibly without justification, as the reason for that refusal. I ask the minister, or the new school sport alliance, to examine the difficulties in involving parents, in extra-curricular work in particular, to see whether those problems can be overcome.

I want to warn of the dangers of relying on lottery funding to back sports programmes. It is more honest for the Government to use taxpayers' money to fund initiatives, as that money is more reliable. Real difficulties arise if lottery income drops—and a drop is expected. What will happen to programmes? I also question the amount of in-service training for primary teachers. I share the concerns of my co-parliamentarian Margo MacDonald. I would far rather that there was more investment in the provision of specialist PE teachers than in training teachers who previously showed no inclination to become involved in sports in schools.

Many schools use devolved budgets to make their PE provision. If those budgets are tight, it is often specialist provision for PE that goes first. I agree that we should argue for PE teachers in every school, but let us not force the issue. Some schools prefer to provide funding for music, arts and drama and for different aspects of specialist provision. Who is to say that they are wrong? Those schools rely instead on the availability of extra-curricular sport for those pupils who want it.

The SNP may argue otherwise, but its amendment suggests that sport in school would be forced. That would be wrong, for if talent is to succeed, it should be allowed to flourish. I say let Scotland flourish.

Before I come to the burden of our amendment, I will comment on some of today's speeches. Hugh Henry demonstrated yet again his reputation from his days at West Renfrewshire Council. He is unable to tolerate opposition of any description—it is regrettable that that intolerance was apparent today.

Donald Gorrie reminded me of an article that I think appeared in The Scotsman some years ago, headed "What on earth are the Liberal Democrats for?" The article was written by Peter McMahon, who I think is the First Minister's spin-doctor. Listening to Donald Gorrie, he would have realised that to be involved with the Liberal Democrats is incredibly foolish. However, I will say something nice about Mr Jenkins in a minute.

The purpose of our amendment is to address reality. There are facts—something that the Tories were rather short of—in our amendment. If those facts were in dispute, Mr Canavan provided further facts to support them. There are things that are wrong. The present strategy has not succeeded, nor did the strategy of the person whom Mr Monteith described as his good friend Raymond Robertson. There is a failure to give young people the opportunity to participate in sport and there is a failure to build sporting excellence.

Will the member give way?

In a minute.

Our amendment draws attention to that failure. We are not saying that everything that the minister announced was wrong—I will say something nice about him in a minute—but that he cannot avoid the facts. Our amendment represents a slight frustration on the part of my mild-mannered colleague Irene McGugan, which is that the self-congratulatory motions must stop. If things are wrong, let us decide what the problems are and tackle them. Let us not just congratulate ourselves again and again.

I cannot see Irene McGugan as Penry, the mild-mannered janitor.

Would it not have been more helpful if, instead of condemning the Executive, Mike Russell had offered a constructive suggestion on the way forward? It would have helped to move the debate on and been part of the process and it might well have been accepted by the Parliament.

There are very constructive ways to move forward, but they do not all have to come from the SNP; some can come from the Education, Culture and Sport Committee. I remember that the committee's report was endorsed by all its members, including me. I am not assuming that the SNP has a monopoly on wisdom, but I am looking for a recognition of reality.

Will the member give way?

No.

Procedurally, there should have been a response to the Education, Culture and Sport Committee's report and then a debate on the report. As with the debate on the architectural strategy, we debate these matters in a vacuum. However, I welcome the minister's announcement about the school sport alliance, which I am certain will become known as the Gillon institute, given Karen Gillon's contribution to it.

There have been important contributions that demonstrate the correctness of the SNP's position, although they come from individuals who will not support our amendment. Mr Jenkins, for example, was correct in the conclusion of his speech when he talked about the need to analyse the whole purpose of education and to find out how sport fits in. The recommendation of two hours a week in primary schools comes not from the SNP but from the sportscotland document. The Executive supports that document. We support the recommendation because it seems about right. One of the coming ideas in education is to consider things as a whole, including the ability of school communities to decide on their priorities.

Will the member give way?

No.

Although Mr Jenkins will not support our amendment, he could do so because it recognises the problems and seeks to address them. Karen Gillon could support our amendment—many of the points that we raise are well-known to her and to anybody who has studied the matter as she has. Those are the circumstances in which we are saying, "Address the real issues." We will support the minister in the chamber when he makes welcome announcements and talks about initiatives that are making a contribution. However, when he moves an anodyne motion that simply congratulates the Executive on what has happened and does not continue to press forward, set new benchmarks, say that there are things still to be achieved or address Dennis Canavan's crucial point about moving from our current position to the hoped-for attainment not just of sporting excellence, which is perhaps the icing on the cake, but of good health—a healthy mind in a health body, to use a Latin tag in English—as a continuing activity, we cannot support him. I would welcome the Executive's motion if it were more ambitious and more keen to succeed, instead of resting on its laurels—to use yet another sporting phrase. We still have a lot to do, the SNP amendment recognises how much we have to do, and the Parliament should support ambition rather than self-congratulation.

I am delighted to have had this debate and to take on full-frontal the charge that we are self-congratulatory and are patting ourselves on the back, as Donald Gorrie said. That is not what we are here to do. The purpose of the debate is to discuss what is happening in schools with sport and the wider aspects of more general physical activity. The Executive has been working to improve the general well-being of our young people and we look to key players to engage fully in a process that aims to deliver a change in attitude to the concept of sport and physical activity. That is why we are happy to accept the Conservative amendment, as it identifies some of those key players without any ideological bias.

I thank the minister for allowing me to intervene—it is a pity that Mr Russell did not do so.

Does the minister agree that the doctrinaire approach of two hours' compulsory physical jerks does not address the real concerns that I and other members have outlined and that, frankly, the SNP is living in the dark ages?

On a point of order, Presiding Officer. As someone who is qualified in physical education, I take great exception to my subject being referred to as "physical jerks" by that jerk on the other side of the chamber.

I do not think that you will be surprised when I say that that was not a point of order. Please continue, Mr Wilson.

I will not get involved in the to-ing and fro-ing, but I shall answer Mr Stone's point. When I saw the SNP amendment, I checked that glorious document, the SNP general election manifesto, whose cover features a doe-eyed John Swinney and which is the most recent policy document of the nats. I looked for the words "school" and "sports" and how many references did I find? [MEMBERS: "None."] Not a single one.

I judge people by what they say and by what they do, so I checked up with Angus Council, which received a 6.9 per cent increase in its grant-aided expenditure last year. I knew that, on average, there had been a 3 per cent increase in GAE across Scotland's local authorities in investment in leisure and recreational facilities. What was Angus's glorious contribution? It was less than the national average at only 2 per cent—less than a third of the increase in many councils, such as Glasgow City Council and other Labour-controlled local authorities.

We take seriously our responsibility to ensure that the education system produces well-rounded individuals who will contribute to society. That is made clear in our five national priorities for education. We are providing opportunities for more young people to become more active, more often. We are not complacent. We know that there is more to be done, but we cannot do it alone. Local authorities have a key role to play and I look to them to play their full part and to take advantage of the opportunities to which I have referred. The benefits that are to be gained from being more active are not in doubt. I hope that with encouragement and a guarantee of fun, which is important, more and more young people will take part in some form of physical activity.

Some progressive points have been made in the debate. As Margo MacDonald, Richard Lochhead and Tommy Sheridan said, visiting PE specialists in primary schools can make an important contribution to the quality of provision in that area, particularly when they have the support of class teachers and when there is consultation and staff development activity. However, there is not yet a national requirement for education authorities to provide such specialists. It is therefore up to the education authorities to decide on the allocation of resources in that area of the curriculum.

Karen Gillon is right to say that this is about hearts and minds. Cultural change is required across the spectrum.

Will the minister take an intervention?

I have very little time left and I have other important points to make.

On sport for the disabled in schools, the remit of co-ordinators includes sporting opportunities for all pupils, including the disabled in mainstream education. Co-ordinators are appointed in many special educational needs schools. The TOP programme provides equipment adapted for use by the disabled.

On playing fields, we are conscious of the need to maintain and enhance facilities for young people. That does not mean that we are against development per se, but we must be satisfied that there is a demonstrable case for the loss of any playing field. Local authorities have a key role in that respect and should consider preparing a playing field strategy that will help to inform future development proposals.

"Working Together for Scotland: A Programme for Government" highlights significant achievements in sport. Many members have made the point that young people who are fit and healthy are more able to concentrate, learn and do well in school. Research highlights the clear links between good health and higher attainment and achievement.

The Executive's commitment to raise standards and attainment every year can be achieved only if we take care of our children's health and accentuate the link between sport and health. Dennis Canavan and others identified the key, almost pivotal, role that is played by head teachers and sports organisations in fostering the mental, physical and social well-being of our children. He will agree that sport plays an important part in ensuring that every child has the best possible start in life.

Cathy Jamieson and others talked about social justice. To achieve social justice, we must address issues that affect every aspect of life, such as poor health, poor housing, unemployment, lack of stability, lack of opportunities, isolation and exclusion from communities. Sport can make a significant impact on health, community regeneration, social inclusion, education, lifelong learning and many other areas of Scottish life.

More cultured members will know that this is national poetry day. As I am the Deputy Minister for Sport, the Arts and Culture, it would be remiss of me not to finish with a short poem. It is written in the medieval chanson d'aventure mode much favoured by Auden. I apologise in advance to all poetry lovers and to our Liberal colleagues, as it contains some partisan references.

As I was walking down the street,

I met a Nat who loves to greet.

Said she, "I like to girn and groan,

Just like a dog without a bone.

Today," quoth she, "my girn will be

That kids in school don't do PE.

The minister with my tongue I'll lash,

Demanding another pile of cash."

Said I, "Yes, we have a lot to do

And lots of allocated resources too

For co-ordinators, fields and games

And academies for football fame."

At this, the Nat was sore depressed.

Inside, she knew that Labour was best

At making sport in schools succeed

So all a better life may lead.

So all you Scots that vote take heed

It's Labour who know what you need.

The Nats will moan in history

When we win again in 2003.

In this debate on sports promotion,

I ask you all to support the motion.

Why the Nats oppose it, who can tell,

So please give their amendment the soldier's farewell.

I thank the minister and am glad that he is not applying to be poet laureate.