Thanks for everybody for being here today for what is a very special moment for our entire franchise I just want to put a little context Without going through all the numbers because you have them I'm sure many of you have your own stories, but some of you may not remember how we started at this point 2009 week two We're playing the Houston Texans late in the third quarter Craig Hendrick hits his 912th and final punt as a tight He's not able to go forward. It's kind of a crushing moment for our organization because he had been with us since 1998 and He was the best situational punter in the NFL so good at what he did. He was a weapon and we certainly Never took for granted what we had in Craig Hendrick I do want to say because he would want me to That there was one more punt in that game from Rob Barones It went for 40 yards with no return So his net is 40 yards and his gross is 40 yards. He'd be very pleased to have us note that today Took us a few weeks to find the full-time replacement For Craig Hendrick and we didn't know that it would work out the way that it did but worked out pretty marvelously the Denver Broncos Put Brett Kern on waivers and we claimed him the next day He got into town at midweek. He punted against Jacksonville the following Sunday Four pints three inside the 20 and we said, you know, this might just work And it went for over 200 games after that Where he became a three-time Pro Bowler the best situational punter in the NFL and he became a weapon but if you have a chance to see what this room looks like with former teammates with current Players and coaches with people who work in the building overall who just valued him I think you understand that to our organization Brett Kern is someone who meant a great deal more than just being the best situational punter in the NFL there's no way we could have found anybody better to replace Craig Hendrick and Ryan Stonehouse has a lot of work to do as he builds on his young career if he wants to fully Be someone who is referred to in the terms that Brett Kern is today It's an honor and a privilege to present you with one of the great Titans Brett Kern. I appreciate the introduction Mike That's I think Stonehouse will be just fine He's already smashing records and I'm I'm happy for him, and I hope that I Could the time that I was with him.  I have it timed should be about 13 minutes 48 seconds If I go under you're welcome. If I go over Braves you can't find me so I'll just start with first. I want to thank everybody for coming It's good to see a lot of old friends that I've had the privilege of getting to know over my 13 years here in this building. I Also want to recognize the many individuals who can't be here today that have helped contribute To my family and I on this 15 year journey For some I but for some I've been blessed to spend a lot of time through conversations sharing a meal Time on the practice field. The list could go on and on Others it might just be a friendly. Hello. Good. Bye Or thank you for making the fourth down scramble for breakfast Morgan. They still got that going still going good Whatever it is know that you've made an impact on my life and know that you've helped contribute to everything leading up to this day The main reason why I wanted to have this time together today Was to allow me to publicly thank those that have had a huge impact on my career For timing purposes on it. I'm unable to list all the individuals that I'd like to But please know if your name is not mentioned that I'm still extremely grateful for you Awards and accolades are nice to have Records are great even though they are meant to be broken But more importantly my hope is that I made an impact on every person that I've met over the years in a positive way Knowing how important my family is to me and my faith First I want to thank God over the years my wife Tiffany has sent a ton of Bible verses to me The one that I've always gravitated to with Psalms 40 verse 4 through 5 and it says this blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord Who does not look to the proud to turn to those aside to false gods? Many Lord my God are the wonders you have done the things you plan for us. None can compare with you. None can compare to you Where do I speak and tell of your deeds that they would be too many to declare I Believe that everything happens for a reason most of the time. I have no idea why but I know God does I put my trust in him and he's guided me through the mountaintops of this league And he's also guided me through the valleys of this league Never did a thing never did I think a day like today would happen But I can't ignore his guidance and his fingerprints to this whole process and for that. I'm extremely blessed and thankful To my parents. I can't thank you enough for the love and support over the years Thank you for Thank you for allowing me to kick footballs over the house and then to why progress to kicking over the power lines in our front yard Thank you for taking me to camps across the northeast or across the northeast which helped me get my name out When at a time there was no such thing as Twitter Instagram what are all that stuff? There was no way to promote yourself For understanding when I did not want to play soccer anymore and allow me to try football The unwavering support you have shown me has been a true grift and thank you I want to thank all the families and people that have diligent diligently prayed for my family And I throughout my career the Allens the locks The Kellys the Tassies the Collins Katie Cecil and so many more. I greatly appreciate your prayers and your faithful support I want to thank my agent Gil Scott Thank you for the many conversations over the years of talking me off the ledge of whether I was gonna get cut or not Thank you for getting me That deal that was done in a hotel room on a mirror over FaceTime. I Can't thank you enough for representing my family for myself and for my whole career Thank you to Anthony champ Kelly You were one of the only scouts that talked and interviewed me in between the hula bowl in the east west shrine game You got to know me and at a time when I was down and wondered if I could make it in the NFL You encouraged me you gave me hope and that meant everything to me Not only do I value you as a professional But you were one of my most loyal friends. Thank you It's a coach Shanahan Mike that is not Kyle Thank you for taking a chance on a skinny I would like to say athletic looking but probably not undrafted no combine invite punter out of the University of Toledo Thank you for sticking with me through the growing pains of my rookie year and giving me a chance to fulfill my dream of playing The NFL I couldn't have asked for a better first coach in the league Thank you to leg Dawson for calling me on the golf course to tell me that I was a Titan Despite being 200 through 4 thinking I could break the course record. It was one of the best phone calls I could have ever gotten Thank you to mr.. Bud Adams miss Amy and the Titans organization group I know in some organizations a player might never see the owner or the ownership group that much Miss Amy. I'm thankful that you have taken the time to not only invest in the infrastructure here, but I'm also But I'm also thankful for the time that you spend with the people in the building as well Anytime we would cross paths. It always came with a smile encouraging words and how was your family doing? Thank you to Mike Rinefeld Russ and Webster John Robinson Each one of you had the belief and trust in me to represent this organization the city and the fans With the confidence you had in me it allowed me to grow as a player in a person while I was here Over that time. I felt like I became the best I could be I owe that in part to your encouragement and your faith in me To coach Fisher coach munchek coach whiz and hunt coach malarkey coach rabble. Thank you Good to see you buck Thank you for believing in me and trusting Trusting in me to hopefully be what you thought was a weapon every Sunday Monday Thursday and a rare Saturday Each one of you had very high expectations and standards for me that pushed me to become the best I could be raves Braves thought and probably still thinks that every one of my puns should go out at the 5-yard line and never hit a touchback. I Knew that was impossible Yet, I still feel like I could do it because he had the confidence in me to do it Thank you for sticking with me through the highs and the lows of every season and allowing me to be your punter Thank you to coach Lowry Who took a just-cut nervous wreck metal basket case punner and through some time instill the confidence in me to become a consistent directional punter? You told me if I want to play a long time in this league that I need to punt it here here and definitely not here You told me to tie to find a type of punt that I could use at all times to be consistent and a weapon. Would you Mike? Would you call that punt? What's the pun the knuckleball? Yeah? Thank you to Nate Katzer who took what coach Lowry instilled and fine-tuned it The box that you set up with cones 10 yards apart on the sidelines and at the bottom of the numbers seemed crazy to me at the time This drill resulted in me trying to hit a 45 to 55 yard punt outside the numbers with bonus points for a ball going out of bounds yet I still I still understand the whole point system Bo's laughing you get it all that to say you challenged me to go 9 out of 10 or 10 out of 10 and being challenged like that took me to next level Thank you to Steve Hoffman for allowing me to take a break from the Nate Katzer box drill You helped me tremendously by giving me the confidence to just go hit my best punt You never had a stopwatch you never really wanted to see how far how far the ball went you just told me that if I hit My best punt I'd be the best in the league You kept things light and would tell jokes literally right before punt or field goal period One would think that this is probably not the best coaching tactic, but for me it helped Your sense of humor didn't stop at just a specialist After home games my kids would often get upset at you when you'd bring an empty pizza box up empty pizza box up and Joke as a joke in the parking lot thinking that they were getting a fresh slice of pizza you guys remember that yeah I'll always be grateful for our seasons together in being able to celebrate my first Pro Bowl with you To Craig Ackerman. I appreciate you and thank you for keeping the ball rolling Sometimes when you have a coaching change it can rattle you pretty hard The pressure to perform for someone new and to gain their trust can take a lot out of you mentally and physically You just let me be me.  I'm glad you're done with that task now The list could go on and on it sounds crazy and It made me not important maybe not that important to some But know that without your effort and you're carrying these little details allowed me to be at my best Those that know me well know how important my mental state is during the football season The guys in the back taking care of all my needs or as I like to think requests Yeah Allowed me to solely focus on just playing footballs Thank you to the operation staff Brent Chris Luke Nick Y'all just made coming to work fun. It's a great. It's it was great to have a place to go just hang out talk And take your mind off football Hopefully you are and will always be proud of my dissertation to miss Amy on every road trip hotel and why we stay there Love you guys thumbs up good There are a ton of Ton of staff members I could thank there's so many memories that I'm very thankful for like Nate Hanging out with my family night at the Pro Bowl right and rise together Donald where you at Donald there you are Thank you for taking all those pictures that will last a lifetime that will always ignite memories of those pictures Where's ties talky here? No, it's probably stretching somebody Talk thanks for stretching me who knows how many times and for always having a smile on your face Even when bow pops out of the cardboard box and scares the crap out of him in training camp I Could go on and on for a lot of you that are here today a ton of memories And I'm just extremely grateful for those memories over the years Mitch Thank you for always having your office door open to chat about life and God Thank you for pushing me spiritually and putting me in positions to help grow my faith even when I gave you the look I'd like to thank Craig Hendrick You were such a professional when I came on the scene here You took me under your wing and encouraged me along the way You were 17 year vet and didn't have to give me the time or day, but you were kind of me You answered all my questions. You gave me pointers that I used my entire career You never doubted me and in fact passed the torch on to me in such a humble way I will be forever grateful for your friendship and the way you mentored me Thank you to my teammates over the years Guys like Rob Baronis Kenny Amato who are always there for me when I first became a Titan pushing me the best I could be guys like Morgan Ben Taylor the king KB D morgue Luke Rack lumberjack Thank you guys for being great teammates over the years. I always value your opinion I enjoyed our conversations over the years that we played together.  I'm forever grateful for the memories we share on and off the field From a game-winning kick at the arrowhead on the arrowhead in zero-degree weather Like you meant maybe do like a how you announce that it may be later later. Okay Celebrating Ryan Your record of most consecutive kicks in a row under 50 yards Bo being able to help baptize you in silica gah, Alabama on the 17th whole farm links And yes, how could I forget? My golf video during training camp that will only remain on my phone. I Could list a lot more teammates and I will thank you too, but I know y'all want to go home for dinner tonight And the boys and I we got a tea time here quickly approaching I thank you to the fans. There are not many words that could just that can describe my thankfulness For the love and support through the years y'all have shown my family and I The number of fans that have told me they waited to get a drink or buy a snack until fourth down was over means the world to me Your compliments over the years Honestly fueled me to be the best I could be I didn't want to let any of you down Thank you for letting me represent you on the field and allowing this city to be our home Thank you to my sister Leanna my brother-in-law Chris for your love and support over the years even though no Chris deep down. You're still a Giants fan Derek and Tracy my brother-in-law and sister-in-law. Thank you for your support as well through the years from going to games To helping with the kids rain or shine or just spending away game weekends with Tiff I'm grateful for you both. I wish you were able to come to more games Because most of the games you attended we won You all had an outstanding record To my in-laws Ron and Lynn your love and support goes beyond football Thank you for the times of staying at home to watch our girls or a sick child Thank you for your hearts of help and generosity over the last 15 years To my little kernels that aren't so little anymore All you know all you've known is daddy playing football You've literally grown up at the east on stadium or LP field Bryce the memories that we share together at times. I'll never forget never did I think you'd be old enough to help a training camp or that I'd be able to take you into a Pro Bowl locker room and just hang out in Ellen Quinn Thank you for Always encouraging me after games whether good or bad. I always look forward to your hugs after games It made the wins a little bit better and it made the losses not hurt so much Thank you for being so invested in how I did and for cheering me on I'm gonna miss you girls wearing your number six gear so proudly and trying to always make it on that jumbotron I Look forward and I look forward to being able to spend more time with all three of you and watching you as you continue to grow lastly To my wife Tiffany I'm just gonna have them Thank you for being my support my encourager and my one consistent through the ups and downs of the last 15 seasons We've come a long way together in this journey From chasing punts around at the freezing cold South Toledo golf dome after it had closed at 9 p.m Hoping and preparing for an NFL workout To be in the first one I hugged after a Super Bowl loss You've been with me every step of the way and I know you're rolling your eyes with this But I tell people this all the time That without you you're loving your support There's no way I'm playing in this league for 15 years. I love you and thank you who got through it so I Appreciate it every one of you in this room y'all are here for a reason And You all you've all contributed to Making this last 15 years really fun. So I appreciate it Take questions. All right When you talk about your appreciation for this town, you know a lot of times putters and kickers can be Overlooked by fans, but a lot of times here that the question was were you the best player on the team? And that's how much you were I mean I kind of I laughed You know just to think of a punter is you know being the best player on the team, but there's also a compliment just because I just wanted to be As consistent as I could be Just helping the team with field position I mean you don't get a lot of cracks sometimes during a game you could get two puns There were some years where it was more than two puns, right? But you want to make them the best that you can make them And so I just did my best and if that meant people thought I was the best on the team then Then great and if if not, then it didn't matter I was just going to keep doing my job and doing what I was supposed to do Superbowl lost, but they obviously didn't quite get there with the Titans, but that run in 2019 What do you remember about that getting the championship game and you know starting it off by blowing up the death star up in New England Yeah, that was that's That's definitely a moment I'll never forget, you know, you kind of have those moments along the way in your career of Certain puns, you know field goals made all that kind of stuff where you can celebrate but that punt was That's pretty special and then for the next play to be a pick and be done I mean he went, you know Tom obviously went and won a Superbowl with Ryan the next year So it all worked out, right? but yeah, I mean that run was that run was really really special and You know to get that far to come that close There's something about them chiefs, you know that year and obviously, you know this year and Philly finishing there But that is definitely Celebrating in the locker room afterwards, you know, having that mentality of I mean, they would really expect you to win Or to go up to New England and win and go to Baltimore and win. No offense Morgan But you know, it was that was a really special run I guess when you were released by Denver coming here, and could you ever dream it would have worked out like it did? I was honestly a little relieved at the time Just because it was it was tough. It was a tough situation there and at the time Bryce was Six weeks old and so to get cut at that time, you know to go home and have to tell your wife, you know I just got released Obviously Bryce being the age that he was that's pretty tough But yeah, I mean to get picked up off waivers pretty rare right for a specialist especially to get picked up Kind of in the middle of the season when I did And so I'm just extremely thankful For that opportunity because I never I never would have dreamed I never would imagine that that moment of Kind of frustration and anger. I had a lot of emotions when I got cut to be here And then to have the career that I was I was blessed to have here is It's pretty special really special I mean we got basketball games basketball games golf with Bryce A lot more walks with the wife. There's just a lot more to to catch up on and you know They've sacrificed a lot two over the years with you know from the training camps to you know all the road trips and Me try to separate the stress of football before I came home and and not to you know Put it on them or anything like that. So I'm just looking at more family time a little more travel time And then we'll just we'll just kind of see what what's next, but I'm excited for this new chapter Thankfully we did Disney three times and it was for free so we will we will probably pass on the Disney train Because they've been spoiled with how they did Disney and for me to do it like that way again I might have to come out of retirement and to pay for that trip. So I've been praying about it for a while Obviously, you know talked to my wife about it just kind of back and forth and I didn't want to really make a rash decision On whether to be done or not, but I felt Just my time in Philly Just being away from them. I mean those the four right there are the you know most important people to me And so to be away from them not being able to take them to school pick them up You know even just going out for coffee with my wife, right something that doesn't seem like much But you kind of take it for granted when you're in a totally different city and you can't do that stuff anymore So being away from them just kind of put into perspective of if I do want to play somewhere this year what it would look like You know and I also wanted to I had many conversations with Craig about You know your body, you know, sometimes you feel like you can still play But then what does that do into your body that you don't necessarily know and then you feel the repercussions? You know a couple years down the line. So There's a lot that went into it, but I knew You know when I came home from getting these braces on because my teeth are jacked up that You know, I knew that it was time to it was time to be done and Yeah, it was it was a pretty easy decision for me Yeah, I mean just to be a part of it with the guys You know to have those memories with guys forever, right when you come back here for Alumni or any type of events that you have you always have those stories of you know that that 2019 run or You know breaking that in 2017, you know breaking that playoff drought and Kind of the turnaround that we had because you know 14 and 15 were They were pretty rough and so to make that turnaround that quick Yeah, I mean It's just to be a part of it. Honestly, whatever role I had in it I just I'm just thankful to just be a part with those guys and have those memories forever It's on an Excel spreadsheet at home Just as far as all the guys that I've held for and you know, I just kind of jot notes down With how they like the ball held all those little details, I just kind of keep track of but yeah, I You know There's a lot. There's a lot and there's you know, obviously with Ryan being in the room and some other guys that I've held for but Yeah, it's The list is good. I've had a lot of good guys that I've been able to to hold for in between Rob Rob really taught me a lot You know holding is not just holding you just don't just catch it and put it down and hope for the best, right? So he taught me a lot and I felt like Going from him to you know when Ryan came in You know Ryan taught me stuff as well and you know those two guys are You know to have those guys for so long to be able to hold for them was Really special Well when the schedule came out I Would type in as many as I could so Whenever so what wouldn't schedule come out like May or whatever that is I would I would type in the first probably six road trips Back then and then just so they were in there I wouldn't forget about it and then when the season started I would type in all the All the cities that we played in and then you kind of I just kind of kept track of where we were playing and all that kind of stuff And then when we played at home, I usually checked on Wednesdays So worse worse There's been some dandies There's been some cold games that kids city game when it was zero was cold, but there was no wind Actually my first game when I was in Philly. We played at Chicago I feel like I probably should have waited a week because the next game was in Dallas But Chicago was I think that was the weekend that it was really really cold here But it was I mean it was zero with 30 mile an hour winds and You know some rain games and and all that stuff, but it's All those are memories to to have Taste of it last year, but what do you think fall is gonna be like for you without football? Are you gonna watch are you gonna a lot less stress? I know that would be nice, but yeah, I'll keep tabs on obviously all the titers are doing and just I saw big Jeff leaving the parking lot and Just keeping up with the guys that you know, I love and consider consider brothers just to see how they're doing I just saw you know, KB the other day and just chatting and checking up and You know following out, you know AJ up in Philly and Some of the guys I've just really enjoyed playing with and just seeing how they're doing so


Russia to consider F-16s transfer to Ukraine as a nuclear threat from West. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has said that Russia will consider the transfer of F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine as a threat from the West in the nuclear sphere. He said this in an interview with Lenta.ru. The Russian Minister has stated that the very fact of the appearance of F-16 fighter jets in Ukraine will be considered a threat in the nuclear sphere. According to him F-16 fighter modifications have a base on which nuclear weapons can be fixed. Lavrov has called the US plans to transfer the F-16s to Ukraine an example of an extremely dangerous development of events, adding that Washington and its NATO allies are creating risks of a direct armed conflict with the Russian Federation. It should be noted that Ukraine signed a memorandum with its 11 partner states at the NATO summit in Vilnius. The memorandum defines the conditions for training Ukrainian pilots on F-16 fighters. The first F-16 fighters should be delivered to Ukraine by the end of March 2024. Foreign Minister Dmitro Kuleba said in an interview with Radio Liberty. At the same time, he noted that the transfer of fighters is associated with difficult technical issues. Kuleba said pilot training should begin in August or early September. In parallel, work will be carried out on the preparation of legal documents necessary for the transfer of aircraft, he added. I think that if by the end of the year, of the first quarter of next year, the first F-16s will fly in Ukrainian air controlled by Ukrainian pilots, this will be in accordance with the schedule, he said, noting that there are many nuances so the schedule may shift.


Voice For Work return to beastsmith. Welcome to the 23rd meeting. The health and sport committee in 2017, could ask everyone in the room to ensure that mobile phones are switched to silent, please. We have apologies from Miles Briggs and Alec L winter. The first item on our agenda is our final evidence session on sport for everyone, and I welcome to the committee Aileen Campbell, minister for public health and sport. And David Grave head of active Scotland division Scottish Government. He could invite the minister to make an opening statement, and I apologise for yn cael ei ddwylliannol? No, that's okay. Thank you, convener, and as you noted, I'm joined by Derek Grieve, who's head of active Scotland division. As the committee will be aware, I'm absolutely clear about the importance of sport and physical activity. My ministerial portfolio, Public Health and Sport, signifies a deliberate clear and connected approach that exploits the benefits of physical activity and sport to improve the health of the people of Scotland. We want to create a culture in which healthy behaviours are the norm right through people's lives. The Scottish Government's vision is of a Scotland where more people are more active more often. Sport has an important role to play in realising that vision. In Scotland, Sports Scotland are developing a world-class sporting system at all levels, connecting sport in schools and education, club and community sport and performance sport. That system has helped Scottish athletes achieve huge success at a number of levels, Commonwealth Games, Olympics, Paralympics, national, European and world championships. Through their successes, Scottish athletes are inspiring others on their own sporting pathway and providing the rest of us with immense pride and motivation to get more active ourselves. Through our investment in facilities, we are providing participation opportunities for people and communities across Scotland. Since 2007, Sports Scotland has invested over £168 million in supporting local clubs, local authorities, sports governing bodies and other organisations to deliver a wide range of new and upgraded sports facilities. The recently published Scottish household survey showed participation in all physical activity in sport was slightly increased from 72 per cent in 2007 to 79 per cent in 2016. Although we would like all like to see higher numbers, I am encouraged by the increase in numbers of children who now meet the CMO's physical activity guidelines, but we recognise, of course, that there is still more to do. That is why, in order to better evidence the impact that sport has across our communities, my officials are working directly with Scottish sporting governing bodies to help to improve their data collection and, in turn, help to measure the impact of their outcomes against the Active Scotland outcomes framework. To ensure that children from all backgrounds have access to sport and physical activity, this Government has invested £11.6 million in supporting schools meet our PE commitment of two hours or periods per week. This is up from 10 per cent in 2004-5 to 98 per cent in 2016. This is also backed up by significant investment in active schools. The latest figures from the Active Schools programme, published a couple of weeks ago, show that active schools' participation levels have increased by 52 per cent over the last five years, with 6.8 million visits recorded during the academic year 2016-17. Our ambition to create a more active Scotland was why, in our manifesto, we gave commitment to making Scotland the first daily mile nation. Getting the nation active requires action right across Government, and that is why we have put in place record investment in walking and cycling and will continue to do so for the rest of this Parliament. That will be doubled to £80 million in 2018-19. Active travel will improve health outcomes for individuals, improving both mental and physical health. Those initiatives are named to assist people from across Scotland to become more physically active, as well as integrate with their local community. I know that a big part of the committee's focus has been on accessibility of the school estate. We know that there are thousands of sports facilities in the overall school estate, including sports halls, pitches, multi-use outdoor areas, swimming pools, running tracks and tennis courts available for community use, but we also know more can be done to maximise the use of this resource and this investment. As I mentioned in my response to your phase 1 report, I would be fine to find it really useful and informative if the committee could share any evidence it has collected on these issues so that we can take action as appropriate to build on the ongoing work that we already do with local authorities to unlock barriers to access. Finally, convener, I would like to put on record that without an army of volunteers, a lot of sport and physical activity would not take place. The dedication and time put in by so many to create opportunities and nurture new talent is the lifeblood of our sporting heritage and future. It is not only with sports clubs where volunteers are vital. The Active Schools programme is only possible with more than 19,000 volunteers who deliver sport and physical activity in their communities. There is a lot of good work on going, but we are live to the challenges and welcome the committee's work in this so that we can collectively create the country that we all seek, one that is healthier and more active. Of course, convener, I am happy to take any questions that I know the committee will have on that. Thank you, convener. Good morning, minister, good morning, Mr Greith. I can start off with a baseline here. A lot of this is around the Scottish household survey. I am interested in understanding whether, in that household survey, those who are on waiting lists to join a sports club are perhaps looking to be active and not yet active, or those who, in other words, are a capacity issue that we need to address, and those who would like to, but they cannot access the sports that they would want to do, the choice element. As a starter for 10, if you like, a baseline of how deep the household survey went. The household survey is the gold standard approach to assessing the activity levels of the country, but, alongside that, as I said in opening remarks, we have also asked, I have asked my instructor and my officials to work with our governing bodies to help them to understand that full picture of activity and to help the governing bodies to understand their own members as well. That is a bit of work that is on-going to make sure that we can help to tell that full picture around the numbers of people who are members of a sports club, or the numbers that, as you say, might have joined for the first time, and those who might have been inactive in the past who are now wanting to become a bit more active. That is a bit of work that we are doing with our governing bodies to help to understand the points that you are making much more clearly. I think that what I am interested in is whether or not there are clubs that are at capacity. I know a lot of anecdotal evidence, including my own kids, would like to join a club, but it cannot because it is at capacity. I am just wondering whether or not those waiting lists are included in the household survey, because that would be an important factor in terms of wanting to increase physical activity in the country. I would imagine that that would be evidence that would be useful to that particular survey. That work that we are doing with the governing bodies is really important, because that gives us that fuller picture. We also understand that there have been spikes in interest in particular sports, particularly at points when there have been high-profile events such as the Commonwealth Games. Of course, that will be linked to the capacity issues that you have been looking at through volunteers and the volunteering opportunities to help to deliver those opportunities. That is why our programme for government, for instance, we noted that we want to develop volunteering opportunities far more visibly and strategically, which will have an impact not just on sport but on a whole range of things that happen within civic life in the country. Derek, do you want to say anything? Beyond the household survey, the governing bodies to sport are far, obviously, much closer to the capacity issues of each club than we are, and it is part of the governing bodies' plan for developing the sport. They have on-going discussions with Sport Scotland, particularly around supporting the increase of capacity of clubs, not least through volunteers, as the minister mentioned, so increasing coaching, also facility access and the like. The capacities are monitored very closely by governing bodies of sport and it is in forms of thinking on local and regional development and part of the on-going discussions between the governing body and Sport Scotland itself. I would also be quite interested if you have looked at the sports that are perhaps increasing their numbers, whether they are the easy access sports. By that I mean that the barriers to participation are not high, and the cost to participation is not high. For example, if you want to go for a run, you need a pair of training shoes, if you want to go sailing, you need a boat. Have we looked at comparing easy access sports to those that are not? In my strategic guidance letter to Sport Scotland, we also have an emphasis on making sure that there is accessible opportunity to deliver on equalities. Whether that analysis has been explicitly done, I am not sure, although there is a lot of work to try and unpick and unlock some of the barriers to those sports that are outlined. However, the community hubs that we have across the country provide opportunities to allow people to try sports that they might not ordinarily have done. I know that, for instance, sailing in Maryhill is one of the opportunities offered in the canals in Maryhill. There are sailing opportunities there, so there are imaginative, inative ways in which local focus groups that deliver what might ordinarily be perceived as past times for those with much more resource have been created for people who might not have that same disposable income. There has been opportunity provided there through community hubs, through innovative work and through using local assets. In the case of Maryhill, it is around the canal network that has been improved significantly over time. Young people get an opportunity to sail and to experience sporting opportunities on the water there, which might not ordinarily have been there for them had we not had a strategic approach through our community hubs and through the assistance that we give to our governing bodies and support through a variety of other things. For instance, cashback. I completely appreciate that. I was not suggesting that everybody in Glasgow went into a Steve Redden game eight boat. I was really looking forward to looking at how easy it is to access and should we focus on certain sports rather than others? That is really where I was coming from. I was not suggesting that. The other thing is that for young people in particular, the active schools network is really important because that has given opportunities to other sports. It is not just necessarily football, which might be the obvious go-to for reasons that it is our national game. There are so many people who watch it, enjoy it and play it, but the active schools network provides opportunity to testers and the chance for young people to experience other sport and other activities. The reason that I picked the Maryhill example was just to illustrate that that is not always the easier things. It is not just about providing walking opportunities for young people who might not have the resource to enjoy sailing. There are examples out there that show that there is a wide variety of opportunities provided that there are the right conditions, the right connections across a community, the right people leading those things that provide that special opportunity and chance. That is interlinked with our youth work approach. The uniform groups and the youth link articulate what their youth work providers are giving in terms of opportunity to young people across the country. Cashback is also providing funding and a clear link around the proceeds of crime and providing positive past times for young people. One of the most stark figures in the 2016 Scottish household study was the 18 per cent gap between the most and least deprived communities when it comes to participation in sport and other physical activities. According to the survey, 87 per cent of people from the most well-off background took part in some sort of physical or sport activity compared to 69 per cent of people from the poorest background. What are the Scottish Government doing to close that activity gap? I mentioned that in my response to Brian Whittle. We are very clear in our direction to Sport Scotland if we want to see a focus on the communities that you have identified. That is why the next iteration of community sports hubs will have a much keener focus on tackling areas of deprivation to ensure that there is opportunity and that we can nudge people in those areas towards becoming more active. I do not think that any of us want to see those statistics improved. We want to ensure that there is opportunity for all to take part in sport because we know the transformative impact that sport can have on our communities and on people's lives and in their on-going wellbeing throughout their life. We absolutely want to reduce that inequality and make sure that we provide more opportunity for everyone regardless of their income. Will the Government set in targets of organisers such as Sport Scotland to increase participation specifically from the most deprived backgrounds? If you look at the national outcomes at the moment, you talk about increasing physical activity and you mentioned the figures in your opening comment, but there was nothing specifically there about the gap between the most deprived and the most well-off areas. At the moment, Sport Scotland is giving funding to do what it does, but there is nothing linked to that funding when it comes to tackling issues in the most deprived areas. My strategic guidance letter explicitly says that I want them to tackle inequalities. The community sports hubs, the next iteration of those and the next seven that they are taking forward will be in areas of deprivation to specifically and explicitly address the concern that you have, one that I would share, one that I want to tackle and one that I want to close.  Given the fact that a large number of the activities in sports centres were provided by local government, do you think that the reduction in funding for local government, along with the council tax freeze at the time, has had an impact on the cost of those activities? I think that we probably would take a different analysis around the local government settlement and that we believe that we have given the local government a fair settlement to deliver the services that they are charged with delivering. There is opportunity, as you know, on going at the next budget discussions around the different ways in which Scotland might use its powers to increase the money that we get into our coffers to deliver the public services that we hold dear, so there is opportunity for us all to take part in that discussion and that conversation that we are going to be having across the country, but certainly from our perspective we have given local government a fair settlement. Of course, there are challenges and fiscal challenges for us and the Scottish Government as well around our own budget suffering reduction. It is challenging, but that is why we want to make sure that we maximise the investment that we have already put into our sporting infrastructure, increasing the facilities that we have, the world-class facilities that we now have, the fact that we have, as a direct result of the Commonwealth Games, a legacy of community hubs across the country that we have active schools and 32 local authorities that are given people opportunity, young people opportunity to take part in sport. Those in particular that active schools would cite that because that shows a greater uptake and a greater degree of participation in areas of deprivation, which shows that that investment is taken forward and led by sports Scotland is delivering on the issue that you raised and you correctly raised because we want to see more people get opportunities to take part in sport and active schools are helping us to reduce that gap. The most recent SPICE briefing on local government showed that there was a 6.2 per cent real terms for the local government revenue budget from 2010-11 to 2016-17. The figures are there for everyone to see and a consequence of that is right across Scotland. Local authorities had to look at other areas for raising income and clearly one of those areas was to increase charges for a whole host of services, including sporting activities. I am just wondering whether the Government has done any analysis on the impact of the budget settlement for local government and the rise in charges on participation levels, particularly from the most deprived communities? Again, we believe that we have given local government a fair settlement. If you are drawing those conclusions again, that is part of the work that you have uncovered yourself. If that is what you are seeing explicitly linked to, by all means, let us see that analysis as well. However, I am saying to you that what we are doing is recognising that there is a requirement to make sure that people from deprived communities get opportunity. That is why we have, in my strategic guidance letter to Sport Scotland, asked them to focus on equality and through the community sportscubs to tackle and focus on areas of deprivation. That is why the very clear commitment that Sport Scotland has to active schools is delivering more keenly for those in deprived areas where the uptake is higher. The local government settlement is challenging. The local government settlement is utterly catastrophic. I have been talking to local authorities in the past couple of days and they have shown me the documents that they have to assess potential cuts to budgets. Those documents are piled at this high. Youth work has gone, community centres have closed, libraries have closed, swimming pools have closed. It is utterly catastrophic and devastating for communities. In my view, it is to break down a society, which is what we are overseeing at the moment. That absolutely is. If you think that that is not the case, then go and look at the potential cuts that local authorities are having to implement. They are utterly catastrophic and it will be the most deprived and poorest communities that will suffer the most. If you have not done the assessment of that, is that up to the committee to do the assessment of the impact of those cuts on sport and participation? Is the Government not doing any assessment of that? I think that what I have said very clearly is that we recognise that there are challenges across making sure that those areas of deprivation have access to opportunity, which is why I have charged our sporting agency to look at what more it can do to tackle inequality. I specifically cited the active schools approach, which is currently delivering across 32 local authorities opportunities for our young people, which has seen higher participation from those communities that are in areas of deprivation. Again, though, you seem to forgive me, convener, for making assumptions. Perhaps you have done your own analysis in which case that would be useful to see that, but of course we recognise the challenges under which local authorities are working. That is why we continue to work with our local authority partners, which is why we work with our governing bodies, which is why we intend to maximise the impact of the resources that have been put in to improve the infrastructure across the country. That is why we want to continue that work, because we recognise that there are challenges. We recognise that we need to do more to get more people active, but that is why we have particularly asked Sport Scotland to have a focus on areas of deprivation and to ensure that there is equality of access for people. Sport Scotland spent almost £12 million on performance sport last year and £10.7 million on clubs and communities. Is that the right balance in terms of encouraging more people from the grass routes to get involved in sport? Sport Scotland has two roles. It has the role to ensure that support is given to our elite performers and to be leaders in terms of activity and to develop a sporting infrastructure that allows for people to take part in sport. It is not just Sport Scotland that delivers funding for sport. The balance is that 95 per cent of resources that go into sport are done on community level and 5 per cent on elite. In terms of Sport Scotland's budget, is it the right balance that more is spent on performance sport than it is on clubs and communities? I am telling you that 95 per cent of the total money that is spent in sport is spent on community infrastructure. In terms of Sport Scotland's budget, is it the right balance that they spend £11.8 million on performance sport and £10.7 million on clubs and communities? Is that the right balance? Again, I will gently reiterate that it is not just Sport Scotland that is in charge of putting forward opportunity for sport. 95 per cent is spent on community-based activity in sporting opportunities and 5 per cent is spent on elite sport. That balance to me feels about right, because I think that if I was to cut elite sport that meant that we did not see any elite performers doing well in some of the big events on a global stage, I would also be held before this committee asking why we had not supported our athletes. That was particularly asking about Sport Scotland's funding. I will clarify if the minister agrees that ensuring that we have elite performers achieving international competition is also exceptionally important in encouraging people to participate in sport. Absolutely. There are a number of different role models. There are community role models within our sports hubs. People are taking fantastic work at that very local level by being role models themselves and leaders within the community. Likewise, the fact that we see Scottish athletes performing on the world stage doing well provides a sense of great deal of pride but also inspires the next generation to recognise that they can achieve it if they put in the hard-working endeavour. What is also transformative is the fact that those athletes are going out and trying to ensure that they are part of that inspirational message. They are going out to schools, communities and talking about their own resilience—those good lessons in life that our children and young people require so that they can go into emerging to adulthood and be successful individuals themselves. Absolutely. There is a real role model element to our elite performers as well. They do that work and they are charged with that work and they deliver on that responsibility that they have. I wanted to ask about the legacy from the Commonwealth Games, which might be felt all around the country. We saw some evidence from Murray area, which stated that they weren't so sure that they had gained very much benefit from the Commonwealth Games and yet, next door in Highland, where I live, I know that people could reasonably easily identify some of the benefits that they had gained from the Commonwealth Games. I wonder if you could tell us a little bit more about what the Government did to ensure that the legacy was felt country-wide. Absolutely. The community hubs has been one very tangible legacy. The expansion of community hubs across the country is a great success story, bringing people together at a community level to develop opportunities in many parts of the country. Of course, we have ambitions to increase the number of community hubs across the country. Moreover, there has been legacy in terms of the improved infrastructure across the country, which will be an on-going and lasting legacy, to allow people to have the chance to go and use facilities in the country. There are also other things. For instance, the legacy 2014 active places fund was a £10 million fund that was launched in 2012. Through five investment rounds, a total of 188 projects were supported across all 32 local authorities. All local authorities have had some kind of benefit, and legacy was felt in their area in an attempt to ensure that it was not just a Glasgow Games, but a country-wide game and that there was legacy across the country. There is quite a strong story to tell about the legacy that has been left post Commonwealth Games and continues to be felt across the country. I did hear a lovely story from Russ Sutherland rugby club, who were very delighted with their rugby posts that they got from the Commonwealth Games. They donated their rugby posts to further north in the country. They are certainly in Highland, with some identifiable and tangible kit. Can I ask about active transport? I know that it is not your portfolio, but in terms of health, I was absolutely delighted to see the doubling of funding to active transport in the programme for government. It will have a huge impact in the Highlands, and I am sure all over Scotland, but particularly in the Highlands, where we see that cycling is a really important sport. Can you tell us a little bit more about that? Yes, absolutely. I am keen to always make sure that, not just in terms of my sporting portfolio, but the public health element of my portfolio benefits from that investment. That significant investment that is going to be put in between now and the end of the Parliament into active travel is important. It is important in terms of Yusof's targets and ambitions that he has within his transport portfolio, but likewise there is complete read across into my own portfolio. There has been real success around recreational walking, but that will be helped and aided by the fact that we are going to be investing significantly into an active travel infrastructure and investing significantly in that. It is all about that ability for people once they leave their house to have opportunity and choices that are easy for them to make. That investment will be significant. There is a long way to go. We have seen some great progress made already around people cycling to work and walking to work and feeling safe in doing that, but that will go a long way to improving that infrastructure and allowing people to make those choices and having that choice to be made, as opposed to default position and society and decisions being made around the needs of the car. As a committee, during the inquiry, we were privileged to go along and visit some of the community sporting hubs. It is fair to say that all of us were really impressed by the work that we saw there. I was fortunate enough to visit the Phoenix Centre in Ivan McKee's constituency, and we went to the community sports hub in Drumchapel. From looking at the papers, a lot of the funding that comes to a community sport hub comes from Lottery. Certainly, Sports Scotland has raised with the committee their concerns about reductions in Lottery funding. I was wondering if the minister would tell us if she has had any discussions with the Westminster Government about Lottery funding, future sustainability of Lottery funding and any reassurances about how Sports Scotland can maintain the amount of money that it gets from the Lottery? That is a concern around that reduction in Lottery revenues that I would absolutely share. It is something that we have attempted to engage with the UK Government. I wrote to the UK Government in the spring of this year, and I have yet to have a response back, and that was around to examine the sustainability of the model, to work out what more strategically can be done to increase revenues. I think that there has been a developing landscape of many different Lotteries out there now that reduces the national Lottery's impact. It is a real pressing issue, and we have yet to hear back from the UK Government despite attempts to try and secure a meeting to discuss that, which I think would be in our best interest to work on together. What support would the minister be looking for from the committee in terms of expediting a reply from the Westminster Government? Particularly given the concerns that have been raised here, both from community organisations and from organisations such as Sports Scotland? I do not think that this is a genuinely made attempt to try and work out what can be done to try and stop the reduction, to try and work out what can strategically be done to reverse that reduction in revenue. That will not just benefit us here in Scotland, but a benefit that would be felt across the board. It is also not owned by any one political party. If the committee is so minded to add a bit of weight to that call, I would absolutely welcome and encourage that, because it is in all of our interests that, regardless of party, we all share a desire to make sure that we see our community supported, that we see sport supported as well. A lot of that historically has now been through national Lottery, so when there is a reduction there, we need to try and work out what more we can do to try and stop that and alleviate that. Absolutely, if the committee is so minded, I would absolutely welcome that support. You convener and good morning. I am sure that we all welcome the doubling of the active travel budget, but we have to bear in mind that it was just hovering over the 1 per cent previously. Undoubtedly, that does make your own portfolio. It helps to deliver an active Scotland, but I would like to look at recreational walking. If we take recreational walking out of the official stats, participation has remained static at around 50 per cent. The minister's views on why we are not seeing that increased participation at the same levels in other forms of activity. If recreational walking has increased markedly, could it be because that is probably one of the least expensive things that you can get involved in? I would also question why you would want to take out walking out of that. As our active Scotland outcomes framework indicates, it is about activity. Activity being walking, why would you take that out of the equation? It is not just by accident that there has been an increase in recreational walking. There has been a strategic approach to try and increase the number of people who take part in recreational walking through investment and paths for all through our strategic approach to walking. It is not just by accident that we have seen increases. There has been a deliberate approach and attempt to increase the numbers, but I would find it confusing that you would want to take out walking into what would be an important part of the activity story. I absolutely would not want to take out walking. I am just wondering what lessons can be learned about the success that has been achieved in the increased walking. I am just wondering too if the increase in walking has come at the cost of decreased participation in other areas. I think probably walking is one that, like you say, walking is an easy thing. It is about making sure that we can let people know that walking is something that they can take reasonably cheaply. They do not need fancy goods, they do not need fancy footwear or sports gear. Making sure that the infrastructure is there and right around about people to support that choice is important, which is why, again, the active travel budget going up is important as well, because it allows people to have that choice on their doorstep when they leave their house that they can take and make that choice. Is there more to do? Of course, there is more to do. Is there lessons to be learned? There are probably lots of lessons to be learned. I think that, probably around that very steely strategic focus that we had on walking to ensure that more people recognise the pleasure that they can get from the outdoors through walking. I think that I would be disinclined to remove walking from that activity story, because that is something that has so in growth. It is a positive story, and it shows that people are becoming more active. It might not necessarily be through the competitive sports, but it is active nonetheless. That is what we judge ourselves on our success in our active Scotland outcomes framework. I would just like to put on the record that I do not think that walking should be excluded. I was simply asking that, when recreational walking is excluded, participation has remained static at around 50 per cent. I should probably draw my register of interest points out that I am a board member of Scottish athletics. The next question that I would like to ask is about the Jog Scotland funding, which was removed and, subsequently, some of it was replaced. There will now be a partnership with another agency, SAMH. It is fair to say that myself and all members of the committee were fairly astonished when the funding was withdrawn in the first place, because that is a programme that has had proven success, breaking down socioeconomic barriers, getting women who have previously been uninvolved in physical activity involved. I suppose that it is a bit like recreational walking. It is one of those things that you can do from your front door. It does not take a lot of equipment. I think that it is a real success story. I just wondered whether the minister could give us an update on that funding. There was support there and funding for Jog Scotland that was designed to try and improve its sustainability. There was also work done by Scottish Government officials to evidence that. There is now that clear story to tell, which is why the collaboration between SAMH is so important, because that has been explicit around the good health benefits that come from jogging. Amongst the additional £2 million that I announced earlier this year to offset the reduction in national lottery, that has helped to ensure that the funding is there for Jog Scotland. Why was it reduced in the first place? What was the reason? There was always support and funding for Jog Scotland, but what was required was work to be put into ensuring the sustainability of Jog Scotland. That is why there was work that was carried out through Government officials to evidence the impact of that. That has now paid dividends, because we can now, as Alison Johnstone articulated, see the very clear evidence link between the health improvements that are felt through jogging and the work that Jog Scotland is doing at a community level across the country. It is an approach through Scottish Athletics that we absolutely welcome. That is exactly the territory that we want our governing bodies to be in. Is it because there was no evidence at that time? No, it was around making sure that there was work requested to ensure the sustainability of the model, which was why there was payment given from Sport Scotland to enable and develop that sustainability work through the Scottish Government to ensure that there was evidence approach. That is now showing that it is a sustainable model, that there is evidence there, and that there is partnership with SamH, which is something that is to be welcomed. I am sorry, but I am not really clear on that. Maybe I am just not understanding how it worked, because I am understanding that the funding was taken away, then there were representations made by various people in the committee and others, and then the funding was put back in via SamH. Is that how it worked? There was a request to develop the sustainability of the model, so there had been one of supplementary investment to Scottish Athletics by Sport Scotland to support the transition of job Scotland into something that was more sustainable. There was also work on going with the Scottish Government to develop the evidence base around the impact of job Scotland. Now we have the development of the partnership between job Scotland and SamH, which is something that is very positive and illustrates that link of activity-improving health outcomes. I want to talk a wee bit about the overall measures, but before I get on to that, I just wanted to comment on the interaction earlier on about the funding and the balance between elite and participation. As the convener pointed out, there were two lines from the Sport Scotland budget, but there are only two lines out of seven and represent only a small part of the total spend. Some of the lines are a bit confusing, but if you look at the total spend, 77.5 million of that, about 15 per cent or the 11.9 million that I mentioned was on performing sport. One of the other lines, and there were five other lines there that, based on what you have said, only 5 per cent of the total spend is elite. I am assuming that the vast majority of the other lines being that place is at nearly 20 million, partnerships at 4 million, schools in education at 13 million, et cetera, et cetera. The vast bulk of those will also be, I am assuming, a participation level rather than an elite level. He has also correctly said that if you look at the whole big picture, there is about 495 million spent in sport in total, so when you look at it on that basis, that 11.9 million that was referred to earlier is about 2.4 per cent. Does that tie in with how you see the numbers? The Sport Scotland is one part of the funding picture for sport and activity. There are local authorities and a whole host of other organisations as well, and it is that global total that I would say that 95 per cent is focused on participation community groups. The 5 per cent is also focused on elite performance, and I think that that balance feels right. Sport Scotland takes its responsibility very seriously around how leaders are in not just elite performance, but they also want to be leaders in ensuring that a population can become more active, which is why the active schools investment is also really important, particularly when we know that the biggest take-up has been in areas of deprivation around the active schools, which shows how important it is to provide opportunity in that school-based settling, free of charge to young people. That is fine. It is important to get that on the record because the selective quoting of specific statistics of the whole big picture does not really help us to develop our understanding. Talking about measures, we have obviously got the national outcomes and national performance indicators, which memory has been flat at about 60 per cent, but we have also been talking about the Scottish household survey, which is to get two numbers in there with walking, which is going from 72 up to 79. Without walking, which I agree with you, it does not make a lot of sense to talk about it without walking, but that has been at 50 per cent. Can you cast any light on the difference between those numbers? What is the national performance indicator and what is the household survey and what is different? What do you think is the most accurate reflection of what we are trying to achieve? Aside from that, our active Scotland outcomes framework takes on board the household surface, the health surface, grown-up in Scotland surface and a whole host of other things in an attempt to use that as a way to demonstrate improvement, stability or if it is going the other way, which we would want to reverse. The active Scotland outcome framework takes on board a whole host of different ways in which we collect data and evidence of activity across the country and on the different ages and stages of life. Derek, do you want to add anything more around that? There is no direct comparison between the household survey and the health survey. The data is cut and sliced differently, so the health survey is aggregated at health board level rather than the household survey aggregated at local authority level, so it gives a different way to cut much of the same data, although one does exclude children and one is just adults. That is because one of them has obviously gone up significantly and the other one has kind of been flat, so I don't know if they are measuring different things or obviously they are. Which one should we focus on? That is why we use an active Scotland outcome framework as bringing together all of that plus grown-up in Scotland, which is that longitudinal analysis of children's life and experiences in Scotland. All of that is brought together for our active Scotland outcome framework as well. I guess the large general thrust is that there is still a lot to do to try and get our population a bit more active and nudge them in that right direction. There are encouraging signs around walking, encouraging signs around the activity levels of our children and young people, as I said in my outline earlier on. Regardless of the way in which we collect the statistics and whatever way they are cut up, what we have to take from that is that there is marginal improvement in areas, but a lot still to do to bring people from being inactive to active in the active Scotland outcomes framework is an attempt to bring together all those different ways of collecting data to then corral that into a sense that we can understand whether our activity in terms of policy and legislation and whatever is delivering on what we seek to achieve. It seems that we are trying to deliver something that is always good to have a measure, and we have got several measures that are all going in different directions. It is difficult enough that we are not in progress or not, so I do not know if they are. I certainly would have looked at the active Scotland outcome framework as well, which actually is lauded internationally as an approach. Other countries are looking at that as an approach to adopt. While we have the right things in place to measure success, the real challenge is actually making sure that it is implemented effectively to ensure the improvements that we need to see. The active Scotland outcome framework is really clear on how we measure success, and that is a number of people who are active with children and adults, and that is a top-line measure. There are a whole range of indicators that inform that against each of the six outcomes, but the measure of success is really clear, because these are a number of people meeting the physical activity guidelines, both for adults and children. They are drawn from the national health survey. That is one in the national performance indicator. The national performance framework is slightly different to Aberdeen Scotland outcome framework. It is a physical activity indicator with the Scottish health survey being drawn from the same data. The national performance framework is completely different from the active Scotland outcome framework, and that is linked to the Mae ymddwch chi'n gweithio. Ymddwch chi i ymddwch chi'n gweithio, mae ymddwch chi'n gweithio'n gweithio? Mae gweld wedi'i awr i gael i chi ddau rhai cyffraith nawr a chi'n ddau'r ddau categories. Mae'r amser y gallu diodel ac yn eu camuio'n ddau. Yr iechydion ddau всемiais ymddwch chi'n gweithio'n gweithio. Mae'n cwilio'n ddau i'n ddau allan nhogelt i chael ei wneud. Mae'n ddau wrth gwrs. Warts and all is the Active Scotland Outcome Framework, and that's the thing as well, that when we have a national strategic group that brings together Sport Scotland, Education Scotland, Transport Scotland, SNH and the rest of it, that's the thing that we agreed to sign up to deliver on. And that's the one that's going from 72 per cent to 79 per cent, which is good. Thank you. Jenny. Good morning to the minister. I have quite a specific question with regard to early experiences in life and sport activity. We know that the earlier you can intervene in terms of getting kids to take up a sport, the more likely they are to participate in sport later in life, and the committee has previously taken evidence from Abertau University and Andrea Cameron who told us that children who have had a poor experience in school are less likely to stick with sport and exercise as they go into adulthood, and that poor experience could perhaps be linked to their experiences of PE in schools. I wonder, do the Scottish Government currently quality assure what type of sports are delivered in our schools, so, for example, by carrying out a survey? Do we have an idea nationally of what type of sport is being delivered in our schools? And I know that that's really a specific point. In terms of working out whether this is providing a good experience for young people? I suppose my question is, and this would be my supplementary. In my experiences as a teacher previously, what sports were delivered in school were very much dependent upon the teacher's specialisms, so there might be an inequality there in opportunity. What I would point to though, as well, is that the fastest growing areas for girls' participation which we announced at the start of Active Women and Girls in Sport Week was around karate, dodgeball, cross country, oh, I can't, sorry, forgive me, but karate, but so certainly what I'm trying to point out is that it's maybe not the natural kind of things that you would associate with PE tuition in schools, so that's showing that when there is opportunity provided through Active Schools that when young girls in particular got the opportunity that that's where we saw the quickest and fastest growth. Rugby was the other one, sorry, I'm seeing Mary, Todd there, sorry, and of course Rugby was the other one. Heaven for family for forgetting that. So that, I think, maybe shows that there is an attempt to try and shift away from that. The other thing that I would point to is where our governing bodies are doing some really interesting and innovative work. So Netball Scotland, through their Science for Success programme, which I went to see in Shollins academy, are using that role model of their professional sporting stars to unpick some of the barriers that particularly adolescent girls are facing and feeling in schools. Again, I would highlight Shollins academy for some fantastic work that they're doing around ensuring equality of access to sport, particularly for LGBTI groups in our country. They have developed with Leap Sport a framework to ensure that people recognise the barriers that young people will face when they're about to do sport and how that can be off-putting and how that can be off-putting, not just for them at school but off-putting for life. So that is something that I would certainly encourage the committee to look at because that has been led by young people themselves through Leap Scotland and is potentially a tool for other schools to use. As we hurtle towards the end of the year, we're also coming into that time where social dancing happens and sometimes that has memories that might be positive but they might not be.  That's really difficult. I would certainly cite the work that Shollins academy has done. Leap Scotland has supported that but there's probably more that we can do to make sure that we have a focus on what opportunities are provided to young people at schools. Some of that will be led by the particular teacher's own experience and knowledge in their own sport and background but likewise I think that we should take heart from the fact that through active schools a range of experiences and opportunities are being provided and that's why we're seeing growth in karate rugby dodgeball where they're taking that opportunity up and participating in those sports. Thank you minister for that. My sister teaches in Shollins academy as well. Certainly be speaking to her about all the good work that they're doing. I also stirred up some trauma from years going by and some of us but not as much of the trauma as the people who had to dance with as I'm sure. You wouldn't. I can assure you you wouldn't. A broken foot might, Brian. That will make the diary at the weekend. Sorry, I've got a vision in my head. I've got a vision in my head of dancing with him. If I could, just a couple of quick points. The difference between the measurement that you're talking about between walking and then separating that out, the uptake on sport, the reason that I think that's important, I absolutely agree with Alison Johnstone that any kind of activity is very, very welcome. The reason I think has to be separated is in terms of sport needs a lot more framework to participate and needs more volunteers to participate than it would be in some of easy access activities like walking. One of the reasons we have to measure that is our understanding, as we'd like it to start, is around capacity, whether that's a barrier or whether we've reached a saturation point or we have access to it. That would be my point there of why it is important that we measure those two or our ability to see those two separately. To go back to the convener's point around Jogges Scotland, it's obvious, minister, that the funding with it was drawn and was put back in place mainly because of the pressure from this Parliament and this committee, and I think that's a good thing. Perhaps mistakes are made that their ability to be rectified. With that in mind, would you not consider swimming at school as a compulsory swimming at school, certainly in primary schools, as something that we could look at again, given that 40 per cent of children are now going to secondary school unable to swim, and if they're unable to swim, they're then not able to participate? This is, again, to Colin Smith's point, more prevalent in the lower percentile of the poorer communities. Is it not perhaps something that the Scottish Government should be looking at around reintroducing funding to ensure that all primary schools get access to swimming? The curriculum is not dictated, and what we're wanting to see is that more young people get opportunity of access to be physically active, and swimming will play a part of that. Alongside that, we support the Government-embodied swimming in Scotland with investment, and we'll continue to support increasing activity levels and highlight the importance of that, and swimming will continue to always be an important part of the P curriculum in many schools, but it's something that has been a long-standing tradition in Scotland that is not a national curriculum, and we don't specify explicitly what things should be part of that, apart from religious and moral education. We continue to support swimming in Scotland to deliver opportunities for young people. There's £1.7 million with drawing, and I would suggest to you that swimming's not just about activity, it's a life skill that allows kids going through life to participate in all sorts of things, even if that's going on holiday and jumping in the swimming pool. All I'm asking you, Minister, is that you reintroduce, or perhaps there's an opportunity to reintroduce, that kind of funding to allow schools to ensure that all primary school kids have access to swimming? Again, I think that we don't deny the importance of swimming, not just as an opportunity to be physically active, but of course the life skills that that brings, but then all sports provide life skills around resilience, around confidence, and all the host of positives that sport brings to a young person's life. Swimming will be an important part of the PE offer in many schools. In fact, it's being delivered across many schools in Scotland, and again, we continue to invest in swimming in Scotland to support the work that they do to provide opportunity. However, if the committee is so minded that they want to place that as a recommendation, we'll continue to look at that and also continue to work in dialogue with politicians, particularly at the point in which we can budgetary discussions or whatever. That's up to you if that's something you want to push, but certainly we recognise and support swimming, and we recognise the importance that swimming brings to young people's lives, and that's why it's currently delivered in schools across the country. That's a very important point, just in relation to volunteering, because we haven't covered that. We found that many of the clubs and organisations very much rely on a key person could be a coach or a key volunteer within those organisations, and that it can be pretty precarious if that volunteer becomes ill or moves on or retires or whatever. What's been done to encourage many more volunteers into sporting activity and coaching? I think that a lot of work happens at a local level, and a lot of work goes on through our sporting governing bodies to support volunteers and support volunteering opportunities. Sport Scotland offers support as well, and of course within our programme for government we have an explicit commitment to being more strategic in how we support volunteering, not just for sport, but across the board. We've got some fantastic examples of volunteering across the country, outwith Sport Children's Panel, and a whole host of things. We'll also use the opportunity of next year's year of young people to ensure that young people understand the benefits that they can get from volunteering as well. I think that I said in my opening remarks that around 19,000 volunteers have been pivotal to the delivery of the active schools programme. I thank you very much, minister. I thank you for your time this morning, and as you agreed previously, we'll move into private session.


I guess we can start. So welcome to the Sendin project update. My name is Drang. I'm the PTL for Sendin. So just a brief background on what is Sendin. Sendin is a clustering service in OpenStack. Sendin allows you to create and manage clusters or groups of homogeneous objects. So the most common use case would be you want to create a group of VMs and you want to manage them. So a bit of background on the project. Sendin was founded in the Metaka release of OpenStack. And in the most recent Rocky release, we had 35 individual contributors. And we had about 159 commits. And over 9,000 lines of code merged. So jumping into the features that were released in Rocky, we had three main features that were added. We had a new detection mode in the health policy. So this new detection mode allows you to create a custom URL and the health engine would pull that URL to query for the health of a node. We also added support for additional NOVA server operations, which I'll explain in more detail. And we added an option to stop a node before it's deleted. So for the node pull URL, we had to make a few changes to the health policy. So we have the detection type. We already had the lifecycle events at the node status polling. And the node status polling is basically actively querying NOVA for the status of the node. And we added a new mode, which is the node status pull URL. And along with that new mode or a new type, we have a few options. We have the interval for the polls. We have the pull URL, which is the URL endpoint that the health engine will query. We have the expected healthy response. So the health engine will match the response from the URL against the string. And then we'll determine if it's healthy or not. We added a retry limit. So you can specify how many times you want to retry before the node is considered unhealthy. We have the retry interval. And finally, we have a node update timeout. And that's an important one to give the node or the VM a grace period to start up before the URL endpoint is ready when it does a recovery. And below we have the recovery options, which haven't changed in the rocket release. So how does this look like in the example? We have the example on the right. And the way you can specify the pull URL is actually you can use a placeholder with the node name in curly braces. And the health engine will go ahead and replace that placeholder with the actual node name during the health check. So that way you can specify the instance name, for instance, that it will query against. The other option or the other feature that we added was the additional NOVA server operations. So as a reminder, if you're not familiar with it, you can execute operations on a node using the node operations API, which is a simple post with the operation name and key value pair. And in the rocket cycle, we added support for the following NOVA operations on NOVA instances. We had the suspend, the resume, the start, stop, block, unlock, pause, unpause, rescue, unrescue, migrate, snapshot, and restore. And the last major feature that was added was the stop node before delete, which came out of a customer request where people wanted to be able to have the node or VM gracefully shut down when a cluster is scaling in or a cluster is deleting a node. So we added something called stop node before delete as a cluster config option. And if that is set to true, then Sandin will call a stop on the node and wait for it to gracefully shut down and then delete the node. And that is specified during the cluster creation, as shown below. In the rocket release, we also had a microversion change. We bumped the microversion to 1.10. And this was done in response to a change in the ADOH project where they changed their payload. So we matched the Rapport Trigger API to the new payload. So the alarm service would be able to trigger the Sandin Rapport correctly. And the details are available in the link. Another thing I wanted to point out, within the last cycle, we had Sandin support added in Go4Cloud. If you're not familiar with Go4Cloud, Go4Cloud is the OpenStack SDK for Go. And it basically allows Go developers to query or make operations against OpenStack APIs. And obviously, Go4Cloud is not part of the official OpenStack project. And the work wasn't done as part of the official Sandin project. But the support that was added, actually, is very important to Sandin because now we have a greater user base of potential co-developers using Sandin. And the support was added in starting in May 2018. And right now, there's about 85% coverage of the Sandin APIs in Go4Cloud. And now let's talk about the features planned for the Stein cycle. So along with the change in Rocky, we had the new detection mode. So in Stein, we really want users to be able to specify multiple detection modes in the health policy. So if you would like to be able to have NOVA, pull NOVA for the status of a node and also have the health engine pull your custom URL endpoint, we will support that by trying each detection mode in order. And we also are looking to add more validation to the asynchronous API calls. So we will be checking for locked resources and for cooldown and progress at ingress of the API. And this will improve the stability of the API. And obviously, we are looking to fix any outstanding bugs. Other things that we're working on is really looking at the stability and the fault tolerance of the health checks to make sure that those can handle errors within when you can't talk to NOVA or the network is down and things like that. And we're also looking to add SPINX extension to auto generate profile and policy documentation based on the source code. So the documentation stays up to date with our changes. All right, so how to get feedback if you're interested or if you have any things that you would like to have addressed, you can always file bugs. You can ask questions in the new combined mailing list open stack discuss. And we also have weekly meetings that are on Fridays at 5.30 UTC in the send and channel. So I welcome anybody can join those meetings. And then we'll also be having an auto scaling forum session tomorrow at 9 AM. So if you're interested, feel free to join that. And if you are interested in contributing, we're always looking for new contributors. So you can help with code reviews. And as a small project, we're always looking for people also who are interested in implementing or helping with the community goals, such as the Python 3 goal or the upgrade checkers. And the documentation, if you're interested in that, you can definitely help with the improvement of that. And we're always looking for more integration tests as well. And here are a few of the reference links. We have our release notes. We have the launchpad where we have the blueprints. And we have our bug reports. And we have the wiki. And that's all I have. Are there any questions? OK. Well, thank you.