The Official Report is a written record of public meetings of the Parliament and committees.
All Official Reports of meetings in the Debating Chamber of the Scottish Parliament.
All Official Reports of public meetings of committees.
Displaying 1019 contributions
Health, Social Care and Sport Committee
Meeting date: 19 December 2023
Dr. Sandesh Gulhane
You say that it is an education point. In England, you can see the decisions being discussed with a referee, but you do not get the same in Scotland. Is that something that the SFA is actively stopping or is it just—
Health, Social Care and Sport Committee
Meeting date: 19 December 2023
Dr. Sandesh Gulhane
Turning to regulation, I am sure that you know the research that has been carried out by the University of Edinburgh. According to that, only 12.9 per cent of supporters believe that the SFA does a good job for the Scottish game and 11.1 per cent believe that the current governance structure in the Scottish game is sustainable. How do you respond to those figures?
Health, Social Care and Sport Committee
Meeting date: 19 December 2023
Dr. Sandesh Gulhane
Thank you. We would really appreciate that information.
A massive 96.2 per cent of people felt that independent regulation would be a positive step for Scottish football. There are other figures on that that are up in the 90s. That view is overwhelming on the part of supporters because you are right that everyone concentrates on their club. Therefore, from your point of view, why should we not look at implementing independent regulation?
Health, Social Care and Sport Committee
Meeting date: 19 December 2023
Dr. Sandesh Gulhane
Yes. I want to ask specifically about what the SFA is doing to increase diversity in refereeing. We have heard from the convener about female referees, but we need to see wider society being represented, too. What specifically is the SFA doing to actively recruit people from diverse ethnic backgrounds?
Health, Social Care and Sport Committee
Meeting date: 19 December 2023
Dr. Sandesh Gulhane
Could you write to us about that, too?
Health, Social Care and Sport Committee
Meeting date: 19 December 2023
Dr. Sandesh Gulhane
Specifically on the need to address the situation in rural areas—there is a distinct difference between our urban belt and our rural belt—has the GP contract, which has centralised the provision of things such as vaccinations, been a success in our rural Highland areas? Was the Government warned in advance of the contract being introduced that it could cause a specific problem for our rural and island populations?
Health, Social Care and Sport Committee
Meeting date: 19 December 2023
Dr. Sandesh Gulhane
We will be coming on to recruitment, so I will not venture into questions about that.
I want to ask about optometry. We have got some fantastic examples in Lanarkshire and in Glasgow of people being able to go directly to their opticians to get help with their eyes, to be referred to the hospital and to then pick up prescriptions. They can have that wonderful dialogue without going to their GP. Quite frankly, opticians are better at eyes than I am as a GP. Why has that not been rolled out across the country? What are the barriers to that happening?
Health, Social Care and Sport Committee
Meeting date: 19 December 2023
Dr. Sandesh Gulhane
Forgive me, Ian, but how long has the SFA been around?
Health, Social Care and Sport Committee
Meeting date: 19 December 2023
Dr. Sandesh Gulhane
Indeed.
So, in 150 years, the SFA has not let people know what its function is.
Health, Social Care and Sport Committee
Meeting date: 19 December 2023
Dr. Sandesh Gulhane
You have repeatedly mentioned how sport can change lives. I completely agree. There has been a bit of focus on men’s football, so I will turn to women’s football. It is a huge growth market. It is a huge growth game. More than half of our population are women and potentially want to be involved in it. What is the SFA doing not only to promote the women’s game but to make it more robust and get more money in to continue its growth?