Moray, East Dunbartonshire and Western Isles miss out on a decade of club sport funding

Scottish Liberal Democrats have today called for sports funding to be spread across the country as they revealed that some local authorities have not seen a single direct investment in club sport from Sport Scotland for at least a decade.

On their website Sport Scotland say that “Direct club investment offers investment to support clubs to implement a significant developmental change”. However, Scottish Liberal Democrat analysis of Sport Scotland figures reveals that since 2013, not a single sports club from Moray, East Dunbartonshire or the Western Isles has received any of this funding.

Other local authorities including Angus, Clackmannanshire and Dumfries & Galloway saw just a single sports team apiece receive funding over the past decade. By contrast in Edinburgh 31 projects were funded, while projects in Glasgow received funding on 17 occasions.

The figures come in the wake of previous Scottish Liberal Democrat analysis showing that total Sports Scotland investment in local authority sports has fallen from £15.9m in 2013/14 to £15.5m in 2021/22, a cash cut of 2.2% or an approximately 26% real terms cut in funding when accounting for inflation.

Moray Liberal Democrat leader and Scottish Liberal Democrat sports spokesperson Neil Alexander said:

“Sadly these figures show that if you are a sport lover in Moray, East Dunbartonshire or the Western Isles you have missed out over the past decade.

“Funding for clubs to hire development staff and community coaches enables them to get more people active and involved and helps to develop great Scottish talent.

“Andy Murray and Eve Muirhead are living proof that Scotland’s next sporting hero does not have to come from our two biggest cities.

“As a country we should be looking to boost engagement and participation, not just for sporting prestige but for reasons of public health too.

“Scottish Liberal Democrats want to ensure that sport and culture can be for everyone. Sports minister Maree Todd needs to make sure that every corner of Scotland can benefit from a transformative investment in Scottish sport.”