Spend of Proceeds of Crime Act Funding (ie Cashback) on unsupervised kickpitches in deprived areas

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Dear Scottish Sports Council,

I am interested as to how much of the Proceeds of Crime Act Funding (ie through Cashback for Communities) that you receive is spent on unsupervised kickpitches in deprived areas.

So- can you say how much you get each year -on average- in total- from the Scottish Government Community Safety Unit of the funding they disburse to their partners from the Proceeds of Crime Act?

Can you then tell me how this is spent? Is it ringfenced in any way? What proportion of it goes towards the capital funding of kick-pitches or multi-use games areas (MUGAs)? How many of these are in locations without any kind of staff unsupervision? And how many of these are in deprived areas?

I define deprivation here in accordance with the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation map at http://simd.scotland.gov.uk/map which identifies those areas in the 15% most disadvantaged areas of Scotland.

Yours faithfully,

Peter Gregson

Scottish Sports Council

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Sent request to Scottish Sports Council again, using a new contact address.

FOI, Scottish Sports Council

Good morning,

I acknowledge receipt of your Freedom of Information request dated 23
November, 2012. Under the terms of the Freedom of Information (Scotland)
Act 2002, sportscotland is obliged to reply to information requests within
20 working days, which means we will send you our response no later than
27 December, 2012.

Kind regards

Jennifer

show quoted sections

FOI, Scottish Sports Council

3 Attachments

Good afternoon,

 

Please find attached the response to your Freedom of Information request.

 

Kind regards,

 

Jennifer

Disclaimer - This document is confidential and intended solely for the use
of the individual(s) to whom it is addressed. If you are not the intended
recipient, please inform the sender immediately and be advised that any
unauthorised use of this document is strictly prohibited

As a public body, sportscotland falls under the requirements of the
Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 to disclose any information
(including electronic communication) that it may hold on a particular
topic when requested to do so by a person or body. If this causes concern,
sportscotland will be able to advise you further on this matter. For the
avoidance of doubt sportscotland's decision with regard to questions of
disclosure and non-disclosure shall be final.

Dear FOI,

I was seeking information as to how much of the Proceeds of Crime Act Funding(ie through Cashback for Communities) that you receive is spent on unsupervised kickpitches in deprived areas. None of which you have told me.
I am most disappointed by your reply.

Problem number 1: you have not indicated the answer to the first question: ie can you say how much you get each year -on average- in total-from the Scottish Government Community Safety Unit of the funding they disburse to their partners from the Proceeds of Crime Act? What you have given me is some figures as to how much you use of this funding for football and rugby. That was not my question. I seek to know the total.

Problem number 2: you have not told me if this cash is ringfenced in any way? Is it? Are there measures to direct any of it towards meeting particular criteria, or is it added into your general funds?

Problem number 3: I asked what proportion of it goes towards the capital funding of kick-pitches or multi-use games areas (MUGAs)?
You have not told me. All you have given is 4 locations of 7-a-side pitches you have funded. Locations are one thing. The amount of funding disbursed is another. I would imagine you have records of the amount you paid out to each of these 4 locations. If you could total that up and give me the answer that would be helpful.

Problem number 4: I asked how many of these are in locations without any kind of staff unsupervision? You do not seem to know as to whether 3 of the 4 pitches you mention are supervised. Yet your gtant officers will know this answer, since I myself was asked about it when I discussed the matter over the phone with your grants officer prior to submitting a bid for kickpitch funding. That was in August 2010. So I think you CAN answer this question if you take the time to refer to the grant applications - or the officers who assessed them- for these facilities.

I asked how many of these were in deprived areas? You HAVE answered this.

But it leads to another query- you define kickpitches as 7-a-side pitches. But I also specified MUGAs or Multi-Use Games Areas. These are manufactured by companies such as Colorado and cost around £50,000 for the structure and £20,000 for the "carpet" (or surface to play on). They usually have basketball hoops at either end as well as a 4-6 ft high fencing all around which are designed to stop the ball going off the pitch in built-up areas or near roads. Your officers should know what a MUGA is, if they have any experience of sport outside of football and rugby pitches. Have you funded any of these MUGAs?

I do hope you might spend a little time in reading my FOI thoroughly and trying to answer it. Otherwise you will continue to waste both my time- and yours.

I do look forward to a speedy reply. An internal review is, I think, what is required.

Yours sincerely,

P Gregson

FOI, Scottish Sports Council

Good evening,
I acknowledge receipt of your Freedom of Information review request dated
21 December, 2012. Under the terms of the Freedom of Information
(Scotland) Act 2002, sportscotland is obliged to reply to information
requests within 20 working days, which means we will send you our response
no later than 24 January, 2013.
Kind regards
Jennifer

show quoted sections

FOI, Scottish Sports Council

1 Attachment

Good afternoon,

 

Please find attached the response to your request.

 

Kind regards,

 

Jennifer

 

Jennifer Anderson | Legal Officer | sportscotland
Doges | Templeton on the Green | 62 Templeton Street | Glasgow | G40 1DA

t: 0141 534 1175 | f: 0141 534 6501
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Disclaimer - This document is confidential and intended solely for the use
of the individual(s) to whom it is addressed. If you are not the intended
recipient, please inform the sender immediately and be advised that any
unauthorised use of this document is strictly prohibited

As a public body, sportscotland falls under the requirements of the
Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 to disclose any information
(including electronic communication) that it may hold on a particular
topic when requested to do so by a person or body. If this causes concern,
sportscotland will be able to advise you further on this matter. For the
avoidance of doubt sportscotland's decision with regard to questions of
disclosure and non-disclosure shall be final.

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Dear FOI,

Thank you for providing this information. It answers my questions.

Yours sincerely,

P Gregson