National events strategy 2024 to 2035: fairer Scotland duty summary

Summary of evidence

National Events Strategy Review- feedback from public consultation^[6]

The strategy review included a 14-week public consultation^[7], consisting of an on-line survey and regional engagement workshops. 222 participants attended the workshops and the on-line survey received 102 responses. The analysis of the public consultation^[8], and the Scottish Government’s response to it^[9], were published in September 2023.

There were no specific questions in the public consultation around deprivation. However, several questions in the public consultation were framed around: community wellbeing; inclusion; the barriers to attending events; community engagement; increasing the benefits of events for communities; diversity and fair work practices, all of which are factors in helping achieve a Fairer Scotland.

In terms of the relative importance of strategic priorities for the refreshed strategy, one respondent to the on-line survey highlighted “Supporting low-income families and supporting events in areas of deprivation. Looking to support not only international events but community events which are more likely to spread events to a wider demographic and address issues such as health and wellbeing.”

Findings from the analysis of the on-line survey responses include:

• Boosting the economy and the events sector contributing to enhancing well-being and community were the key strategic priorities for the events sector over the next ten years.
• 52% of respondents agreed that events in Scotland are inclusive, 48% agreed that events in Scotland are accessible and 41% agreed that events are affordable.^[10]
• 55% of respondents agreed that event organisers involve communities in planning the events they hold.^[11]
• Those working in the sector were asked whether there was anything that they would like to see change in relation to Fair Work practices. The most prevalent theme in responses was a desire for better regulation of the sector in terms of working hours, pay and conditions.
• The survey asked respondents to what extent they agreed or disagreed that event organisers make connections between events and their ability to deliver broader positive impacts for society. The majority (61%) of those responding to the survey reported positively and agreed that event organisers did make these connections.

Contribution of Events to Scotland’s Wellbeing (VisitScotland/Wavehill)^[12]

Research commissioned by VisitScotland (on behalf of the Event Industry Advisory Group) – and led by Wavehill – considered the contribution of events to Scotland’s wellbeing. This report did not specifically focus on socioeconomic aspects however its findings are relevant to this Fairer Scotland Duty Assessment as it provides a broad picture looking across all of Scotland’s communities. Key findings include:

Community wellbeing

While small community events, by virtue of their scale, are unlikely to have significant economic impact, they are important socially and culturally.

One of the most commonly cited outcomes derived from the literature around events and festivals is their ability to instil a sense of civic pride. Events can act as catalysts for improving residents’ self-image of the community in which they live and for making a positive contribution to their quality of life.

Individual wellbeing

Wellbeing research points to the value of regular participation or attendance at events in driving self-reported improvements in wellbeing.

A thriving, inclusive and diverse events industry, providing varied and inclusive opportunities for engagement, is more likely to contribute to improvements in subjective wellbeing than one off events.

Several research reports highlight the impact of events in making people feel happier. The most frequently referenced wellbeing impact associated with event or festival attendance relates to its ability to build social capital. A society with high social capital is characterised as one rich in connections, co-operation and trust, where people help each other, provide information and access to opportunities and spend time for the ‘common good’.

Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation

Overall, Inverclyde, Glasgow City, North Ayrshire, West Dunbartonshire and Dundee City have the most data zones with 20% highest deprivation. 44% of Scotland’s 20% most deprived areas are in Glasgow City.^[13]

A number of Scotland’s recent mega events have been delivered by Glasgow Life (either in part or in full) and took place in and around the city of Glasgow. These include the 2014 Commonwealth Games, the 2018 European Championships, the 2023 UCI Cycling World Championships and the 2024 World Athletics Indoor Championships.^[14]

One of the aims of the 2023 UCI Cycling World Championships was to spread benefits across Scotland.^[15] This included hosting of the Gran Fondo Time Trial in Dundee. The Women’s and Men’s Elite Road Races passed through a number of local authority areas and many communities.

Culture

Levels of cultural attendance increase as deprivation as measured by the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD 2020) decreases.^[16]

62% in the 20 per cent most deprived areas participated in cultural activities, compared with 85% of adults in the 20 per cent least deprived areas.^[17]

When cinema was included, there was a 20% difference in cultural attendance between the 20% most deprived and 20 % least deprived areas (71% compared with 91%). When cinema attendance is excluded, the difference was even greater, with 63% in the most deprived areas and 86% in the least deprived areas.^[18]

Sport/physical activity

People in the most deprived areas are much less likely to be active. They are much more likely to be inactive, doing less than 30 minutes of activity each week.^[19]

People in the most deprived areas are less likely to participate in sport.^[20]

People in the most deprived areas are much less likely to be involved in clubs (9%) or high performance sport (7%). 43% of high performance athletes are in the most affluent areas.^[21]

Sport and Social inequality (Observatory for Sport in Scotland)

Key findings of the report Sport and social inequality^[22] led by the Observatory for Sport in Scotland and Stirling University include:

• The main difference between people who play sport in Scotland in the 21st century and those who don’t lies in levels of deprivation.
• Desire, attitude, levels of commitment or even social media and technology are not the main reasons for sport declining in many parts of Scotland – family income is.
• 68% of adults educated to degree level reported taking part in sport, but less than half (49%) of people who left school with a Standard Grade/O Grade qualification registered any level of sport participation and just 26% who left school without a Standard/O Grade qualification took part in sport. When the question included walking, the figures also showed similar levels of decline, from 91% of people with a degree or similar qualification, falling to just 56% of people with no qualifications, stating that they had walked in the past month.^[23]

Health

The Scottish Burden of Disease Study (2016) Deprivation Report highlights that poorer areas have double the rate of illness or early death than richer areas.^[24]

Digital exclusion

Digital access differs by area of deprivation: in 2019, 96% of households in the 20% least deprived areas in Scotland had internet access at home compared with 82% of households in the 20% most deprived areas.^[25]

However, over the last 13 years the disparity in access has decreased from 36 percentage points in 2006 to 14 points in 2019.^[26]

Transport

The Poverty and Inequality Commissions report “Transport and Poverty in Scotland” considers why transport matters in relation to poverty and the relationship between use of transport and income.^[27] Much in this report can also be useful in terms of the consideration of event impacts.

For example, the cost of transport can put significant pressure on household budgets, potentially making some events unaffordable for people on lower incomes.

Getting to and from events by public transport can also be challenging, especially in remote and rural areas. This applies to both people attending events and people working at events. The modes of transport that people use are influenced by their income. Evidence shows that people in lower income households are more likely to take the bus, while people in higher income households are more likely to drive or take the train.^[28] 44% of people with an income of less than £10,000 travelled by bus once a week or more compared to 16% of those with an income over £40,000.^[29] Having a driving licence, and having access to a car, is strongly related to income. Only 37% of households with a net annual income of up to £10,000 and 47% of those with an income of £10,000 - £15,000 have access to a car compared with nearly 97% of those with an income of over £40,000.^[30]

Research has also found a relationship between living in areas with higher levels of deprivation and having poorer transport options. While this is not universally the case, research suggests that areas with higher levels of deprivation tend to have worse public transport links in terms of both the number of options and quality of services.^[31] Again, this negatively impacts on people’s ability to enjoy events and to consider a career working in the events sector (due to logistical challenges and costs of getting there).

Advanced learning and skills

In 2020/21, 22.4% of Modern Apprenticeship starts came from the 20% most deprived areas in Scotland compared to 13.8% from the 20% least deprived areas.^[32]

Since 2017/18, the proportion of Modern Apprentice starts living in the 20% most deprived areas in Scotland has decreased from 24.5%, whilst the proportion of starts from the 20% least deprived areas has increased from 13.2%.^[33]

The proportion of all Scottish domiciled undergraduate qualifiers from the 20% most deprived areas has year-on-year increased from 16.6% in 2014/15 to 19% in 2019/20.^[34]

The participation in education, employment and training rate for young people (16-19 year olds) from the 20% most deprived areas in Scotland has increased over the past five years, from 83.3% in 2015/16 to 87.1% in 2020/21.^[35]

Meanwhile, the participation rate in education, employment and training rate for young people living in the 20% least deprived areas of Scotland has remained stable at about 96%.^[36]

Workforce

Based on the ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings 2023, 17.7% of employees aged 18+ in the events sector earned less than the Real Living Wage,^[37] compared with 10.1% of all employees in Scotland.

Younger people

Employment – Between July 2020 and June 2021, the employment rate for 16-24 year olds was 51.8%.^[38] The unemployment rate for 16-24 year olds is the highest of all age groups, and over twice as high as that of the population aged 16-64 years.^[39]

Low income – In 2020, 41.5% of young people aged 18-24 earned below the real living wage, the highest proportion of any age range.^[40]

2023 UCI Cycling World Championships

The Cycling Facilities Fund, an Inspired By project for the event, invested £8 million to support cycling facility projects across Scotland. Funding was given to facilities in both urban and rural locations across Scotland including areas such as Hawick and Kennoway (both in the 10% most deprived areas in Scotland, according to SIMD 2020).^[41]

10% of 2023 UCI Cycling World Championships volunteers lived in the top 10% most deprived areas of Scotland.^[42]

Making events free is an effective way of reaching new audiences. which means greater access to watch and take part in events. To welcome a wide audience, several events were free to all spectators including Road Races, Trials, BMX Freestyle Flatland, Gran Fondo and Mountain Bike Marathon competitions. Overall 90% of attendances the 2023 UCI Cycling World Championships were non ticketed. For ticketed events, the Championships offered tickets starting from £8.00.^[43] Tickets were deliberately made affordable to appeal to the widest audience at a time when there was a squeeze on household incomes. The Scottish Government also distributed over 250 complimentary tickets to charities and community and youth organisations.

World Athletics Indoor Championships

The World Athletics Indoor Championships has published a social impacts strategy.^[44] Accessible prices were put in place for categories 2 and 3 with junior and concession ticket prices also available. As part of the event’s legacy and sustainability policy, 50% of all purchased equipment has been repurposed within schools and community groups following the event. 75% of the events workforce had a contract compliant with Fair Work First principles, and there was gender equality through officials and volunteers.

Scotland’s Year of Stories

84 events (42% of the entire event programme) were specifically designed to engage with or showcase people on low incomes. Many events had free or affordable ticketing, and events took place in communities across Scotland.^[45]

Dandelion^{[46] [47]}(Scotland’s contribution to the Unboxed initiative)

Dandelion was a major creative programme demonstrating the power of collective action through an ambitious grow your own initiative that aimed to reach hundreds of thousands of people throughout Scotland and further afield. Dandelion brought together science, technology, art and music to inspire people to "Sow, Grow and Share" – not just food, but music, ideas and knowledge. During 2022:

• 19.38% of visitors to Dandelion Festivals in Glasgow and Inverness came from the 10 most deprived areas in Scotland.
• 37.21% of the circa 500 Harvest Festivals were held in the 20% most deprived data zones.
• 18.6% were held in the 10% most deprived data zones.
• 51% of the Dandelion schools were in SIMD deciles 1-5.
• 26% of the 468 schools were in SIMD deciles 1-3.

This evidence not only shows the encouraging interest in Dandelion from people living in the most deprived areas of Scotland, it also shows that, when adequately funded, it is possible to programme activity that engages all communities and to collect robust impact information in support of this. This sort of information is important if the event sector is to showcase and maximise its potential to contribute to a Fairer Scotland.

Glasgow 2018^[48] (European Championships)

There was no specific coverage provided in the evaluation report for Glasgow 2018 on the specific impacts related to socio-economic disadvantage. However, to broadly address inequalities, 39,000 complimentary and discounted tickets for Glasgow 2018 were provided to community groups and partners in and around Glasgow. This was supported by data which showed that although Glasgow residents made up 40% of the total Glasgow 2018 audience, over half of the audience for the free sporting events and the free cultural programme were Glasgow residents.

ScotSpirit Holiday Voucher Scheme^[49]

VisitScotland delivered the scheme in partnership with The Family Holiday Charity and Shared Care Scotland. Together, they administered the delivery of breaks to unpaid carers and low-income families. The scheme supported over 10,000 people. They were able to take a part funded break or day trip that they otherwise would not have had the opportunity to participate in.

Summary of assessment findings

Broadly, the evidence suggests that the event sector is already making an important contribution towards achieving a fairer Scotland. For example:

• Nationally, 84 events (42% of the entire event programme) celebrating Scotland’s Year of Stories were specifically designed to engage with or showcase people on low incomes.^[50]
• Regionally, Dumfries and Galloway’s 2023-2026 Events Strategy sets out a range of opportunities for it to respond comprehensively to the cost-of-living crisis and the issues of poverty and inequalities in Dumfries and Galloway.^[51]

Going forward, the National Events Strategy 2024-2035 provides the focus for Team Scotland partners to build on these and the many other successful events initiatives taking place across the country which are also helping achieve a Fairer Scotland. Key areas of opportunity are considered to be as follows:

Workforce

A national priority outcome in the refreshed strategy is workforce. The related events sector priority is that the event sector is an attractive sector for employment with Fair Work practices for its workforce through effective voice, security, fulfilment, opportunity, and respect.

There is some quantitative evidence related to learning, skills and workforce and deprivation. There is also useful learning related to volunteering featured in evaluations of mega events like the 2014 Commonwealth Games. This highlights a particular opportunity for events to further engage with younger people in terms of workforce development and Fair Work practices. Volunteering can be an effective way to build confidence and skills and to attract talent to the event sector. However, there are associated challenges. Partner engagement led by the Scottish Government highlights that for young people the choice can be between volunteering and securing paid part-time work for example, which can be a barrier to participation for people with lower incomes. Barriers can stop people from volunteering in the first place, or force them to drop out due to a change in their own circumstances. There might be practical barriers, structural barriers or emotional barriers.^[52]

Based on the ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings 2023, 17.7% of employees aged 18+ in the events sector earned less than the Real Living Wage,^[53] compared with 10.1% of all employees in Scotland. Increasing the people working in the events sector who are paid at least the Real Living Wage would be likely contribute to building a fairer Scotland. As part of public consultation to develop the strategy, those working in the sector were asked whether there was anything that they would like to see change in relation to Fair Work practices. The most prevalent theme in responses was a desire for better regulation of the sector in terms of working hours, pay and conditions.

The unemployment rate for 16–24-year-olds is the highest of all age groups, and over twice as high as that of the population aged 16-64 years.^[54]In 2020, 41.5% of young people aged 18-24 earned below the real living wage, the highest proportion of any age range.^[55]

The evidence also suggests that Modern Apprenticeships continue to be key in terms of enhancing the skills base and engaging younger people from more deprived areas in the event workforce.

Community

Community is one of the 5 national priority outcomes set out in the refreshed strategy. The related event sector priority is that events contribute positively to the physical, mental, and social health and wellbeing of individuals and communities. This would largely happen via participation as an event attendee/organiser or when a local community hosts an event in their neighbourhood.

There is limited quantitative evidence available related to events participation and socio-economic disadvantage. There are however some useful proxy measures which can be sourced from the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation, Scottish Household Survey and other sources to evidence this assessment.

The more significant amounts of evidence available largely comes from the evaluation of mega events like the 2014Commonwealth Games, 2018 European Championships and 2023 UCI World Cycling Championships all of which were centred on Glasgow and the surrounding regions. These areas also include some of Scotland’s most deprived neighbourhoods as evidenced by the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation.

A challenge has been to effectively engage local people in events hosted in their neighbourhood. Our sense from engagement with stakeholders is that many events have been successful in doing this through a range of measures including free and reduced-price tickets, enhanced transport infrastructure and targeted marketing and PR to showcase the welcome. However actually evidencing the impacts of these measures has been more of a challenge and there is limited information available to gauge success.

The events sector is made up of business, cultural and sporting events. The available evidence indicates that broadly culture and sporting participation decreases as levels of deprivation increase and we would expect this to also be the case for events. A key opportunity in terms of the National Events Strategy 2025-2035 is therefore to close the event participation gap between the most deprived and least deprived areas.

What is not certain is why less people from more deprived areas are attending events. Income is likely to be a key factor. Other reasons for lower participation in events could related to transport, digital exclusion, accessibility for people with mobility issues or because an event does not feel welcoming or does not speak to their interests or their culture and traditions (this can be a particular issue for minority ethnic communities)^[56]. There is some data and other evidence available related to each of these aspects which helps build the wider picture and also to identify the opportunities going forward.