Scottish sport "faces a scramble to attract outside investment" to avoid a "flurry" of program cutbacks and job cuts after the "full extent of Scottish Government cutbacks were unveiled," according to Mark Woods of the SCOTSMAN. A total of £2M ($2.5M) has reportedly "been stripped from the funds collectively issued annually to the 50 national governing bodies" that are expected to find out details of their allocations by sportscotland "by the end of next week." Other than a "handful of small grants which have been maintained, it is understood every sport will see their cash reduced" at a time when there is "uncertainty surrounding the revenues coming through the National Lottery." Although the final budgets for sportscotland for the coming year "are yet to be signed off, it is thought its pot will be lessened" by 20%. The short-term implications "are numerous," with one CEO of a "prominent" sport describing the shift in policy -- and resources -- away from sport and into public health initiatives as "brutal." Effectively, sportscotland, "and by extension the sports it serves, are now on year-by-year deals with grave consequences for forward planning." While support in the lead-up to the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Australia "is not likely to be curtailed," if it were not for the availability of what is described as "a small reserve" in the lottery cash already allocated north of the border, "the expected retrenchment might be deeper" in the coming 12 months. The agency, "sources say, also expects its own staff numbers will need to be reduced despite public sector protection from compulsory redundancies." And even though "two flagship schemes" -- Community Sports Hubs and the Active Schools initiative -- have had their existing budgets "ring fenced and protected," even that decision has been described as "unsustainable" beyond '18 if there is no U-turn in approach from Scotland Sports Minister Aileen Campbell (SCOTSMAN, 3/19).
