A former Scotland rugby player today said the civil service "needs a boot" to help overturn "an unambitious approach" to getting children from poor backgrounds more active.
A former Scotland rugby player today said the civil service "needs a boot" to help overturn "an unambitious approach" to getting children from poor backgrounds more active.
John Beattie - who has 25 international caps - made the claim to a Holyrood committee investigating the provision of sport across the country.
He told MSPs most people do not do any physical activity in a country that no longer prides itself on sporting success.
It is a "national disgrace" that poor people were being left behind while children from fee-paying schools go on to win medals, he said.
The 51-year-old, who chairs a government-led physical activity review group, said: "I have to be honest here. To my mind I find the civil service very obstructive.
"I find that the reviews we're asked to do are limited, limiting, and unambitious.
"I think the targets for PE are unambitious, I think our target for participation in exercise is unambitious. And I've been part of it.
"We should be looking at more than two hours for PE, we should be looking at how on earth we get our population to walk more, cycle more, have fun and exercise. From that we pool our sporting talent.
"And if I have one message, it's that I do think as a country the political profile and the will behind exercise, fun exercise and sport, isn't anything like as high as it should be.
"That's my honest assessment and I think the civil service has to be given a boot."
Mr Beattie, whose son has also played international rugby, acknowledged both the recent success of Edinburgh Olympian Chris Hoy and the hype around the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.
He said about two-thirds of Scots are "completely inactive".
Before delivering his assessment on the civil service, Mr Beattie said: "We are no longer a country that prides ourselves on being sporty because frankly, at the moment, it's our fee-paying schoolkids who win our medals.
"If you do an analysis of the Commonwealth Games, it's a national disgrace that it's fee-paying school people who win medals.
"When I came into this I thought it was about sport - about rugby, about hockey.
"It's actually about our poor people who have no access to things, who have no school sport to give them a chance to become a Liz McColgan or whoever.
"Chris Hoy is a fantastic ambassador but to my mind that clouds the issue."
Mr Beattie made the comments during Holyrood's health and sport committee "pathways into sport" investigation.
It follows a series of sessions with sportspeople last year, including athlete Liz McColgan, rugby player Gregor Townsend and football manager Craig Brewster.
They criticised the level of access and standard of training facilities in Scotland.
The latest phase of the inquiry concentrates on sport in schools and the quality and accessibility of coaching.
