UEFA EURO 2028 – impacts and legacy: child rights and wellbeing impact assessment

Child Rights and Wellbeing Impact Assessment Template

1. Brief Summary

Type of proposal:

• Decision of a strategic nature relating to the rights and wellbeing of children

Name the proposal, and describe its overall aims and intended purpose.

UEFA EURO 2028 will be hosted across the UK & Ireland. As part of hosting the tournament, the Scottish Government will deliver an impact and legacy programme. The Scottish Government will focus its impact and legacy activity on programmes to:

• enable more people to participate in football – especially those from underrepresented groups and in less advantaged communities.
• Bring communities together to build social connections and civic pride.

The programme will complement wider activity that will seek to maximise the economic benefits of hosting the event.

Following consultation with stakeholders, we intend to apply a community led approach to the impact and legacy programme. This approach will empower communities to design and deliver activities that best suit their needs. This may mean a diverse range of programme activity and varied target audiences between different locations and communities.

The Scottish Government has a dedicated impact and legacy budget and has overall responsibility for the impact and legacy programme. We intend to appoint an impact and legacy partner, or partners, who will be responsible for the design and delivery of impact and legacy programme in Scotland.

Impact and legacy programme activity will be announced in due course, once further development work has been undertaken by the delivery partner(s), and is expected to continue beyond the end of the tournament.

Start date of proposal’s development: January 2023

Start date of CRWIA process: September 2024.

2. With reference given to the requirements of the UNCRC (Incorporation) (Scotland) Act 2024, which aspects of the proposal are relevant to/impact upon children’s rights?

With regards to the UNCRC (Incorporation) (Scotland) Act 2024 we would expect EURO 2028 impact and legacy and wider benefit realisation activity to be relevant to articles; 2 – Non-discrimination, 23 – Rights of children with disabilities, 29 – Goals of education, and, 31 – Leasure, play and culture.

3. Please provide a summary of the evidence gathered which will be used to inform your decision-making and the content of the proposal

Evidence from:

a) Existing research/reports/policy expertise

In the early development of impact and legacy programme, the policy team worked closely with Scottish Government analysts and event partners, including football associations and government partners to collate existing research in relevant fields. This research then informed the creation of the high level impact and legacy plan. Those plans then informed the development of potential activities in Scotland, and supported considerations of potential areas of collaboration across the UK and Ireland. Following consideration of all of the impact assessments which should be considered, and understanding the assessment criteria of those relevant to this proposal, available data was then mapped against the impact and legacy workstream to identify where data was relevant and where there was a lack of data. For each of the impact assessments we have sought to ensure thought be given across protected characteristics and where activities may have impacts on areas such as socio-economic deprivation. Scottish Government analysts confirmed in an impact assessment framing exercise in December 2024 that they were content data gathered for this process was comprehensive of what was available.

In developing the policy, we used the Scottish Health Survey (2022), the most recent Survey at the time.

The UK Chief Medical Officers' Physical Activity Guidelines states that children and young people should engage in moderate-to-vigorous intensity physical activity for an average of at least 60 minutes per day across the week. This can include all forms of activity such as physical education, active travel, after-school activities, play and sports.

According to the Survey’s findings, in 2022, around seven in ten children aged 5-15 met the physical activity guidelines of at least 60 minutes on average per day in the previous week (69%), including school-based activities (where applicable). Around two in ten (19%) achieved at least 30 but less than 60 minutes per day on average, and 12% achieved less than 30 minutes of physical activity on average per day.

• In 2022, the proportion meeting the recommendations was lowest among those aged 13 to 15 years (54%), while adherence to the guidelines was in the range 62-77% among those aged 2-12.
• With the exception of the 5-7 year age group, a higher proportion of boys than girls adhered to the physical activity guidelines in 2022. This variation was only significant among those aged 13-15, with a 22-percentage-point difference between boys and girls (65% and 43% respectively).
• In 2022, girls were more likely to undertake at least 30 but less than 60 minutes of activity on average per day (22%) than boys (16%). However, there was no significant difference in the proportions undertaking less than 30 minutes of physical activity on average per day by sex (12% for boys and girls).

These statistics have remained fairly static. According to the 2024 Scottish Health Survey, 68% of all children aged 5-15 met the child physical activity guidelines when including activity at school. This was at the lower end of the range recorded since 2008 (68%-76%). When excluding activity at school, 59% of children aged 5-15 met the physical activity guidelines in 2024. This was at the lowest end of the range recorded since 1998 (59%-68%). As in previous years, in 2024 males were more likely to meet the physical activity guidelines including and excluding school-based activity (73% and 65% respectively) compared with females (63% and 53%).

In 2024, older children were less likely to meet the physical activity guidelines with 66%-77% of children aged 2-12 meeting the guidelines (including activity at school), compared to 54% of children aged 13-15. While the pattern of older children being less likely to meet the physical activity guidelines was also evident by sex, the decline in physical activity between 11-12 year olds and 13-15 year olds was significantly larger for females than for males. When including activity at school the figure decreased by 24 percentage points from 67% to 43% for females compared to 5 percentage points from 69% to 64% for males.

Scottish Household Survey 2022 shows:

• Of those living in the most deprived areas, 70% participated in physical activity and sport (including recreational walking) compared to 90% for those living in the least deprived areas.
• 51% of adults living in the 20% least deprived areas (SIMD 5) had volunteered either formally or informally, compared to 37% of those living in the 20% most deprived areas (SIMD 1).
• Although levels of deprivation did not impact social isolation, as measured by the number of people meeting socially at least once a week, those living in the 20% most deprived areas were almost twice as likely to experience feelings of loneliness (30%) as those living in the 20% least deprived areas (16%) (Table 2.38).
• 86% of adults living in the 20% least deprived areas had attended a cultural event or place of culture, including the cinema, compared to 61% of adults living in the 20% most deprived areas. When cinema is excluded this difference was greater (80% and 51% respectively).
• Data from the survey also indicates that individuals living in the most deprived areas, often identified by the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation 2020, face higher risks of social isolation, loneliness, and lower levels of safety. These, alongside low-income groups, often report lower senses of community belonging.

In terms of existing activity targeting girls, SPAR Scotland (convenience stores) sponsor the SFA and have done since 2019. A key element of the partnership was the introduction of the SPAR Future Stars Football Cup which is a nationwide Girls Football competition stretching across all six Scottish FA Regions. This presents an opportunity for girls aged 12-16 years to participate in a competitive, fun and inclusive competition for their school. In 2024, 226 teams joined the tournament– 20 more than the previous year. In total, over 3,000 girls were involved in the tournament over the few months with 36 teams (350 girls) making it through to finals day.

UEFA Disney Playmakers is a new programme the SFA are running with UEFA and Disney. It’s for girls aged 5-8 years who are not currently playing football. It invites them to step into the magical world of Disney as they take the first step on their football journey. These sessions create an environment where imaginations can run wild as an iconic Disney story is told through movement and play.

• 2022 Participation Numbers - 1162
• 2023 Participation Numbers - 871 (plus Moana figures)

KDM Centres - Girls’ soccer centre for recreational players aged 5 – 12 years and is a long-term programme to encourage girls to play in a recreational setting. In 2024, 1,271 girls participated in the programme. There are now more than 21,000 registered players across the country.

The Scottish FA/McDonalds Fun Football programme aims to deliver football within a fun, enjoyable and safe environment for 5–12-year-olds. The programme also aims to support participation opportunities in football through FREE football activity (10 weeks free) which is part of the Scottish FA Football For All plan. In 2023, 1,680 girls and 5,212 boys participated in the programme (Total - 6,892).

The SFA’s Football in Schools “Learning Through Football” platform support schools with projects, resources and coach education training specifically designed for teachers, providing access to football for learning and physical activity purposes. In partnership with Brain Health Scotland, the SFA created “Learning to Keep My Brain Healthy” resource to inspire and empower young people to learn about supporting their mental health. Other school-based programmes including the SFA’s ‘Extra Time’ and ‘CashBack for Communities’ programmes develop initiatives and empower clubs to deliver activity to support the mental health and wellbeing of young people and families.

In October 2022, Scotland was announced as the first ‘Daily Mile Nation’ worldwide, with roll out to nurseries, schools, colleges, universities and workplaces across the country:

• Scotland now have over 50% of primary and ASN schools taking part in The Daily Mile.
• There are currently over 1000 nurseries, schools and SEN schools participating in Scotland.
• Over 190,000 Children and Young People benefit from The Daily Mile across Scotland.
• One recent study at the University of Stirling has also suggested that it helps with children’s memory and cognition.
• In 2019-20 sportscotland issued surveys to around 9,000 Active Schools participants across 10 local authorities. While this data is not disaggregated by gender, it demonstrates the success of Active Schools in creating a positive and fun environment for all. Findings included that:
• 97% of pupils participating in Active Schools feel healthier as a result of participating
• 82% of pupils have made friends through Active Schools
• 88% of pupils feel happier.

b) Consultation/feedback from stakeholders

We have started with a focused group of partners to respect commercial sensitivities and confidentiality, while preparing for broader engagement as development milestones are reached. Through ongoing development by delivery partners, key stakeholders, including equality groups and others who may be involved in hosting, will be engaged to ensure inclusive and collaborative planning.

c) Consultation/feedback directly from children and young people

As above. We will look to appoint an impact and legacy delivery partner(s) to design and deliver on the ground impact and legacy activities. Through this development process we will encourage partners to engage with children and young people through existing forums as well as continuing to take learnings from similar programmes that have already been delivered.

4. Further to the evidence described at ‘3’ have you identified any 'gaps' in evidence which may prevent determination of impact?

Discussions with Scottish Government analysts confirmed that while there are data gaps in Scotland, the data gathered is comprehensive of what was available at that point in time and is appropriate for the purposes of the assessment of the impact and legacy programme. In terms of age, available data lacks detailed breakdown of age bands and longitudinal data showing participation over time. This means that we can’t fully understand what works over a longer periods because there’s limited evidence linking interventions gathered to long-term behaviour change.

It is not considered proportionate to establish data gathering specifically for the Scottish Government’s EURO 2028 impact and legacy workstream. Working with partners we will make considerations about possible commissions of research across the UK and Ireland – for example we may look to establish baselines to support measurement of impact and legacy. We will also continue to gather available data and utilise that where possible to inform impact and legacy and benefit delivery. Tournament evaluation will include qualitative and quantitative data gathering across economic and social/societal impacts of the tournament (this will be co-funded by the Scottish Government).

5. Analysis of Evidence

When considering the development of the impact and legacy programme and the data we gathered, it was identified that a EURO 2028 impact and legacy and wider benefit activities linked to the programme could likely have a positive impact on the rights and wellbeing of children and young people across a number of areas if it includes activity to:

• Increase physical activity and health outcomes
• Support mental wellbeing and social connection
• Promote inclusion and equal access to sport
• Enhance education and personal development
• Ensure safety and empowering youth voice

The evidence demonstrates that children and young people are not always meeting their minimum levels of physical activity per day, this problem is even bigger for those living in deprived areas or facing other barriers, like disability or access of opportunity. The uptake of similar programmes of work have seen high levels of participation supporting healthy lifestyles in children. Despite high participation in a range of programmes, overall physical activity levels among children have remained largely static, indicating limited evidence of population-level impact. This highlights that there is opportunity to build on existing initiatives yet being mindful there may need to be considerations to different approaches to meet the needs of those involved. Therefore, by tailoring the programme focussing on communities based on this evidence we have concluded the potential benefits to articles 2, 23, 29, and 31.

6. What changes (if any) have been made to the proposal as a result of this assessment?

As part of planning for EURO 2028 impact and legacy, delivery partners have agreed on a social impact and legacy framework for the event. This framework outlines key goals for partners to follow when delivering related activities. Based on this, the Scottish Government will focus on increasing participation, especially for those from underrepresented groups and disadvantaged communities. Another ambition will be to remove barriers, create opportunities, and bring communities together through shared national moments. These decisions are based on available data, discussions with EURO 2028 partners, and findings from this and other impact assessments.

The Scottish Government is striving to improve the levels of physical activity in Scotland. In September 2024, it published the Physical Activity For Health: Scotland’s National Framework, which sets out eight strategic delivery goals including 'Active Sport and Recreation' to promote physical activity - aligning well with ambitions of impact and legacy that align with participation. In addition, in 2022, Public Health Scotland published 'A systems-based approach to physical activity in Scotland A framework for action at a national and local level'. The framework set out strategic outcomes that, if achieved, will be a transformational change in the health and wellbeing of the Scottish population. One of the strategic outcomes is 'Sport and active recreation for all'. Again, this outcome aligns with increasing participation - especially those from underrepresented groups. Therefore, through assessing the UNCRC requirements alongside completing other impact assessments and reviewing the evidence, this mission was decided on and drafted to reflect areas which have been identified as issues, and therefore can provide the greatest positive impacts.

Focus of the wider EURO 2028 social impact programme in Scotland is around supporting communities - bringing people together across different backgrounds, instilling pride and sense of belonging. Through engaging with partners from the starting point of our findings, we have decided that the core impact and legacy programme should be community led. This is in line with the Scottish Government’s commitment “to supporting our communities to do things for themselves, and to make their voices heard in the planning and delivery of services.” This should help improve the position outlined in the Scottish Household Survey, which shows that people from more deprived areas of Scotland have lower levels of social connections in their communities than those from less deprived areas. This includes being less likely to rate neighbourhoods as a good place to live, lower sense of belonging, feeling less safe, and lower agreement that local people take action to improve neighbourhoods. People living in more deprived areas are also less likely to volunteer.

We consider this focussed and community led approach will give the best possible avenue to maximise the funding we have available with flexibility to tailor activities to the needs of communities across Scotland. We will continue to review new evidence and engage with partners as we develop wider impact and legacy and wider activities.