While the Scottish Government has the responsibility for national sports policy issues, it is the responsibility of sportscotland, the national agency for sport in Scotland, and in many cases the national sports governing bodies and local authorities to organise the delivery of these policies.
Local authorities have a statutory responsibility to ensure that there is adequate provision of staff and facilities for their residents that offer a range of sporting, cultural, recreational and social activities. As part of this they are responsible for setting the pricing policy at such facilities within their community.
The Scottish Government provides funding through the 'Quality of Life' and 'Community Regeneration' funds that can be used by local authorities to provide sporting and cultural opportunities as they determine appropriate.
The Quality of Life fund provides funding direct to local authorities allowing councils to prioritise expenditure on projects which address local concerns on the environment and community well-being. The fund has been allocated £280m over the five years 2003-2008. The £318 million Community Regeneration fund is supporting the Closing the Opportunity Gap objective of regenerating the most disadvantaged neighbourhoods, and £51 million of this has been spent on providing and improving sports and physical activity opportunities.
Further information on local authorities and the available funds are available on the Scottish Government's local government webapges, and on the CoSLA website ( www.cosla.gov.uk).