The committee suspends briefly.

Mr Findlay says football can be irrational, particularly around fans and "people would walk over broken glass for their club".

The Labour MSP says given the vested interests in football, is there a willingness by the top clubs to confront this issue of child protection in sport or are they not acting in a fully open manner.

Image source, bbc

Professional Football Association Scotland chief executive Fraser Wishart says in previous years there was a reluctance by top clubs to deal with the issue but now with the SFA review they have to be.

Mr Wishart says a young lad signing at 11 years old faces an imbalance of power and there must be a better reporting process for issue.

He says intermediaries must also be looked at and these people should have to go through a check.

He says the vast amount of people who volunteer for sport do so out of good will and they must be supported and we must not discourage these people.

Labour MSP Neil Findlay asks if organisations such as the Scouts are covered by legislation or if there is a loophole there.

Mr McKinlay from the SFA says he thinks there is a loophole and it is something that could be looked at. 

Scottish Youth Football Association chief executive David Little says there was a lot of training delivered by Volunteer Scotland in the "early days" but he is more concerned with the level of training now.

Mr Little says funding is also a concern and "any funding from the Scottish government to allow the SYFA to beef up its process would be beneficial.

He says the last two people terminated in the process had a blank discolure in terms of a criminal record.

Scottish Youth Football Association chief executive David Little says bullying and humiliation are totally unacceptable.

Mr Little says there is an incident record form and a complaints system on the website.

Image source, bbc

He says there is also a panel that meets every month which rules on membership and any allegations.

Mr Little says if there is any concerns that come in r.e the abusing of children the SYFA will engage the police to investigate that.

He congratulates the SFA for their BRAVE operation, which recognised there were too many kids that were jersey killers.

Scottish Conservative MSP Donald Cameron asks about youth players being humiliated at football training. 

Mr Cameron says that David Beckham revealed in a recent interview that he was made to do a silly dance in training once when he was a youth player. 

Mr Cameron asks if this is seen as acceptable.   

Donna Martin from the SFA says it is not acceptable and it is about giving the child confidence to speak out against it.

Mr Cameron asks how confident the SFA are that children would come forward if they are being bullied at their clubs.

Ms Martin says she is confident but "there is a road to go".

Committee convener Neil Findlay asks if Mr McKinaly is happy this PVG system is run by volunteers.

Mr McKinlay says: "I think it is something we need to look at."

Image source, bbc

Mr Finlay asks if there is enough funding for the PVG checks

Mr McKinlay says: "Again that is something that the review will look at."

Scottish Youth Football Association chief executive David Little says child protection is not just run by volunteers it is also paid for by volunteers. 

Labour MSP Neil Findlay asks if Mr Little is saying the SYFA relies on its volunteers to operate and carry out checks.

Mr Little says "yes" it does.

Scottish Youth Football Association chief executive David Little says, like every other process, there are lessons to be taken from it and improvements to be made.

Mr Little says he would like to see an online form introduced and that this would help the SYFA greatly.

He says the length of time a PVG lasts has to be examined because it is not practical to do it annually in his opinion.

Image source, bbc

Labour MSP Colyn Smith points to the BBC Scotland figures that say there are 1,298 unregistered coaches in the SYFA.

Mr Little from the SYFA says "the figures are not entirely correct", as 16,617 PVG checks have been carried out and at the moment 949 officials are working through attending PGV meetings .

He says says within the 949 there are a number of forms on their way, he cannot say all 949 have completed forms and some are on the way. 

Mr Smyth says Mr Little was concerned in December that there was a problem with people submitting a PGV form.

Mr Little says as long as there are PGVs outstanding then he is concerned and if people are not compliant by 28 February they will be suspended. 

He says the problem is the process is run by volunteers.

Scottish Youth Football Association chief executive David Little says the SYFA has a meeting with the SFA on the 17 February to discuss the directive.

Mr Little says the SYFA wants to discuss how technology can be used to gather the information required by the directive.

He says a number of people have responsibilities, in achieving the directive, including parents, clubs, the leagues and the SYFA.

"By team working we can achieve the outcome we are all looking for, which is a safe environment," he says.

Mr Cole-Hamilton says the weak link in the chain is what happens when a coach is waiting for a PVG check.

The Lib Dem MSP says there are many times where one of the coaches has to help a child in the changing room and this does not seem a guarantee to safety.

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He says the SFA must agree with this as they have issued the directive in November. 

Donna Martin from the Scottish Football Association says there needs to be the requirements for PVG checks to take place.

Andrew McKinlay from the SFA says there is a lack of consistency across the membership.

Scottish Youth Football Association chief executive David Little says the SYFA has its own registration system which captures detailed checks and references.

He says information on coaches is sent to Disclosure Scotland for additional checks and the information received from this organisation has been "phenomenal".

"This year disclosure checks will cost SYFA £70,000," he says.  

The Scottish Youth Football Association, external says :"SYFA using our website, Facebook and Twitter feeds have issued advice on reporting allegations in order that we can work with Police Scotland and NSPCC. 

"They can then give support and ensure that all allegations are fully investigated by the professionals. 

Image source, SYFA

Regarding the protection of our 60,000 registered players and some of the steps taken to ensure a safe fun environment, please be aware of the following actions taken by the Scottish Youth Football Association (SYFA). 

1. SYFA’s Player Protection Policy was revised in conjunction with the NSPCC. 

2. We have a Protection Panel to review all club complaints and/or membership applications received from potential officials to determine suitability for membership. 

3. Protection advice sheets have been prepared in conjunction with the NSPCC and issued to the SYFA website. 

4. A Protection area has been created within the SYFA website. 

5. SYFA will launch an online Protection training programme in February 2017 for all SYFA registered officials. We currently have a Playing it Safe training course 

Scottish Youth Football Association chief executive David Little apologises for being late.

Mr Little says it is important to give some background on SYFA saying there arre 39 member leagues and 15,433 registered officials. 

BBC Scotland has revealed there are 1,298 unregistered coaches in the Scottish Youth Football Association.

Image source, bbc

Mr Little says there will always be a churn and people to be checked.

He says there will be people coming and going up until the 16 of June.

The SYFA chief executive says they anticipate that 600-1000 PGV checks a month.

He says he would like to commend all the volunteers.

Lib Dem MSP Alex Cole-Hamilton says he understands that compliance is an SFA responsibility.

Mr McKinlay says it is the SFA's responsibility to make sure other organisations are compliant but the organisation's responsibility to carry out compliance.

Mr Cole-Hamilton turns to Scottish Youth Football Association chief executive David Little, who has just arrive and asks why some coaches have not had a PVG check. 

Image source, bbc

Lib Dem MSP Alex Cole-Hamilton says Mr McKinlay said the SFA issued a directive last November about PGV checking. 

Mr Cole-Hamilton asks why has it taken nearly 10 years to get to this point and why was there not a directive in 2008.

Mr McKinlay says the question should be put to the Scottish Youth Football Association.

Mr Findlay asks if the SFA speak to the SYFA and Mr McKinlay says of course he does.

The SFA representative says the directive in November was brought in to strengthen the position and says the committee should ask Mr Little.

Scottish Youth Football Association chief executive David Little arrives into the hot seat. 

Image source, SNP MSP Clare Haughey

SNP MSP Clare Haughey asks what steps have been taken to redress the balance of power between coaches and a child's rights.

Andrew McKinlay from the SFA says people still feel the balance is one-sided and the organistation are taking measures to address this.

Donna Martin from the SFA says there is a panel that will address issues relating to player registration if a child wants to leave a professional club.

Ms Martin says the panel consists of a person approaching it from a football perspective, one from a legal perspective and one from a children's rights perspective. 

Ms Haughey says she is not asking solely about player registration and she is not hearing anything to convince her that the balance of power is shifting.