Chamber and committees

Museum and Social Justice published by the Scottish Museums Council in December 2000 identifies the contribution of museums to the social justice agenda. The Executive has not commissioned research in the other areas mentioned.

The Scottish Executive does not provide direct funding to non-national museums and galleries in Scotland. The Executive is responsible only for the National Institutions. Funding to the National Galleries of Scotland and the National Museums of Scotland for 1999-2000 to 2001-02 is shown in the following table.

Funding (£ m)	1999-2000	2000-01	2001-02	2002-03
National Galleries of Scotland	10,085	11.185	12.535	12.285
National Museums of Scotland	13,291	14.427	17.177	17.477

These amounts include revenue and capital funding.Funding is also provided for the Scottish Museums Council as shown:

Scottish Museums Council
	1999-2000	2000-01	2001-02
Funding (£ m)	0.941	0.941	1.041
Strategic Change Fund (£ m)			0.5

This information is not available per capita.In addition in March 2002 in connection with the refurbishment of the Kelvingrove Gallery by Glasgow City Council the Executive made an exceptional one off payment of £3 million to Glasgow's Museum Service including £1 million specifically identified for the Kelvingrove Refurbishment Appeal Trust.The responsibility for funding local museums and galleries lies with local authorities through their GAE allocation. The Scottish Executive does not hold information on funding for museums and galleries in other parts of the United Kingdom.

The consultation paper on the action plan for Scotland's museums was published on 6 September 2002. The deadline for submissions and the closure of the consultation period is now 6 December 2002.

The Joint Implementation Group for the Cultural Strategy is chaired by Mike Watson and its membership includes COSLA. At its second meeting in January this year it reviewed a wide range of issues relating to education including the contribution of museums and galleries.More detailed guidance on that contribution will be included in draft guidance for local authorities on their responsibilities in the cultural area and on their contribution to the implementation of the National Cultural Strategy. That guidance has been prepared by a joint Scottish Executive/COSLA working group and will issue in draft form for comment shortly.COSLA, Scottish Museums Council, Scottish Arts Council, National Museums of Scotland and National Galleries of Scotland collaborated on a joint conference in October 2001 - The Learning Power of Museums in Scotland. Conference proceedings were subsequently published in July 2002 and submitted to the Executive to inform the National Debate on Education.Detailed discussions on the education role and contribution of museums are being taken forward by the Group on Education in Museums.

The important contribution of Scotland's museums and galleries to tourism is recognised in the VisitScotland's Tourism Framework for Action and in the Report of the National Audit of Scotland's Museums and Galleries. The latter shows that in 2000 there were over 13.5 million visits to Scotland's 435 museum sites.

The recent findings of important work in England, for example, the Renaissance in the Regions report and the Heritage Lottery Fund's Needs Assessment (UK based) are wholly consistent with the findings of the National Audit of Scotland's Museums and Galleries. In Scotland, the framework/action plan will be developed through wide consultation, which was announced on 9 September, with all interested bodies including national and non-national museums.

The £50 million referred to in Quality and Standards 2 (Bib. number 15676) has been allocated to help ease constraints on new development and to help with first time sewerage in rural areas.Scottish Water is currently conducting a thorough survey of their network, with a view to understanding the scale of the development constraints problem and its implications. Clearly, this work will enable them to take an informed view of their investment priorities across the board, and to make appropriate decisions. I understand this work has been finalised. It will be shared with the Executive, the Scottish Environment Protection Agency and the Water Industry Commissionaire, and with local authorities and the construction industry.In these circumstances, I am not in a position to comment on what the key criteria for allocation might be. I would, however, expect the current legislative priorities relating to public health and the environment to be considerations.In terms of consultation, I would expect Scottish Water to continue - as they do at present - to consult affected communities about any plans they may have for improvements to or construction of water and/or waste water treatment facilities. This would in any case be a requirement under planning legislation.

The funding consequentials from the Chancellors' announcement on 15 July 2002 were paid into the Scottish Consolidated Fund. Decisions on the allocation of the money from the Scottish Consolidated Fund are made by Scottish ministers. Building a Better Scotland, which was published on 12 September 2002 contains a breakdown of the SR2002 results and gives details of the allocation to the Tourism, Culture and Sport portfolio. Copies of the publication are available in the Parliament's Reference Centre (Bib. number 24102).

The Scottish Executive has consulted widely with both internal and external colleagues on the framework and classifications to be used in the school census.The Commission for Racial Equality (CRE) and the General Register Office for Scotland (GROS) were not formally consulted over the proposed ethnic background and national identity categories, but the Scottish Executive did take into consideration the classifications used in the 2001 Census of Population, conducted by the GROS. The recommendations of the CRE in their consultation document Ethnic Monitoring - a guide for public authorities were also taken into account in compiling the categories. Comments on the categories were also sought from the Centre for Education for Racial Equality in Scotland (CERES). However, not all of CERES' suggestions could be taken on board given the need to ensure that the categories used in the September 2002 School Census matched closely with those in the 2001 Census of Population to ensure comparability and consistency across different data sources.The national identity and ethnic background categories used in the school census are subject to review to ensure that they remain relevant and well understood. This will ensure that ongoing work at a national level on equality and inclusion issues is reflected in future censuses.

Work on the formulation of a successor to the individual learning account scheme continues to make progress. Officials are currently consulting key stakeholders about my plans in principle and will in due course confer with them further about the operational details. I intend to launch the successor scheme when I am satisfied that it will incorporate the required improvements on the first programme. I expect to make an announcement before the end of the year.