Chamber and committees

Questions and answers

Parliamentary questions can be asked by any MSP to the Scottish Government or the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body. The questions provide a means for MSPs to get factual and statistical information.

Written questions must be answered within 10 working days (20 working days during recess)
Other questions such as Topical, Portfolio, General and First Minister's Question Times are taken in the Chamber

Urgent Questions aren't included in the Question and Answers search. There is a SPICe fact sheet listing Urgent and emergency questions.

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Question reference: S2W-14379

Asked by: Michael Matheson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 10 February 2005
Current Status: Answered by Patricia Ferguson on 8 March 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive how it funds and resources the Scots language; what level of funding it has made available to support the Scots language in each of the last three years, and how much funding it will make available in the next financial year.

Question reference: S2W-14410

Asked by: Michael Matheson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 11 February 2005
Current Status: Answered by Patricia Ferguson on 8 March 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive what specific actions it has taken to implement the advice on enhancing the status of the Scots language contained in the last report of the European Committee of Experts on the United Kingdom's application of the provisions of the European Charter for Regional and Minority Languages.

Question reference: S2W-14081

Asked by: Michael Matheson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 03 February 2005
Current Status: Answered by Patricia Ferguson on 7 March 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-11099 by Patricia Ferguson on 1 November 2004, how many local authority playing fields have been in use since 1999, broken down by local authority area.

Question reference: S2W-14308

Asked by: Michael Matheson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 February 2005
Current Status: Answered by Patricia Ferguson on 3 March 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to increase the level of free access to Historic Scotland properties.

Historic Scotland plans to continue the significant progress achieved in recent years in enabling free access to its properties. There are in excess of 250 sites throughout Scotland to which the general public have free access all year round.

Progress has also been made on a number of initiatives including the Free Weekend, held annually in April. Last year, 58,500 visitors took advantage of the Free Weekend to visit the 74 paying sites throughout Scotland, including Edinburgh, Stirling and Urquhart Castles. There is also free access to Edinburgh Castle, St Andrews Castle and St Andrews Cathedral on St Andrew’s Day eachyear.

Historic Scotland also operates a free educational visit scheme which attracted 66,660 free visits last year.

In recent years, Historic Scotland has focused on community engagement and significantly increased its levels of community based activity and access.

Question reference: S2W-14340

Asked by: Michael Matheson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 February 2005
Current Status: Answered by Patricia Ferguson on 3 March 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive what its plans are for the future of the school cultural co-ordinators programme.

Question reference: S2W-14339

Asked by: Michael Matheson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 February 2005
Current Status: Answered by Patricia Ferguson on 3 March 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive how it will monitor the success of the school cultural co-ordinators programme.

Phase I (2002-2004) of the pilot Cultural Co-ordinators programme was evaluated by an external consultant and a resultant report published in June 2004. A copy of this evaluation is available from the Scottish Arts Council, which administers and monitors the initiative on behalf of the Scottish Executive. The report findings are being used to help shape Phase II (2004-06) of the programme.

In addition, a reference group drawn from relevant sectors, including education, the arts and cultural heritage, has been established. The group assists with the allocation of resources and the monitoring and training arrangements.

Question reference: S2W-14319

Asked by: Michael Matheson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 February 2005
Current Status: Answered by Peter Peacock on 2 March 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive how it is helping schools to promote the teaching of music.

It is the responsibility of theindividual education authorities and head teachers to make decisions on how bestto promote the teaching of music. The Scottish Executive does, however, provide adviceon the provision of music tuition in the classroom, primarily in the form of curriculumguidelines.

The Scottish Arts Council hasbeen charged by the First Minister with administering £17.5 million over three yearsfrom 2003–06 to assist education authorities in ensuring that every primary schoolpupil has the opportunity to have at least one year’s free music tuition beforethey reach primary 6.

Question reference: S2W-14009

Asked by: Michael Matheson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 01 February 2005
Current Status: Answered by Margaret Curran on 2 March 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-13224 by Ms Margaret Curran on 31 January 2005, whether it will publish all correspondence between the office of the First Minister and the BBC in relation to Wark Clements' production, "The Gathering Place."

Question reference: S2W-14310

Asked by: Michael Matheson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 February 2005
Current Status: Answered by Patricia Ferguson on 1 March 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive what its strategy is to promote the work of Scottish painters internationally.

The Scottish Executive aims to ensure that Scottish artistic talent receives both national and international recognition. Our policy in this area is delivered principally by the Scottish Arts Council (SAC).

The SAC’s Visual Arts Department has supported a number of projects which involve international working, funding artists to work and exhibit abroad. The table details the level of SAC activity in this area in recent years:

Visual Arts International Activity

	2002	2003	2004
Total Number of Projects	38	48	89
Total Investment	£70,533	£126,842	£106,059

A high profile initiative in this period was the presentation of the first independent Scottish showcase at the 2003 Venice Biennale, one of the most significant events in the international calendar for cutting-edge contemporary art. There will also be a Scottish showcase at the 2005 Venice Biennale, presented by the SAC, the British Council Scotland and the National Galleries of Scotland.

In addition, the SAC is working in partnership with the British Council Scotland on some international initiatives and has created a shared post of head of international arts. Through this post the two organisations are developing an International Arts Strategy which it is hoped will be launched in the next few months.

Question reference: S2W-14306

Asked by: Michael Matheson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 February 2005
Current Status: Answered by Patricia Ferguson on 1 March 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to extend Social Inclusion Partnerships' arts projects in each of the next three years and, if so, which organisations have applied for this support.