Questions and answers

Question reference: S5W-00583

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for Moray, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 June 2016
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 16 June 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what support is available for social enterprises that work with schools to use the outdoors for educational purposes.

The Scottish Government has invested heavily in developing and supporting social enterprise in recent years and has maintained direct investment of £24.5 million in the third sector in 2016-17, which includes support for social enterprise. This support is available to social enterprises that engage across a range of activities including, where appropriate, social enterprises which work with schools to use the outdoors for educational purposes and which use the outdoors to promote mental health and well-being. The framework of support available includes:

The business support provided by Just Enterprise which helps social enterprises develop and become more sustainable. To date Just Enterprise has supported over 5,700 individuals and organisations.

Working to open public sector markets to third sector organisations through the Ready for Business partnership.

The Social Entrepreneurs Fund, delivered by Firstport, which has made 340 awards and supported more than 280 individuals since 2009. The Fund aims to turn great business ideas that benefit people, communities and the environment into social enterprises.

The Scottish Government also funds intermediaries and partners such as Social Enterprise Scotland, Social Firms Scotland, SENSCOT and Social Enterprise Academy to provide expertise and support in raising awareness of social enterprise, building social enterprise networks, providing training and leadership development and working with the public sector to develop appropriate policies.

The Scottish Government will, in the coming months, be co-producing and publishing both a ten year national strategy for social enterprise in Scotland, and an international social enterprise strategy for Scotland. The national strategy will build on the extensive visioning work carried out by the social enterprise sector and will set out the Scottish approach to social enterprise for the coming decade.

Question reference: S5W-00476

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for Moray, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 03 June 2016
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 16 June 2016

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a breakdown of lottery funding awarded to each parliamentary constituency expressed also on a per capita basis.

The National Lottery is reserved to the UK Government and information on how lottery funds are distributed in Scotland is not held by the Scottish Government. However the Big Lottery Fund in Scotland has provided a breakdown of the lottery funding it awarded to each parliamentary constituency in 2015-2016, this is set out in the following table.

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport has lead responsibility for the National Lottery and publishes information on the distribution of lottery funding on its website. This information can be searched for by local authority area, by UK parliamentary constituency and by funding distributor, including all ‘good cause’ funding distributors in Scotland: http://www.lottery.culture.gov.uk/Search.aspx

Lottery funding distributed by the Big Lottery Fund in Scotland between 1 April 2015 and 1 April 2016

Scottish Parliament Constituency Name	Number of projects	Amount invested
Aberdeen Central	13	£506,712
Aberdeen Donside	6	£42,143
Aberdeen South and North Kincardine	8	£61,091
Aberdeenshire East	15	£122,537
Aberdeenshire West	20	£157,775
Airdrie and Shotts	18	£123,594
Almond Valley	17	£484,667
Angus North and Mearns	15	£1,013,586
Angus South	14	£1,176,968
Argyll and Bute	45	£1,390,132
Ayr	13	£1,120,763
Banffshire and Buchan Coast	14	£128,783
Caithness, Sutherland and Ross	32	£2,024,499
Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley	21	£1,011,379
Clackmannanshire and Dunblane	27	£776,107
Clydebank and Milngavie	19	£761,971
Clydesdale	27	£630,157
Coatbridge and Chryston	23	£795,841
Cowdenbeath	11	£743,186
Cumbernauld and Kilsyth	19	£138,864
Cunninghame North	21	£298,682
Cunninghame South	19	£1,427,560
Dumbarton	28	£199,772
Dumfriesshire	22	£148,216
Dundee City East	17	£140,658
Dundee City West	17	£153,616
Dunfermline	13	£90,178
East Kilbride	15	£182,366
East Lothian	24	£169,064
Eastwood	5	£523,464
Edinburgh Central	47	£3,989,085
Edinburgh Eastern	17	£154,166
Edinburgh Northern and Leith	24	£1,616,878
Edinburgh Pentlands	21	£535,671
Edinburgh Southern	13	£1,089,362
Edinburgh Western	12	£109,798
Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire	28	£1,050,753
Falkirk East	15	£351,385
Falkirk West	31	£811,350
Galloway and West Dumfries	31	£960,412
Glasgow Anniesland	19	£151,726
Glasgow Cathcart	13	£670,998
Glasgow Kelvin	48	£3,594,926
Glasgow Maryhill and Springburn	41	£4,002,299
Glasgow Pollok	16	£213,542
Glasgow Provan	26	£1,557,525
Glasgow Shettleston	26	£1,259,417
Glasgow Southside	47	£2,295,048
Greenock and Inverclyde	35	£3,515,325
Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse	18	£154,941
Inverness and Nairn	21	£217,212
Kilmarnock and Irvine Valley	32	£517,802
Kirkcaldy	17	£495,590
Linlithgow	14	£1,026,310
Mid Fife and Glenrothes	11	£570,490
Midlothian North and Musselburgh	18	£125,893
Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale	33	£981,872
Moray	13	£223,103
Motherwell and Wishaw	35	£1,915,317
Na h-Eileanan an Iar	14	£101,314
North East Fife	19	£136,628
Orkney Islands	11	£723,431
Paisley	32	£1,905,867
Perthshire North	29	£750,966
Perthshire South and Kinross-shire	14	£96,880
Renfrewshire North and West	14	£102,101
Renfrewshire South	31	£260,621
Rutherglen	19	£225,764
Shetland Islands	17	£103,702
Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch	35	£1,338,394
Stirling	38	£531,609
Strathkelvin and Bearsden	15	£112,469
Uddingston and Bellshill	21	£755,090
Total	1589	£57,847,359

Source: Big Lottery Fund Scotland

Note: Due to the nature of Big Lottery Fund Scotland’s reporting system, distribution of funds is based on the main location of project delivery. Certain areas therefore have larger amounts invested partly because many organisations are based in these constituencies although their projects may be delivered nationally.

Question reference: S5W-00600

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for Moray, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 June 2016
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 15 June 2016

To ask the Scottish Government to what extent it supports the UNESCO Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property and how it supports the global effort to tackle the illegal trade in antiquities.

The Scottish Government is proud to support the UNESCO Convention on the means of prohibiting and preventing the illicit import, export and transfer of ownership of cultural property (the Paris convention). Membership of United Nations organisations such as UNESCO and controls on imports and exports are reserved to the United Kingdom Government which ratified the Paris convention in 2002.

The UK Government is proposing to ratify the Hague convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict and its Protocols of 1954 and 1999, in the Cultural Property (Armed Conflicts Bill) which will require a legislative consent motion to be passed by the Scottish Parliament.

Scotland has hosted the trafficking culture programme at the Scottish crime and justice centre at the University of Glasgow that produces evidence-based research into the contemporary global trade in looted cultural objects.

Question reference: S5W-00578

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for Moray, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 June 2016
Current Status: Answered by Annabelle Ewing on 15 June 2016

To ask the Scottish Government whether there has been a recent change to the rights of grandparents seeking access to their grandchildren and whether a review is planned.

There have been no changes made to the rights of grandparents. However, the Scottish Government is planning to review the Children (Scotland) Act 1995. The 1995 Act makes provision on parental responsibilities and rights, on contact orders and on related areas.

As well as the planned review of the 1995 Act, the Scottish Government is already carrying out work to refresh the non-statutory Parenting Agreement for Scotland, which includes the charter for grandchildren: http://www.gov.scot/Resource/Doc/112493/0027333.pdf. The charter highlights the important role that grandparents and the wider family can play in raising children.

Question reference: S5W-00581

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for Moray, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 June 2016
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 15 June 2016

To ask the Scottish Government how the business rates in Elgin city centre compare with the national average and other comparable cities and towns.

Question reference: S5W-00462

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for Moray, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 02 June 2016
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 15 June 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to promote cycling events such as cyclosportives; what impact this has on (a) tourism and (b) the economy of (i) Scotland, (ii) Moray and (iii) the Highlands and Islands, and what funding it provides.

I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-00463 on 10 June 2016. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at: http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx

Since 2003, VisitScotland’s EventScotland team has invested £2.6 million to support 55 cycling events across Scotland. 23 of these events have taken place in the Highland region, attracting £1.2 million of this support. It is estimated the total net additional spend generated by all of these events at a Scotland level is £26 million. At a local authority level, this total is estimated to be £38 million. For the Highlands specifically, the net additional spend from the 23 supported events in the region is estimated to be £22.5 million. Recent examples of supported events include ‘Etape Loch Ness’ in Inverness in April 2016 and the ‘Mountain Bike World Cup’ in Fort William in June 2016. In addition, Highland and Islands Enterprise has contributed towards infrastructure costs to allow for the development of the cycling tourism sector and events, which also includes the Nevis Range for the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup.

VisitScotland also undertakes significant activity to promote cycling in Scotland and to assist the tourism industry harness the economic benefits of the sport. Their consumer website showcases a wide range of cycle routes and cycling events and VisitScotland also delivers the Cyclists Welcome Scheme, which accredits businesses who cater for cyclists and visitors with an interest in outdoor activities and the environment. To date there are 1077 total Cyclists Welcome Scheme members across Scotland.

Question reference: S5W-00465

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for Moray, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 02 June 2016
Current Status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 13 June 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what the timetable is for establishing the land commission and for its work to begin.

Question reference: S5W-00463

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for Moray, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 02 June 2016
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 10 June 2016

To ask the Scottish Government how cycling events benefit Scotland; what the outcome is of the most recent research, and what further research is planned.

The latest report into the value of cycle tourism was published in June 2013 by Transform Scotland, the national sustainable transport alliance. This states that the total value of cycle tourism – by residents and visitors, touring and leisure cycling – in Scotland is up to £239 million per year; that leisure cycle tourism contributes £58.5 million to the gross value added (GVA) of Scotland; and that when combined with mountain biking, for which separate prior research had been conducted by Ekos in 2009, the total value of cycle tourism in Scotland is estimated to be between £241 million and £362 million per year, with a cumulative annual contribution to GVA of £129 million. Further information is available at: http://transformscotland.org.uk/what-we-do/research/the-value-of-cycle-tourism/.

Both mountain biking and road cycling are growth sports in Scotland and events make a key contribution in both supporting delivery of the national event strategy ‘Scotland The Perfect Stage’ as well as the ongoing development of the sport. In addition to the significant economic benefits from cycle tourism, media coverage of cycling events such as the Mountain Bike World Cup and Tour of Britain receive extensive television coverage and act as a driver for helping to promote Scotland as a cycling destination of choice, as well as positively contributing to Scotland’s international profile.

We are not aware of any plans to undertake further research at this stage.

Question reference: S5O-00031

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for Moray, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 June 2016
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 15 June 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to encourage people to take up teaching posts in the Moray area.

Question reference: S5W-00464

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for Moray, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 02 June 2016
Current Status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 8 June 2016

To ask the Scottish Government how much has been awarded in grants from the Scottish Land Fund to applicants in Moray since 2007 and who the successful applicants were.

The Scottish Government began funding the Scottish Land Fund in 2012, prior to this, communities could access funding from a variety of different streams to support land and land asset acquisitions. Since its’ launch in 2012 two projects in Moray have received funding from the Scottish Land Fund, totalling £831,500. Successful applicants were Covesea Lighthouse Community Company and The Findhorn Conservation Company.

Chamber and committees