Chamber and committees

 Recovery of debt from compensators is managed by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) on behalf of the NHS in Scotland. The DWP have confirmed that, since 2017, there have been 8 instances of court action to pursue debt from compensators on behalf of the NHS in Scotland.

The Scottish Government are supporting a range of activities to commemorate the 700 th anniversary of the Declaration of Arbroath.

National Records of Scotland and National Museum of Scotland are putting the Declaration on public display, for the first time in 15 years, at NMS between 27 March and 26 April 2020. The exhibition will be accompanied by a number of other publicised events and activities. Details of which can be found at:

https://www.nrscotland.gov.uk/news/2020/declaration-of-arbroath-anniversary-events

NRS and Historic Environment Scotland (HES) are further developing educational resources, workshops and are contributing to Newbattle Abbey Adult Education College’s major conference about the declaration ( https://www.newbattleabbeycollege.ac.uk/doa/ )

A number of events are also being held in Arbroath, which are being organised by Arbroath 2020, a Registered Charity, which has received funding from Creative Scotland’s Place Partnership Programme and Angus Council for initiatives such as the Arbroath 2020 artist fund. A full programme of events is available on their website https://arbroath2020.com/ . The Hospitalfield Trust, a cultural organisation for artists and for education in the arts based in Arbroath, receives funding from Creative Scotland as one of the current network of Regularly Funded Organisations. It is heavily involved in the Arbroath 2020 events programme.

HES is closely involved in supporting the delivery of Arbroath 2020 events which centre on the Abbey. The Abbey will host a display of the new Arbroath Tapestry, which has been designed by artist Andrew Crummy and created by a group of highly skilled Angus women, as well as a ‘scriptorium’ structure similar to the room in the Abbey where the declaration may have been written. There will be a programme of learning and community activities at the Abbey and a new permanent exhibition telling the story of the Declaration of Arbroath in the wider story of the abbey.

The Scottish Government is supporting the Arbroath 2020 Declaration Pageant Procession on Sunday 5 April with £25,000 funding. Events connected with the anniversary year are eligible to apply for funding from the VisitScotland National Events Programme. VisitScotland is holding an information evening for tourism businesses to highlight Arbroath 2020 activities on 5 February. It is organising press trips to highlight Arbroath and Angus and the anniversary is included its online content, opportunities to highlight the anniversary at Tartan Day in New York are also being explored.

Supported by the Scottish Government’s Festivals Expo Fund, members of the GRIT Orchestra have been commissioned to create new symphonic compositions inspired by the Declaration of Arbroath. These works were premiered at the opening night of Celtic Connections 2020 in Glasgow on Thursday 16 th January. The Expo Fund is administered by Creative Scotland, with input from Event Scotland, Scottish Enterprise, British Council and the Scottish Government.

Historic Environment Scotland (HES) has plans to put on a display at Stirling Castle, to mark the bi-centenary, this will include examples of the relevant weapons. HES are currently considering other activities to mark the bi-centenary.

Museums Galleries Scotland (MGS), the national development body for the museums sector in Scotland works with its stakeholders to consider how to develop programmes which reflect and commemorate Scotland’s vibrant social history. MGS will shortly meet with its Stakeholder Group, to explore the potential benefits of shared approaches to mark the forthcoming anniversary.

National Records of Scotland is considering opportunities to include the anniversary of the 1820 Radical Rising in its online content and social media communications.

I undertook a successful visit to Japan (Nagasaki, Tokyo, Yokohama) between 7 – 13 October 2019, to strengthen the growing cultural, governmental and business links between Scotland and the world’s third-largest economy.

I undertook 6 engagements in Nagasaki, 18 in Tokyo and 8 in Yokohama.

There were 10 meetings with businesses, including with Mayekawa, a refrigeration company which is opening a research and development office in Glasgow; with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries to recognise the importance of its ongoing R&D collaboration with Scotland and to promote the extensive innovation eco-system supporting the subsea sector, to encourage further business development; and with Canon Medical, which provided an opportunity to raise Canon’s broader ambitions for Scotland and encourage consideration of Scotland as a strategic innovation partner which can support global strategies across a diverse range of Canon group companies.

There were 5 business focussed events, including a Scotland is Now reception, showcasing the best of Scottish produce and a Subsea event, opening opportunities for 10 Scottish companies to partner with Japanese firms on the development of innovative technology.

There were 5 cultural engagements, including attendance at the historic Kunchi Festival in Nagasaki and representing the Scottish Government at the Scotland vs Japan Rugby World Cup match in Yokohama.

In Nagasaki, I addressed students at Nagasaki University on the importance of collaboration and investment to create world leading science and research bases and the importance of tackling the Global Climate Emergency in a way which delivers a just transition to renewable energy and decarbonisation. The event also promoted the benefits of an international education and the opportunities afforded to Japanese students under the Saltire Scholarships scheme. I also attended a Subsea event to celebrate and progress continued collaboration between Scottish and Japanese universities and organisations to develop innovative technology within the sector.

In Tokyo, I launched Scotland’s 2020 Year of Coasts and Waters , which encouraged Japanese tourists to visit Scotland. In a meeting with the Mayor of Yokohama, I discussed the ongoing cultural collaborations between the Scotland and Yokohama, including the successful performance of the Scottish Ensemble’s Anno as part of the Yokohama Music Festival, and the Ayrshire Fiddle Orchestra’s visit to Japan in July. Potential cooperation around the 2020 Tokyo cultural Olympiad and 2020 Paralympics also formed part of the discussion.

I had a constructive meeting with Tetsuya Yagi, Parliamentary Vice-Minister in the Ministry of the Environment. This represented the development of a new relationship with a Japanese Ministry which can build on existing collaborations, such as the Goto island renewables project, and support Japan’s objectives on revising its energy mix to meet the challenges of the Climate Emergency. Areas for potential future collaboration include electric vehicles, development of severe weather protection for floating offshore turbines, and mixed-renewable energy solutions for remote and rural communities.

I met with human rights defenders from Human Rights Now, a Tokyo-based organisation which campaigns on a number of causes, including gender equality and sexual violence, to share experiences of the human rights challenges Scotland and Japan have tackled. I also met with a roundtable of business leaders, hosted by the Economist Network, to discuss Scotland’s experience of workplace equality and Japan’s approach to this issue.

In Yokohama, I attended events at the Scottish Rugby Union’s pop-up Scotland Rugby House, meeting Japanese and Scottish rugby fans and hearing about the amazing reception the Scotland team received at their training camp in Nagasaki. Representatives from Nagasaki, including the Nagasaki Rugby Football Union and the Mayor were present, and joined me in watching Scotland play Japan at the International Stadium.

I also met with the Nippon Foundation, to recognise the success of the Joint R&D fund approach with Scottish Enterprise that, with the announcement of the second call awards, has resulted in 16 Scottish Companies being involved in 11 collaborative projects with 12 Japanese partners. This is the first formal partnership between the Scottish Government and an international foundation which allows policy ideas to be turned into practical solutions with companies.

I made several significant announcements during her visit: this includes £9 million of new R&D project funding from the joint fund operated by the Nippon Foundation and Scottish Enterprise; the lifting of the Scotch Beef ban after 23 years; £50,000 Scottish Government funding to support the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra’s debut at Proms Japan; the Tokyo Metropolitan Orchestra will be performing at next year’s Edinburgh International Festival.

Following my engagements in Japan there are many opportunities to strengthen the connections between Scotland and Japan including on trade, investment, culture, the low carbon economy, tourism and food and drink. The visit generated stronger than average social media traffic on channels in Japan and the UK, and resulted in 44 domestic media items and 28 pieces in Japanese media, including two televised pieces. Scotland Is Now paid-for activity during the Japan visit (targeting those who were ‘in-market to study abroad’) overachieved by a significant margin. The campaign film achieved 764,230 views on Twitter (120,010 were planned) and 490,807 views on YouTube (101,000 were planned).