Chamber and committees

The National Islands Plan provides a framework for action in order to meaningfully improve outcomes for island communities. The Plan sets out 13 Strategic Objectives and over 100 commitments, which must be delivered over the five year lifetime of the Plan. Strategic Objective 11 sets out a range of commitments to support arts, culture and language. 

Highlands and Islands Enterprise

Requests for Highlands and Islands Enterprise support are considered on a case-by-case basis. The Highlands and Islands Enterprise Island area teams review any requests around music festivals and consider what support may be possible or appropriate, such as advice, signposting or financial. Highlands and Islands Enterprise Creative Industries Team is also available to provide additional advice and signposting to potential support sources, and introductions to other regional events and businesses who may be relevant to an applicant. 

As well as the support on offer through area offices, XpoNorth Digital is a mechanism for Highlands and Islands Enterprise to provide specialist advice to Creative enterprises and continues to offer support and advice around areas like new business models, remote participation and digital opening up new additional revenue streams.

In the main, Highlands and Islands Enterprise support is not directly attributable to festivals but is more broadly aimed at building resilience and year round viability for organisations that will include festivals, exhibitions or events into a portfolio of activations.

Examples of where Highlands and Islands Enterprise has contributed support towards festivals and events with significant music elements are listed in the following table. 

Creative Scotland

Creative Scotland funding supports festivals in all island local authority areas, as well as islands within the Argyll & Bute and Highland local authority areas. Other island festivals supported by Creative Scotland may include programme strands of music, but are not included in this response.

Creative Scotland has provided £441,456  to organisations delivering music festivals in island communities through their Open Fund and Regular Funding Network, including the Regular Funded Organisation (RFO) of the St Magnus Festival, as listed in the table below. These set out the award made to the most recent iteration of the festival (either in 2022 or 2023). These exclude details of some scheduled 2023 festivals as they are currently under assessment.

In addition, Creative Scotland provided £387,351 to organisations through the Recovery Fund for Cultural Organisations (RFCO) and Culture Organisations and Venue Recovery (COVR) as listed in the table below. The RFCO fund (March 2022) is to enable cultural organisations, working primarily for public benefit, to rebuild and create opportunities to increase their financial resilience after the COVID-19 pandemic. The COVR fund was to support organisations that are vital to the cultural life of Scotland and require funding to help prevent insolvency and/or significant job losses due to the impact of COVID-19. There were two rounds of this fund, COVR1 in September 2021 and COVR2 in June 2021, the latter covering the period 1 April 2021 – 30 September 2021. Organisations that were awarded funding in the first round were able to apply in round 2.

In addition, Creative Scotland supports the following organisations based in island locations through Regular Funding (- NB St Magnus International Festival is included in the table).

Fèisean nan Gàidheal supports 47 tuition-based Fèisean that offer tuition in traditional Gaelic arts to young people across Scotland – this includes island based Fèis, as well as on the mainland. Fèisean nan Gàidheal also deliver the Blas Festival in partnership with The Highland Council. Shetland Arts and An Lanntair deliver annual programmes which include music festivals and festivals which have strong music elements e.g. Shetland Folk Frenzy and Hebridean Dark Skies Festival, respectively. Regularly Funded Organisations may also support events held by other independent organisations. 

EventScotland

EventScotland’s existing funding programmes offer opportunities for all event organisers, including music festivals, across Scotland to apply for funding on the basis that it meets the programme criteria. Events are assessed on their merits, and EventScotland will look at ways the event will create a positive impact for the host region and Scotland as a whole. Events are assessed in terms of their viability and event management experience as well as the five impact areas; Economic – Tourism and Business; Brand, Identity and Reputation; Media and Profile; Social and Cultural and Environmental Sustainability. 

In 2022, EventScotland supported 7 events (either music or with significant music elements) located in Island communities from its existing National and International programmes. These included Shetland Folk Festival, Orkney Food Festival, St Magnus International Festival, Tiree Music Festival, HebCelt, BWA Tiree Wave Classic and The Islay Festival.

In 2023, EventScotland is supporting Tall Ships in Lerwick as part of a portfolio of sporting and cultural events taking place across Scotland in 2023. The event has a music strand as part of a varied programme.

In addition to Tall Ships, EventScotland is supporting the following island music events in 2023: HebCelt, Tiree Music Festival, and the 40th Orkney Folk Festival.

EventScotland/ VisitScotland also supports The List Magazine in the creation of the consumer-facing ‘Guide to Scotland’s Festivals’ which has a music genre included.

Scotland’s Year of Stories 2022

The most recent Themed Year, Scotland’s Year of Stories 2022, engaged on a wide range of issues including culture, tourism, heritage, equality, literacy, creative industries and events.

21 events and festivals (many of which included music or had significant music elements) were supported through the £600k Year of Stories Open Events Fund. Supported events on Scotland’s islands included SEALL’s An Tinne with events across the Isle of Skye, Map of Stories events in Orkney and North Uist, Songs from the Last Page’s touring event on Skye and Seanachas – a series of events presented to celebrate the Year by An Lanntair in Stornoway.

The Scottish Government has supported 180 community-centred projects with £732k of partnership funding delivered through the 2022 Community Stories Fund, delivered in partnership with VisitScotland and Museums Galleries Scotland with support from the National Lottery Heritage Fund. Supported events (either music or with significant music elements) included ‘Tìr Ìseal nan Òran (Tiree: Low Land of Song)’ which took place on Tiree, ‘Cliabh An T-Shenachais - The Story Creel’ which was delivered on Mull and Iona, ‘Sgeulaichean Siarach’ and ‘Ri tac an teine’ which both took place on Lewis, and ‘Object Stories’ and ‘Four Corners’ which both took place on Uist, Events took place across Orkney, including ‘Orkney, Scotland and Norway: stories in music and verse’.

Dandelion

During 2022 Unboxed was a major UK-wide programme celebrating creativity and innovation, featuring ten large-scale commissioned projects designed to reach millions on-line and in person, bring people together and showcase creativity across the Four Nations.

Scottish Ministers greatly value the selfless work carried out by all of the Scottish volunteer mountain rescue teams, who stand ready to help those in need of assistance, often in dangerous conditions, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. In recognition of that, the Scottish Government continues to provide annual grant funding via Scottish Mountain Rescue (SMR), to help all of the civilian mountain rescue teams, in Scotland, to carry out their essential work.

The annual grant funding provided helps maintain the individual volunteer teams, as well as their dogs, bases, vehicles and equipment, so that they are more sustainable going forward and available to Police Scotland whenever they are called upon. In 2022-23, despite the challenging fiscal context, the Scottish Government increased the amount of grant provided to SMR, to distribute to the teams, from £312,000 to £330,000 – an increase of around 5.8%. Grant funding for 2023/24 is scheduled to be paid before the end of June.

The Scottish Government is also responsive to important emerging needs and helps out SMR, financially and otherwise, whenever possible; in the 2021/22 financial year, for example, SG provided £70,000 towards replacement specialist stretchers and casualty bags. And from 2016-2019, collectively with other partners, raised over £1 million towards new VHF radio communication equipment, and assisted with advice on its procurement, towards a successful contract award.

In addition, the Scottish Government contributes funding to NHS Lothian’s Rivers Centre for Traumatic Stress, to deliver the Lifelines Scotland programme, which supports the mental health and wellbeing of volunteer emergency responders in Scotland, including mountain rescue volunteers. Scottish Government officials also work collaboratively with Police Scotland, the Maritime and Coastguard Agency, and Scottish Mountain Rescue to help resolve any issues around search and rescue which arise from time to time.

A digital directory of organisations with a Scottish connection will launch in 2023. The directory will be hosted on the Scottish Government’s international-facing website www.scotland.org and will be available for all to access without registration.

The directory will include a range of diaspora or affiliated organisations – from traditional clan and St Andrew’s Societies, to established alumni groups and business networks. The directory will be reviewed and updated regularly.

The Scottish Government, in its Scottish Connections Framework, committed to establishing an external advisory group drawing on the knowledge and experience of our international diaspora and from expertise in Scotland and beyond. Officials are currently developing the proposals on the advisory group which will be provided to Ministers for decision. As per the framework the Scottish Connections advisory group will be established in 2023 with exact date to be confirmed. The group will be appointed by the Cabinet Secretary for External Affairs on recommendation from officials, in consultation with relevant policy areas and partner agencies to ensure a broad geographical coverage, and diversity of backgrounds and expertise.

The group’s responsibilities, including whether or not it will be asked to report to the Scottish Government, will be determined by its mandate which is currently being developed. The frequency of the meetings will be agreed by ministers and confirmed at the first group meeting but we anticipate the group to meet at least twice yearly.

The Scottish Government, in its Scottish Connections Framework, committed to launch a diaspora recognition award, marking the achievements of our diaspora, and that this would be launched over this parliament following its design with diaspora communities and the advisory panel.

The award will recognise the work of our diaspora around the world, either in service to their own communities or for Scotland’s reputation and interests.

The Scottish Government, in its Scottish Connections Framework, committed to trial the launch of Instagram channels in targeted international markets. Adding Instagram channel capacity in specific locations will allow the Scottish Government to more closely engage with diaspora members in country and build on the audience base from existing social media channels.

The Scottish Government plans to launch at least one additional Instagram channel in a priority diaspora market by the end of 2023. A final launch date will be confirmed in due course in consultation with officials advising on this location.

The Scottish Government, in its Scottish Connections Framework, committed to collaborate across our full network – our international offices, including SDI, GlobalScots, Trade and Investment Envoys and public bodies – to map and engage our diaspora.

This will be an ongoing task as we discover more about our international diaspora, rather than a discrete project with a beginning and end date. Progress will be reported in the biennial review of progress towards implementing the Framework.

The Framework also committed to publish a digital directory of diaspora organisations hosted on scotland.org. which will launch in 2023.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-18236 on 8 June 2023. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers

Our export growth plan, A Trading Nation, committed to evaluating the existing Trade & Investment Envoy network with a view to increasing the number of envoys from the four (at the time) to twelve. This would be subject to a review of the current arrangements and the identification of candidates with the right knowledge, experience and connections in the right markets to best support Scotland’s trade and investment ambitions.

There are currently 11 Trade & Investment Envoy based around the globe. The majority of Envoys are focused on promoting trade and investment within a specific market (Indonesia, Poland, Spain, the United Arab Emirates, Singapore, New Zealand and the Unites States of America), while some have a sector-focus (International Higher Education and Capital Investment). A link to the current list of Trade and Investment Envoys can be found here .

Although the Scottish Government does not currently have any firm plans to grow the network, we are planning on evaluating the T&I Envoy Network to consider the markets and sectors within which they operate and this will inform the future focus and shape of the network.

Scotland’s culture is recognised across the world. It is a massive asset to our country in cultural and economic terms, but also in its potential to open doors and support Scotland’s wider international relationships. As such, we have committed to develop an International Culture Strategy to ensure that cultural links with our partners around the world are developed further and international engagement can help these sectors to recover and flourish.

It is vital that our International Culture Strategy reflects, and is fully informed by the views, experience and expertise of those working in our culture and creative sectors. In order to ensure this, we are currently carrying out a programme of stakeholder engagement to gather views on priorities for the strategy, including a public survey which closed for responses on 12 May 2023.

Close engagement with stakeholders will continue alongside the development of the strategy throughout 2023. Timelines have adapted as the development process has proceeded and requirements have become apparent. We aim to publish the strategy by the end of March 2024.

The Scottish Government, in its Scottish Connections Framework, committed to pilot a Scottish Connections Fund to support the aims of the Framework.

The fund will support initiatives that bring together those with a connection to Scotland, promote Scotland’s reputation and interests, and build greater connections back to Scotland itself.

The fund will be open to bids from both individuals and organisations within Scotland’s diaspora networks. We will publish details of the fund in 2023, including the amount available.