- Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 05 December 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Neil Gray on 13 December 2022
To ask the Scottish Government what support it is giving to regional festivals, in light of the cost of living crisis.
Answer
The Scottish Government and its agencies support many of our festivals and events in a multitude of ways as set out in the following table:
Financial Support – financial year 2022-23
Funding Stream | Funding Provided | Notes |
Scottish Government: EXPO | £1.8m for 12 major Edinburgh and Glasgow Festivals, plus £200,00 provided to Festivals Edinburgh | Since the start of the pandemic upon until now, we have supported the major Edinburgh and Glasgow festivals with approximately £14.1 million in EXPO, PLaCE, Gateway, and Covid emergency funding support, to enable their safe and successful return, as well as a £1m interest free loan to the Fringe Society. |
Scottish Government: PLACE | £1m for the Platforms for Creative Excellence Programme (PLACE), which is match funded by City of Edinburgh Council, for the 10 major Edinburgh Festivals, as well as additional funding for Festivals Edinburgh. |
Creative Scotland: Regularly Funded Organisations | £2,663,336 has been provided to 11 festivals around the country, other than the major EXPO festivals. | £6,349,510 in RFO funding to 18 festivals or organisations that deliver festivals, which includes 7 of the 12 EXPO funded festivals. |
Creative Scotland: Open Funding | £1,423,973 in Open Funding to 29 festivals other than the major EXPO festivals. | All of the festivals or organisations that present festivals in receipt of Open Funding are not EXPO funded. |
Event Scotland: International Events Programme | The EventScotland International Events Programme supported 33 events with over £1.9 million funding including the Burrell Collection Reopening, BWA Tiree Wave Classic, The Royal National Mòd and Edinburgh International Festival. |
Event Scotland: National Events Programme | In 2022, EventScotland supported a range of events through the return of existing programmes including over £1 million funding to 93 events across Rounds 45 & 46 of the EventScotland National Events Programme. During 2022 EventScotland also supported 18 events across 12 Local Authorities (£160k budget) as part of the Community Cycling Fund (Round 1) | This has been designed to give everyone the chance to experience the joy riding a bike can bring to their everyday lives in a fun and safe environment while also creating a lasting benefit from the 2023 UCI Cycling World Championships. Events included Fife Loves Cycling, Recyke-a-Bike Celebrate Cycling Festival weekend, and Get About Aberdeen Cycling Festival. |
Year of Stories | The Scottish Government has supported 180 community-centred Community Stories events and festivals with £735k of partnership funding and 21 Open Funded events and festivals with £600k of funding, the latter via EventScotland. | During 2022 for Scotland’s Year of Stories, Scottish Government has been working in partnership with EventScotland, National Lottery Heritage Fund and Museums and Galleries Scotland, |
Dandelion | In support of the Scottish activity, Scottish Ministers have assigned total funding of £11.002 million (gross) to EventScotland split across two financial years, 2021-22 and 2022-23. | Within the overall sum allocated to EventScotland, funding is included to provide support for identified activities such as: Dandelion project commission - £7.08 million net (£8.5m gross incl. VAT) Commissioning, governance, management, and engagement. Contribution to wider shared programme activities; including learning and participation resources, marketing, digital and communications, evaluation and monitoring, international engagement– £2.14 million net (£2.5m gross incl. VAT) |
Wherever possible funding has been provided to support organisations to manage the current costs of living crisis, for example: Creative Scotland has advised all Regularly Funded Organisations that annual awards can be utilised to address financial impacts of rising operational costs and that Creative Scotland will be flexible where this causes organisations to deviate from planned spending on projects/other work.
In terms of Open Fund, Creative Scotland advise that all applicants take rising costs into consideration when submitting their budgets for consideration and in deciding upon what level of funding to apply for.
Non-Financial Support: 2022-23
As part of Scotland’s Year of Stories, EventScotland has also supported 140 unfunded Partnership Events and festivals, throughout Scotland, by offering the opportunity for free events listings on the VisitScotland website for any events which align with Year of Stories, marketing webinars plus a free marketing toolkit available on the VisitScotland website to support events and communities to get involved.
The Scottish Government has created a free toolkit of information resources to continue to embed the values messaging key to St Andrew’s Day and support events taking place across Scotland. This toolkit has been co-created with Scotland Food and Drink, VisitScotland and SDI and we have included Fair Saturday as well as the Scotland Loves Local initiative run by the Scottish Towns Partnership.
VisitScotland also launched a new promotional campaign (running April – June 2022) entitled ‘Buzz is Back’ to showcase Scotland’s exciting, exhilarating, and eclectic mix of music, cultural and sporting events to audiences, and to help support the sector as part of the recovery from the pandemic.
- Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 05 December 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Neil Gray on 13 December 2022
To ask the Scottish Government what support it is giving to smaller, regional theatres, in light of the cost of living crisis.
Answer
The Scottish Government is in regular dialogue with the culture sector, who have been clear that the impact of rising costs are significantly hampering their ability to recover following the Covid-19 pandemic.
I refer the member to the answer to the question S6O-01540 on 16 November 2022, which is available on the Parliament’s website Official Report - Parliamentary Business : Scottish Parliament .
The Scottish Government’s ability to respond to the cost crisis is limited by the inactivity of the UK Government and the financial restrictions of devolution. The Scottish Government budget is largely fixed.
The Scottish Government will continue to urge the UK Government to take a different approach to public finances in order to ensure sufficient support is made available for Scotland’s culture sector.
- Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 06 December 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Angus Robertson on 13 December 2022
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-11259 by Angus Robertson on 27 October 2022, whether it will provide an update on when the National Records of Scotland will publish the findings of Scotland’s Census 2022.
Answer
National Records of Scotland (NRS) are currently consulting with data users to ensure that census outputs are accessible and provided in a format which meets the needs of census data users.
As previously noted, NRS are planning to publish the first census outputs approximately one year after conclusion of the census data collection phases. Census data collection phases concluded in Autumn 2022.
- Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 06 December 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Angus Robertson on 13 December 2022
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will instruct the National Records of Scotland to include the Auditor General’s recommendations relating to Scotland's Census 2022 from the 2021/22 audit of National Records of Scotland into its lessons learned exercise on the census.
Answer
As recommended by the Auditor General, National Records of Scotland will, as planned, continue to reflect on all relevant lessons learned from the census programme. Upon conclusion of the census programme, an over-arching General Report will be laid before Parliament in 2024.
- Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 01 December 2022
Submitting member has a registered interest.
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Current Status:
Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 13 December 2022
To ask the Scottish Government what percentage of the members of the Hill, Upland and Crofting Group are from island communities.
Answer
The members of the Hill, Upland and Crofting Group were selected on the basis of their experience of their sectors, reflecting as far as possible geographic spread including practical farming experience and academic expertise. The Group had 22 members of which six (27%) were from island communities.
- Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 05 December 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Kevin Stewart on 13 December 2022
To ask the Scottish Government how many care homes have closed in each of the last five years in NHS (a) Grampian, (b) Highland, (c) Orkney, (d) Shetland and (e) Western Isles.
Answer
This information is not held centrally and is a matter for the Care Inspectorate.
- Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 05 December 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Neil Gray on 13 December 2022
To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the organisers of the Ullapool Book Festival following the announcement that the 2023 event will be the last, and what support can be provided to ensure the continuation of this event.
Answer
Organised by volunteers since 2005, the Ullapool Book Festival has become a feature of Scotland’s literary calendar of events.
Following the announcement, neither Scottish Government nor Creative Scotland have been approached for discussions with the organisers of the event - who we understand have decided to step back due to personal reasons.
The Ullapool Book Festival has been supported through National Lottery funding by Creative Scotland since it began, and Creative Scotland would welcome applications for funding from the team behind the Ullapool Book Festival for ad hoc events under that banner in the future.
- Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 05 December 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Mairi McAllan on 13 December 2022
To ask the Scottish Government, in relation to the Continuity Act draft Annual Report 2021-22, which was considered by the Constitution, Europe, External Affairs and Culture Committee on 17 November 2022, and states that the Scottish Government plans to "implement certain requirements" of the Directive (EU) 2020/2184 ("Recast Drinking Water Directive"), whether it will confirm which requirements it plans to implement and/or align with; within what timescale these requirements will be adopted, and what consultation will be carried out with relevant stakeholders.
Answer
The Scottish Government proposes to take a phased approach to the alignment with the recast Drinking Water Directive. This prioritises the health based standards that can be implemented now and recognises that some parts of the Directive apply at a later date.
A more detailed description of the approach to alignment is provided in the policy note which accompanies The Public Water Supplies (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2002 (draft). This is contained in the Clerk’s papers for the 32 nd Meeting of the Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee ( 4647 (parliament.scot) ).
Consultation will be undertaken with relevant stakeholders as the various parts of the Directive are introduced to ensure that they are proportionate and in Scotland’s interests.
- Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 01 December 2022
Submitting member has a registered interest.
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Current Status:
Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 13 December 2022
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the Hill, Upland and Crofting Group publication, A Blueprint for Sustainable and Integrated Farming and Crofting Activity in the Hills and Uplands of Scotland, in March 2021, what further work the group will undertake.
Answer
I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-12798 on 12 December. 2022. 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 .
- Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 05 December 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 13 December 2022
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on how much funding has been allocated to improve ventilation in schools since January 2019, and how much of this funding has been spent.
Answer
In August 2021, funding of £10m was made available to local authorities in relation to improving ventilation in schools, and this was claimed in full.
Additionally, in January 2022, funding of up to £4.8m was made available to local authorities. Of that funding, £3.8m was claimed.
Therefore, in total, £13.8m has been allocated to local authorities in relation to improving ventilation in schools.
