Chamber and committees

The purpose of tourist signs, also known as visitor attraction signage, is to provide clear and consistent directions to enable visitors to reach tourist destinations safely by car and minimise the risk of dangerous manoeuvres. The signs are directional aids, not advertising signs, and not a substitute for effective marketing.

Any attractions requesting new tourist signs from the trunk road network would need to make an application which would then be considered under the criteria set out in the Trunk Road and Motorway Tourist Signing Guidance document which can be access through this url: https://www.transport.gov.scot/media/10318/trbo-transport-scotland-trunk-road-and-motorway-tourist-signing-guidance-march-2016-v3.pdf

Sporting and other major events play an important role in attracting overseas visitors to Scotland. The Scottish Government and VisitScotland develop bespoke marketing campaigns to actively promote the wealth of world-class major events hosted year-round by Scotland, the Perfect Stage for Events.

Major sporting events provide an important opportunity to promote Scotland in key markets. A new broadcast deal has secured several hours of live television coverage of the Scottish Open in the US, and a potential global audience of over 1 billion people will see all that Scotland has to offer during next year’s European Championships.

Scotland’s cultural major events are also globally renowned, attracting large numbers of overseas visitors. Scotland’s Winter Festivals begins this month, and is promoted to international visitors via a number of platforms including the Scotland.org website and specifically tailored social media content. Last year, more than 1.1 million people around the word viewed video content, and the midnight moment at Edinburgh’s Hogmanay is shown broadcast around the world, showcasing Edinburgh and Scotland at its very best.

Scottish Development International’s global workforce in each of the last three years is provided in the following table. The numbers provided include staff employed by Scottish Enterprise, Highlands & Islands Enterprise and the Scottish Government who are assigned to SDI.

Scottish Enterprise/SDI Staff	2014-15 (of those New Posts*)	2015-16 (of those New Posts*)	2016-17 (of those New Posts*)
Americas Field Operations	31 (1)	40 (4)	39 (0)
Europe, Middle East and Africa Field Operations	34 (1)	35 (1)	40 (1)
Asia Pacific Field Operations	37 (2)	38 (2)	32 (0)
Scotland based staff	162 (6)	161 (9)	158 (3)
Grand Total	264	274	269

 

*Numbers of new posts has been provided as number of new starts data is not held in this way.

The cost to establish the London Innovation and Investment Hub, Scotland House was £1.65 million. This includes legal, design and building management fees, rent and service costs, purchasing and fit out of furniture and fittings and the purchase and installation of security, IT, telephony and audio-visual equipment. It also includes 20% VAT on all eligible charges.

The cost of establishing and running Scotland House (London) is shared between four organisations - Scottish Government, Scottish Enterprise, Highlands and Islands Enterprise and VisitScotland. These costs are attributed so that 55% is funded by Scottish Government and the remaining 45% funded by the others.

The cost to establish the Dublin Hub was £32,600 which included refurbishment of the premises where the Dublin Hub is situated.

We are developing our existing presence in Brussels into a Hub. A budget has been set aside to support the necessary transition work.

The Berlin Hub is not yet established.

The Scottish Government recognises that youth work can make an important contribution to closing the poverty related attainment gap. The National Improvement Framework and the Pupil Equity Funding National Operational Guidance both highlight Community Learning and Development and youth work organisations as key partners for schools. Strengthening partnerships between schools and youth work practitioners to ensure positive outcomes and recognise achievements as part of a broad ranging curriculum is also a priority for Curriculum for Excellence.

The Scottish Government provides significant investment into the voluntary youth work sector through programmes such as the CashBack for Communities Youth Work Fund. A number of schools and local authorities are also using funding from the £750m Scottish Attainment Challenge to enhance partnerships with the voluntary youth work sector benefiting children and young people in areas of high deprivation

We are committed to supporting the growth of local food throughout Scotland. Our Food and Drink Marketing Advisory Service – Connect Local - recently hosted the successful Discover the Taste of the Borders, Midlothian and Edinburgh event to encourage the development of new trading relationships and increase the sale of local food and drink through independent retail outlets and seek to increase the use of local food and drink on menus in the region.

The industry-led food and drink strategy - Ambition 2030 – will deliver key commitments to promote locally sourced and produced food and drink. These will include the creation of regional Showcasing events across Scotland and the launch of a Regional Food Fund to give local producers a new opportunity to access support to generate greater interest in their produce and region. Our Programme for Government also outlines a commitment to develop a national food tourism action plan over the next year which will have a drive to promote local produce and extol the virtues of our quality and provenance at the very heart of it.

The Scottish Government believes that the best outcomes for children and young people can only be delivered when the planning of children’s services is fully inclusive, and reflects the views of a range of partners, including local authorities, health boards and national and local bodies, including the third sector. That is why we legislated and the Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014 (the "Act") was enacted. Part 3 of the Act places a duty on each local authority and relevant health board to jointly prepare a children's services plan covering a
3 year period. A range of other relevant national and local bodies, including the third sector, are expected to be either consulted with, or obliged to participate, at various stages of the development of the plan. The Statutory Guidance accompanying Part 3 clearly sets out the expectations with regards inclusion of the third sector. Children's services plans for all local authorities and relevant health boards are now in place for the period 1 April 2017 to 31 March 2020. In addition, the Scottish Government funds the National Third Sector GIRFEC Project, which focuses on delivering better outcomes for children and young people through supporting third sector involvement in the planning and delivery of children's services.

The Scottish Government is discussing with Creative Scotland the impact of the forecast reductions in lottery income, which also affect lottery funding for the arts, film, heritage, sport, communities and charities across the UK. There are pressures on all areas of public expenditure with the UK Government’s budget decisions to be announced on 22 November. Creative Scotland’s grant funding will be included in the Scottish Government’s draft 2018-19 budget on 14 December.

Local authorities in Scotland do not have individual recycling targets. The 2016 Scottish Household Waste Data were published by SEPA on 26 September 2017, and can be accessed at: https://www.sepa.org.uk/environment/waste/waste-data/waste-data-reporting/household-waste-data/

Our Innovation and Investment Hubs provide a platform that brings together Scottish Government and its agencies, with partners and businesses to promote Scotland's interests, increase exports and attract investment to Scotland. We are developing a framework to assess their contribution to trade, investment and other outcomes though it will be challenging to fully separate out the specific impact of each Hub from wider trade and investment activities.

Dublin has been fully operational since October 2016 and London became operational in May 2017. Figures on the specific trade and investment, economic and employment impacts of both Hubs since they became operational are not available.

Scottish Development International's full year annual performance figures are formally published in Scottish Enterprise's Annual Report and Accounts, which were laid before the Scottish Parliament this year on 2nd October 2017. Information on SDI's achievements for 2016-17 was also published on 26 June 2017, showing strong performance in a competitive global marketplace.