Official Report 514KB pdf
Agenda item 4 is on the usual reports from the Scottish Government on the work that it is doing on EU structural funds, horizon 2020, foreign languages—in which the committee has an interest—and transposition of directives. The relevant paper is EU/S4/14/23/2.
In relation to the structural and investment funds, page 5 of the paper tells us that €900 million will come to Scotland over a period. Will we see a breakdown of where the money goes and to what projects it relates? Again, I refer to our friend and colleague Helen Eadie, who raised the issue regularly. I want to get some insight into how the money is disbursed and shared out across various projects in Scotland. Will we be able to see a breakdown?
I think that we can ask for that breakdown. Because it has taken such a long time for the structural funds to click into place in some of the programmes, they are just starting now. We can look at that. We get reports every six months now, and I hope that a pattern will emerge, especially as things move on. It is worth keeping on the front burner how much money we are getting, where it is being spent and what the outcomes are.
When the Cabinet Secretary for Culture, Europe and External Affairs gave evidence on the budget, one of the questions that we put to her was about the various European funds that are coming into Scotland. We were concerned that different parts of Government are involved. The cabinet secretary said that, although it is difficult to clarify what funding comes into Scotland that does not come directly through the Government, she would endeavour to look into that and talk to other Government departments. Are we able to follow that up and see whether any progress has been made? It is an area that we need to look at.
You are absolutely right. Before last year, we managed to get a chart of each portfolio, where the money went in, what it was spent on and whether there was any washback or unspent funds. It took a while for that chart to be populated, but it gave us information on where money went and on what type of programmes it was spent. We can ask for that again.
The cabinet secretary said that she was keen to see what could be pulled together to give us a better picture. The question is whether local authorities and other organisations are taking advantage of the funding that could be pulled into Scotland, and the answer seems to be that we do not know. I think that we need to do more on that.
One of the questions is about whether local authorities apply in their own right to European funds for money that never comes near the Scottish Government. That information needs to be shared as well. We have spoken to the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities about that in the past, but we can chase the matter up.
I am pleased to see that there has been a 45 per cent increase in the number of modern languages assistants in schools since we started our languages inquiry. That is a positive sign.
Are there any other questions about the Scottish Government reports?
On foreign language learning, pages 16 and 17 refer to the online glow facility. Members will note that glow
“was successfully transitioned to a new, flexible, cloud-based arrangement”.
Glow is an online learning environment that is full of resources for teachers, pupils and parents alike, and I am pleased to see it being used more widely. It was the subject of some criticism a couple of years ago, so I am pleased that it seems to be developing into the useful tool that we all hoped it would be for kids and teachers.
Are there any other questions on the Scottish Government reports?
We are still chasing up the Scottish Government’s transposition of the human trafficking directive and are ensuring that we are getting the most up-to-date information on that. I think that an interim report is due from the European Commission. We will keep our eyes open for that, especially because the proposed human trafficking bill seems to be imminent—its status has gone from “soon” to “shortly” in Scottish Government speak, so I hope that it is imminent.
The Justice Committee has planned to take evidence on the bill from stakeholders, so I think that “imminent” is very much the word.
Excellent. Thank you for that information. That is the benefit of having a Justice Committee rapporteur on the committee.
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