Chamber and committees

Scottish Chamber Orchestra has met with Scottish Ministers on three occasions since May 2021.

On 9 November 2021, Scottish Chamber Orchestra held an meeting the Minister for Culture, Europe and International Development, to discuss the impacts of COVID-19 restrictions

On 10 May 2022, the Minister for Culture, Europe and International Development with special responsibility for Refugees from Ukraine, Neil Gray visited the Scottish Chamber Orchestra at Queen’s Hall, Edinburgh for an introductory meeting and to discuss support for the culture sector as it recover from the impacts of the pandemic.

On 11 January 2023, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, along with the other National Performing Companies, met with the Cabinet Secretary for Constitution, External Affairs and Culture to explore how their international tours could further enhance the reputation and brand of Scotland overseas.

As a National Performing Company, the Scottish Chamber Orchestra receive direct funding from Scottish Government. Scottish Government officials have met regularly since May 2021 with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra as part of normal grant management processes.

The Scottish Government Ministerial team has met with National Library of Scotland (NLS) on several occasions since May 2021. The meetings were as follows:

30 Nov 2021 Jenny Gilruth as Minister for Culture, Europe and International Development met with the NLS Chair and the National Librarian.

4 My 2022 Neil Gray as Minister for Culture, Europe and International Development and Minister with special responsibility for refugees from Ukraine had an introductory visit and tour of the Treasures galleries at the George IV bridge National Library site.

6 Dec 2022 Angus Robertson in his role as Cabinet Secretary for Constitution, External Affairs and Culture met the Chairs of NMS and NLS at the Scottish Parliament to discuss the future of Scotland's National Collections.

31 May 2023 I, as newly appointed Minister for Culture, Europe and International Development, had an introductory meeting with the NLS Chair and the National Librarian.

8 June 2023 I attended at the launch of the Folktales exhibition at George IV bridge National Library site.

As a public body in receipt of grant-in-aid officials have met regularly with the National Library of Scotland since May 2021.

National Theatre of Scotland is one of Scotland’s five National Performing Companies and has met with Scottish Ministers on two occasions since May 2021.

On 28 September 2021, National Theatre of Scotland held an introductory meeting with the Minister for Culture, Europe and international Development, where the impacts of COVID-19 restrictions and support for the culture sector were discussed

On 11 January 2023, National Theatre of Scotland, along with the other National Performing Companies, met with the Cabinet Secretary for Constitution, External Affairs and Culture to explore how their international tours could further enhance the reputation and brand of Scotland overseas.

As a National Performing Company the National Theatre of Scotland receive direct funding from Scottish Government. Scottish Government officials have met regularly since May 2021 with the National Theatre Scotland as part of normal grant management processes.

Scottish Opera is one of Scotland’s five National Performing Companies and has met with Scottish Ministers on two occasions since May 2021.

On 7 October 2021, Scottish Opera held an introductory meeting and tour of the Scottish Opera studios with the Minister for Culture, Europe and International Development, where the importance of their outreach and community engagement work was discussed.

On 11 January 2023, Scottish Opera, along with the other National Performing Companies, met with the Cabinet Secretary for Constitution, External Affairs and Culture, to explore how their international tours could further enhance the reputation and brand of Scotland overseas.

As a National Performing Company the Scottish Opera receive direct funding from Scottish Government. Scottish Government officials have met regularly since May 2021 with the Scottish Opera as part of normal grant management processes.

Scottish Ministers have met with the Scottish Library and Information Council (SLIC) on three occasions since May 2021.

On 4 August 2021, Ms Gilruth, then Minister for Culture, Europe and International Development met with SLIC for an introductory meeting. The outcome of the meeting was to update the Minister on progress against the Public Library Covid Relief Fund, the Public Library Improvement Fund (PLIF) for year 2021-22 and Scotland’s Public Library Strategy 2021-2025.

On 15 December 2022, Mr Gray, then Minister for Culture, Europe and International Development, and Minister with special responsibility for Refugees from Ukraine, met with SLIC for an introductory meeting. The outcome of the meeting was to update the Minister on progress against PLIF for year 2022-23 and Scotland's Public Library Strategy 2021-2025.

On 22 February 2022, Mr Gray met with Cllr Kelly Parry (Midlothian) and SLIC. The outcome of the meeting was to seek wider understanding of Midlothian Council’s plans with regards to their public libraries.

As SLIC receive direct funding from the Culture and Education portfolios of the Scottish Government, officials have met SLIC regularly since May 2021 as part of normal grant management processes.

The Scottish Government is currently working closely with Public Health Scotland (PHS) to improve the data landscape across the NHS Health Boards in Scotland. Comprehensive data is vital to enable Boards to plan services and create appropriate care pathways. Many individuals accessing services do not initially have a diagnosis, but instead have general presentations.

In April 2019, to better understand the prevalence of specific conditions, referral outcomes, and patient demographics, the Scottish Government commissioned national patient-level data for people seeking and receiving treatment in Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) and Psychological Therapies (PT) services. This is known as the CAMHS and PT National Dataset (CAPTND). IT systems in some Boards will require significant overhaul to enable the recording and extraction of the full dataset. Directors of eHealth are liaising with system suppliers and embedded PHS analysts to prioritise this work as part of the £0.5m digital infrastructure, applications and data package announced in September 2021.

There have been no such discussions held by the Cabinet Secretary for Constitution, External Affairs and Culture.

To make it easier for families to access the free reusable nappy kit that is included with the Baby Box, we are working with our Baby Box Managing Agent, APS Group Scotland, to include an electronic QR code option on the reusable nappy voucher. We anticipate the QR code being included on vouchers from September 2023.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-19509 on 17 July 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

Scottish Government officials are continuing to work closely with the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to consider the feasibility of introducing split payments of Universal Credit. Officials expect to submit a formal policy proposal to DWP soon, for them to impact assess.

The managed migration of people on legacy benefits onto Universal Credit will form part of DWP’s impact assessment of the split payment policy, and the Scottish Government will consider any impacts in due course. We will then be able to update on the feasibility of the policy.