The current Leadership group of the Scottish AI Alliance is made up as follows –

Chair:

Catriona Campbell, Client Technology & Innovation Officer, EY UK&I (appointed as Chair - March 2023, appointed as Leadership Group member May 2021)

Senior Responsible Officers for Alliance partners:

Tom Wilkinson, Chief Data Officer, Scottish Government

Brian Hills, CEO, The Data Lab

Leadership Group Members:

Leadership Group Recruitment Process Details

The Leadership Group was recruited by a public application process, initially in April/May 2021. Four Leadership Group members stepped down at the end of their initial 2 year term in March 2023 whereas the remaining 7 members extended their tenure for another term. Four new Leadership Group members were appointed in March 2023. The application window for the most recent recruitment process was open from 7 November 2022 to 19 January 2023. We advised that we sought representation from a range of sectors and backgrounds, and would welcome perspectives from within Scotland and beyond. Four positions on the group were advertised and we received thirty two applications.

The assessment panel consisted of –

• Gillian Docherty OBE, CCO University of Strathclyde and inaugural Chair of the Scottish AI Alliance
• Tom Wilkinson, Chief Data Officer, Scottish Government
• Jeremy Darot, Head of AI, Scottish Government
• Steph Wright, Head of Scottish AI Alliance, The Data Lab

Nine of the thirty two applications were regarded as of a suitable high level to move to the next stage and these were considered by the panel in a review meeting on 26 th January, where the final recommendations were made. Given the level of consensus on the appointments it was agreed that no further assessment was required and the successful candidates were offered the posts.

Chair Recruitment

Due to the inaugural Chair, Gillian Docherty OBE, indicating that she will step down from the role at the end of her two year term in March 2023, the Alliance began discussions around about potential chair candidates in October 2022. They identified a shortlist of people to approach.

In January 2023 there were a number of informal interviews with the shortlisted candidates, and the unanimous decision of the panel was that Catriona Campbell was the most suitable candidate. She accepted the role and was announced in post on 28 th March 2023 by then Minister Ivan McKee at the Scottish AI Summit 2023.

The Education Scotland National Numeracy and Maths Team continue to support local authorities and schools in delivering Maths Recovery training for teachers.

Education Scotland has led the Early Career Teacher (ECT) maths programme for two years and will do so again in academic session 2023-24. The programme was originally aimed at those who were unable to participate in normal school placements due to the pandemic and is designed to build confidence in teaching maths and numeracy. ECT has been accessed by over 1,000 practitioners this academic year and has been expanded to include teachers returning to the profession and those wishing to refresh their skills. In addition, Education Scotland has supported local authorities in Renfrewshire, South Lanarkshire, and Aberdeenshire in response to COVID-19 through a Maths Recovery Pilot; the outcome of which has yet to be evaluated.

Scottish Government is aware that some local authorities offer extensive Maths Recovery training which is not specifically related to the impacts of COVID-19. For example, West Lothian and South Lanarkshire have been offering Maths Recovery for some considerable time.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-18183 on‎ 7 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

As this is an operational matter for Scottish Water I have asked them to respond. Their answer is:

The number of sewage discharge points for each river, including its tributaries, is:

• River Don - 42 Wastewater Treatment Works and 99 discharge points
• River Dee - 26 Wastewater Treatment Works and 69 discharge points

SEPA's licencing conditions do not currently require Scottish Water to report discharge data at these locations.

The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) publishes river water quality data on their website at: www.sepa.org.uk/data-visualisation/water-classification-hub. SEPA currently classifies waterbodies in the River Dee catchment as 92% at good or better water quality and the River Don catchment as 84% at good or better water quality.

The stark warning from the World Meteorological Organisation that global temperatures will temporarily breach 1.5 degrees Celsius of warming during the next five years means that we will experience increased intensity and frequency of heatwaves, flooding, wildfires, supply chain disruption and storm events here in Scotland. This underlines why it is more important than ever that we take lasting action to secure a net zero and climate resilient future in a way that is fair and just for everyone.

We are making progress on reducing our domestic emissions through delivery of our updated Climate Change Plan. The latest data show our emissions are down by over 50% since the 1990 baseline, over halfway to net zero. The hardest part of the journey is ahead of us, as we need to halve our emissions again by 2030, and we can only achieve this through collaboration. The Scottish Government is currently in the process of developing our next draft Climate Change Plan on emissions reduction, alongside three sectoral Just Transition Plans, on Transport, Buildings and Construction, and Land Use and Agriculture. We will also be taking account of consultation responses to revise the Energy Strategy and Just Transition Plan to deliver a just transition to net zero in the energy sector.

Alongside this, we are continuing to deliver over 170 policies and proposals in the current Scottish Climate Change Adaptation Programme, the Scottish Government is also now developing the next programme. Public consultation is anticipated for the start of 2024 with the aim of publishing a final statutory programme in Autumn 2024. While progress is being made, we acknowledge that more needs to be done.

Scotland cannot act with credibility here at home if we are blind to the fact that the impacts of climate change and a transition to net zero are not felt equally – that those who have done the least to contribute to the climate crisis are impacted first and worse by it. Developed countries like Scotland have a moral responsibility to support developing countries to help secure a global transition in a way that is fair and just. Through the Climate Justice Fund, Scottish Government will meet this responsibility through continuing to lead international advocacy for climate justice and action on loss and damage.

The Scottish Government do not hold any information on domestic chargepoints that are (a) currently reported as faulty and (b) no longer in use.

Domestic chargepoints for private use, are not publicly available and are the sole responsibility of the home owner.

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.

The Scottish Government stands with the international community in deep concern over the spiralling violence in Sudan.

The Scottish Government maintains a £1 million per year Humanitarian Emergency Fund (HEF). Decisions on which crises to respond to are made by the Scottish Ministers based on recommendations from the HEF Panel. This expert Panel is made up of eight representatives from leading humanitarian aid organisations in Scotland.

We are in contact with the Panel regarding the situation in Sudan and expect to provide further information on this in due course.

Due to the impact of COVID-19, there is currently a delay of up to four months in allocating some complaints to a complaints reviewer at the Scottish Public Service Ombudsman (SPSO). The SPSO have put in place and are applying a number of measures to reduce the age and number of unallocated cases, and ensure urgent cases are identified and actioned. The SPSO has also received funding from the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body to recruit extra temporary staff in order to assist with the backlog. This delay has reduced from 11 months in 2022 and will continue to drop thanks to extra capacity and positive improvements in how the SPSO deliver their service which should mitigate any impact this may have on public services.

The Scottish Government and COSLA agreed a joint funding model in 2018 to support the training of new Educational Psychologists. This model was agreed and developed by the National Scottish Steering Group for Educational Psychologists (NSSGEP). The NSSGEP is chaired by the Scottish Government and includes representation from professional bodies, ADES, COSLA and EIS.

The training programme is evaluated by Dundee University in several ways. A six-yearly cycle of periodic programme review is undertaken and was last completed in September 2021. This review concluded with a very positive evaluation of the training programme. The British Psychological Society re-accredits the programme every three years, and provided a positive evaluation in September 2021. The University also conducts an annual programme evaluation to ensure the training programme is meeting the needs of students and to make small improvements as required.

The Scottish Government and COSLA engage and work closely with our training and delivery partners to ensure that the training programme remains robust and sustainable.