Question reference: S2W-30670
- Asked by: Donald Gorrie, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
- Date lodged: 19 December 2006
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Current status: Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 12 January 2007
Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking, in addition to work in relation to football and parades, to tackle latent sectarianism in some parts of Scotland.
Answer
Real progress has been made intackling sectarianism in Scotland and I am proud of what has been achieved. The reconvenedSummit on Sectarianism, held on 12 December 2006, allowed the Executive and key stakeholders to reaffirm their commitmentto working in partnership to eradicate sectarianism once and for all and we willcontinue to work together to drive this agendaforward.
There is a great deal of activitytaking place in addition to the positive work which is being taken forward in relationto football and parades. For example, we have:
Made the anti-sectarian educationresource Don’t GiveIt, Don’t Take It available to all schools in Scotland;
Published the Building Friendshipsand Strengthening Communities guide to twinning denominational and non-denominationalschools;
Been working closely with the Scottish Council of Voluntary Organisations to support and share knowledge and experienceamong anti-sectarianism groups working in the voluntary sector;
Supported research to quantifythe problem of sectarianism in the workplace, and
Been working with the independentTask Group on Tackling Sectarianism in Scotland to develop new ideas and initiatives such as the developmentof a rehabilitation programme to tackle the anti-social attitudes of those involvedin sectarian activities.
An update on progress made onthe Action Plan on Tackling Sectarianism in Scotland is available at: