Current status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 1 June 2020
To ask the Scottish Government what financial support it has made available to the National Trust of Scotland in each of the last five years, and whether additional funding will be provided over the next 12 months in light of the COVID-19 pandemic to help protect (a) jobs and (b) venues.
Public funding for the heritage sector is primarily distributed through Historic Environment Scotland’s (HES) grant programmes. Since 2015, the National Trust for Scotland (NTS) has been awarded two three-year Annual Maintenance Grants to support the conservation and repair of properties within its estate. The grant funding made available is set out in the following table alongside details of the amounts claimed by the NTS.
2015-16 | 2016-17 | 2017-18 | 2018-19 | 2019-20 | 2020-21 | |
Grant offered | £1,320,000 | £1,320,000 | ||||
Profiled | £440,000 | £440,000 | £440,000 | £440,000 | £440,000 | £440,000 |
Claimed | £434,500 | £534,456 | £266,929 | £231,234 | £209,909 | £- |
In addition, between 2010 and 2017, the NTS received funding of £5,111,986 as targeted project funding to support the development of the Bannockburn Visitors’ Centre. £5 million of this funding was provided directly by the Scottish Government.
In the last five years, the NTS has also received over £2.1 million in funding distributed through Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH). Funding has been provided (a) through a funding agreement to support activity contributing to the delivery of SNH and SG priorities and commitments with respect to the natural environment, (b) to support projects to restore peatland or raise awareness about restoration, and (c) to support a programme of work to manage land on the Mar Lodge Estate, focusing on protected nature sites. Details of this funding is set out in the following table:
2015-16 | 2016-17 | 2017-18 | 2018-19 | 2019-2020 | |
NTS Funding Agreement | 346,117 | 264,217 | 239,145 | 78,511 | - |
Peatland Action | 7,284 | - | 50,494 | 34,512 | 49,409 |
Mar Lodge
| 211,741 | 204,000 | 204,000 | 204,000 | 224,000 |
Total | 565,142 | 468,217 | 493,639 | 317,023 | 273,409 |
With regard to future funding, a team from Scottish Government and Scottish Enterprise is working with the NTS to explore its financial situation and provide recommendations which seek to ensure its long-term security while, as much as possible, protecting jobs and keeping properties open. Any request for public funding will need to be focused on achieving maximum public value and must be accompanied by a clear case which demonstrates both the need for support and the public benefits that it will provide.