Chamber and committees

International marketing activity undertaken by the Scottish Government as Brand Scotland, is measured by a comprehensive suite of metrics that determine whether the associated SMART objectives have been met. These objectives are set each year according to the purpose of the activity, the level of spend available and the tactics it will use.

They include digital reach through social and digital channels and audience engagement with the content but more importantly additionally consider the strategic outcomes and impact on these audiences, such as perception change or an increase in consideration by target audiences.

In support of the Scottish Government’s broader aims to protect Scotland’s place in Europe following Brexit and mitigate any associated economic, social and reputational damage, an international marketing campaign called ‘Scotland is Open’ was delivered by Brand Scotland in France, Germany and Spain in 2019.

This ‘Scotland is Open’ campaign aimed to promote Scotland as a welcoming and open country to boost positive perceptions of Scotland as a place to live, work, study, visit and do business with in order to build and maintain strong relationships with the EU and member states.

The campaign included video on demand, paid social, OOH digital display and print advertising ran initially from 29 March until 11 April in 2019. The second burst ran from October until 5 November in 2020 and added Belgium to the international markets targeted.

The creative production and media costs for this two year campaign were funded by VisitScotland and Scottish Enterprise/SDI.

The Scottish Government launched the EU Settlement Scheme in 2019 to support EU/EEA citizens, their employers and service providers following the decision of the UK Government to require EU citizens who were residing in the UK prior to the ending of freedom of movement to apply for the UK Government’s EU Settlement Scheme in order to continue living, working and studying in the UK.

The main aim of the Stay in Scotland campaign was to support EU citizens to secure their right to stay in Scotland through the EU Settlement Scheme. The UK Government publishes figures on the number of applications to the EU Settlement Scheme by nationality, region and local authority. The aim of the Stay in Scotland campaign was therefore to maximise the number of successful applications from EU citizens in Scotland.

International marketing activity undertaken by the Scottish Government as Brand Scotland, is measured by a comprehensive suite of metrics that determine whether the associated SMART objectives have been met. These objectives are set each year according to the purpose of the activity, the level of spend available and the tactics it will use.

They include digital reach through social and digital channels and audience engagement with the content but more importantly additionally consider the strategic outcomes and impact on these audiences, such as perception change or an increase in consideration or claimed action by target audiences.

In support of the Scottish Government’s broader aims to protect Scotland’s place in Europe following Brexit and mitigate any associated economic, social and reputational damage, an international marketing campaign was delivered by Brand Scotland in France, Germany, Ireland and Spain in 2019.

This ‘Scotland is Open’ campaign aimed to promote Scotland as a welcoming and open country to boost positive perceptions of Scotland as a place to live, work, study, visit and do business with in order to build and maintain strong relationships with the EU and member states.

The campaign included video on demand, paid social, OOH digital display and print advertising ran initially from 29 March until 11 April in 2019. The second burst ran from 31 January until 4 February in 2020 and added Belgium alongside France, Germany, Ireland and Spain.

As with all marketing campaigns delivered by the Scottish Government, a series of SMART objectives were set to evaluate the performance of the campaign and its impact on perceptions of Scotland, before it began.

Pre and post campaign research was undertaken by research agency BVA BDRC in France, Germany and Spain with four audience groups: potential relocators, students, holiday makers and senior business leaders who would consider doing business.

In just two weeks the campaign activity reached over 80 million people, generating 27% awareness in key markets (France, Germany and Spain) against a target of 10%. The video was viewed over 52 million times, with 25 million of these through to completion, and 8.8 million engagements.

The SMART objectives for the campaign were:

• To achieve 10% awareness of the campaign among live / work / study / visit / business target audiences in France / Germany / Spain by mid-April 2019 Among campaign recognisers in France / Germany / Spain achieve 30% agreement that Scotland is an (i) open and (ii) welcoming nation by mid-April 2019
• Among campaign recognisers, achieve 30% agreement that Scotland continues to extend a warm welcome even in uncertain times by mid-April 2019
• Among campaign recognisers, achieve 20% agreement that the Scotland of today is (i) inclusive (ii) innovative by mid-April 2019
• Among campaign recognisers, achieve a 10% consideration level of Scotland as a place to (i) live (ii) work (iii) study (iv) do business (v) visit by mid-April 2019
• Among campaign recognisers, achieve 3% claimed action as a result of seeing the campaign by mid-April 2019

The campaign significantly exceeded these targets, achieving the following results:

• 34% campaign awareness amongst live/work audiences, 49% awareness amongst study audiences, 30% awareness amongst visit audiences and 33% amongst business audience
• 70% agreement that Scotland is an open and welcoming nation 76% agreement that Scotland continues to extend a warm welcome even in uncertain times
• Among campaign recognisers, 56% considered Scotland to be innovative and 60% considered Scotland to be inclusive
• Among campaign recognisers, positive consideration of Scotland as a place to live and work achieved 39%, as an overseas study destination 44%, as a place to do business 40% and a place to visit 43%.
• 82% of all campaign recognisers claimed to have taken action as a result of the campaign

Scotland is Now was the creative platform that formally launched the Brand Scotland Partnership on 11 April 2018, seeking to establish a new narrative for positioning Scotland internationally that would more effectively challenge certain perceptions that could limit opportunities.

The Brand Scotland Partnership consists of the following organisations: VisitScotland, Scottish Enterprise/SDI, Creative Scotland, Scotland Food and Drink, HIE, Universities Scotland and the Scottish Government.

The Brand Scotland Strategic Partnership is a collaborative initiative that seeks to grow Scotland’s profile with international audiences and increase consideration as a place to live and work, study, visit and do business.

The Scottish Government routinely publishes marketing spend annually and figures for international marketing spend which would all have been delivered as Brand Scotland, can be accessed here: Marketing spend - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

The draft Islands Connectivity Plan (ICP) Strategic Approach paper said that we would take forward detailed consideration of a number of fares proposals.

The consultation and engagement report and our initial responses were published on 3 September and are available at Islands Connectivity Plan | Transport Scotland.

These outputs will support the finalisation of the ICP which will set out our plans for taking forward ferry fares policy. Further updates will be provided in due course.

The Scottish Government recognises that high quality, accessible and affordable early learning and childcare is vital in rural areas to support children’s outcomes and to enable parents or carers to train, work or study. A full response to the Health, Social Care and Sport Committee report, Remote and Rural Healthcare Inquiry, was sent on 18 November. The Scottish Government, in collaboration with the Centre for Workforce Supply and the National Centre for Remote and Rural Health and Care will develop a sustained model of direct support that will provide rural and island employers with the help they need to improve recruitment success.

We recognise the provision of childcare is a key factor to support more people in rural and island communities to enter and sustain training, employment and starting a business. The Scottish Government continues to fully fund local authorities to deliver 1140 hours of Early Learning and Childcare to eligible children across Scotland, backed by almost £1 billion funding each year. In addition, at a national level, several work programmes are underway to support childcare access in rural and island communities. This includes –

• Funding a new national childminder recruitment and retention programme.
• Making grants available to local authorities via the Addressing Depopulation Action Plan Fund, two of which will contain a focus on addressing childcare issues in areas affected by acute population decline.
• Providing local authorities with an additional £16m in 2024-25 to support payment of the real Living Wage to staff delivering funded ELC in the private and third sectors.
• Investing £16 million over the next two years into our early adopter communities (EACs), including those in rural and island locations. We are extending the number of communities involved in this work in existing EACs in Dundee, Clackmannanshire Glasgow and Inverclyde – as well as further expanding into Fife and the Shetland Isles. This will allow us to test and understand particular challenges and opportunities in rural and island areas.

As I stated in my previous answer to S6W-29868 on 24 September 2024, I wrote to the new Secretary of State for Scotland, Ian Murray MP, on 12 August 2024 seeking his in-principle agreement to proceed with this section 104 Order. I have still not received a reply.

My officials have asked officials in the Office of the Secretary of State for Scotland when I can expect to receive a reply.

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