Chamber and committees

Questions and answers

Parliamentary questions can be asked by any MSP to the Scottish Government or the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body. The questions provide a means for MSPs to get factual and statistical information.

Written questions must be answered within 10 working days (20 working days during recess)
Other questions such as Topical, Portfolio, General and First Minister's Question Times are taken in the Chamber

Urgent Questions aren't included in the Question and Answers search. There is a SPICe fact sheet listing Urgent and emergency questions.

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Question reference: S5W-27193

Asked by: Sandra White, MSP for Glasgow Kelvin, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 January 2020
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 26 February 2020

To ask the Scottish Government when it last met the board of the Glasgow School of Art to discuss the progress being made in dealing with the impact of the fire on 15 June 2018; how often the board provides it with updates, and what the latest position is.

As you will be aware, Higher Education Institutions are autonomous institutions, with responsibility for strategic and operational matters. As such they are accountable to their own Court and are not required to report to the Scottish Government. I did, however, meet with the Chair and Principal of the Glasgow School of Art (GSA) on 29 October 2019.

The Scottish Funding Council (SFC) has a role in providing assurance that there is suitable provision in relation to the governance and management of Higher Education Institutions. The SFC last met with GSA’s senior management team on 10 December 2019.

At my meeting on 29 October I was pleased to note GSA’s clear focus on planning for the future, in particular teaching provision and student and staff well-being. There was a recognition that building a stronger, more consultative relationship with the local community would be a key factor in their success.

Question reference: S5W-27195

Asked by: Sandra White, MSP for Glasgow Kelvin, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 January 2020
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 26 February 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what funding it has provided to the Glasgow School of Art in each of the last three years, and for what purpose.

The following table shows a breakdown of Scottish Government funding provided by the Scottish Funding Council to the Glasgow School of Art :


Description	AY 2016-17	AY 2017-18	AY 2018-19
Disabled Student Premium	52,000	52,000	52,000
Main Teaching Grant	7,232,863	7,578,142	7,793,748
Specialist Institution Grant	2,820,000	2,820,000	2,871,000
Small Specialist Institutions Protection	255,875
Upskilling/Skills shortages
Main Teaching Grant	10,360,738	10,450,142	10,716,748
Fee Anomalies	9,100	1,820
Fee Waiver Grant	9,100	1,820
Research Excellence Grant	1,395,000	1,165,000	1,224,000
Newton Fund	2,200
Research Excellence	1,397,200	1,165,000	1,224,000
Research Postgraduate Grant	73,000	108,000	172,000
Research Postgraduate	73,000	108,000	172,000
University Innovation Fund	293,000	293,000	447,000
Knowledge Exchange (General)	293,000	293,000	447,000
Access to the High Demand Professions	105,031	105,031	105,031
Access	105,031	105,031	105,031
Innovation Vouchers	19,791	14,900	19,850
Knowledge Exchange (Strategic)	19,791	14,900	19,850
GSA Mackintosh Restoration - Project Managers	224,416	215,141	199,539
Museums and Galleries	198,000	198,000	198,000
Diversity and Specialism	422,416	413,141	397,539
Access to Free Sanitary Products			18,225
Scottish Teachers Superann Change to Emp Cont Rate
Additional Funding for Counsellors
Scottish Government Projects			18,225
Linking HE & the Creative Economy in Scotland		6,000
Support for Industry/Academia Links & KTP		6,000
HE Formula Capital Maintenance	403,048	186,372	224,068
University Capital Maintenance	403,048	186,372	224,068
GSA. Scottish Government Pledge		5,000,000
Project Based Funding	0	5,000,000	0
TOTAL	13,083,324	17,743,406	13,324,461

Question reference: S5W-27194

Asked by: Sandra White, MSP for Glasgow Kelvin, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 January 2020
Current Status: Answered by Ash Denham on 24 February 2020

To ask the Scottish Government when it last received an update from the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) regarding the fire at the Glasgow School of Art on 15 June 2018, and when the SFRS will publish its final report.

Question reference: S5O-04164

Asked by: Sandra White, MSP for Glasgow Kelvin, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 February 2020
Current Status: Awaiting answer

To ask the Scottish Government what impact Brexit will have on higher education institutions across Scotland that are in receipt of European research funding.

Question reference: S5O-04141

Asked by: Sandra White, MSP for Glasgow Kelvin, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 February 2020
Current Status: Awaiting answer

To ask the Scottish Government what engagement it has had with the UK Government on providing young people with clarity regarding whether they will continue to have access to the Erasmus+ programme following Brexit.

Question reference: S5F-03881

Asked by: Sandra White, MSP for Glasgow Kelvin, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 20 January 2020
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 23 January 2020

To ask the First Minister what action the Scottish Government is taking to address the reported problems with toxicology services at the University of Glasgow.

Question reference: S5W-26849

Asked by: Sandra White, MSP for Glasgow Kelvin, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 06 January 2020
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 14 January 2020

To ask the Scottish Government how many businesses in Glasgow are expected to benefit directly from the Celtic Connections festival.

The Celtic Connections Economic Impact Assessment, published most recently in August 2019, showed that Celtic Connections generated £5.36m of new output to Glasgow. Overnight visitors stayed in Glasgow for an average of 3.8 days, and daily expenditure ranged from £72.03 to £96.47.

The festival makes use of the exceptional venues, architecture and infrastructure in Glasgow, creating the opportunity to stage world class premieres and events. The festival maintains strong relationships with key local suppliers, including Glasgow Restaurateurs Association, local hotels, equipment hire and transport companies.

Question reference: S5W-26844

Asked by: Sandra White, MSP for Glasgow Kelvin, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 06 January 2020
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 14 January 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what challenges (a) the Celtic Connections festival and (b) other Scotland-based international arts and cultural events are expected to face post-Brexit.

Exiting the EU and the ending free movement of people poses a range of challenges to international arts and cultural events in Scotland. The organisers of Celtic Connections – as well as other international arts and cultural events – have raised concerns that introducing new visa requirements could create major financial and logistical problems for festivals, make it more difficult to attract performers from outside the UK, and could ultimately cause them to become less international.

The UK’s current visa system already puts in place significant cost and administrative barriers for non-EU artists bringing their work to festivals in Scotland. The current process is often lengthy, complex and costly. These issues could be exacerbated if the same process is applied to performers from the EU/EEA.

Organisers of international arts and cultural events in Scotland have reported problems with the system, including:

- Home Office decision-makers refusing visas because they do not believe that the person seeking entry is a genuine visitor.

- Visitor visa evidence requirements being too onerous, acting as a deterrent to participants.

- Salary conditions for sponsored work visas are restrictive and can impair festivals’ access to international participants invited to the UK by wider culture sector organisations.

- Duration of the Permitted Paid Engagement route is capped at one month, and the system does not allow festivals to invite young or emerging artists under this route.

- Passport retention is unfeasible for touring artists - few can manage their touring schedule while passports are being held for three weeks for visa processing and workarounds such as duplicate passports, passport retention or priority processing fees are unaffordable.

- UK festivals cannot sustain the costs of sponsorship responsibilities for temporary worker Tier 5 visas. Although this would mean lower evidence requirements for individuals applying, the overhead is not realistic for festivals with multiple participants entering the UK in a concentrated period for short-duration events.

International connectedness, and the reputation of Scotland as a welcoming, outward-looking country is essential to Scotland’s festivals, and exiting the EU also jeopardises this.

In 2017, Celtic Connections stated that it had to reduce the number of American and European acts in its line-up by around 20% following the EU referendum due to the impact of the weak pound on the festival’s buying power. Creative Producer Donald Shaw has also indicated that Scottish Musicians will find it more difficult to perform in Europe following EU exit.

The Scottish Government shares the concerns expressed by the organisers of international arts and cultural events in Scotland, and has regularly raised concerns with the UK Government around the challenges for international artists and performers coming to participate in festivals.

Question reference: S5W-26841

Asked by: Sandra White, MSP for Glasgow Kelvin, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 06 January 2020
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 14 January 2020

To ask the Scottish Government how much financial support it provides to the Celtic Connections festival.

Celtic Connections is a recipient of Creative Scotland’s Regular Funded Organisations (RFO) funding, where it has received £550,000 every three years since 2015. Prior to that between 2012-2015 they were awarded a total of £510,000 from the former Scottish Arts Council. The festival has also received a total of £200,000 of Scottish Government EXPO funding since 2019, with 2019 being the first time Celtic Connections programmed concerts with EXPO funding.

Question reference: S5W-26843

Asked by: Sandra White, MSP for Glasgow Kelvin, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 06 January 2020
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 14 January 2020

To ask the Scottish Government whether the organiser of the Celtic Connections festival has sought advice or support from it regarding any difficulties faced by foreign artists coming to Scotland since the EU membership referendum.

The Scottish Government supports cultural organisations facing difficulties around EU exit, and supports non-UK artists coming to Scotland to participate in our international festivals. The Scottish Government has longstanding concerns with the UK Government’s immigration system – particularly around the operation of the rules that govern the entry of visitors – and has regularly raised concerns with the UK Government around the challenges for international artists and performers coming to participate in festivals.

The Scottish Government will be hosting an International Festivals Visa Summit in early 2020 to explore the problems faced by festivals and their participants in Scotland and the rest of the UK in relation to the UK visa and immigration system, and what impacts exiting the EU could have on this. It will bring together a wide range of festivals and other cultural stakeholders, as well as representatives from Governments across the UK, find practical solutions to these difficulties. The organisers of Celtic Connections have been invited to participate in the summit.