Chamber and committees

These figures are taken from Where are the Women?, an analysis of creative roles by gender in Scottish theatre 2014-15 by Christine Hamilton Consulting, published on 8 March 2016. In fact, as Ms Hamilton’s report indicates, the gender balance in Scottish theatre is improving. While it is not possible to have a direct comparison (due to different data collection methodology), the general trend is positive since 2009. Women made up 26% of playwrights in 2009 and 39% in 2014-15.

Creative Scotland fund the Scottish Playwrights Studio whose mentoring programme has supported a majority of female playwrights.

Creative Scotland is monitoring gender imbalance in theatre as part of its current equalities, diversity and inclusion review, which will provide more robust data on those employed in the theatre and wider arts sector. Theatre has particular issues as working hours are often not family friendly. Creative Scotland is making equalities activity, including gender balance, a core expectation for those in receipt of public funding.

The gender balance in Scottish theatre is improving but needs to improve further. While it is not possible to have a direct comparison (due to different data collection methodology), the general trend is positive since 2009. Creative Scotland collects data directly from theatre organisations funded on a regular basis through their annual statistical survey which show a more positive picture than the Where are the Women? report cited.

Women made up 26% of theatre directors in 2009, rising to 47% in 2014-15. When compared internationally, Scotland was well ahead of Canada in 2010-11 where only 28% were women compared to the then figure of 38% in Scotland.

An artistic director (AD) is not employed in all theatre organisations funded by Creative Scotland, but of 24 AD posts in organisations funded by Creative Scotland, nine women have AD roles, representing 38%. The figures indicate that there are seven women (29%) with sole artistic leadership, with two of the theatre organisations having co-artistic directors – one man and one woman.

Creative Scotland is monitoring gender imbalance in theatre as part of its current equalities, diversity and inclusion review, which will provide more robust data on those employed in the theatre and wider arts sector. Theatre has particular issues as working hours are often not family friendly. Creative Scotland is making equalities activity, including gender balance, a core expectation for those in receipt of public funding.

The independent review of planning is on-going at this time and Scottish Ministers have not yet received the panel’s recommendations. It is expected that their report will be published in May 2016.

The Scottish Government, in conjunction with The Crown Estate, commissioned an independent review of the consenting process for aquaculture in Scotland and the report’s recommendations are currently under consideration. Scottish Ministers have no plans to introduce the Norwegian system at this time.

All finfish farm proposals undergo environmental impact assessment as a key component of the consenting process involving local planning authorities and statutory consultees. The Scottish Government, in conjunction with The Crown Estate, commissioned an independent review of the consenting process for aquaculture in Scotland and the report’s recommendations are currently under consideration. Scottish Ministers have no plans to introduce the Norwegian system at this time.

The Scottish Government takes the safety of Scotland's Railways very seriously and expects all employers to carry out their duty of care to ensure that their employees are not exposed to undue stresses or fatigue that would impair their ability to carry out their duties, so far as is reasonably practicable.

The Railway Safety Regulator - the Office of Road and Rail has the responsibility for monitoring the safety performance of Network Rail and holding them to account, with enforcement if necessary. This includes ensuring that Network Rail implements its duty of care with respect to the health of their workforce.

I am pleased to announce that funding amounting to a total of £464,774 will be provided to 14 organisations (see following link), from our Small Grants Programme 2016-2017, for work to commence in April 2016.

Total amount of recommended funding – Programme Year 2016-2017

Type of Grant	Total Recommendation
Project	£407,515
Feasibility	£39,267
Capacity Building	£17,992
Total	£464,774

Recommendations for funding after assessment by country and grant type – Programme Year 2016-2017

Country	Project	Feasibility	Capacity Building	Total
Malawi	4	-	-	4
Zambia	2	-	-	2
India (Madhya Pradesh)	1	-	-	1
Tanzania	-	3	2	5
Bangladesh	-	1	-	1
Zambia/Tanzania	1	-	-	1
Total	8	4	2	14

The Small Grants Programme 2016-2017 attracted 28 applications before the deadline of noon on 25 November 2015. One application was received after the closing date which was not assessed due to its lateness and the application being incomplete. A further three applications were rejected as outwith our eligibility criteria, and therefore were not part of the full assessment process. The remaining 25 applications were fully assessed, 11 of which did not meet our assessment criteria and were therefore not awarded funding.

The full list of the organisations to be funded is available on the following web link:

http://www.gov.scot/Topics/International/int-dev/smallgrants.

I can confirm that the Scottish Government has no plans to commission a study on this matter.

I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-29111 on 13 January 2016. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at

http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx.

The Scottish Government is aware there are researchers who have defined the condition vibroacoustic disease and undertaken research on this issue. In line with our approach to other public health issues, we receive evidence-based advice from Health Protection Scotland, our national health protection experts, and also from Public Health England. They provide the Scottish Government with expert assessment of the scientific literature available on this topic, and keep it under review.

The Scottish Government is not aware of any scientific evidence linking Da Costa's syndrome (also known as soldier's heart) to vibration exposure. Shellshock is now clinically recognised as post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and its causes and treatments have been well researched in situations with and without loud sounds. The Scottish Government is not aware of any specific scientific link between PTSD and the acoustic environment. Occupational noise and vibration exposure is regulated by the Health and Safety Executive.