Chamber and committees

I am pleased to report that today (1 October 2015) I can announce the launch of the first strategy annual report which sets out the remarkable progress there has been in delivering Our Place in Time to date. The report is available here: http://www.gov.scot/Topics/ArtsCultureSport/arts/Historic-environment/Strategy

Of course the strategy also set the wider policy context for the creation of Historic Environment Scotland (HES) and I am also pleased to report that the new non-departmental public body assumed its full powers today. This includes taking on the functions delegated to it in relation to the properties in the care of Scottish ministers and the associated collections. As required under the Historic Environment Scotland Act 2014, the schemes of delegation which provide for this have been published on the Scottish Government website alongside the list of properties in the care of Scottish ministers.

HES will be the lead public body for the historic environment sector in Scotland and one of its key tasks will be to enable and facilitate delivery of Our Place in Time over the coming years.

The information requested is set out in the following table. The figures provided represent the complete range of funding which the Scottish Government has provided to South Lanarkshire Council in addition to the funding provided through the Local Government Finance settlement.

The Scottish Local Government Finance Statistics document is published annually within the Scottish Government website. This publication provides a comprehensive overview of the information that the Scottish Government collects on local authority financial activity including their expenditure on services. Access to the documents can be found at http://www.gov.scot/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Local-Government-Finance/PubScottishLGFStats.

The First Minister visited mainland China and Hong Kong from 26 to 31 July 2015 to promote Scottish innovation and deliver a programme covering education, culture, trade and investment, including oil and gas. During her time in the country, the First Minister promoted the work of 50 Scottish businesses and announced business partnerships between Scotland and China worth a total of £55 million over three years.

In Beijing, government engagements included a meeting with State Councillor Yang Jiechi, the holder of China’s most senior foreign affairs office. The meeting included discussion around China’s ongoing focus on innovation and Scotland’s expertise in areas such energy and low carbon technology, coupled with educational strengths that could be beneficial for both economies.

During the meeting with State Councillor Yang, the First Minister shared the key message of her earlier speech to the Chinese Friendship Association: that women’s rights and human rights both in China and in Scotland are a fundamental part of achieving greater equality and greater economic growth. Amnesty International’s Programme Director in Scotland, Naomi McAuliffe, called the speech a “significant statement of support for equality and human rights in Beijing”.

The First Minister also met with Minister for Culture, Luo Shugang, and signed a renewal of the Cultural Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Scottish and Chinese governments. She highlighted Scotland’s contribution to the UK China Year of Culture, before witnessing the signing of the Edinburgh International Festival’s MoU on festival collaboration with China.

Whilst in Beijing, the First Minister hosted a reception for 80 Scottish school children benefitting from a Hanban summer learning exchange programme in China. Currently over 200 schools and 20,000 school children learn about China and its language. The First Minister met with Madame Xu Lin, Head of Hanban, thanking her for the recent extension of 21 Confucius Classrooms in Scotland to teach further primary pupils Mandarin and boost their language skills.

On the business front, the First Minister conducted senior-level meetings with major oil companies Sinopec, the China National Offshore Oil Corporation and PetroChina, all of which have substantial interests in the North Sea, opening the door for Scottish companies at the very highest level and promoting further investment in North Sea operations.

The First Minister led a business showcase event in Beijing, where she announced a series of new partnership agreements between Scottish and Chinese firms. The agreements, between nine Scottish companies and Chinese private sector partners, will collectively create 70 jobs in Scotland. At the event, the First Minister addressed an audience of over 120 senior Chinese business people and national media to position Scotland’s innovative company and academic base and promote Scotland as a location for Chinese investment.

The First Minister’s Shanghai programme included announcements around further investment in Scottish textile operations in China as well as business and academic partnerships for one of Scotland’s animation software firms. She also opened Scotland’s largest ever contemporary arts exhibition in China at the Himalayas Museum, promoting opportunities within the cultural and creative industries between Scotland and China.

The programme in Hong Kong included a meeting with Chief Secretary Carrie Lam to discuss opportunities for economic collaboration between Hong Kong and Scotland. The meeting focused on Hong Kong’s programme of constitutional reform and the shared challenges of in work poverty and meeting the needs of an older population.

Other engagements saw the First Minister opening the Edinburgh Centre for Carbon Innovation’s new base in the Hong Kong Science and Technology Park. The centre will share and develop best practise with the Hong Kong government, academic and business partners for the future of carbon technologies in Hong Kong and across Asia. The agreement builds on the MoU signed between the park and Scottish Development International in 2013, witnessed by the Minister for Europe and International Development.

The First Minister then hosted a reception to promote Scottish fashion designers as part of the Scotland Re: Designed collective, which supports designers and makers to meet industry, investors and new customers.

On the final day of her visit, the First Minister led a delegation of Scottish companies in a round table discussion at the Hong Kong Foreign Affairs Bureau positioning Scottish sustainable, low carbon efficient and innovative building expertise in relation to Hong Kong government plans for a major multi-purpose sports stadium and complex project.

The First Minister then spoke on the impact of women leaders and took part in a panel discussion with Hong Kong academics, politicians and industry leaders at the British Council.

The need for independent travel insurance is set out on the website of NHS inform, the national information arm of NHS 24, at:

http://www.nhsinform.co.uk/health-library/articles/t/travel-health/facts/

The benefits of holding the European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) are set out on the website of NHS inform, the national information arm of NHS 24, at:

http://www.nhsinform.co.uk/health-library/articles/t/travel-health/facts/

The EHIC, which is free, can be used throughout the European Economic Area and Switzerland to obtain state medical treatment without charge, or at a reduced cost, if it becomes necessary due to illness or accident during a short-term visit, preventing the need to curtail the trip. The EHIC, however, is not a substitute for travel insurance.

Access to the EHIC is just one of the positive outcomes resulting from Scotland’s EU membership. The Scottish Government is committed to making the positive case for the EU and highlighted many of these positive results, including the EHIC, in the leaflet The Benefits of Scotland’s EU Membership which can be accessed here:

www.gov.scot/Europe

The First Minister visited the USA between 8 and 11 June 2015 to undertake a series of engagements to promote Scotland as a place to do business, to study and to visit. She also met with key stakeholders across a range of sectors.

New figures show that Scotland is the most popular place for inward investment in the UK outside London and that US investment is at a record high after our global profile in 2014. Indeed the US is now more important to Scottish foreign direct investment performance than to the UK as a whole with 46% of its investment coming from US investors. 2014 saw 37 investments secured from the US – the most successful year in the attraction of US investment in the last decade. During her visit the First Minister announced the creation of a further 212 new jobs and the safeguarding of 147 existing jobs in Livingston by US manufacturing company Jabil, and also the creation of 50 new jobs in Glasgow by Spire, a satellite technology company.

30 companies attended a business breakfast hosted by the First Minister and Scottish Enterprise, including 12 existing investors, three Scottish companies operating in North America and key target companies in the New York area. A number of investors joined a broader audience at the Glasgow Caledonian University campus in New York where the First Minister set out Scotland’s approach to business and society, including our support for social enterprise and the newly launched Scottish Business Pledge.

At a roundtable discussion with senior women executives from the financial services, business services, technology and creative industries, the First Minister led a discussion on how to get better gender diversity in the workplace and get more women into senior positions. The First Minister also launched Scottish SME The Wee Tea Company’s export drive in the USA providing an opportunity to promote Scottish food and drink to a key market.

The First Minister continued her focus on the economy with discussions at the headquarters of the World Bank in Washington DC where she spoke on Scotland’s work on tackling inequality and growing the economy and at the International Monetary Fund where she met with managing director Christine Lagarde to discuss economic issues and Scotland’s economic strategy.

The First Minister undertook a number of policy related visits to learn lessons from different approaches taken in the USA on issues of health and education and to share Scotland’s experiences. The First Minister met with Chancellor Carmen Fariña of New York City’s Department of Education who is responsible for the education of over 1.1 million children and 1,800 public schools in the New York area and with the Deputy Secretary for Education, John King, to discuss programmes to improve educational outcomes.

The First Minister also met the newly appointed Deputy Under Secretary for Food, Nutrition and Consumer Services, Dr Katie Wilson, to share experiences on school meals and school nutritional standards.

The First Minister cemented the links between Yorkhill Children’s Hospital in Glasgow and the New York Presbyterian Hospital through her visit and welcomed the philanthropic support for both hospitals from the St Andrew’s Society of New York State.

The First Minister’s programme had a strong cultural element. She was awarded Honorary Membership of the St Andrew’s Society of New York State, hosted a reception at the New York Library for the Performing Arts on behalf of the Glasgow School of Art to launch their restoration funding programme in the USA, paid her respects at the September 11^th memorial museum in New York and took part in a ceremony at the US Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington DC to hand over unique images of WWII concentration camps which are in the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland collection. She also met with a number of holocaust survivors and lit a candle in the Hall of Remembrance.

Engaging with senior contacts in the US Administration, Congress and Senate was a key component of the First Minister’s programme in Washington DC. This included a meeting with Deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland to discuss bilateral issues. The First Minister also met with representatives of the President’s National Security Council to discuss issues of mutual interest.

On The Hill, the First Minister met with the co-chairs of the House Friends of Scotland Caucus, Congressman John Duncan of Tennessee and Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez of California, to discuss how to support their work in promoting Scotland and through the office of Senator Claire McCaskill of Missouri, she met a number of women Senators to discuss the promotion of women in politics and shared policy interests. The First Minister also spoke at the prestigious Council on Foreign Relations on the UK election and the future of the UK’s relationship with the EU.

As part of her work to promote Scotland as an ideal business location the First Minister undertook a number of media engagements including Bloomberg Surveillance, MSNBC Morning Joe, PBS Newshour, the Wall Street Journal, CNN, National Public Radio and The Daily Show.