Chamber and committees

This is additional funding for the third sector.

BIG in Scotland and the Scottish Government have had regular contact since BIG was awarded the contract to manage the Third Sector Early Intervention Fund in November 2012, including in the period following the Scottish Government’s decision to reschedule the announcement of the outcome of the Fund.

The value in 2012-13 of the three predecessor funds to the Third Sector Early Intervention Fund was £13.85 million. £30 million is being provided to the voluntary sector over the next two years, with £20 million being provided through the Third Sector Early Intervention Fund and a further £10 million through Strategic Funding Partnerships.

Ministers agreed the organisations to be invited to discuss Strategic Funding Partnerships. Discussions with individual organisations are being taken forward by relevant officials.

The Third Sector Early Intervention Fund was managed by BIG in Scotland, the non-lottery arm of the Big Lottery, who made funding decisions.

The Scottish Government made the decision to reschedule the announcement of the Third Sector Early Intervention Fund in late March 2013.

The level of investment in the following organisations – Edinburgh Castle; National Museum of Scotland; National Galleries of Scotland and Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, for the years requested, can be found in the following table:

Note: *Edinburgh Castle - Due to a change in accounting heads it has only been possible to provide comparable information from 2004-2005.

The Scottish Government has not provided any investment in the Burrell Collection in the years stated.

The level of investment in the Cairngorms National Park Authority and Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park Authority, for the years requested, can be found in the following table:

Regional Parks do not receive direct funding from the Scottish Government. However, they do receive financial support in the form of grants paid via other public bodies/public sector organisations. Further information on this is provided in the background note.

The visitor figures for the following organisations - Clyde Muirshiel Regional Park; Edinburgh Castle; National Museum of Scotland; National Gallery of Scotland; Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum and the Burrell Collection, for the years requested, can be found in the following table:

Notes:

*SNPG closed for refurbishment April 2009 - November 2011

**Kelvingrove closed for refurbishment 2003 - July 2006.

Pentland Hills Regional Park

Rather than annual visitor numbers, The Park have numbers from periodic visitor surveys, the most recent of which dates back to 2006. Previous surveys were carried out in 1999 and 1993. The results of the 2006 survey estimated between 470,000 and 570,000 visitors annually.

Cairngorms National Park

The park estimates that they have had 14.53 million visitors over the period 2003-2013.

Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park

The Park estimate that they receive 4 million visitors per annum, which would equate to 40 million visitors over the 10 years.

The Scottish Government met the 2013 EU Landfill Directive target two years early and is on track to meet the 2020 target. The Scottish Governments Zero Waste plan focuses on maximising the value of all material resources for our economy. This means seeking waste prevention, reuse and recycling opportunities ahead of incineration.

Taking the Zero Waste plan 70% recycling target into consideration, the Scottish Government produces annual estimates of the operational shortfall in capacity to treat Scotland’s residual waste (waste that is not recycled). The current estimate indicates a shortfall of around 1.7 million tonnes. These figures are produced to help planning authorities and industry understand Scotland’s needs and investment opportunities. After the material is mechanical sorting to remove any possible recyclable material remaining, treatment options include the production of waste derived fuels for export to continental fuel markets, biological stabilisation of materials for use in land restoration and energy production (anaerobic digestion and combustion).

In 2010, the Sustainable Development Commission reported that energy from waste could contribute around 3% of Scotland’s total heat and electricity demand. The study focused on the use of combustion and anaerobic digestion with biogas capture and the main technologies that could contribute to these outputs. It emphasised that the greatest output could be achieved if thermal output is used for heat, as this would be more than 80% efficient. Thermal only output could equate to around 6% of Scotland’s existing heat demand.

These opportunities need to be set against the Scottish Government’s policy of continually reducing Scotland’s residual waste and minimising the need for residual waste treatment through waste prevention, reuse and increased rates of recycling.