Chamber and committees

The Daily Mile Foundation have developed their 'The Daily Mile Scotland Strategy 2023 - 2026' which was published in August 2023 to align with the start of the new academic year. Scottish Government are working closely with the Foundation to support the delivery of the strategy.

The Scottish Government understands the importance of Scotland’s hills and mountains and provides investment to help people enjoy them safely.

In addition to Scottish Government’s annual grant of £312,000 to Scottish Mountain Rescue, sport scotland invests around £2,308,050 of Scottish Government and National Lottery funding to help ensure the safety of mountain users. This includes approximately £1,635,000 for Glenmore Lodge, £379,000 for the sport scotland Avalanche Information Service (SAIS) and £42,000 for the Mountain Weather Information Service.

sport scotland also provides £252,050 to Mountaineering Scotland, which helps to support work on mountain safety. Mountaineering Scotland offer training and information to mountain users to promote safety, self-reliance and the enjoyment of our mountain environment. They also chair a Mountain Safety Group, which was established to monitor and review mountain safety strategy, collaborate with partners, and provides leadership across mountain safety.

We will continue to work with sport scotland and partners to provide more people with safe opportunities to enjoy the outdoors and reap the physical and mental health benefits of physical exercise in nature.

The use of products containing asbestos was banned in the UK in 1999. However, it is still found in buildings and there are strict guidelines about removing asbestos safely. Work with asbestos generally requires a license and the use of strict control measures, including using personal protective equipment. This restriction on asbestos exposure aims to reduce incidence and death from asbestos-related diseases. Between 2010 and 2019, the risk of dying from mesothelioma decreased for both men (30%) and women (29%).

The Scottish Government and Scottish Parliament has a strong record of supporting those who have been negligently exposed to asbestos and their relatives. Significant provision regarding the law on damages for personal injuries has been made, including introducing the Rights of Relatives to Damages (Mesothelioma) (Scotland) Act 2007, the Damages (Asbestos-related Conditions) (Scotland) Act 2009, and supporting the Damages (Scotland) Act 2011.

The external costs associated with the production and publication of the Building a New Scotland paper, ‘Citizenship in an independent Scotland’, are set out in the following table.

The external costs associated with the production and publication of the Building a New Scotland paper, ‘Creating a modern constitution for an independent Scotland’, are set out in the following table.

There are no additional or separately identifiable costs associated with the production and publication of Devolution since the Brexit Referendum paper.

The work to prepare the paper was carried out by officials as part of their normal duties. The Scottish Government does not have a centrally held record of the number of staff involved with this work because, in line with usual practice, details of individual tasks carried out by civil servants, including the number of hours spent on them, are not routinely recorded as there is no business need to do so.

The document was published directly on to the Scottish Government website (see Devolution since the Brexit Referendum - gov.scot ( www.gov.scot) ) as part of a standard central publishing function. It is not possible to provide information on the costs incurred to create and publish the document because in line with usual practice, details of costs to create and publish individual documents in-house published on the website are not routinely recorded as there is no business need to do so.

Scottish Government does not currently directly fund projects which specifically promote freedom of religion or belief. Scottish Government funding of faith and belief organisations is now, and has for many years been focused on supporting interfaith engagement work, as well as supporting faith and belief partners to help build inclusive, resilient and cohesive communities across Scotland.

We provide funding to promote interfaith dialogue and support faith and belief communities across the country. The Scottish Government does not fund faith based organisations to promote or lead worship of a particular faith but does fund discrete faith led projects to meet a particular need, or overcome a barrier to equality of outcome or opportunity for a particular faith community. The organisations listed below deliver projects to enhance understanding of faith, interfaith dialogue and community cohesion.

In addition to this funded work, our new Hate Crime Strategy, published in March 2023, sets out our vision for a Scotland where everyone, including people of faith, live free from hatred and prejudice. The strategy was informed by those with lived experience of hate crime, including faith communities. A delivery plan setting out immediate and longer term activity in support of the strategy, including implementation of the Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act 2021, will be published later this year.

Although we cannot provide a comprehensive breakdown of funding provided to faith and belief organisations across all of Scottish Government from 2007, the following is a breakdown of available figures for faith and belief organisations who received Scottish Government funding:

From 2021 until the present the following annual funding amounts have been provided through the Connected Communities Division:

Edinburgh interfaith Association £50,000

Faith in Community Dundee £40,000

Interfaith Glasgow £50,000

Interfaith Scotland £145,000

Scottish Council of Jewish Communities £50,000

In addition to this, in 2023 Interfaith Glasgow received an additional £20,000 for the year 23-24.

Prior to this funding was provided through the Promoting Equality and Cohesion Fund between 2017 and 20 21. Details of this fundingcan be found at Equality funding: Promoting Equality and Cohesion Fund 2017-2021 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

For 2016-2017 funding was provided through the PECF funding and details can be found at Equality funding 2016 to 2017 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

Funding for Interfaith Scotland as an intermediary organisation was provided between 2012 and 2015 with a total funding of £ 330,000.

Music tourism makes an important contribution to the Scottish economy, attracting overseas visitors as well as locals to enjoy live music at festivals and venues across Scotland, many of which have an international reputation for excellence.

The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that there is a thriving music industry in Scotland and so provided £750,000 across 2021-22 and 2022-23 to enable Scotland on Tour to take place. The programme facilitated new concerts in venues across Scotland to support the sector recover from the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic. While there are no plans to reopen the fund, we continue to work with the music sector, including through further and higher education, to ensure that live music continues to be resilient and world-class.

EventScotland’s existing funding programmes offer opportunities for all event organisers, including live music events, to apply for funding on the basis that it meets the programme criteria.

Within Scotland’s UNESCO Trail microsite, Glasgow’s status as a UNESCO City of Music is highlighted. Earlier this year, EventScotland welcomed five journalists representing eight titles from the UK, France and Germany to explore and promote the Trail. They experienced Celtic Connections and a city music walking tour.

We will continue to work with a range of stakeholder groups, such as the Music Education Partnership Group and the Scottish Music Industry Association, to promote excellence in music and provide opportunities for the musicians of the future.

The Scottish Government is committed to developing a long-term strategic approach to skills and careers in the sector across the creative sector.

The music talent pipeline is already supported through a very significant offer across Scotland’s Colleges at NC, HNC and HND level covering performance, production, sound engineering, music business and event management. There is also increased specialisation at degree level across Scotland’s Higher Education sector, covering classical, contemporary and traditional music disciplines. Further information should be available from Scottish Funding Council and the Scottish Qualifications Authority.

In addition, Creative Scotland plays a major role in talent development and supporting the creative talent pipeline through the National Lottery funded Open Fund for Individuals which offers early career funding to emerging artists. Through their Targeted Routes and organisations funds, Creative Scotland support organisations and events such as Wide Days, the SAMAs and Showcase Scotland Expo, which provide mentoring for young acts.

The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that there is a thriving music industry in Scotland, including grassroots music venues, which are key to supporting emerging Scottish talent. It is vital that both grassroots venues and large-scale venues continue to be valued and supported.

That is why, during the Covid-19 pandemic, we worked with partners to deliver the Grassroots Music Venues Stabilisation Fund. Music venues were also able to apply to the Cancellation Fund for Cultural Organisations, which supported creative businesses which had been financially impacted by cancellations or postponement of activities due to the rapid spread of the Omicron variant.

We currently have no plans to introduce a ticket levy on large music venues to support grassroots venues. However, we continue to engage with stakeholders throughout the sector, such as the Music Venue Trust, to discuss challenges facing the industry, and explore what can be done within our powers and resources to help overcome these.