Chamber and committees

This information is publicly available and published online. I refer the member to the following website:

Creative Communities Programme - Coronavirus (COVID-19) business support: equality impact assessments - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-19744 on‎ 17 July 2023. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers

The Scottish Government meets with the Culture Conveners from local government to discuss ways of working together, in line with shared priorities for the Culture sector.

There have been four meetings of the Culture Conveners since the publication of our Culture Strategy. These took place in November 2020, March 2021, December 2021, and January 2023.

The next Culture Conveners meeting is scheduled to take place with myself in early autumn.

The Scottish Government Ministerial team has met with National Museums Scotland (NMS) on several occasions since May 2021. The meetings were as follows:

9 September 2021 Angus Robertson in his role as Cabinet Secretary for Constitution, External Affairs and Culture had a private tour of the Galloway Hoard at National Museum of Scotland.

26 October 2021 Jenny Gilruth as Minister for Culture, Europe and International Development had a meeting with the NMS Chair and Director.

4 March 2022 Neil Gray in his role as Minister for Culture, Europe and International Development and Minister with special responsibility for refugees from Ukraine had a meeting with the NMS Director and Finance Director to discuss the NMS budget.

4 May 2022 Angus Robertson met the NMS Chair and Director.

1 June 2022 Neil Gray visited the National Museum of Flight and met with the NMS Chair and Director.

8 June 2022 Angus Robertson attended an NMS Board meeting.

1 Dec 2022 Angus Robertson had a phone call with the NMS Chair.

6 Dec 2022 Angus Robertson met the Chairs of NMS and NLS at the Scottish Parliament to discuss the future of Scotland's National Collections.

15 Dec 2022 Neil Gray had a budget call with the Chair of NMS budget day.

22 March 2023 Neil Gray met with the NMS Chair and Director to discuss key priorities.

27 June 2023 I, as newly appointed Minister for Culture, Europe and International Development, had an introductory meeting with the NMS Chair and Director.

As a public body in receipt of grant-in-aid officials have met regularly with the National Museums Scotland since May 2021.

Scottish Ministers have met with the Scottish Library and Information Council (SLIC) on three occasions since May 2021.

On 4 August 2021, Ms Gilruth, then Minister for Culture, Europe and International Development met with SLIC for an introductory meeting. The outcome of the meeting was to update the Minister on progress against the Public Library Covid Relief Fund, the Public Library Improvement Fund (PLIF) for year 2021-22 and Scotland’s Public Library Strategy 2021-2025.

On 15 December 2022, Mr Gray, then Minister for Culture, Europe and International Development, and Minister with special responsibility for Refugees from Ukraine, met with SLIC for an introductory meeting. The outcome of the meeting was to update the Minister on progress against PLIF for year 2022-23 and Scotland's Public Library Strategy 2021-2025.

On 22 February 2022, Mr Gray met with Cllr Kelly Parry (Midlothian) and SLIC. The outcome of the meeting was to seek wider understanding of Midlothian Council’s plans with regards to their public libraries.

As SLIC receive direct funding from the Culture and Education portfolios of the Scottish Government, officials have met SLIC regularly since May 2021 as part of normal grant management processes.

Scottish Opera is one of Scotland’s five National Performing Companies and has met with Scottish Ministers on two occasions since May 2021.

On 7 October 2021, Scottish Opera held an introductory meeting and tour of the Scottish Opera studios with the Minister for Culture, Europe and International Development, where the importance of their outreach and community engagement work was discussed.

On 11 January 2023, Scottish Opera, along with the other National Performing Companies, met with the Cabinet Secretary for Constitution, External Affairs and Culture, to explore how their international tours could further enhance the reputation and brand of Scotland overseas.

As a National Performing Company the Scottish Opera receive direct funding from Scottish Government. Scottish Government officials have met regularly since May 2021 with the Scottish Opera as part of normal grant management processes.

The Scottish Government Ministerial team has met with National Library of Scotland (NLS) on several occasions since May 2021. The meetings were as follows:

30 Nov 2021 Jenny Gilruth as Minister for Culture, Europe and International Development met with the NLS Chair and the National Librarian.

4 My 2022 Neil Gray as Minister for Culture, Europe and International Development and Minister with special responsibility for refugees from Ukraine had an introductory visit and tour of the Treasures galleries at the George IV bridge National Library site.

6 Dec 2022 Angus Robertson in his role as Cabinet Secretary for Constitution, External Affairs and Culture met the Chairs of NMS and NLS at the Scottish Parliament to discuss the future of Scotland's National Collections.

31 May 2023 I, as newly appointed Minister for Culture, Europe and International Development, had an introductory meeting with the NLS Chair and the National Librarian.

8 June 2023 I attended at the launch of the Folktales exhibition at George IV bridge National Library site.

As a public body in receipt of grant-in-aid officials have met regularly with the National Library of Scotland since May 2021.

Scottish Government officials have held quarterly meetings with Scotland’s National Centre for Languages (SCILT) since May 2021 as part of the grant management process. Officials have also met with staff from SCILT to discuss projects on an ad-hoc basis.

There have been four official meetings with Ministers since May 2021.

On 6 August 2021 Jenny Gilruth had an introductory visit to V&A Dundee following her appointment as Minister for Culture, Europe and International Development.

On 28 January 2022 Angus Robertson visited V&A Dundee in his role as Cabinet Secretary for Constitution, External Affairs and Culture.

On 23 November 2022 Neil Gray visited V&A Dundee in his role as Minister for Culture, Europe and International Development and Minister with special responsibility for refugees from Ukraine.

On 31 March 2023 the Deputy First Minister Shona Robison attended the launch of the Tartan exhibition.

As core funded organisation, officials meet regularly with V&A Dundee as part of normal grant management processes.

The Scottish Government Ministerial team has met with National Galleries of Scotland (NGS) on several occasions since May 2021. The meetings were as follows:

31 Aug 2021 Jenny Gilruth, in her role as Minister for Culture, Europe and International Development, had an introductory visit to NGS and met with the NGS Chair and Director General.

3 Feb 2022 Neil Gray, in his role as Minister for Culture, Europe and International Development and Minister with special responsibility for refugees from Ukraine had a meeting with the NGS Chair and Director General to discuss the NGS budget.

29 March 2022 Neil Gray visited the Scottish National Gallery site to view progress of the capital project.

24 Aug 2022 Angus Robertson in his role as Cabinet Secretary for Constitution, External Affairs and Culture met with the NGS Chair and Director General.

30 November 2022 Angus Robertson met the NGS Chair to discuss philanthropy.

8 June 2023 I, as newly appointed Minister for Culture, Europe and International Development, had an introductory meeting with NGS Chair and Director General.

As a public body in receipt of grant-in-aid officials have met regularly with the National Galleries of Scotland since May 2021.