Chamber and committees

The Cultural Value Summit will take place in 2024. We expect to announce the date shortly.

We have committed to developing a ‘Percentage for the Arts’ scheme in ‘A Culture Strategy for Scotland: Action Plan’. We are in the initial stages of scoping this commitment and we will share more information on progress in due course.

There is no single crime of animal cruelty and such crimes are identified differently in the annual National Statistics publications on Recorded Crime in Scotland and Criminal Proceedings in Scotland . These publications are based on separate and unlinked data sets and cannot be considered as proportions of each other.

Recorded Crime in Scotland is based on a count of crimes reported to Police Scotland. The year is based on when any crime(s) were reported to police. Animal cruelty offences are only identifiable at crime level and the most recent publication covers the 2022-23 financial year.

Criminal Proceedings in Scotland is based on a count of people proceeded against in court. A person may be proceeded against for more than one crime and multiple people may be proceeded against for the same crime. Only the main charge is counted in the statistics. The main charge is the one that conveys the most severe penalty and the year is based on the date when proceedings concluded in court. This can be in a later year than when any crime(s) were reported to Police Scotland. Animal cruelty offences are identified at charge level and the most recent publication covers the 2021-22 financial year.

Both data sets cover the animal cruelty crimes of:

• Cruelty to animals (ex dogs) inc killing and maiming cattle
• Cruelty to dogs
• Cruelty to wild animals
• Hunting with dogs

Note: Criminal proceedings data does not distinguish between these first two crimes and they are presented as a single total in the prosecuted and convicted following tables.

Criminal proceedings additionally covers parts of the following crimes:

• Animals, offences involving (ex dogs, birds elswhr classfd) – specifically where the main charge fell under Animal Health and Welfare (Scotland) Act 2006 Section 23(1)(A), 23(2), 23(4) or 24
• Pet and kept animals– specifically where the main charge fell under Animal Health and Welfare (Scotland) Act 2006 Section 20(1)(A)
• Sea fisheries offences– specifically where the main charge fell under Marine (Scotland) Act 2010 Section 107

Table: Crimes of animal cruelty reported to Police Scotland, by crime type, 2012-13 to 2022-23

I refer the member to the answer to questions S6W-24538 and S6W-24539 on 26 January 2024. 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 .

We recognise the important role that the Grangemouth refinery plays in meeting current fuel demand in Scotland and we know the wider cluster will be key to meeting fuel demand in the future.

It is our preference that refining should continue for as long as possible and Ministers are considering every realistic option to extend the life of the asset. This would provide the critical time and space for the refinery business to expedite transition opportunities at Grangemouth and protect as many existing jobs as possible.

The Scottish Government has committed to working with operators across the Grangemouth cluster to bring forward new low carbon projects at Grangemouth, in technologies such as CCUS, hydrogen and bio-refining. These projects will take time to be brought forward, however they do offer an opportunity to transition the site and cement the cluster’s role long into the future.

The Scottish Government has not provided funding to Irvine Burns Club since 2019.

I have assumed the chair of the Grangemouth Future Industry Board’s Industrial Just Transition Forum following its meeting on 18 January.

As outlined in the recently published ‘Culture Strategy for Scotland: Action Plan’, we will continue to work with Creative Scotland, and stakeholders from across the sector, to scope the youth arts strategy which will follow ‘Time to Shine’.

This strategy will be centred on embedding children and young people’s rights under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) principles, including the voices of children and young people at its core.

The development and implementation of improvements to the data landscape, including the creation of a central repository for culture sector research and data, is a long-term strategic action which will be delivered in close collaboration with sector and expert partners and is currently in the early co-design stage.

The Scottish Government chaired the Grangemouth Future Industry Board Industrial Leadership Forum on 18 January which included representation from the UK Government and Petroineos to explore all options regarding the future of the refinery site. I am encouraged that, at this meeting, the UK Minister of State for Energy Security and Net Zero confirmed the UK Government's willingness to consider any proposals that support a long-term and sustainable future for the refinery business, recognising its strategic importance to the economy of the whole of the UK.