Chamber and committees

Information on the outcomes of the long COVID pilot project undertaken by Chest Heart & Stroke Scotland, Pogo Digital Healthcare and NHS Lothian is not held centrally. This is a matter for those organisations.

The Scottish Government recognises the importance of whisky to our nation's tourism and hospitality sector, as well as the Scottish economy in general.

There were just over 2 million visits made to Scotch Whisky visitor centres in Scotland in 2022. This was the second highest number on record and more than double the number in 2021. The associated spend of these visits was £85 million in 2022. The Scotch Whisky industry employed around 1,200 people at Scotch Whisky visitor centres in 2022. (Source: Scotch Whisky Tourism Survey 2022).

The Scottish Government continues to do everything we can to support tourism and hospitality businesses to thrive.

Spirits distilleries looking to expand their visitor facilities can access funding through economic development agencies such as Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE). HIE provides a range of financial support to independent whisky distilleries for projects specifically focused on the development of visitor facilities, as well as increased production volumes. Recent examples include Deerness Distillery, Lerwick Distillery and Dunnet Bay Distillers.

The Scottish Government continues to engage with business organisations and leaders to discuss current challenges and solutions, while pressing the UK Government to help businesses and ensure sustainable development within the visitor economy.

The whisky tourism sector brings in huge numbers of visitors to some of our most rural communities. These visitors help support much needed jobs, both on the mainland and in our Island communities. In partnership with Scotland Food and Drink, VisitScotland has created an industry guide to help businesses share some of the world class products we have (such as whisky) through the creation of memorable tourism experiences. The guide encourages businesses to think about the opportunity quality food and drink experiences can provide, including visitors’ desire to learn more about the region behind the produce and the local culture and history that influences it.

At a regional level, VisitScotland works closely with key partners and stakeholders to develop regional/destination strategies and support the development of regional investments. VisitScotland works with individual businesses as it looks to develop new products and help them to identify opportunities linked to trends, marketing etc.

In 2024, VisitScotland ran several regional workshops throughout Scotland and plans to continue to deliver these in 2025. The aim of the workshops is for tourism businesses to reach new markets and encourage longer dwell time.

VisitScotland also works in partnership with local Direct Marketing Organisations, to encourage integrated food and drink experiences, whisky tasting and storytelling into broader tourism offerings. This helps to enrich the overall visitor experience and helps attract visitors to the region. The Scottish Government also supports and promotes Whisky Trails through its other economic development agencies. For instance, Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) provided funding for the Hebridean Whisky Trail. HIE also supported an ambitious community-led distillery project ‘Cabrach Distillery’ with up to £0.5m funding towards the £5m development to create a new distillery in the most rural area of Moray, well known for its history in distilling. HIE’s funding will help with the refurbishment of the farm steadings. The new distillery hopes to attract thousands of new visitors to the area

VisitScotland supports and promotes whisky related tourism businesses across its activity including marketing (owned, earned and paid), industry support, travel trade engagement. VisitScotland weaves whisky imagery and content into its seasonal global marketing campaign activity including current activity with Expedia, TripAdvisor and SkyScanner. Whisky tourism experiences also feature across all VisitScotland’s owned channels – email marketing, website, social media etc. Through consumer PR activity, VisitScotland has generated 117 media articles globally with an inclusion of whisky from 1 April 2024 – 13 February 2025.

Whisky remains a key driver of visits, with 21% of visitors indicating that they visited a whisky distillery as part of their trip to Scotland.

The opening of a Scottish Government office in Warsaw is currently under review given ongoing budget pressures.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-34544 on 6 March 2025. 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

There are currently no plans to open an office in the Middle East.

We will continue to work closely with Scottish Development International (SDI) and its network of trade and investment offices around the world, which includes offices in Abu Dhabi and Dubai.

As of 31 October 2024, 182,395 clients were in receipt of the enhanced daily living award of Adult Disability Payment.

Social Security Scotland does not currently publish statistics on clients leaving the Adult Disability Payment caseload. It also does not currently publish statistics on Adult Disability Payment by Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD). It also does not hold information on the employment status of clients as it is not necessary to collect information on a client’s employment to assess their application.

Valuable work has been undertaken to deliver against the recommendations made by the Independent Review of Audiology Services in Scotland.

In December 2024 work concluded to address all 55 of the recommendations, and each has now been completed or transitioned into ongoing workplans to see the remaining tasks through to completion.

A detailed report will be shared with Parliament in March 2025 outlining the rationale for this, including recommendations 52, 53 and 54, and confirming the timelines for the remaining actions to conclude.

On 13 January 2025, the Scottish Government launched a survey for people working in or with an interest in culture. This asked about their experience of currently available support and what they would like to see provided in the future to better meet the needs of the sector.

Responses to the survey are currently being analysed and will help to inform the scope of the Scottish Government’s review of how the culture sector is supported, including exploration alternative and additional funding mechanisms to grow the overall funding pot for culture in Scotland.

Social Security Scotland routinely publishes statistics on Adult Disability Payment caseload, broken down by mobility award level. However, it does not currently publish statistics on clients leaving the Adult Disability Payment caseload. It also does not currently publish statistics on Adult Disability Payment by Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD). It also does not hold information on the employment status of clients as it is not necessary to collect information on a client’s employment to assess their application.