Parliamentary questions
Claire Baker
1,724 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
3 Sep 2020 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what representation the heritage and museums sector has on the National Partnership for Culture.
Answer · Fiona Hyslop: As outlined in the National Partnership for Culture’s terms of reference, members were selected based on personal qualities, skills, experience and expertise rather than as representatives of any organisation or sector. There is therefore no representation fr…
3 Sep 2020 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government when the National Partnership for Culture will next meet, and what subsequent meetings are scheduled.
Answer · Fiona Hyslop: The National Partnership for Culture agreed at its first meeting on 24th June 2020 to meet, initially, on a monthly basis. Following subsequent meetings on 23 July and 4 September, the Partnership's meetings will now take place every two months. The next meet…
3 Sep 2020 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government when the priorities and work plan paper of the National Partnership for Culture will be submitted to the Cabinet Secretary for Economy, Fair Work and Culture.
Answer · Fiona Hyslop: The National Partnership for Culture intends to submit a paper on its priorities and workplan to the Cabinet Secretary for Economy, Fair work and Culture by the end of November 2020.
3 Sep 2020 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the meeting of the National Partnership for Culture on 24 June 2020 at which the group agreed to request information from it regarding “the financial landscape for culture, including budgets, gift aid and efficacy of spending”, whether this request was received and, if so, wh…
Answer · Fiona Hyslop: Scottish Government culture officials received the request for information regarding the financial landscape for culture from the National Partnership for Culture on 24 June 2020. On 30 June 2020, Scottish Government officials provided to the National Partne…
2 Sep 2020 · Portfolio Question
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to ensure that capacity on public transport allows commuters to travel safely as part of its planning for the reopening of non-essential offices.
31 Aug 2020 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what progress has been made by the inquiry into the death of Sheku Bayoh following the announcement of its terms of reference in May 2020.
Answer · Humza Yousaf: There is a considerable programme of work required to establish an independent statutory Inquiry with separate premises, a dedicated Secretariat and legal team, as well as the necessary infrastructure to manage evidence gathering, hearings and deliberations. …
27 Aug 2020 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how much it committed at the COP21 summit in 2015 in Paris to allocate (a) annually and (b) in total by 2021 to its (i) Climate Challenge Fund Malawi and (ii) Climate Justice Innovation Fund; how this compares with the actual amount allocated each year, and whether it is on course to ach…
Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: At the UN Climate Conference - COP21 - in Paris in December 2015 the First Minister committed a total of £12 million over the following four years to be spent through the Climate Justice Fund. That commitment has been exceeded. The Climate Justice Fund curr…
26 Aug 2020 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide greater clarity and specific guidance for people and organisations that provide vital services to community groups in community centre settings regarding (a) which provisions can restart and (b) the number of people who can attend gatherings and meetings.
Answer · Aileen Campbell: The route map sets out when specific services and activities can be delivered with accompanying guidance for the safe operating of those services available on the Scottish Government’s website at: https://www.gov.scot/coronavirus-covid-19/ For example, regis…
26 Aug 2020 · Portfolio Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its response has been to reports that many community facilities run by charitable trusts are on the verge of collapse due to reduced income caused by the lockdown conditions.
19 Aug 2020 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what progress it has made on establishing the inter-ministerial group on policy coherence for sustainable development; when the group is expected to meet; who its members will be, and how its activities will be reported to the Parliament.
Answer · Jenny Gilruth: The Scottish Government is committed to promoting international development as an essential part of being a good global citizen. Never has it been more important that we engage and support others as we continue the global effort against COVID-19. Our work on…
18 Aug 2020 · Portfolio Question
To ask the Scottish Government how much of the £97 million in UK Government consequentials announced on 5 July has been allocated as packages of support for the arts, culture and heritage sectors and when a decision will be made on allocation of the remaining funding.
29 Jul 2020 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government when the decision was taken to delay the census until 2022.
Answer · Fiona Hyslop: National Records of Scotland has been monitoring the impact of COVID-19 since the beginning of the pandemic. The Scottish Government took the decision to move Scotland’s Census to 2022 in July 2020. This was based on advice from National Records of Scotland f…
29 Jul 2020 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government when testing of systems and processes for the 2022 census will begin.
Answer · Fiona Hyslop: Planning for Scotland’s Census 2022 is well underway. Testing of the systems and processes will commence in the coming months.
29 Jul 2020 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how much it will cost to delay the census until 2022.
Answer · Fiona Hyslop: The decision to delay Census delivery in light of the COVID-19 impact has been taken to ensure maximum value for money. That means securing the maximum benefits from the Census for the overall investment. The concern surrounding the impact on National Record…
29 Jul 2020 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how it will mitigate any impact on service planning because of the decision to delay the census until 2022.
Answer · Fiona Hyslop: The priority and responsibility of National Records of Scotland (NRS) is to put in place a census that enables everyone across Scotland to participate, so that information collected can be used to produce the high quality outputs and deliver the benefits requ…
29 Jul 2020 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the decision to delay the census until 2022, when it expects the subsequent census to take place.
Answer · Fiona Hyslop: The date of the next Census will be decided in due course by Ministers and the Scottish Parliament. National Records of Scotland’s evaluation of Scotland’s Census 2022 will make recommendations for future censuses.
29 Jul 2020 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it had with other census organisations to inform its decision to delay the census until 2022.
Answer · Fiona Hyslop: Throughout consideration of the options for Scotland’s Census, National Records of Scotland (NRS) engaged with colleagues in the Office of National Statistics (ONS) who are responsible for conducting the England and Wales Census, and with the Northern Ireland…
29 Jul 2020 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what consideration it gave to implementing a shorter delay to the census that was originally scheduled for 2021.
Answer · Fiona Hyslop: The Census is typically held in March and it is important for statistical reasons to capture data at the same time of the year for comparison purposes with previous results. Delaying the Census by six months (for example, to September 2021) would mean two fac…
29 Jul 2020 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether the options assessment work regarding the next census included consideration of using field staff alongside online form completion.
Answer · Fiona Hyslop: National Records of Scotland (NRS) considered a range of options that had the potential to preserve the 2021 census date. All of these options however involved significant change to the design of the census, reducing scope. A summary of the options appraisal …
29 Jul 2020 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it had with the (a) UK Government and (b) other devolved administrations ahead of the decision to delay the census until 2022.
Answer · Fiona Hyslop: Throughout consideration of the options for Scotland’s Census, National Records of Scotland (NRS) engaged with colleagues in the Office of National Statistics (ONS) who are responsible for conducting the England and Wales Census, and with the Northern Ireland…
9 Jul 2020 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the announcement by the UK Government that Scotland will receive £97 million of the £1.57 billion funding package for cultural and heritage organisations, how much of this money will be delivered as (a) grant and (b) loan support; how it will be split across the cultural and …
Answer · Jamie Hepburn: We welcome the announcement by the UK Government, as the Scottish Government had been calling on the UK Government to provide further support to these hard hit sectors. As part of this £97 million, on 10 July, t he Cabinet Secretary for Economy, Fair Work an…
9 Jul 2020 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to its announcement of a £10 million Performing Arts Venues Relief Fund, when funding will be made available; what criteria will be used to determine its allocation; what checks will be in place to ensure a fair distribution of funding by geographical location, size and type of …
Answer · Jamie Hepburn: The Fund aims to remove the threat of insolvency prior to the end of March 2021; allow for specialist/core staff to return from furlough or avoid redundancy to work on future sustainability plans; and increase the opportunities for commissioning and employmen…
19 Jun 2020 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether guidance will be produced for tradespeople to enter homes to undertake non-essential work.
Answer · Jamie Hepburn: Updated physical distancing guidance, published on 29 June, states that work carried out in people’s homes, for example by tradespeople carrying out repairs and maintenance, can continue, provided that the tradesperson is well and is not showing coronavirus s…
15 Jun 2020 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) (i) local, (ii) regional and (iii) national newspapers and (b) media outlets have ceased operation in the last 12 months; what analysis it has carried out of the impact that the COVID-19 outbreak has had on these publications, and what support it has provided to them to prev…
Answer · Fiona Hyslop: The Scottish Government does not hold detailed statistics on (a)(i), (ii) and (iii). However, data on the number of businesses registered for VAT and/or PAYE is available from the Office for National Statistics Inter-Departmental Business Register (IDBR). Dat…
15 Jun 2020 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how much it has spent each month to advertise guidance and information regarding the COVID-19 outbreak in (a) (i) local, (ii) regional and (iii) national newspapers, (b) television, (c) radio and (d) other media outlets.
Answer · Kate Forbes: The Scottish Government public information spend in relation to covid-19 is detailed in the following table. Year/Month Media Type 2020/03 2020/04 2020/05 TOTAL BROADCAST (Adsmart, VOD) 46,742 280,862 345,495 673,099 DIGITAL 245,608 479,599 …
15 Jun 2020 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how much it has spent in each of the last 12 months on advertising in (a) (i) local, (ii) regional and (iii) national newspapers, (b) television, (c) radio and (d) other media outlets.
Answer · Kate Forbes: The total advertising spend for the period across all media types is £8.6m. Of that television accounted for 22% of the spend, radio 17%, press 11%, digital media 32% and other media including cinema and outdoor 18%. Advertising expenditure across all media …
15 Jun 2020 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many jobs are linked directly to (a) (i) local, (ii) regional and (iii) national newspapers and (b) other media outlets, and what information it has regarding the number that are linked indirectly.
Answer · Fiona Hyslop: The Scottish Government does not hold detailed statistics on (a)(i), (ii) and (iii). However, the Office of National Statistics Business Register and Employment Survey (BRES) data show that there were 1,800 jobs in the newspaper sector in 2018. The newspaper …
10 Jun 2020 · Portfolio Question
To ask the Scottish Government what support is being provided to the theatre sector during the COVID-19 pandemic.
8 Jun 2020 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it distinguishes between accommodation providers that have shared facilities and those that do not in terms of its COVID-19 route map, and, if so, whether they will be considered at different phases.
Answer · Fergus Ewing: In line with the Route-map 'through and out of the crisis' published on 21 May, it has been assessed that restrictions on all accommodation providers will be eased in phase 3. We understand some sectors, such as self-catering, may be able to operate social di…
8 Jun 2020 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had place with (a) the Association of Scotland’s Self-Caterers, (b) the Scottish Tourism Alliance and (c) holiday and caravan park representatives regarding when it will be safe to restart businesses.
Answer · Fergus Ewing: The Sottish Government has worked in partnership with the tourism industry and with unions to develop guidance for the safe reopening of the tourism and hospitality sector. This has been done through the Scottish Tourism Emergency Response Group, which includ…