Donald Cameron

21 Dec 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) civil servants and (b) other staff, including those appointed by ministers, have worked in its Scottish Affairs Office in China in each year since its establishment, also broken down by (i) job title and (ii) pay grade.

Answer · Angus Robertson: The Scottish Government Office in China has operated with 4 members of staff since its establishment in 2005. Provided below are details of salary scale and job titles: Scottish Government Civil Servants / Salary scale Job Title Country Based Staff Job Ti…

21 Dec 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) civil servants and (b) other staff, including those appointed by ministers, have worked in its Scottish Affairs Office in the USA in each year since its establishment, also broken down by (i) job title and (ii) pay grade.

Answer · Angus Robertson: The Scottish Government Office in the USA has operated with either 4 or 5 members of staff since its establishment in 2001. Provided below are details of salary scale and job titles from 2018-19: FY Scottish Government Civil Servants - Salary scale Job Tit…

21 Dec 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) civil servants and (b) other staff, including those appointed by ministers, have worked in its Scottish Affairs Office in Dublin in each year since its establishment, also broken down by (i) job title and (ii) pay grade.

Answer · Angus Robertson: The Scottish Government Office in Dublin has operated with 3 members of staff since its establishment in 2016. Scottish Government Civil Servants / Salary scale Job Title Country Based Staff Job Title 2 x A-C Band Head of Scottish Government Office   …

21 Dec 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) civil servants and (b) other staff, including those appointed by ministers, have worked in Scotland House in London in each year since its establishment, also broken down by (i) job title and (ii) pay grade.

Answer · Angus Robertson: Provided below are details of salary scale and job titles for Scotland House London from 2017-18: Grade Job Title 2017-18 2018-19 2019-20 2020-21 2021-22 2022-23 2023-24          SCS1 Head of Scotland House London 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 A-C Band He…

21 Dec 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will confirm all costs associated with the launch event for the Scottish Affairs Office in Paris.

Answer · Angus Robertson: It is not possible to provide an accurate cost for the Paris office launch event, as the majority of costs were met by FCDO and recharged to the Scottish Government; these costs cannot now be disaggregated from other sums recharged at the time associated with…

21 Dec 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will confirm all costs associated with the launch event for the Scottish Affairs Office in Brussels. 

Answer · Angus Robertson: The Scottish Government Brussels office was established in 1999 under a Labour government. Information on any launch events held at that time are therefore not held.

21 Dec 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will confirm all costs associated with the launch event for the Scottish Affairs Office in China.

Answer · Angus Robertson: It is not possible to provide an accurate cost for the China office launch event, as we no longer hold relevant records dating back to 2005 when the office was established.

21 Dec 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will confirm all costs associated with the launch event for Scotland House in London.

Answer · Angus Robertson: The Scotland House London launch event cost £9,456, which includes hire of venue and equipment.

21 Dec 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will confirm all costs associated with the launch event for the Scottish Affairs Office in Copenhagen.

Answer · Angus Robertson: The Copenhagen office launch reception cost £10,339, which includes venue hire, catering, and entertainment.

21 Dec 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will confirm all costs associated with the launch event for the Scottish Affairs Office in the USA.

Answer · Angus Robertson: It is not possible to provide an accurate cost for the USA office launch event, as we no longer hold relevant records dating back to 2001 when the office was established.

21 Dec 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will confirm all costs associated with the launch event for the Scottish Affairs Office in Berlin. 

Answer · Angus Robertson: It is not possible to provide an accurate cost for the Berlin office launch event, as the majority of costs were met by FCDO and recharged to the Scottish Government; these costs cannot now be disaggregated from other sums recharged at the time associated wit…

21 Dec 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will confirm all costs associated with the launch event for the Scottish Affairs Office in Canada.

Answer · Angus Robertson: The launch of the Canada office was marked by a Ministerial visit, but there are no relevant records of costs for a specific event.

21 Dec 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will confirm all costs associated with the launch event for the Scottish Affairs Office in Dublin. 

Answer · Angus Robertson: he launch of the Dublin office was marked by a Ministerial visit, but there are no relevant records of costs for a specific event.

21 Dec 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it can provide details of how it works with community groups to promote Intangible Culture Heritage principles.

Answer · Christina McKelvie: The general Intangible Cultural Heritage principles of transparent collaboration, open communication, mutual respect and inclusivity are intrinsic to the way the Scottish Government operates. From the National Performance Framework values to the Programme for…

21 Dec 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to develop a legal framework regarding Scottish living heritage.

Answer · Christina McKelvie: The Scottish Government has no plans at present to develop such a framework for living heritage/ Intangible Cultural Heritage. Living heritage is protected through the UNESCO 2003 Convention for the Protection and Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heri…

21 Dec 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it can provide details of how it ensures that (a) schools, (b) colleges and (c) universities promote Intangible Culture Heritage principles in all relevant materials.

Answer · Christina McKelvie: Scotland’s Curriculum for Excellence provides opportunities across school education for children and young people to deepen their understanding of culture and identity in Scotland (and the wider world) and this can be found in areas such as history, expressiv…

21 Dec 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what support it is giving to living heritage organisations.

Answer · Christina McKelvie: The Scottish Government delivers support for culture and heritage organisations through the sponsorship of our public bodies. In turn, Historic Environment Scotland and Creative Scotland deliver grant programmes to support many varied heritage, traditional sk…

21 Dec 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide details of the Affordable Housing Supply Programme budget for (a) 2023-24 and (b) 2024-25, broken down by parliamentary region.

Answer · Paul McLennan: We do not allocate our budget at parliamentary region level. We issue resource planning assumptions at a local authority level and the levels for 2023-24 can be found on our webpage Affordable housing: resource planning assumptions to councils 2021-2022 to 2…

21 Dec 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many new affordable homes it estimates will be built in the Highlands and Islands region in each of the next 10 years.

Answer · Paul McLennan: Local authorities publish their Strategic Housing Investment Plans on an annual basis which outline their housing priorities over a five year period. We do not have estimates for the number of new affordable homes that will be built in the Highlands and Islan…

21 Dec 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what guidance it has offered to local authorities to help schools lower their food waste in line with its commitment to reduce food waste by one third by 2025.

Answer · Lorna Slater: The Scottish Government supports Zero Waste Scotland to provide guidance to all kinds of organisations and individuals to tackle food waste. In 2023, Zero Waste Scotland published the Food Waste Monitoring Tool Kit for schools and worked with Education Scotla…

21 Dec 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it can provide an update on the Scottish Human Rights Commission investigation into human rights issues in the Highlands and Islands region.

Answer · Emma Roddick: The Scottish Human Rights Commission (SHRC) is the National Human Rights Institution (NHRI) for Scotland. Its remit is to promote human rights and, in particular, to encourage best practice in relation to human rights. The SHRC is statutorily independent an…

21 Dec 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it put forward any sites for nomination for UNESCO World Heritage Site status assessment in 2023, and, if so, whether it can provide details of the nominations.

Answer · Christina McKelvie: UNESCO membership is reserved to the UK Government, which is the State Party to the convention, responsible for the UK’s general compliance with the World Heritage Convention and for nominating sites. The UK Government, as the State Party to the World Herita…

21 Dec 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what support it can provide to ensure that Gaelic living heritage can be safeguarded in Gaelic communities in the Highlands and Islands region.

Answer · Christina McKelvie: The Scottish Government supports various cultural and educational initiatives across the Highlands and Islands which safeguard the living heritage of Gaelic communities. Our support of cultural venues such as Cnoc Soilleir in South Uist and the Islay Gaelic C…

21 Dec 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it can provide details of how it ensures (a) cultural, (b) arts and (c) heritage organisations that are in receipt of grant funding abide by Intangible Cultural Heritage principles.

Answer · Christina McKelvie: The general Intangible Cultural Heritage principles of transparent collaboration, open communication, mutual respect and inclusivity are echoed across the Scottish Government, as well as across the work delivered by our public and national bodies. The Scotti…

21 Dec 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government in what ways (a) Historic Environment Scotland and (b) Creative Scotland supports community organisations with heritage safeguarding.

Answer · Christina McKelvie: Historic Environment Scotland and Creative Scotland are non-departmental public bodies which make their own operational decisions, including those relating to the support for community organisations with heritage safeguarding. I have asked Historic Environme…

21 Dec 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the median number of days that a household spent in temporary accommodation in 2023 is, broken down by (a) household type and (b) local authority area.

Answer · Paul McLennan: The Scottish Government currently does not hold information on Homelessness for the full year 2023. Homelessness data up to 31 March 2024, including data for the whole of 2023, which includes information about temporary accommodation placements, will be publi…

21 Dec 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has conducted any analysis on whether its proposed increase in rail fares for 2024-25 could potentially lead to an increase in road traffic numbers in the Highlands and Islands region.

Answer · Fiona Hyslop: I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-24280 on 31 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-committ…

21 Dec 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has conducted any analysis on how its proposed increase in rail fares for 2024-25 will potentially impact on the number of rail journeys in the Highlands and Islands region.

Answer · Fiona Hyslop: The Scottish Government continues to keep fares comparatively lower on average than across the rest of Great Britain, as we have done for over a decade. ScotRail and Caledonian Sleeper provide fares offers throughout the year. For example cheaper advance fare…

21 Dec 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has plans to develop an inventory of living heritage, and, if so, whether it will provide details of this.

Answer · Christina McKelvie: The Scottish Government has been a vocal supporter in recognising the intrinsic value of our Intangible Cultural Heritage and is pleased that Scotland already has an online inventory at https://ichscotland.org/ with ongoing collaborative work continuing bet…

21 Dec 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has plans to accelerate funding for organisations in the culture sector that are facing a reported unprecedented financial crisis that could threaten their existence, in light of the spending plans in the Scottish Budget 2024-25.

Answer · Christina McKelvie: The Scottish Government is increasing funding to the culture sector by £15.8m next financial year to £196.6m. This is the first step on the route to investing at least £100m more annually in culture and the arts by the financial year 2028-29. In 2025-2026 we …