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The Joint Implementation Group for the Cultural Strategy is chaired by Mike Watson and its membership includes COSLA. At its second meeting in January this year it reviewed a wide range of issues relating to education including the contribution of museums and galleries.More detailed guidance on that contribution will be included in draft guidance for local authorities on their responsibilities in the cultural area and on their contribution to the implementation of the National Cultural Strategy. That guidance has been prepared by a joint Scottish Executive/COSLA working group and will issue in draft form for comment shortly.COSLA, Scottish Museums Council, Scottish Arts Council, National Museums of Scotland and National Galleries of Scotland collaborated on a joint conference in October 2001 - The Learning Power of Museums in Scotland. Conference proceedings were subsequently published in July 2002 and submitted to the Executive to inform the National Debate on Education.Detailed discussions on the education role and contribution of museums are being taken forward by the Group on Education in Museums.

The consultation paper on the action plan for Scotland's museums was published on 6 September 2002. The deadline for submissions and the closure of the consultation period is now 6 December 2002.

The important contribution of Scotland's museums and galleries to tourism is recognised in the VisitScotland's Tourism Framework for Action and in the Report of the National Audit of Scotland's Museums and Galleries. The latter shows that in 2000 there were over 13.5 million visits to Scotland's 435 museum sites.

The Scottish Executive does not provide direct funding to non-national museums and galleries in Scotland. The Executive is responsible only for the National Institutions. Funding to the National Galleries of Scotland and the National Museums of Scotland for 1999-2000 to 2001-02 is shown in the following table.

Funding (£ m)	1999-2000	2000-01	2001-02	2002-03
National Galleries of Scotland	10,085	11.185	12.535	12.285
National Museums of Scotland	13,291	14.427	17.177	17.477

These amounts include revenue and capital funding.Funding is also provided for the Scottish Museums Council as shown:

Scottish Museums Council
	1999-2000	2000-01	2001-02
Funding (£ m)	0.941	0.941	1.041
Strategic Change Fund (£ m)			0.5

This information is not available per capita.In addition in March 2002 in connection with the refurbishment of the Kelvingrove Gallery by Glasgow City Council the Executive made an exceptional one off payment of £3 million to Glasgow's Museum Service including £1 million specifically identified for the Kelvingrove Refurbishment Appeal Trust.The responsibility for funding local museums and galleries lies with local authorities through their GAE allocation. The Scottish Executive does not hold information on funding for museums and galleries in other parts of the United Kingdom.

Museum and Social Justice published by the Scottish Museums Council in December 2000 identifies the contribution of museums to the social justice agenda. The Executive has not commissioned research in the other areas mentioned.

The Scottish Executive does not provide direct funding to non-national museums and galleries in Scotland. The Executive is responsible only for the National Institutions. Funding to the National Galleries of Scotland and the National Museums of Scotland for 1999-2000 to 2001-02 is shown in the following table.

Funding (£m)	1999-2000	2000-01	2001-02	2002-03
National Galleries of Scotland	10,085	11.185	12.535	12.285
National Museums of Scotland	13,291	14.427	17.177	17.477

Note:These amounts include revenue and capital funding.Funding is also provided for the Scottish Museums Council as shown:

Scottish Museums Council
	1999-2000	2000-01	2001-02	2002-03
Funding (£m)	0.941	0.941	1.041	1.191
Strategic Change Fund			0.5	1.0

Of the strategic change fund £420,000 in each year is allocated to the support package for the three industrial museums.In addition, the Scottish Maritime Museum received emergency funds of £90,000 in 2000-01 and £110,000 in 2001-02 and £30,000 in 2002-03.In addition, in March 2002 in connection with the refurbishment of the Kelvingrove Gallery by Glasgow City Council the Executive made an exceptional one off payment of £3 million to Glasgow's Museum Service including £1 million specifically identified for the Kelvingrove Refurbishment Appeal Trust.

The Executive initiated a three-month consultation on the findings of the National Audit of Scotland's Museums and Galleries on the 9 September. The consultation process will include a seminar organised by the Scottish Museums Council on 4 November. Information submitted during this period will inform the creation of an action plan, to be published in spring 2003, providing a framework for the development of the museums and galleries sector in Scotland.

The future of the fund will be decided in the light of the consultation on the framework and plan for museums launched by Mike Watson on 9 September.

I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-29030 today. All answers to written PQs are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at: http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/search_wa.

The Scottish Executive has consulted widely with both internal and external colleagues on the framework and classifications to be used in the school census.The Commission for Racial Equality (CRE) and the General Register Office for Scotland (GROS) were not formally consulted over the proposed ethnic background and national identity categories, but the Scottish Executive did take into consideration the classifications used in the 2001 Census of Population, conducted by the GROS. The recommendations of the CRE in their consultation document Ethnic Monitoring - a guide for public authorities were also taken into account in compiling the categories. Comments on the categories were also sought from the Centre for Education for Racial Equality in Scotland (CERES). However, not all of CERES' suggestions could be taken on board given the need to ensure that the categories used in the September 2002 School Census matched closely with those in the 2001 Census of Population to ensure comparability and consistency across different data sources.The national identity and ethnic background categories used in the school census are subject to review to ensure that they remain relevant and well understood. This will ensure that ongoing work at a national level on equality and inclusion issues is reflected in future censuses.