Seòmar agus comataidhean

The following tables provide a breakdown of the funding distributed to each project from the main (a) Rural Housing Fund and (b) Islands Housing Fund in each full year since the funds were launched in 2016-17, broken down by local authority area.

(a) Rural Housing Fund

Since the beginning of the pandemic the Scottish Government has announced £175 million support to the culture, creative, heritage and events sectors. The dates in brackets are the announcement dates:

• £1.2 million for Creative / Screen Bursaries (March 20)
• £17 million to address hardship faced by creative freelancers (August 20, March 21)
• £12.5 million then £12 million for Performing Arts Events Venues Relief Fund (July 20, June 21)
• £13.1 million then £13m for Culture Organisations and Venues Recovery Fund (August 20, June 21)
• £3.5 million Open Fund (August 20)
• £4.25 million for youth arts, including the Youth Music Initiative (August 20 and subsequent additional funding)
• £0.5 million Creative Communities (August 20)
• £6.0 million for the Culture Collective programme (November 20)
• £6.2 million for Grassroots Music Venues (July and December 20)
• £5.6 million for independent cinemas (2 rounds) (August 20 and March 21)
• £0.4m for Museums Urgent Response fund (March 20)
• £7.1 million for Museums Recovery and Resilience Fund (2 rounds) (July and December 20)
• £31.5 million for the Events sector (July and December 20)
• £3.8 million for National Trust for Scotland to protect jobs (August 20)
• £21.3 million for Historic Environment Scotland (August 20 )
• £5.9 million to support heritage organisations via committed grants (August 20)
• £270,000 for the New Lanark Trust (August 20 )
• £3.1 million for historic environment recovery (September 20) (£2.6m resource, £0.5m capital)
• £1 million for V&A Dundee (October 20)
• £0.5 million for Capital Theatres (October 20)
• £150,000 for Glasgow International (November 20)
• £81,00 for Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society (November 20)
• £3 million for Aberdeen Performing Arts, Eden Court Highlands and Capital Theatres (January 21)
• £150,000 for St Giles (February 21)
• £1 million Creative Digital Initiative (CDI) (March 21)
• £900,000 in Capital for Capital project increases (Burrell Collection, David Livingstone Birthplace and Fruitmarket Gallery) (October 20, November 20, January 21)

This includes the most recent announcement in June of £25 million for the Cultural Organisations and Venues Recovery Fund (COVRF) and the Performing Arts Venues Relief Fund (PAVRF). £17m of this has now been allocated and contracting is underway. The Scottish Government is currently in discussion with cultural stakeholders, including Creative Scotland, regarding how the remaining £8 million will be allocated.

In total therefore £167 million has been formally allocated and contracted and passed to our delivery partners including, Creative Scotland, Museums Galleries Scotland, Events Scotland and Historic Environment Scotland. A small amount of this funding is not yet fully spent. This includes £287,000 of funding to heritage organisations, £132,000 for museums, and £1.5 million funding for events. There are in addition final payments to be made from Creative Scotland to Culture Collective, Youth Arts and Open Fund.

We are still awaiting clarity from HM Treasury on why the additional £40 million of culture consequentials, which were announced as part of the £300 million uplift to the Culture Recovery Fund in the UK Budget in March 2021, have not yet been passed on to the Scottish Government.

On 11 November 2020, the Minister for Local Government, Housing and Planning announced in Parliament the continuation of the Rural and Islands Housing Funds beyond March 2021 with up to £30 million available to support this demand led scheme as part of the five year Affordable Housing Supply Programme in the current parliamentary term.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-01651 on
‎ 18 August 2021. 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

As the operator, CalMac Ferries Ltd will determine how to deploy or cascade vessels during any period of disruption to maintain lifeline ferry services across the Clyde and Hebrides Ferry Service (CHFS) network.

CalMac Ferries Ltd conducted a vessel inspection prior to the time charter of the MV Arrow to operate the Ullapool – Stornoway freight service. These checks were conducted using Ship Inspection Report Programme (SIRE), an exemplar of vessel inspection, from which no faults were identified.

The technical issue encountered by the MV Arrow was unforeseeable and was due to fishing equipment being caught wrapping around the propeller.

The Scottish Government allocated £25 million to the Rural Housing Fund and £5 million to the Islands Housing Fund when they were launched in 2016-17. The following table provides a breakdown of funding allocated in each full year of the Rural Housing Fund and Islands Housing Fund since 2016-17 to main fund projects proceeding.

The First Minister announced that Kathleen Jamie is to be Scotland’s next Makar at an event at the Scottish Poetry Library on 18 August and issued a news release which sets out all the details. This is available at: New Scots Makar - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

Scottish Government has a long standing commitment supporting local communities to become more resilient, sustainable, empowered and grow local wellbeing inclusive economies. This is delivered through a range of well-established programmes and funds that include the Regeneration Capital Grant Fund, the Scottish Land Fund and sponsorship of the Community Ownership Support Service.

The Scottish Government funds Screen Scotland, the dedicated public sector agency for the film and television industry in Scotland, which was formed in 2018 and sits within Creative Scotland. Screen Scotland supports the development and growth of the film and television sector in Scotland through increased support for film and television production, an increase in specialist staff and further investment in skills, facilities, festivals, audiences and education.

Working with Screen Scotland the Scottish Government has facilitated the delivery of studio facilities in Scotland, most recently the First Stage Studio in Leith and Kelvin Hall in Glasgow. Amazon’s The Rig recently concluding filming in the Leith facility and Amazon’s Anansi Boys will commence pre-production in the same space in the next few months while Good Omens 2 , also from Amazon, will begin production in Scotland this autumn.

Having secured those projects for Scotland, Screen Scotland has ensured they work wherever possible with Scotland’s highly respected freelance and self-employed crew base and facilities providers and maximised training opportunities on the productions. The significant positive step change in production activity across Scotland in the last 18 months has been welcomed by this crew base, who are experiencing unprecedented levels of demand for their services.

As part of the training requirements that complement any successful funding award, Screen Scotland advocates for and supports a range of training initiatives, including a minimum number of trainees on a production, outreach programmes and also supporting local freelance and self-employed crew to be promoted into more senior positions or to work closely with international Head of Departments to learn from their experience.

The work of Screen Scotland’s Screen Commission is also vital in securing opportunities for Scotland-based self-employed and freelance crew and facilities on international projects. Whether a project accesses Production Growth Fund support or not the Screen Commission can support exploratory recce and budgeting costs. This allows international producers to access funding for Scotland-based location scouts and local Line Producers to develop draft budgets for projects exploring the possibility of filming within Scotland. Line Producers are a key member of each production as they negotiate with suppliers and hire the crew. This gives our Scotland-based line producers an opportunity to advocate for local freelance and self-employed crew at a very early stage. Screen Scotland provides details of all freelance and self-employed crew and facilities providers who have agreed to have their details shared to incoming productions.