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Questions and answers

Parliamentary questions can be asked by any MSP to the Scottish Government or the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body. The questions provide a means for MSPs to get factual and statistical information.

Written questions must be answered within 10 working days (20 working days during recess)
Other questions such as Topical, Portfolio, General and First Minister's Question Times are taken in the Chamber

Urgent Questions aren't included in the Question and Answers search. There is a SPICe fact sheet listing Urgent and emergency questions.

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Question reference: S2W-18250

Asked by: Shona Robison, MSP for Dundee East, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 29 July 2005
Current Status: Answered by Patricia Ferguson on 24 August 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will investigate ways of providing non-national museums and galleries with additional funding, in light of their economic importance as stated in the report, Realising the True Impact of Museums and Galleries in Scottish Tourism, and whether it has had any meetings with COSLA or other public bodies with regard to museum and gallery funding.

Scottish Executive support for non-national museums and galleries is channelled principally through local authorities. In addition, the Executive provides specific grant through the Scottish Museums Council. Local authority grant aided expenditure in respect of museums and galleries rose from £21.2 million in 1999-2000 to £29.4 million in 2005-06. Funding for the Scottish Museums Council increased over the same period from £1 million to £2.8 million.

A consultation exercise on the delivery of a Significance Recognition Scheme for Scotland’s non-national museums and galleries ended in July. The consultation identified the mechanisms for delivering the scheme and acknowledged Scotland’s important cultural heritage collections. The scheme will offer a strategic context for investment by national and local government, Lottery distributors and others. Further information on the Scheme is available on SMC’s website: http://www.scottishmuseums.org.uk/. Its implementation will be considered in the context of the Executive’s overall response to the Cultural Commission’s Report.

I met COSLA to discuss the Cultural Commission’s Report on Wednesday 17 August. In addition, the Scottish Executive is in regular contact with the national institutions and SMC on a wide range of issues, including funding for museums and galleries.

Question reference: S2W-18249

Asked by: Shona Robison, MSP for Dundee East, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 29 July 2005
Current Status: Answered by Patricia Ferguson on 24 August 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive what payments have been made to each heritage museum in Dundee via the gift aid scheme in each of the last five years.

Question reference: S2W-18246

Asked by: Shona Robison, MSP for Dundee East, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 29 July 2005
Current Status: Answered by Patricia Ferguson on 24 August 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive what progress has been made in improving access to museum, gallery and library collections for all groups of visitors.

The Scottish Executive is directly responsible for only the national institutions. The National Galleries of Scotland, the National Library of Scotland and the National Museums of Scotland all have access strategies designed to increase the number and range of visitors, and also to increase users’ capacity to access the collections remotely.

The available visitor/website figures are shown in the following table:

	2001-02	2002-03	2003-04	2004-05
National Galleries of Scotland
Visitors	0.99m	0.92m	1.22m	1.30m
National Museums of Scotland
Visitors	1.25m	1.33m	1.29m	1.32m
Web page visits	1.53m	2.01m	2.6m	2.5m
National Library of Scotland:
Visitors	0.09m	0.11m	0.09m	0.09m
Web sessions	0.56m	0.76m	1.25m	1.83m

The Scottish Executive’s support for non-national museums and galleries is directed through the Scottish Museums Council. On 26 July 2005, the Scottish Museums Council published A National Learning and Access Strategy for Scotland’s Museums and Galleries, with a Ministerial foreword. This strategy aims to ensure that learning and access are integrated into museum service delivery as part of standard practice.

Question reference: S2W-18245

Asked by: Shona Robison, MSP for Dundee East, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 29 July 2005
Current Status: Answered by Patricia Ferguson on 24 August 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive how much financial support it provided to museums and galleries in (a) 2002-03, (b) 2003-04, (c) 2004-05 and how much it will provide in 2005-06, broken down by type of museum and gallery.

Grant-in-Aid for museums and galleries is shown in the following table:

	2002-03 (£000)	2003-04 (£000)	2004-05 (£000)	2005-06 (£000)
National Museums of Scotland Running Costs	15,592	16.546	17.452	18.720
National Museums of Scotland Capital	0.450	1.050	3.050	4.763
National Museums of Scotland Purchases	0.500	0.500	0.500	0.500
National Museums of Scotland (National Fund for Acquisitions)	0.210	0.210	0.210	0.210
National Museums of Scotland Total	16,752	18,306	21,212	24,193
National Galleries of Scotland Running Costs	8.275	9.925	9.125	10.865
National Galleries of Scotland Capital	3.250	0.700	7.700	0.000
National Galleries of Scotland Purchases	3.760	1.260	1.260	1.260
National Galleries of Scotland Total	15,285	11,885	18,085	12,125
Scottish Museums Council to support non-national museums and galleries	2,191	2,941	2,519	2,791

In addition, the Scottish Executive funds councils to provide services such as museums and art galleries through its block grant. It is, however, up to each council to decide how best to allocate these resources based on their local needs and priorities:

	2002-03 (£000)	2003-04 (£000)	2004-05 (£000)	2005-06 (£000)
Local Authority GAE - museums and galleries	25,988	27,305	28,339	29,406

2002-03

(£000)

2003-04

(£000)

2004-05

(£000)

2005-06

(£000)

Local Authority GAE - museums and galleries

25,988

27,305

28,339

29,406

Question reference: S2W-18251

Asked by: Shona Robison, MSP for Dundee East, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 29 July 2005
Current Status: Answered by Patricia Ferguson on 24 August 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive what action is being taken to support local museums and galleries.

Question reference: S2W-18248

Asked by: Shona Robison, MSP for Dundee East, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 29 July 2005
Current Status: Answered by Patricia Ferguson on 24 August 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive what payments have been made from the Heritage Lottery Fund to (a) national Scottish museums, (b) industrial heritage museums and (c) other museums in each of the last three years and for what purpose.

Question reference: S2W-18062

Asked by: Shona Robison, MSP for Dundee East, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 25 July 2005
Current Status: Answered by Andy Kerr on 23 August 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive how many consultants have received cash bonuses under the Distinction Awards scheme in each year since 1999.

There are three levels of DistinctionAward: B, A and A+. The number of NHS Scotland consultants receiving an award ineach year since 1999 are set out in the table.

Year	B	A	A+
1999	33	19	8
2000	47	19	5
2001	64	34	12
2002	41	22	5
2003	37	17	6
2004	45	22	9

The number of awards for whichScottish consultants are eligible are based on annual recommendations made by theDoctors’ and Dentists’ Review Body (DDRB). No decisions have yet been taken for2005.

The Executive is committed toconducting a review of the current awards schemes for consultants. Ministers are presently considering the parameters forthis review.

The following is acorrected answer (published on 6 September 2005); see below.

Andy Kerr:The numbers of consultants who havereceived cash bonuses under the Distinction Awards scheme in each year since1999 are as follows:

Year	Award Holders in Scotland as at 30 September
1999	398
2000	406
2001	427
2002	443
2003	455
2004	479

The number of awards forwhich Scottish consultants are eligible are based on annual recommendationsmade by the Doctors’ and Dentists’ Review Body (DDRB). No decisions have yetbeen taken for 2005.

The Executive is committedto conducting a review of the current awards schemes for consultants. Ministersare presently considering the parameters for this review.

Question reference: S2W-18061

Asked by: Shona Robison, MSP for Dundee East, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 25 July 2005
Current Status: Answered by Andy Kerr on 23 August 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive how much has been spent on the Distinction Awards scheme in each year since 1999 and what the source of the funding was.

Although information on boards’ expenditure on Distinction Awards is not held centrally, boards receive an allocation each year from the Executive to cover distinction awards based on information provided by the Scottish Advisory Committee on Distinction Awards. The total budget for this since 1999 is set out in the following table.

Year	Allocation (£000)
1999	14,775
2000	15,361
2001	16,721
2002	18,545
2003	19,090
2004	20,852

The allocation each year covers all award holders including new awards made in that year as well as any uplift recommended by the Doctors’ and Dentists’ Review Body and endorsed by the Scottish Executive Health Department.

The Executive is committed to conducting a review of the current awards schemes for consultants. Ministers are presently considering the parameters for this review.

Question reference: S2W-18322

Asked by: Shona Robison, MSP for Dundee East, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 03 August 2005
Current Status: Answered by Andy Kerr on 23 August 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to raise awareness of bowel cancer.

Cancer in Scotland: Action for change sets out the strategy for tackling cancer in all its forms. The Executive’s health improvement policy framework is set out in Improving Health in Scotland – The Challenge. More information is available from the Scottish Executive website at http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Home.

NHS Health Scotland is a national resource for improving Scotland’s health working at a national level to support organisations, policy-makers, communities and individuals to take action to improve health across Scotland. Their priorities focus on tobacco control and smoking cessation, healthy eating, diet and physical activity. Local NHS board health promotion departments are also active in the promotion of healthy lifestyles through the provision of information and advice on healthy eating, exercise, and alcohol reduction, all of which can impact on bowel cancer incidence.

Specific bowel cancer awareness raising programmes such as the Big Lottery Fund, West of Scotland Cancer Awareness Project and the joint Lanarkshire/Forth Valley Bowel Cancer Awareness Project are aimed at helping people to understand the signs and symptoms of bowel cancer.

Question reference: S2W-18321

Asked by: Shona Robison, MSP for Dundee East, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 03 August 2005
Current Status: Answered by Andy Kerr on 23 August 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive how many rectal bleeding clinics have been established since 2001.