4. 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. (S5O-04536)

We are aware of the difficulties that the third sector faces, and the Scottish Government has taken action to support the third sector during the Covid-19 pandemic.

That includes £350 million of community funding, of which £100 million has been committed to the third sector and has been delivered rapidly, ahead of other parts of the United Kingdom and on a much greater scale.

It also includes the £25 million third sector resilience fund, the wellbeing fund and the supporting communities fund, which have played vital roles in supporting the third sector, ensuring that it in turn could support people and communities.

We are working quickly to develop a communities and third sector recovery programme, to support organisations to adapt their operations and income generation. I expect to be able to announce further details of that soon.

I thank the Cabinet secretary. My question was redrafted by the chamber desk; my intention was to ask about arm’s-length external organisations and community and leisure trusts, and I was advised to describe them as charitable trusts. I apologise if the cabinet secretary has misunderstood the initial intention of the question.

I wanted to ask about the local government income compensation scheme, which I understand will apply in Scotland to sport and leisure trusts; that is very welcome.

Will the cabinet secretary advise as to the timescales for the distribution of funds related to that scheme? Will it follow the timescale that is expected for the funding in England, which would mean that the first payments would be in October?

We have advised the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities that we would consider for Scottish councils a tailored lost income scheme, which would include some allowance for ALEOs. That would have to be contained within the overall funding envelope for local government.

We know that the UK Government introduced a lost income scheme for councils in England, and we are still waiting for some of those details. Although, as I understand it, the UK Government scheme specifically excludes arm’s-length organisations, we recognise the point and the issues that Claire Baker raises about ALEOs. I am not sure why the chamber desk redrafted her question; I will be happy to engage further on that with her, if she wishes to pursue it.

Officials are actively engaging with COSLA on the scheme that the member asked about, to enable us to work through what we need to do to support ALEOs as best we can, and to collectively recognise and meet the particular challenges that they face.

The £4 million museums recovery and resilience fund will be a lifeline for many museums in our communities, including in Dollar, Dunblane and Alloa, in my area. Will the Cabinet secretary provide an update on how museums can access that funding?

I understand how much of a necessity the fund will be for many communities, particularly those in Keith Brown’s Constituency, which he described.

The fund is being administered by Museums Galleries Scotland. Museums that are seeking support from it should visit the Museums Galleries Scotland website for details on how to apply as it will have fuller information about what organisations need to do, and how they need to do it, in order to engage and access the funding.

I will be happy to forward the link to Keith Brown if he requires it. He should direct his constituents to the Museums Galleries Scotland website for further advice.