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Scottish Parliament publishes its annual report

News Release (Annual Report) issued by The Scottish Parliament on 24 June 2008

The Scottish Parliament today published its annual report detailing the work of the Parliament from 9 May 2007 to 8 May 2008.

This year saw the 1.5 millionth visitor to the Parliament, as well as visits from over 100 delegations from all over the world.

Three Government bills introduced since 9 May 2007 have completed their parliamentary passage and become Acts of the Scottish Parliament:

* Abolition of Bridge Tolls (Scotland) Act 2008
* Graduate Endowment Abolition (Scotland) Act 2008
* Budget (Scotland) Act 2008

Highlights from the reporting period include:

* The Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body's approval of a five year Gaelic Language Plan under the Gaelic Language (Scotland) Act 2005
* The development of a temporary exhibition to mark the 300th anniversary of the Act of Union 1707 that featured the original Acts and Articles of Union
* A cross-party delegation - led by the Presiding Officer - to North America for Scotland Week 2008, marking the 10th anniversary of the US Senate's Tartan Day Resolution, which honours the many shared connections between Scotland and America

Presiding Officer Alex Fergusson commented:

"This has been another busy year for the Parliament. We continue to welcome visitors from all over the world and our educational programme has reached nearly 12,000 young people and teachers.

"We have held our third Festival of Politics - the first regular event of its kind in the world. And we continue to develop new ways of engaging our public. This year we have tested initiatives such as a text messaging service, podcasts and our own YouTube page."

Other facts and figures from the 36-page report include:

* From May 2007 to May 2008, the Parliament welcomed more than 330,000 visitors, around three quarters of whom were people currently living in Scotland

* More than 1.5 million visitors have now passed through Holyrood's doors since it opened in 2004

* Over 300 events, conferences and public debates were held in the Parliament throughout the year

* The World Press Photo exhibition - hosted for a second year by the Parliament - attracted over 42,000 visitors during its three week run

* The weekly electronic bulletin providing information on forthcoming parliamentary business now has more than 1,500 subscribers

Copies of the Annual Report are sent to a wide range of organisations, all Scottish secondary schools and partner libraries in every constituency. The report is also available in Gaelic.

Copies are also available on the Scottish Parliament website or by phoning 0131 348 5000.

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