Economy, Energy and
Tourism Committee welcomes Scottish Register of Tartans Bill
A statutory
Scottish register of tartans came one step closer today when the
Economy, Energy and Tourism Committee published its Stage 1 Report
on the Scottish Register of Tartans Bill introduced to the
Parliament by Jamie McGrigor MSP.
The Bill proposes to establish a Scottish Register of Tartans and
a Keeper of the register of tartans to maintain and oversee the
register and new registrations. It also sets out the procedures
for registering new tartan designs.
Committee Convener Tavish Scott MSP said -
"The Committee has given its support to the general
principles of Jamie McGrigor's bill to establish a Scottish
Register of Tartans. It also commends the Scottish Tartans
Authority and the Scottish Tartans World Register for committing
to make over their collections to the proposed Register.
"We believe that it is important to protect and preserve the
existing historical records relating to tartan and make
information on tartan accessible to the general public. We also
recognise the potential benefits to the Scottish textile industry.
"The Committee heard views from two camps on whether a
tartan should be woven or not. The 'modernists' believed
that tartan as a design could be reproduced in a variety of
formats, while the 'wovenists' were of the view that
tartan was historically a woven design and that this should be
reflected in the definition in the Bill. The Committee took the
view that tartan has been historically defined by its woven
character and has called on Jamie McGrigor to consider changing
the definition to include the requirement that the design should
be capable of being woven."
Among the Committee's other conclusions and recommendations
are -
* Further evidence is required from the Member on whether a
requirement to include a swatch with an application to register
would help promote the textile industry in Scotland or whether it
would deter applications.
* The Keeper should develop a classification system that
differentiates historically significant tartans from those
developed for other reasons such as corporate or sporting design
is essential.
* Further clarification is needed as to what constitutes a
sufficient link between an applicant and their right to authorise
the Keeper to register a tartan.
* That it is crucial that the fee to register a tartan should be
set at a level which does not deter genuine applicants but at the
same time discourages frivolous applicants.
Background
The Scottish Register of Tartans Bill was introduced to the
Scottish Parliament by Jamie McGrigor MSP on 25 March 2008. On the
16 April 2008, the Parliament agreed that the Economy, Energy and
Tourism Committee be appointed as the lead committee in
consideration of the Bill.
As well as registering new tartans, the Register will incorporate
the approximately 3,000 tartans held in the Scottish Tartans World
Register (STWR) and the 6,000 tartans held in the Scottish Tartans
Authority's (STA) register. The historic archive will be kept
at Register House under the auspices of the National Archive of Scotland.
Inquiry home page link -Scottish Register of Tartans Bill 2
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