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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