The Scottish Parliament has now been in existence for 15 years. To mark the end of its fifteenth year Holyrood has announced the significant numbers of shortbread and scones served up to visitors to its cafe over the last twelve months:
These are the statistics that made up the Parliament over the past twelve months:
• This year included the introduction of 14 Bills, with 19 receiving Royal Assent, including the Children and Young People (Scotland) Act, Marriage and Civil Partnership (Scotland) Act, Disabled Persons’ Parking Badges (Scotland) Act and Historic Environment Scotland Act.
• The Great Tapestry of Scotland proved a huge draw, with visitor numbers showing a 10,000 increase in the months of June, July and August, compared to 2013. In total more than 85,000 visitors flocked to see the Tapestry in the summer of 2014.
• The Great Tapestry of Scotland was also a hit at the Parliament’s shop with 2,280 Great Tapestry books and 2,940 postcards flying off the shelves.
• The Scottish Parliament hosted 18 major events, including The Queen’s Baton Relay (the main photo shows the Presiding Officer welcoming Lynne McNicoll of Edinburgh charity It’s Good 2 Give along with Gavin Hastings into the main chamber), The Festival of Politics 2014 and the St Andrew’s Day Debate. The year was rounded off in traditional style with the Parliament’s annual Christmas Carol Service.
• The Parliament welcomed 449 school sessions to Holyrood, with 14,552 pupils taking part in a wide range of activities, including learning more about how the Parliament works and meeting MSPs.
• Parliament education staff travelled the length and breadth of Scotland, delivering 518 sessions in schools to 12,814 pupils.
• Parliament Days were held in February, November and December this year, with Dumbarton, Fort William and Levenmouth taking centre stage. Parliamentary Committees invited the public to attend held external meetings, scrutinising the work of Government and the Presiding Officer discovered more about the towns, visiting a range of inspiring local groups, people and projects.
• The Parliament’s switchboard took nearly 41,331 telephone calls, our Public Information and Publications team answered more than 5,625 enquiries and produced 136,785 leaflets requested or picked up at Holyrood.
• And finally, in the Scottish Parliament’s public café, visitors enjoyed more than 23,837 cups of coffee and 15,143 cups of tea. More than 8,500 sandwiches were sold, 3,405 bowls of soup – and of course more than 4,166 scones and 8,209 pieces of shortbread.
Images © Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body – 2014. Licensed under the Open Scottish Parliament Licence v1.0.
Founding Editor of The Edinburgh Reporter.
Edinburgh-born multimedia journalist and iPhoneographer.
