Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department has made an assessment of the contribution of the Highland Games to UK sporting (a) culture and (b) heritage.

DCMS recognises the contribution of the Highland Games to UK sport, culture and heritage but no formal assessment has been made as these areas are devolved to the Scottish Government.

However, we would encourage the Highland Games community to engage with our work on living heritage.

As part of the implementation of the UNESCO 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, the UK Government is working closely with the Devolved Governments to create inventories for each of the four nations in the UK; these will combine into one inventory of Living Heritage (or Intangible Cultural Heritage) in the UK.

We would welcome a submission from the Highland Games community when we open the call for submissions later this year.