Hansard

I am pleased to open the debate on the general principles of the National Library of Scotland Bill. I thank the people who gave evidence and I thank the convener and members of the Education and Culture Committee for their scrutiny of the bill at stage 1. I welcome the committee’s support for the general principles of the bill and appreciate the opportunity to address some of the key issues that it highlighted.

The bill is long overdue. The National Library of Scotland is a 21st century organisation, the governance of which is, increasingly, out of date. The National Library of Scotland Act 1925 set up the board of trustees with the sole function of managing the library. The 1925 act was also concerned with transfer of non-legal material and legal deposit privileges from the Faculty of Advocates’ law library.

The people who created the National Library in 1925 were in inspiring company. It was a pivotal year, which saw the publication of great literature—F Scott Fitzgerald’s “The Great Gatsby” and Virginia Woolf’s “Mrs Dalloway”. The first surrealist exhibition was held in Paris and, closer to home, John Logie Baird created the first television transmitter. Two years later, the world’s first long-distance television pictures were transmitted by Logie Baird to Glasgow’s Grand Central hotel. Of course, Logie Baird’s achievements have had an enduring impact on the development of modern culture and society.

The National Library continues, in its own way, to reflect the past while being ever relevant to the future. In its recent history, it has assumed responsibility for the Scottish screen archive, which preserves and gives public access to our TV and film heritage. We are supporting the library through the bill and in other ways, and I am delighted to confirm that the Scottish Government is providing £250,000 to support the library’s planned relocation of the screen archive to Glasgow city centre, as part of the exciting project with Glasgow City Council and the University of Glasgow on the revamped Kelvin hall, to develop a progressive research centre for our great collection of moving images.

It is interesting that during the passage of the 1925 act through Parliament, the then member for Edinburgh Central, Mr William Graham, referred to the National Library’s establishment as being quite a radical political statement of its time. He said:

“what the Secretary for Scotland is proposing this afternoon is in my judgement the highest form of Socialism in this or any other country, because he is bringing the means of learning directly to the ownership of the Scottish people under a representative board. That is quite a remarkable departure in the case of a Conservative Government”.—[Official Report, House of Commons, 24 July 1925; Vol 186, c 2628.]

The proposals that are in front of us could not be described in such radical terms, but I am happy to say that the Scottish Government is proud to carry on funding the National Library as a resource for learning and research for all Scotland. The bill is small, but it will make a big difference to the National Library and its stakeholders. It delivers on a commitment that I made to the National Library before the election, in the event of the Scottish National Party’s being returned to government.

The National Library has achieved much over the past 87 years and the bill will ensure that it has the necessary governance arrangements to realise its ambition for decades to come. The bill sets out clear statutory functions, which reinforce the importance of what the National Library does and can do for Scotland. Its main purpose is to maintain and develop the collections and to make them as relevant and accessible as possible to users. The functions emphasise the library’s role as a major research library and its role in sharing good practice and expertise.

The governance reforms will ensure that the library’s board structure is comparable with that of other modern public bodies. The bill will reduce the size of the board, which can consist of 32 members under the current arrangements—I will come back to the number of board members. The bill will also remove reserved places and ensure that all appointments are based on merit and selection. I am grateful to the current chair, Professor Michael Anderson, and to board members for their service to the board.

The National Library is part of our rich cultural heritage. As Scotland’s only legal deposit library, it can request a copy of all printed items that are published in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Some 5,000 items are added every week under legal deposit arrangements. With 14 million items in its collections, the National Library is Scotland’s largest library and is a major reference centre for the study of Scotland and the Scots. More than 70,000 people visit the library’s reading rooms each year, and online hits of around 2.25 million show the demand for, and relevance of, its collections.

The National Library received a record number of visitors in 2009, when it displayed the last letter of Mary Queen of Scots, with 12,000 visitors in one week. The library also holds the wonderful John Murray archive, which contains a quarter of a million items from great writers, politicians, explorers and scientists of the past.

The National Library ensures that our national record is made accessible and relevant for generations to come through the growing use of electronic formats: the library is to be congratulated on its already significant work to digitise more than 1.5 million items, which extends its national and international reach. Its website is viewed by visitors from 188 countries. The bill is forward looking and has been drafted so that the legislation will keep pace with future technological developments, including the advent of United Kingdom regulations for electronic legal deposit.

I want to ensure that the bill works to support the National Library and to enable it to continue its working relationship with the Faculty of Advocates’ law library. The relationship between the National Library and the Faculty of Advocates is important to the future of Scotland’s legal library collection. The Faculty of Advocates’ library has been run and funded by the Faculty of Advocates since 1689. Between 1842 and 1925, the faculty held the sole right of legal deposit for Scotland. In 1925, it passed that right to the National Library. The significance of the gift of non-legal material and legal deposit privileges was not underestimated in its day. At the time of the parliamentary passage of the 1925 act, the advocates’ library was described in the House of Lords as

“a great Scottish national possession ... which has grown ... with the development of modern Scotland”.—[Official Report, House of Lords, 2 July 1925; Vol 61, c 961.]

The National Library was the fruit of the generosity of the Faculty of Advocates, and there is great history to be found in that continuing relationship. The bill complements that good relationship by ensuring that the National Library and the Faculty of Advocates can enter into co-operative agreements on public access to their collections and on the care of items that they hold. That process has already begun, with both organisations signing a memorandum of agreement that outlines how they will work together.

I am pleased that the Education and Culture Committee has accepted the general principles of the bill. The committee expressed concerns that the proposed size of the NLS’s board is too low, given the range of skills and expertise that is required. I want to be constructive on this issue. There is a danger that, if a board is too large, it can become less focused on strategic direction and leadership. I certainly do not want to hinder the board’s operation and I am content to raise the minimum number of NLS board members, so I will lodge an amendment at stage 2 that will allow the membership range to be between nine and 14. Early indications are that the NLS, the Scottish Library and Information Council and the Faculty of Advocates support that proposal.

The committee questioned the need for and the scope of a ministerial power of direction. The inclusion of such a power provides accountability. Around 86 per cent of the NLS’s funding is provided by the taxpayer so ministers need to ensure the money is spent wisely. A ministerial power of direction is a standard feature of modern public bodies. The great majority of non-departmental public bodies that have been established as statutory bodies since 1990 have powers of direction—17 out of 21 bodies. Eleven of the 14 NDPBs that have been established since devolution have statutory powers of direction.

The power of direction that is proposed in relation to the NLS has been carefully crafted to maintain the curatorial freedom of the NLS. That is why I cannot direct the NLS on the delivery of key functions such as preserving, conserving and developing its collections, exhibiting and interpreting objects in the collections and making the collections accessible to the public and to people who are carrying out study and research. The NLS supports that drafting approach and pointed to the protection that it offers in relation to its independence from ministers. A similar arm’s-length guarantee in relation to Creative Scotland is contained in the Public Services Reform (Scotland) Act 2010.

The committee has asked for more explanation of the power of direction, so I will write to the committee on how and when the power of direction can be used, so that my intentions are on the record before stage 2. For the purposes of today’s debate, it may help if I outline that a direction could be justified in the event, for example, that the NLS failed to comply with public sector policies, such as those on no compulsory redundancies or on pay. Those examples refer to overall management of the library; ministers can direct the overarching function that the NLS has in relation to managing the library, as expressed in section 2(1) of the bill.

Ministers can also direct in relation to collaboration and diversity because those areas extend beyond the NLS’s particular curatorial and cultural functions. Action might be taken if there were efficiencies to be realised from greater collaboration and shared services, but the NLS was not complying with public sector duties in that regard.

The National Library of Scotland currently works with local authorities, universities and a range of other information service providers. The general intention is to future proof legislation sufficiently to allow for any significant changes in public sector policies or operational practices. I confirm that my officials have been discussing the nature and extent of the power of direction with the NLS, including in relation to collaboration.

On the powers on charging in schedule 1, I am pleased that the committee welcomed my restated commitment to the principle of free access to the National Library. The committee sought to ensure that the bill will allow the NLS to collect material electronically under the legal deposit arrangements. Since I gave evidence, the United Kingdom Government has published updated draft regulations on that, including new provisions that directly address the position of the NLS and the Faculty of Advocates. The bill has been drafted with the UK developments firmly in mind and is sufficiently future proofed to ensure compatibility with proposed and future regulations. As part of my on-going exchanges, I have forwarded a copy of the committee’s report to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, and have highlighted the relevant paragraphs relating to electronic deposit.

I acknowledge that the committee accepts that the bill as a whole will be beneficial to the National Library of Scotland, its users and stakeholders. I am grateful for the help and input from the NLS, the Faculty of Advocates and SLIC in drafting the bill. I welcome the opportunity to respond to and reflect on points that have been raised by members and to address some of the issues in the committee’s report.

I move,

That the Parliament agrees to the general principles of the National Library of Scotland Bill.

15:07