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Meeting of the Parliament 02 May 2012

02 May 2012 · S4 · Meeting of the Parliament

Item of business

National Performing Companies

Goldie, Annabel Con West Scotland Watch on SPTV

The debate has been interesting and genuinely helpful. What our creative industries and NPCs do for Scotland and our economy has been universally recognised; indeed, Clare Adamson made a most impressive cultural contribution of her own. As I listened to what has been a positive debate, some lines of Wordsworth came to mind. I am quoting from memory, so I may not be word perfect:

“For oft, when on my couch I lie

In vacant or in pensive mood,

They flash upon that inward eye

Which is the bliss of solitude;

And then my heart with pleasure fills,

And dances with the daffodils.”

We have heard from many speakers about their daffodils—the enduring and memorable impact that a particular play, ballet or opera has made upon them, which they remember with great pleasure.

However, contributors to the debate have been frank in expressing some concerns and raising some issues. The issue of audience numbers for performances, coupled with the somewhat disappointing increase in education participants despite a substantial increase in educational events, is disturbing, given the consistent increase in cash-terms funding that NPCs have received under the Scottish National Party Government in recent years.

I note Sandra White’s warning, which I do not dismiss. However, we have to note trends. The trend between 2007 and 2011-12, in terms of the Scottish Government core funding grant, is interesting. The grant has increased by 8.1 per cent in cash terms, which is an average of just more than 2 per cent per year. Despite that, as we have seen, audience numbers are down from five years ago, performances are down, and education participants have not increased proportionately to the number of educational events. I merely articulate that as food for thought; it is not a trenchant criticism of any of the companies.

On a positive note, Patricia Ferguson and Jenny Marra made some interesting suggestions about young people and how we might look at that cohort.

To return to the funding figures, there is another statistic that I find slightly troubling. Since becoming heavily dependent on central Government funding, two of our five NPCs have become more dependent on Government core grant. For the RSNO, the core grant in 2010-11 represented 59 per cent of its turnover, which was up from 57 per cent in 2007-08. For the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, the figure was 50 per cent, which was up from 49 per cent over the same period. Admittedly, those figures are not earth-shattering, but there is a trend. We should not lose sight of the fact that, since the establishment of direct Government funding, two fifths of our Scottish NPCs have increased their dependency on that funding.

I want to raise another point with the cabinet secretary. According to the 2010-11 annual report, there has been a stagnation in the level of sponsorship and funding for NPCs overall. That is not to diminish the vital role that sponsors perform, nor the invaluable commitment of fund-raisers, which are to be commended. However, I note from the report that the proportion of NPC funding that comes from sponsorship and fundraising “remained at 8%”. There is no further attempt to explain that figure.

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Meeting of the Parliament 02 May 2012

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