Hansard

I thank the minister for bringing the motion to the chamber for debate, and I am pleased to speak in the debate because I, too, want to pay tribute to the breadth and variety of cultural talent throughout Scotland. I do not dance, I do not sing, I do not act and—this will astonish members—I do not do ballet. However, I certainly enjoy being a member of audiences who enjoy all those activities, so I want to thank the people in Scotland who nurture and encourage those cultural assets—not least the people who work in Scotland’s national performing companies. Scotland has a rich cultural life and we are fortunate to have such talent to enjoy. Further, as Patricia Ferguson and the minister have said, the growing international profile of the activities not only enriches our cultural scene, but opens up a broad range of opportunities.

The activities of the individual companies show energy and innovation. I was intrigued to see that, since its inception, the National Theatre for Scotland has played to more than 710,000 people in 160 productions. The RSNO continues to offer high quality varied fare and has been reaching out to new audiences with initiatives like “Naked Classics”, for which there is a £10 ticket. I have not attended a performance, but I am reliably informed by a friend that they are very good.

In 2010-11, Scottish Ballet danced to more than 56,000 people, and the Scottish Chamber Orchestra continues to delight audiences in Scotland and abroad with varied programmes. Also, Scottish Opera—the largest of our national performing companies—has continued to woo the younger audience with its £10 tickets for the under 26s and, as the minister said, with the intriguingly entitled “BabyO”, which is a performance for infants and their parents. It is with regret that I note that I am ineligible for either category.

As well as performances in Scotland, the national performing companies have delivered acclaimed productions to audiences around the globe. As I mentioned earlier, that has an important dimension beyond the arena of culture. I was interested in the minister’s announcement about the RSNO’s proposed trip to China and I wish it well with that.

It is right that we recognise the work that the national performing companies do and the benefits that they bring to Scotland, and that we congratulate them on that, but it is also right that we are objective and question whether there are areas of concern. Debate demands that we do not just accept the status quo as being the best that we can do: we can always improve.

The NPCs are in the fifth year of a direct-funding relationship with the Scottish Government. I will look at three issues that are appropriate to that. I note that in the 2010-11 annual report, the cabinet secretary takes pride in—she pointed this out earlier—the number of performances having increased by 31 per cent, from 692 in 2009-10 to 904 in 2010-11. That increase is a cause for celebration, but it must be put in the context of the somewhat difficult year that the NPCs had in 2009-10 and—which is perhaps much more important—the four-year trend since the establishment of direct Government funding for the NPCs. Although performances have increased by 30.5 per cent between 2009-10 and 2010-11, the performance figures for 2010-11 represent an 8 per cent decrease from the number of performances in 2007. That scenario is worrying, when set against the overall budget situation. I ask the minister, when winding up, to confirm what discussions the Scottish Government has had, or is having, with the NPCs about the situation, and what the Government proposes to do.

Patricia Ferguson raised the issue of audience numbers and I listened with interest to the minister’s response. However, once again—to go back over that four-year period—the audience numbers in 2010-11 represent a 10.5 per cent decrease from attendances in 2007-08. The minister was helpful in expanding further on that to Patricia Ferguson, but that is exactly the area on which content is needed in the annual report. It would be helpful. If there are genuine explanations, such as activity abroad that has drawn audiences of which we may be unaware, and which has affected domestic performances, that is fine, but what is going on should be known. The report would benefit from such detail.

On a separate front, educational events are up a staggering 69.7 per cent since 2007-08, which is impressive progress that represents the efforts in the past five years of the NPCs to promote cultural arts education. I am all for that. However, in the same period the number of people attending has risen by a somewhat disappointing 23.5 per cent. I fully accept that those figures do not take into account the qualitative aspect of the performances or the cultural yield per event, but if we assume certain fixed costs for putting on events, surely the more people who attend them, the greater the educational return and the greater the growth potential for new adult audiences. Perhaps the minister will allude to that in her closing remarks.

I applaud the work of the national performing companies and, as the minister and Patricia Ferguson did, I congratulate all those who are involved in the wonderful productions, which delight audiences. I hope that my observations can be taken on board. I want to help and strengthen the NPCs, but we will do that only if we are realistic about challenges and if we show willingness to address them.

I note the plea that I fill a generous six minutes. I do not know whether I have served you well, Presiding Officer, but it was an unusual request as I am accustomed to obeying you by observing brevity.

I support the motion, and I support the amendment in Patricia Ferguson’s name.