Committee
Enterprise and Culture Committee, 23 Jan 2007
23 Jan 2007 · S2 · Enterprise and Culture Committee
Item of business
Creative Scotland
James Boyle:
Watch on SPTV
Thank you for the opportunity to speak. I remain sceptical about the cobbling together of the Arts Council and Scottish Screen. I apply the test of public value as defined in a ministerial paper of 2002, and I do not think that the test is passed. I am not sure what the public value of this hybrid is supposed to be.I agree that the cultural industries have to be examined rigorously, but for that we will need a binding set of criteria that we do not yet have. One criterion for me would be vertical ownership in Scotland, and I would begin with the commissioning process. Whatever is being considered—architecture, design, a television programme—we should ask whether the initial high-level commissioning decisions are being taken in Scotland. If they were, we would be able to affect the process—the continuum—into the future.There are examples of where we have not got the criteria together yet and therefore cannot deliver public value. If we consider publishing—one of the sectors not represented here today—we can see that the commissioning process can take place within Scotland. Everything—from idea, to writer, to publisher, to door—can take place within Scotland. Broadcasting is different—and I am thinking of my ex-colleagues in the BBC. Very little television for the United Kingdom is commissioned in Scotland. It is important to acknowledge that there is a gap and that creative Scotland will not be able to affect it. However, although reserved powers are involved, the Executive and Parliament could affect it. For me, that illustrates the two extremes. At one end is publishing, which is a completely vertically stacked industry, and at the other is a creative industry that is desperately important to Scotland, but which has a United Kingdom outlet and for which there is no commissioning process and no agency to lock on to the issue and lead the way in advocating that we should have such a process, which indeed we should.Beyond that, creative Scotland will be hobbled from the beginning unless the resources are available to back it up. If we are to move from the cultural model that we had in the past to a commercial/industrial model, the underfunding problems that were mentioned throughout the Cultural Commission's report must be solved from day one. Without the money, there is no point in going any further.I continue to believe that it is extremely important to recognise that throughout the arts and the creative industries, the problem of fragmentation remains. There is a deep-set dependency on Government funding because of the lack of funding and of commissioning in the past and everything that makes for a subsistence economy. The model that we have will be run by decent people such as those who are here today, but it is not the model that we ought to have, by which I mean one that is less dependent on Government, that is properly funded and that is allowed to operate under commercial law and with commercial imperatives behind it.
In the same item of business
The Convener (Alex Neil):
SNP
Since it is about two minutes past two, we will make a start. I welcome everybody to the third meeting in 2007 of the Enterprise and Culture Committee.I will...
Professor John Wallace (Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama):
I am John Wallace, and I represent the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama.
Karen Gillon (Clydesdale) (Lab):
Lab
I am Karen Gillon, Labour MSP for Clydesdale.
Paul Durrant (Dare to be Digital):
I am Paul Durrant, and I represent the Dare to be Digital project.
Richard Baker (North East Scotland) (Lab):
Lab
I am Richard Baker, Labour MSP for North East Scotland.
Ken Hay (Scottish Screen):
I am Ken Hay from Scottish Screen.
Donald Gorrie (Central Scotland) (LD):
LD
I am Donald Gorrie, Liberal Democrat MSP from Central Scotland.
Graham Berry (Scottish Arts Council):
I am Graham Berry from the Scottish Arts Council.
Susan Deacon (Edinburgh East and Musselburgh) (Lab):
Lab
I am Susan Deacon, Labour MSP for Edinburgh East and Musselburgh.
James Boyle:
My name is James Boyle. I chaired the Cultural Commission, and I am now retired.
Lizzi Nicoll (Federation of Scottish Theatre):
I am Lizzi Nicoll from the Federation of Scottish Theatre.
Professor Philip Schlesinger (University of Glasgow):
My name is Philip Schlesinger, and I am from the centre for cultural policy research at the University of Glasgow.
Murdo Fraser (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con):
Con
I am Murdo Fraser, Conservative MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife.
Jenny Williams (Glasgow Film Office):
I am Jenny Williams from the Glasgow Film Office.
Stephen Boyd (Scottish Trades Union Congress):
My name is Stephen Boyd, and I am an assistant secretary with the Scottish Trades Union Congress.
Shiona Baird (North East Scotland) (Green):
Green
I am Shiona Baird, Green MSP for North East Scotland.
Stuart Cosgrove (Channel 4):
I am Stuart Cosgrove, a director at Channel 4.
Christine May (Central Fife) (Lab):
Lab
I am Christine May, Labour MSP for Central Fife.
The Convener:
SNP
And I am Alec Neil MSP, committee convener and member of the Scottish National Party. On my left are the clerks, led by Stephen Imrie, and the official repor...
Stuart Cosgrove:
People contained in a room and everything being filmed over a period of time—I hope that nothing too controversial happens. Laughter.
The Convener:
SNP
We circulated a background paper prepared by the Scottish Parliament information centre. I hope that everybody received it, but if they did not, it is availa...
Graham Berry:
The legal creation of creative Scotland is still some way off. The draft Culture (Scotland) Bill has recently been published, and we are currently in a consu...
Ken Hay:
Obviously, we have been going through where we are with the process. Scottish Screen has supported the proposals for creative Scotland because there is a key...
The Convener:
SNP
I will come to James Boyle next. James, in your role with the Cultural Commission, you were the architect of much of what is being discussed in the public do...
James Boyle:
Thank you for the opportunity to speak. I remain sceptical about the cobbling together of the Arts Council and Scottish Screen. I apply the test of public va...
Stuart Cosgrove:
Thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak, convener.Picking up on some of James Boyle's comments, I want to focus on industrial development for the cr...
The Convener:
SNP
Would you like creative Scotland to take over the enterprise network's responsibility for media industries and creative industries?
Stuart Cosgrove:
As long as conditional on that expectation was the idea that creative Scotland would have a strong inward investment capability that was resourced—James Boyl...
Christine May:
Lab
The speakers so far have considered opposite ends of the spectrum. Stuart Cosgrove talked about what we are aspiring to and where we hope to go; Graham Berry...
Graham Berry:
It needs to be noted that the Scottish Arts Council and, I assume, Scottish Screen are already working in the creative industries sector. A huge proportion o...