Meeting of the Parliament 06 January 2015
It is always welcome to hear about cultural successes throughout Scotland, and our winter festivals have done us proud once more. All manner of parties, celebrations and traditional festivals have been held the length and breadth of the country, with local communities benefiting greatly. It is fantastic to hear unanimous praise for the deserving performers and organisers, but the Parliament must also use these debates to focus attention on what needs to be done to build on the successes. More could be done by the Scottish Government to support our winter festivals, which is why the Scottish Conservatives have lodged an amendment calling for a coherent arts strategy to boost our cultural reputation.
Before explaining why I believe the chamber should support Ms Smith’s amendment, I must state that I feel strongly that the invaluable contribution of the hogmanay festival to Edinburgh’s life deserves recognition and further congratulations. As a resident of Edinburgh and an MSP for Lothian, I well understand how much the annual festivities mean to our wonderful city. We are extremely proud of our multi-day festival, which is one of a kind, and we are very grateful to all those who are involved. Around 70,000 people attended in 2013, and tickets for last week’s street party sold out very quickly. The festival obviously delivers a great boost to Edinburgh’s economy—indeed, to Scotland’s economy—with the estimates for previous years nearing £30 million. On that note, if the Scottish Government could provide a figure for the contribution of the hogmanay festival 2014-15 to Edinburgh’s economy, that would be very useful.
I would enjoy going on to touch on events such as the Burnsfest in Edinburgh, but I will use this opportunity to look at what should be done going forward. The amendment in Ms Smith’s name highlights what is clear to many people—that our arts and creative industries need a fully coherent strategy to be set out by the Scottish Government.
There are a large number of fantastic cultural successes of which we can be proud, including the winter festivals that are being held this season. However, the Parliament needs to discuss those aspects of Scotland’s cultural scene where, regrettably, things are not working as well as they should be and what more could be done to help them.
We do not have time in this debate to go into the detail of where specific organisations have struggled, but it appears that both Creative Scotland and the film industry would benefit from a clearer arts strategy. As my colleague touched on earlier, arts bodies of all shapes and sizes across the country should be provided with integrated support and funding priorities that will enable them to reach more easily their full potential. Without such a system in place, some of the wealth of cultural talent that we have in this country may be lost. I am sure that we can all agree that such a loss of talent is always a great shame.
Accordingly, I hope that Scotland continues to deliver fantastic winter festivals and that all our creative industries can strive to strengthen our well-earned reputation as one of the best countries for the arts to flourish in. In order for that to happen, however, they need a fully coherent arts strategy as soon as possible. I therefore urge all my fellow members to support the amendment in Ms Smith’s name.