Hansard

It is always a pleasure to be back at the committee, convener, and thank you for the opportunity to make some opening remarks. First, I would like to thank all the organisations that have given evidence to the committee. I have read and listened to their evidence with great interest. The evidence is clear that, although the budget and our announcement to increase culture funding by £100 million annually by 2028-29 are welcome, there remains a need for longer-term clarity and confidence. I would like to take the opportunity of my opening remarks to provide that. I recognise that the additional £15.8 million of funding next year will not rectify years of standstill funding. That is only the starting point of a journey of three phases—sustain, develop and innovate—all of which are important aspects that I have heard referenced by the sector in its evidence. The £15.8 million in the next financial year begins the sustain phase. This is intended to be followed by a further £25 million the year after, with culture budgets £40.8 million higher in 2025-26 than now. The budget will increase cumulatively until it is £100 million per annum higher by 2028-29. That additional resource allows us to move beyond simply sustaining the sector to developing it in innovative ways to support Scotland’s creative sector and its contribution to our own wellbeing economy and international reputation. In line with that, I have recently confirmed to Creative Scotland that we will not direct the use of the additional £6.6 million that will be provided to it in 2024-25, although I expect the organisation to use that money to help the sector to recover, to be sustainable and to innovate. I fully support Creative Scotland’s move towards multiyear funding. As the committee heard last week, that is a critical issue for a lot of, if not most, cultural organisations. I hope that the announcement of the intention to provide an additional £25 million across the culture and arts sector in the next financial year will provide some certainty, and I will continue to argue the case for multiyear funding. Our refreshed action plan supports delivery of the culture strategy and was published alongside the budget last December. The action plan, which was prepared in close engagement with the sector, including the national partnership for culture, has the ambition to support the sector to move beyond its recovery phase. As we implement those plans to sustain the sector, we are also defining the work on the development of the culture and arts sector to provide confidence for the future. Scottish Government senior officials and I will be meeting organisations and third sector partners to discuss that. We will consider all aspects of the sector so that we can support: freelancers, and to attract and retain their talent; community cultural projects in all authorities across Scotland; the national performing companies, so that they can engage and tour with confidence across the country and around the world; festivals, so that they can continue to be world class and contribute to our economy and international reputation; national collections, so that they can innovate and enhance their collections and public experience; the screen sector and its remarkable growth in Scotland, and the opportunities that that brings; the building of resilience and financial stability across the sector; the mainstreaming of culture across Government; and support making progress on participation, with the benefits across public services of health and wellbeing that that brings. 10:15 As part of securing the future of the sector, we will explore new funding streams in addition to Scottish Government funding. I am keen to progress consideration of the Scottish National Party’s manifesto commitment to the percentage for the arts scheme and to draw inspiration from international best practice, such as Denmark’s foundation model. I am aware of the Music Venue Trust’s campaign for a stadium tax to support grass-roots music venues. My colleague the Minister for Culture, Europe and International Development, Christina McKelvie, has encouraged the Music Venue Trust to ask the cross-party group on music to convene an industry round-table discussion on the issue. I look forward to the outcome of that discussion. I am keen to develop links with key philanthropists in Scotland and globally. I want Government networks internationally to support the export of Scottish culture and the sector’s resilience. Our international culture strategy—which will be published soon—will support that ambition. As Neil Bibby MSP mentioned last week, the Scottish Government is only part of the public sector funding picture. Many organisations receive money from local authorities. The Scottish Government will work with the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities to ensure that all local authorities understand the important role that culture plays. I look forward to working with partners in COSLA and with individual local authorities on that. We are at a key turning point in relation to the funding for culture and the arts in Scotland. I acknowledge that I am in a privileged position, because we are restoring our culture budget at a time when other administrations are reducing theirs. I have great ambitions for how the sector should grow and thrive. I want to have more opportunities for people across Scotland to experience the empowering potential of culture, including through our community-based programmes such as the Culture Collective network. I am very focused on delivering those ambitions, which our additional funding allows for. I want to work with the committee to develop the suggestions that it has to contribute to that exciting opportunity. I invite committee members and cultural organisations to come to me and my officials with ideas and suggestions about how we can fund the sector.