Meeting of the Parliament 14 January 2025
I have already given way a number of times to Mr Kerr’s colleagues. If he does not mind, I am going to make some progress. I will see how I am doing for time at the end, and I will be happy to give way to him then or during the summing up.
I also understand that there is much more to be done to support Scotland’s festivals to reach their fullest potential. That is why new funding will also support the activity of the newly established partnership for Scotland’s festivals. Members of the partnership have been drawn from across the sector, and I am already impressed by the constructive, collaborative and inclusive approach that it is taking to develop priority actions that will help to bolster festivals, large and small, across the country.
I turn to our national cultural institutions. Our national collections, our centre for design and our performing companies are hubs for international exchange and cultural excellence. They contribute significant amounts to the economy and support the lifelong learning, health and wellbeing of our communities. This Government recognises the importance of our national cultural institutions, and that is why we are increasing funding to the national collections and our national performing companies, as well as to our national centre for design, the V&A Dundee.
The Government believes that culture and creative expression enliven our communities, shaping their distinct identities and making them attractive places in which to live, work and visit. Every day, culture and creativity happen in communities across Scotland without Government support. However, to facilitate even greater access to community-driven creative activity locally, we have allocated additional funding to restart the award-winning culture collective programme and to expand the creative communities programme.