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I will direct my question to Phil Prentice and Jennifer Hunter. We understand and have had a variety of evidence on the ways in which culture, leisure and tourism can support the restoration of town centres. I am interested in a word that was used by Scotland’s Towns Partnership in its submission, which talked about encouraging “vibrancy” and the use of culture in that regard. In my view, we are trying to get away from a kind of proposition in a box, because culture lives and breathes—it is creative and dynamic, and so on.

I would like to hear your insights into that. I am not in any way suggesting that that is easy, and I ask that you highlight some of the complexity that comes with that. Perhaps Jennifer would like to go first.

Beyond the framework that has already been set out and a welcoming open-mindedness to the vibrancy that you described, are there specific policy initiatives that the Scottish Government could adopt that would be valuable, beyond what Jennifer Hunter has already mentioned?

Phil, do you have anything to add in response to the original question?

I will move that on in my last question. With commercial properties, traditionally, somebody would have taken on the whole building, which would often be sublet for SMEs or microbusinesses. The model that you mention is similar, but for artisans. As you suggest, the return on investment is not as clear cut, which might rule out some of the bigger private guys.

Can we see something like that working to repurpose buildings? I appreciate that there is a lot of complexity around funding, if there is a public-private initiative, for example. Are there any final comments on that? Perhaps Anthea Coulter or Gemma Cruickshank would like to come in.

I noticed in our documentation that you have consulted your members. Are you able to provide any insights off the back of that that would help to answer my question?

I do not know whether you all heard the earlier session, but I was exploring the multitude of ways in which culture, leisure activities and tourism can support the recovery of town centres. In particular, I am interested in the creative ways of doing that rather than the passive ways, which I described as putting a proposition in a box and into a former retail unit. That is still intrinsically passive, and I see the cultural element in particular as a main contributor to vibrancy.

I know that we have a lot to get through, but I would like to know whether there are any creative ideas that could translate into policy initiatives for the Government rather than for other agencies? I have to pick somebody to answer, so I will go with Danny.

Good morning, Professor Sparks, and thank you for your contributions so far. It has been a very interesting session.

You said earlier that international comparisons are useful. First, I would like to get some more thoughts from you on what parallels you see elsewhere with what the Scottish Government is able to do, given that there are limitations here on the availability of fiscal levers.

Secondly, what differences do you see in how change is undertaken? You have touched on some of the challenges that we have here, such as local engagement and so on, but I am interested in your knowledge of what has happened elsewhere in those two key areas.

All the way through this session, you have highlighted the complexity of the situation and, in your opening remarks, you said that we have spent 50 years getting into this position.

The challenge for all committees is to make a difference. I accept that it will take time to make a difference, given the lack of engagement and experience that you highlight, but how long will it take us to do something fairly radical? What expectations should we be setting?

Good morning, minister. I have a couple of short questions. When I read through the framework for tax, I asked myself what word jumped into my head to describe how I felt about it, and it was probably “unobjectionable”. It does what it says on the tin—the Scottish tin, as Liz Smith said.

To pick up on a comment from the deputy convener, at an overarching level, what specific and measurable difference will the framework make? There is little to object to in it, and there is clarification. The deputy convener asked about a more detailed level but, in general terms, how will you know that it has been a success?

I can see how the principles, with the two additions, provide the possibility of such a discussion.

Addressing tax avoidance is close to my heart, and you are correct to point it out. House of Commons research on tax avoidance from the last quarter of last year shows that the figure involved is £35 billion a year. We do not know what that equates to in Scottish terms, but that is obviously a huge concern.

Alex Doig may well need to answer this. What is the structure in the Scottish Government—rather than local authorities or whatever—to ensure that there is a focus on tax avoidance? How many full-time-equivalent staff do you have to look at the issue? Does a department head up that work? What management accountability is there? I would appreciate a bit more information about how that functions in the Government, given the importance of the issue.