Chamber and committees

Will the minister take an intervention?

As has been mentioned, the First Minister has announced his intention to double the arts and culture budget over the next five years and increase it by £100 million. However, £175 million is currently allocated in the Scottish Government’s budget for Creative Scotland, other arts, cultural collections and the national performing companies. Will the cabinet secretary explain how he can possibly double a budget of £175 million with only £100 million?

I mean no offence in saying this, Mr Brown, but I would be happy to take an intervention from the cabinet secretary, whom I was requesting details from.

Let me tell members why we in the chamber need that clarity. The Parliament has heard time and again pleas from a sector that is crying out for help. VOCAL Scotland has told us that

“publicly funded cultural service provision has been depleted to the most basic level.”

Artlink has said that the current financial settlement is having a devastating effect, and Museums Galleries Scotland has warned of a

“hollowing out of museums services”.

Prospect has said:

“We are at the breaking point”,

and the Federation of Scottish Theatre has said that a

“continued lack of public investment … may result in what could very easily be seen as a wilful demise of the culture sector as we know it.”

Equity, which protested outside this building, has warned that our national reputation is diminished with further cuts to support and funding, and even Creative Scotland has warned that many organisations are at risk of insolvencies and redundancies.

The picture that has been painted is one of increased costs and chronic standstill funding. Many organisations are on their knees. Combined with the pandemic and the cost of living crisis, it is a perfect storm. Stability, security and the ability to plan ahead are vital to the sector.

The Scottish Government is to refresh its culture strategy, but it is clear that there is a huge gulf between the levels of ambition and the levels of investment that are coming from the Government. That is the very definition of setting up the entire sector to fail.

The Government should keep its promise not to cut Creative Scotland’s budget this year and give the sector the funding, certainty, confidence and backing that it needs. Over to you, cabinet secretary.

I move,

That the Parliament values greatly the enormous contribution of the arts and culture sector to Scotland’s national life and economy, noting that the creative industry is estimated to be worth nearly £4.5 billion and 80,000 jobs; recognises what many in the sector have described as a “perfect storm” of crisis in the sector, resulting from years of underfunding as well as the ongoing effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and the cost of living crisis; condemns the Scottish Government’s decision to break its promise to the sector not to cut Creative Scotland’s budget by 10%, and notes the furious reaction in response; notes the commitment from the Cabinet Secretary for the Constitution, External Affairs and Culture that Creative Scotland’s funding will be restored in 2024-25, but recognises with concern that Creative Scotland has stated that up to a third of its regularly funded organisations are at serious risk of insolvency in the short term, and over half are financially weak, which will require redundancies or other cost savings, and therefore considers that there is an urgent need for funding now; further notes the announcement made by the First Minister on 17 October 2023 to more than double arts and culture funding over the next five years, but believes that, in the current context, financial certainty for the sector is crucial; calls, therefore, on the Scottish Government to reverse the 10% budget cut to Creative Scotland with immediate effect; further calls on the Scottish Government to set out full details for its proposed increase in the arts and culture budget, including timescales for funding increases, and believes that it is essential that this is clarified ahead of the publication of a refreshed Scottish Government Culture Strategy.

The Cabinet Secretary for Constitution, External Affairs and Europe gave a clear promise in February to restore £6.6 million and then did a U-turn. It is the Scottish Government’s problem. You need to deliver on your promises.

We know that since 7 October, in addition to many other innocent civilians, at least 21 journalists have tragically been killed. Journalists continue to do their job in the most difficult of circumstances. Democracy relies on a free press, particularly against the backdrop of misinformation. Will the First Minister take the opportunity to express his solidarity with the journalists in Israel and Palestine, as they seek to provide accurate information in a responsible way?

The First Minister and Angus Robertson, the Cabinet Secretary for Constitution, External Affairs and Culture, have claimed that a £6.6 million cut to Creative Scotland will have no detriment to cultural organisations this year, yet it is quite obviously the case that it will have a detriment of £6.6 million to the sector in the future. The Scottish Government promised in February to provide that essential funding, but it has now broken that promise.

The cabinet secretary has given a gold-plated assurance that funding of £6.6 million will be given to Creative Scotland next year. What on earth is that assurance worth when the previous Government assurance turned out to be worth absolutely nothing? How does the cut match with the First Minister’s words last month, when he said that the Government “values the role” of the culture sector?

I am grateful for the opportunity to contribute to the debate. After a number of turbulent years for devolution, I will start with a point of general agreement with the Scottish Government and the topic of the debate. Following Brexit, the UK Conservative Government has—regrettably—unleashed a particularly crude understanding of the role of devolution in the UK. These years have been characterised by unrest, disrespect and uncertainty.

The aim and ambition of devolution, as enacted in 1998 by the then Labour Government, has been consistently undermined by the current UK Government’s actions and attitudes. Far from showing respect for and appreciation of the diversity and difference of our UK nations, the Conservative Government has sought to constrain and attack not just the powers of this place but the authority of the devolved institutions as a whole.

Proposals on that are set out in the report of the commission on the UK’s future and we are carefully considering whether to take that forward. Obviously, the manifesto process is still to be set.

I hope that, at the next general election, Scotland will play its part in making that change possible, so that there can be a reset in relations and this disastrous chapter of Tory misrule is brought to an end.

Today’s debate is about defending this Parliament’s powers, and we are committed to doing just that.

I generally agree with what the Minister for Independence said. I will come on to talk about Labour’s proposals, and I welcome the minister’s recognition of the importance of economic trade across the UK, which I very much agree with.

Given the statistics that I mentioned, it is little wonder and is unsurprising that economic modelling has suggested that increased regulatory barriers between the four home nations would have a negative effect on gross domestic product.

In maintaining standards and protecting free trade across the UK, we must ensure that there are effective agreed frameworks to protect devolution. We must manage the tensions between open trade and regulatory divergence without undermining the devolution settlement. That is not easy to achieve, but that is our approach and what our amendment sets out. That is also why we did not believe that it was right, without a proper voice for devolved Governments, to impose the rule that the lowest regulatory standard under one Administration must be the standard for all.

The interests of the people of Scotland are best served when the Scottish and UK Governments work together in co-operation with other devolved Administrations in the UK. However, for far too long, we have—unfortunately—seen conflict ahead of co-operation. That must change; we need effective and grown-up intergovernmental relations now and into the future that are not dogged by nationalist grievance or muscular unionism.

Labour members have been clear that, if Labour has the privilege of forming the next UK Government, we want to create better working relationships between the UK Government and all devolved Governments and Administrations.

As I think I have set out, we want to maintain free trade across the UK and we want to respect the devolution settlement through effective agreed frameworks to take that forward. That is the road that we will go down if we are fortunate enough to be elected.

The next UK Labour Government will transform the UK, with the biggest transfer of power out of Westminster, and deliver economic, democratic and social renewal across the nations and regions. Labour will replace the outdated House of Lords with an elected second chamber. The new chamber will have representation from across the nations and regions, including Scotland, and a specific role in protecting the devolution settlement.

A UK Labour Government will prioritise co-operation over conflict and ensure that Scotland’s view is properly represented in UK institutions. An example of that is our proposed new industrial strategy council.