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Thank you. That was very skilfully put, if I may say so.

Professor Gethins mentioned measuring international work. The committee has grappled a lot with the metrics and how we measure. As has been said, it is Scottish Government work—money is being spent on it and we are entitled to try to measure the efficacy of, for example, the international office network. I am interested to know how the witnesses think we could do that best. We have mentioned the diaspora—I know that that is an area of interest for Professor Gethins—but how do we measure it properly?

Welcome, panel. I am delighted to see you all. I add my words of support to the Scottish Council on Global Affairs, which—I am glad to see—goes from strength to strength.

The idea of a good global citizen is quite subjective. We can all think of some basic norms that a good global citizen should adhere to, but I wonder how we define that. There will be some instances when there might be dispute about what is good conduct globally. What are your reflections on that?

Drilling down to the nuts and bolts of the issue, there are nine instruments that the Scottish Government considers contain at least some devolved provisions that are applicable in Scotland and that it is not satisfied are obsolete. What steps is the Scottish Government taking at official and ministerial level—I note that a number of your officials are with you—to secure those instruments and remove them from the schedule?

Thank you for those answers. Ailsa Macfarlane’s point about community assets brings me neatly on to my next question: how do we rocket boost community asset transfer sustainably? As we all know, community ownership has been steadily increasing over the past 15 or 20 years. However, last week, we heard from Volunteer Scotland a warning that people in some communities feel forced to take on the responsibilities and liabilities associated with a venue for fear of it being lost to the community.

There are a number of challenges around community asset transfer, not least funding. What further assistance can be given to community groups that want to take on a community asset or already have one but need to maintain it? Do the witnesses have any views about other avenues short of community ownership that could be used?

The committee has heard from previous witnesses about the difficulty of knowing what cultural opportunities exist, getting information about available venues and so on. In that vein, I was interested to read in Planning Aid for Scotland’s submission of your work in helping communities to create community-led plans or LPPs and that, in so doing, people often discover underutilised assets that can then be used. How can we improve the data and information for local communities to their benefit? Do you have any wider observations on that? I will start with Johanna Boyd.

I read the Creative Lives submission and was very struck by the opening pages, which talk about a sense of optimism despite the challenges that we have spoken about, which are very real and serious. There seems to be an uptick in optimism about volunteering, with the average number of hours having gone up in the past few years. Is that sense of an increase in optimism shared by Sarah Latto and Alison Reeves? What reasons beyond the pandemic and the sense of community togetherness that you have spoken about might there be for that slightly rosier view?

Thank you for those answers. I have one more question about unmet cultural need. Creative Scotland’s submission to the committee said that some cultural practices do not necessarily take place traditionally in theatres or music venues. In Creative Scotland’s view, its role is to provide the infrastructure, then get out of the way and allow local artists or performers to take over. Do you have any observations on that from the perspective of the volunteer? How can we develop and enhance that unmet cultural need? I will start with Alison Reeves, please.

Jemma Neville, do you want to add anything?

Okay. Thank you.

The last theme that we will explore is place-based cultural policy. How do the NPCs deliver that approach? To what extent can the value that it provides to communities be measured? What challenges are faced in delivering a place-based approach?

Good morning, everyone. We now move on to a round-table discussion with the national performing companies. We are joined by Steven Roth, executive director of Scottish Ballet; Brenna Hobson, executive director of the National Theatre of Scotland; Alex Reedijk, general director of Scottish Opera; Gavin Reid, chief executive of the Scottish Chamber Orchestra; and Alistair Mackie, chief executive of the Royal Scottish National Orchestra. I warmly welcome you all.

Given the round-table format, we want there to be a free-flowing discussion, if possible. There are three broad themes, which we will cover in turn, if we can, although I appreciate that I have just said that we want it to be a free-flowing discussion, so we might just see how it goes. Please indicate to me or the clerks if you want to come in on a particular question or theme. We have a hard stop of 11.30, when the committee must close its business due to the fact that other parliamentary business will take place thereafter.

Our first theme is that of national and local layers of government and how they work together. Last week, we heard evidence from local authorities. How do your organisations seek to complement the work of other bodies, such as local authorities or other national agencies, in providing communities with opportunities to attend and participate in cultural activities? As I am looking at Brenna, perhaps she can start.