Chamber and committees

You probably heard at last week’s meeting the talk about how Scotland “gets it” when it comes to culture. My stark review of what has been said is that Scotland does not get it, if this is how Creative Scotland is treated by the Government of the day.

The sector has bent over backwards to accommodate, be supportive and take on board many things, and it has been, and continues to be, innovative. It punches above its weight—we discussed that last week, as well—but it cannot maintain, sustain and retain if it does not know where things are going. It is quite obvious that, at the moment, the route plan is not available to your organisation or to the sector. How can you plan and progress if you do not have that?

There has been talk in the past about the central belt in Scotland seeming to receive the lion’s share of things. Do you think that that is the case? There are fantastic organisations the length and breadth of the country, but is the lion’s share of the resource, the manpower and the artistic and cultural involvement central belt-based?

It has been an excellent session. You have been candid about where you are in each of your organisations and how you feel. We have discussed long-term finances from local government, which is probably still the most significant funder of many aspects of the culture sector in Scotland, and you have talked about managing decline and fighting for survival. I had the opportunity to spend 18 years in local government—from 1999 to 2017—and during that time I said similar things when I was in that sector and was trying to manage where we were. Since I came here in 2016, the Scottish Government has come forward with action plans, strategies and working groups. I am sure that you have all participated in those, but it would be interesting to hear whether you feel that you have been listened to.

What is the future? From today’s meeting, it sounds quite bleak, in reality, but do your organisations see a way forward that you want to and can achieve? You have talked about other parts of the globe and things that are done differently. It has been said that we punch above our weight. I think that Liam Sinclair said that Scotland gets it and understands when it comes to culture, but there is obviously still a massive gap that we need to fill. How can we manage to fill that gap and continue to be world leading? There is no question but that we are world leading in many sectors. We are proud of that and our culture is a strong part of our identity in Scotland, but we need to see the future.

What is the future? Do you believe that you are actually being listened to and given opportunities among all the strategies, plans and working groups?

I have none, either, but I am delighted to return to the committee. I sat on its predecessor committee for three years in the previous session, so I look forward to our work, convener.

I will ask a supplementary question. You have talked about data, which is vitally important. Trade associations and federations might collect data for their sectors. How well do you manage with that? Some sectors are very proactive in ensuring that they have data for their sector, but others do not seem to have that robustness. It is about trying to manage that so that there is much better understanding. As you have identified, in different parts of the country, some federations and organisations are much more robust at putting that together.

The possibility of different things happening in different locations might become a real issue for the market and for suppliers and consumers, depending on the approach that is taken and how that is planned. It will be interesting to see what data you collate on that in the future.

In the report, you talk about the actions of Governments across the nations when it comes to food that has a high fat, sugar and salt content, and the divergence that there might be in that regard in future. That might well create real difficulties for certain businesses and certain manufacturing or supply bases, which might have to deal with different processes in different locations. Is that simply a possibility, or is it a real issue that will become much more apparent as time progresses?

We have had an extensive response. I think that we should close the petition under rule 15.7 of standing orders. The Scottish Government considers both matters that are raised in the petition to be operational matters, which in itself creates issues. The SCTS provides an overview of the most commonly used court procedures and rules on its website, and staff provide assistance to people engaging in such actions. The SCTS has adopted the Scottish Public Service Ombudsman’s model complaints handling procedure and provides general information on the procedures on its website.

In reality, the SCTS is already doing a number of things to try to manage the situation, and I do not believe that there is any further action that we can take with reference to the petition at this time.

I thank Tess White for her evidence, which has highlighted some areas of real concern. I think that we could further investigate some areas. I suggest that we write to the Scottish Government requesting an update on how it is progressing recommendation 26 of the Health, Social Care and Sport Committee’s report, which Tess White spoke about. We should also ask whether the Scottish Government plans to amend section 24 of the Mental Health (Care and Treatment) (Scotland) Act 2003 and request that its report and options appraisal to expand mother and baby unit capacity be shared with the committee when they are published in autumn 2023. I think that that would give us much more information about where we are and would help to progress the petition.

I thank Monica Lennon for her presentation, which outlined exactly where we are. There are still questions that need to be asked regarding where we go with this, because the Government has expressed an intention, which I believe is still there, but no progress is being made and things are dragging on. It is important that we continue to ask about the issue.

We should write to the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills again to seek clarity on the Scottish Government’s pilot to roll out universal free school meals in secondary schools, including the timescale for developing the carrying-out of the pilot and the engagement that has taken place with young people in the design of that pilot. That, in itself, will be useful, and Monica Lennon has eloquently set out what information is required.

There is much more to do before we can determine whether the policy is progressing. There seems to be a logjam at the moment, so let us see whether we can manoeuvre around that to see where we can take it.