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It is commendable and to be welcomed that Creative Scotland has been awarded the multiyear funding, which will provide more stability for future planning for the arts and creative sector. However, what safeguards have been put in place to ensure that funding is correctly allocated going forward, and that is it is never again distributed to inappropriate projects such as the infamous Rein project?

I am happy to speak in support of this important motion, and I congratulate my colleague Jackson Carlaw on bringing the debate to the chamber.

As the motion rightly says, 2025 marks 80 years since Auschwitz-Birkenau was liberated, as well as the 30th anniversary of the genocide in Bosnia. This year’s Holocaust memorial day theme, “For a better future”, is highly appropriate, and never more have we needed it.

As the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust points out, antisemitism has increased significantly in the United Kingdom and globally. That is especially the case following the 7 October 2023 attacks in Israel, when about 1,200 people were killed and more than 250 hostages were seized, with the war in Gaza taking place thereafter. I note that many of the hostages have still not been released.

Extremists on all sides continue to exploit the situation in order to stir up anti-Muslim and antisemitic hatred in the UK. As a result, many communities across the UK are feeling vulnerable, with hostility and suspicion of others continuing to grow. We should all be concerned about that.

We must also never forget the well-documented genocides in Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia and Darfur.

Funding supports Creative Scotland to enable it to progress multiyear deals with performing arts organisations. However, there is still no equivalent for the museums and galleries sector. Therefore, museums and galleries continue to operate on a year-to-year basis. That adds to the uncertainty across the sector and in the local economies in which they operate. What are the Scottish Government’s intentions to rectify that situation?

I concur. That is something that needs to be righted, for that is a huge wrong.

Individuals are oppressed by the horrific crimes that we have heard about, and, as we mark Holocaust memorial day, it is also essential to mention Gypsy, Roma and Traveller history.

Every year in June, as part of Gypsy, Roma and Traveller history month, the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust remembers and commemorates the richness that Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities bring to our everyday lives now and in the past. The Holocaust Memorial Day Trust also reminds us that, during the truly horrendous crimes of the 1940s, Jews were not the only people who were tackled by the Nazis and removed from their homelands and communities. For more than a decade, from about 1935, Europe’s Roma people, historically often labelled as Gypsies, were targeted by the Nazis, who wanted total annihilation of those individuals.

In 2023, I was delighted to host in the Parliament a group of young Gypsy Travellers who came from my region to talk about their experiences. They were happy to discuss their situations and said that, even today, they felt persecuted. They also wanted to know about the horrors of the Holocaust and how it affected generations of Travellers in the 1930s and 1940s.

It is all too easy for society to put labels on particular groups, whereas, in reality, people are all individuals with the right to learn, the right to be heard and the right to survive.

As I have said many times in the past, we should all be committed to ensuring equality of opportunity for every one of us. We deserve that in our communities. We want individuals to have the opportunity to participate, and we should not allow marginalised groups to be oppressed.

The Holocaust Memorial Day Trust and I sincerely hope that Holocaust memorial day 2025 can be an opportunity for people to come together and learn from and about the past, and to take actions to make a better future. We must never forget these heinous crimes against humanity, and we must do all that we can to remember, remember, remember.

What does the member say to the Lib Dems and Greens, which have announced today that they will support the budget?

To ask the Scottish Government what measures it is taking to address the reported rise in cases of human metapneumovirus, or HMPV, and ensure that Scotland is prepared for any pandemic regarding this condition. (S6O-04228)

Although it is not the same as Covid, there has reportedly been an increase in HMPV in the United Kingdom, which could have implications for overwhelming the national health service. The UK Covid inquiry showed that the Scottish Government was inadequately prepared for the Covid-19 pandemic and that there was not a sufficient level of urgency. Cabinet secretary, could you outline what steps the Government is taking—if Scotland were facing a looming pandemic tomorrow, for instance—to ensure that proper planning is put in place?

I am pleased to close on behalf of the Scottish Conservatives, and I will support the amendment in the name of Murdo Fraser.

Scotland can be proud of the cultural footprint that it leaves on the world stage, and I have no doubt that members on all sides of the chamber agree about the importance of Scotland’s culture sector. In the debate, we have heard about the multibillion-pound value of the sector and the tens of thousands of jobs that it supports. In reality, however, the value of the culture sector is much greater than just the numbers. I therefore welcome the fact that Parliament has had an opportunity to debate the subject today, and I welcome the speeches that we have heard.

Scotland’s culture sector should be celebrated, but we know that it is facing a number of on-going challenges. I have spoken in previous debates about the closure of many important historic sites across Scotland, and there are still sites that are at risk. Scotland’s buildings tell us important stories about Scotland’s culture, and it is vital that people have opportunities to see them. Their potential should not be wasted through long-term closures. I repeat my party’s calls for buildings that have been closed to be reopened. To that end, I welcome the fact that Historic Environment Scotland began inspection work on Dunfermline abbey last week in order to identify potential problems and safeguard the site.

Turning to the challenges that are being faced in other parts of our culture sector, I note members’ comments on libraries. They are vital links in communities, but there are difficulties and potential closures, including in Perth and Kinross and in Stirling. Innovative measures and initiatives such as the public library improvement fund are welcome, but they do not go far enough in managing the challenges.

In the debate, we have heard about the challenges that local government is facing. Councils are still being asked to do more with less, and they are having to make choices. Last week, I raised in the chamber the cuts that are being made to music tuition across Scotland. As a lifelong campaigner for music and the arts, I raise that issue again today. As we have heard, Stirling Council has proposed a cut of £250,000 to its music education budget. I have stood up for that tuition and have challenged individuals in the council on that proposal, and I will continue to do that to make sure that the cut does not happen.

We must not see the removal of that funding, because it would mean fewer opportunities for young people to sit music exams and participate in choirs, bands and youth orchestras. That is not the way forward. A petition that has been launched on the matter, which is titled “Save Our Children’s Music”, attracted thousands of signatures in a matter of days. One of its key supporters is the “Downton Abbey” composer John Lunn, who has talked about his life in Bridge of Allan and who credits much of his success to Stirling Council’s music services. We have to listen to such individuals when they tell us what is happening on the ground.

I am a proud advocate for music tuition. In the debate, we have heard about the importance of learning skills and the vital work of the Big Noise programme in Stirling, which is in my region. However, we cannot ignore the difficulties that we have seen over the past 18 years of this SNP Government. It has continued to support the sector, but not enough has been done over that timescale, and what has been done has been too little, too late.

The cabinet secretary talked about the value of culture. Of course it has a value, and community culture is vital, but the creative industries require to be supported. They have had a difficult time. The cabinet secretary acknowledged that, but there have been issues with trust and confidence within the sector, which have taken some dents during his time as Cabinet Secretary for Constitution, External Affairs and Culture. I look forward to the conclusion of the review of Creative Scotland and to hearing what will happen next.

In his opening speech, Murdo Fraser talked about the relationship between local and national Government, which is vital to supporting the sector and giving it what it wants. We all welcome the uplift, but the budget pressures that companies are facing, given the pay awards and the Westminster Government’s increasing of national insurance contributions, are having a massive impact on the sector, and arts venues, libraries and other spaces are facing cuts.

Neil Bibby said that the money was too little, too late and talked about the hokey cokey that has taken place, with the budgets going back and forward.

Alex Cole-Hamilton said that the sector deserves support, and he talked about the flagship festivals that happen in Edinburgh. He was right to acknowledge that the companies have a shadow hanging over them.

Pam Gosal talked about the creative side of life—the volunteers and the people who play roles in music, art, dance and theatre, and the impact of the Asian communities in all of that. She talked about their diversity and how they will give their support for the arts to prosper. Festivals such as Diwali and Eid are vitally important.

Once again, Stephen Kerr gave a robust speech based on his insight into what is taking place in culture. He talked about the governance and transparency of Creative Scotland, and it has to be acknowledged that there is still a problem with those.

Across the piece, we have heard about the pay awards, the reduction in the working week, the increase in national insurance contributions and the need to save music tuition.

Scotland’s culture is steeped in creativity. Our art and music are a credit to us and to the nation. I hope that the Scottish Government can continue to ensure that the culture sector provides and is provided with the support that is deserved and needed. However, as I have said, we have to acknowledge that much more needs to be done to secure the sector’s future. Arts, music and culture matter. Trust and confidence also matter in that sector, and, at the moment, we still have a long way to go to achieve those.

It is very difficult for the arts, culture and creative sector to continue to thrive when councils across Scotland are proposing devastating cuts that will decimate the funding of music services and affect the sector’s future. What action is the Scottish Government taking to negate these ill-conceived proposals, which will possibly see the removal, after 60 years, of instrumental and vocal teaching from our communities?

In June, the cross-party group on heart and circulatory diseases published a report on its inquiry into the heart disease action plan. Clinicians reported that encouraging work is going on across Scotland to innovate and improve services, but the ability to implement that across all health boards is suffering due to a lack of funding. Will the cabinet secretary commit to increasing the focus on investment and the contribution to dealing with conditions across Scotland, because heart disease is Scotland’s single biggest killer?