I would be delighted to give way to Sandesh Gulhane.

I am delighted to open today’s debate on how the Scottish Government and members across the chamber can best support Scotland’s culture sector, so that it can continue to develop, innovate and, ultimately, thrive.

I have spoken to Parliament before about the intrinsic value and transformational potential of culture but, if members permit me, I will begin today by borrowing some words about the value of culture, which were crafted by our nation’s new makar—the accomplished and highly regarded multilingual poet, Peter Mackay. He wrote:

“Culture and art is the space in which accidents happen for the better, where things collide into each other to form something new and unexpected, where we take all that we have learnt from the past and use it to fail again, fail better—in previously unimagined ways—and in so doing make a space in which other people too can think about the world afresh.”

I thank Peter for expressing in an impactful way the unique power and vital nature of culture as a force that is essential to our development as human beings, communities and a nation on the world stage.

The Scottish Government’s culture strategy for Scotland recognises how central culture is to our country’s future prosperity and sets out a vision of a Scotland where everyone is able to live a cultural life of their choosing.

Of course.

I am sorry that Michael Marra has not caught up with the news, because I was delighted to meet the convener of Dundee City Council and local parliamentarians last week to talk about the challenges that exist in Dundee. As I have acknowledged in previous question times in the chamber, supporting important cultural organisations and making sure that they do not go to the wall has been one of the big challenges in recent years. We have worked very hard to do that, and I gave a commitment to colleagues in Dundee that I would do the same.

I invest a lot of hope in what we are about to hear in relation to the multiyear funding announcement. I have called it foundational, and I believe it to be so. If there are any parts of the cultural firmament that are not covered by multi-annual funding, it will be a priority to ensure that they are on a firm footing as well. In general, I would like to underscore what I think is the fact, which is that there is cross-party agreement on multiyear funding, and that that announcement is imminent.

Alex Cole-Hamilton talked about the importance of culture funding, as did others. To that end, I hope that he and his colleagues will follow the logic of the argument, unlike the other parties, and vote for increasing culture funding in the budget, as well as for the motion that is before us today.

We heard from Evelyn Tweed about the culture sector in Stirling, and from Pam Gosal on the importance of the Asian cultural contribution as a part of our national life. She is absolutely right—I concur with her entirely. We heard from Foysol Choudhury, and from Michelle Thomson, who, as she regularly does, underlined the negative impact of Brexit, which we should never forget.

We also heard from Stephen Kerr, Colin Smyth and Clare Adamson, and from Paul Sweeney—I always listen very closely to the points that he makes on the built environment. We heard from Michael Marra, who now has the answer to his question, which he did not have before. I commend to him the use of the internet to find out things that are already in the public realm. We also heard from Alexander Stewart—who, as, a member of the parliamentary choir, has a fine voice, if not the finest of arguments. I encourage him to rebel against his party line and vote for the increase in culture funding, which I think that we all agree is necessary.

It is clear that we are in agreement that, now more than ever, we have to make sure that every pound of public funding for culture is wisely invested for maximum sectoral impact. We also have to make sure that the support available from across the public, private and third sectors is enhanced where possible, so that, together, we can strengthen culture and create the conditions for culture to thrive—which is one of the central ambitions that is set out in our culture strategy for Scotland. To fully harness that potential, it is clear that we need to continue to engage closely with our culture sector and collaborate with strategic decision makers across central and local government, using all the lessons, levers and convening power that we can bring to the table in support of the culture sector. That includes demonstrating this Parliament’s collective support for culture in Scotland and, as part of the parliamentary process in due course, voting in support of the Scottish Government’s proposal for a significant uplift in culture funding for 2025-26.

Through this budget, we will deliver on the culture strategy’s central ambition of sustaining and nurturing the conditions and skills for culture to thrive for the benefit of all. That includes providing an increase of £20 million for Creative Scotland’s competitive multiyear funding programme, as well as additional increases for the national collections, the national performing companies and Screen Scotland. It also includes allocating new funding to support festivals across Scotland, improving digital access to our public libraries, restarting and extending the community-led arts and creativity programmes, and developing a culture and heritage capacity fund. We will also continue to support Scotland’s flagship Sistema and youth music initiatives. We will ensure that all that additional investment has the desired positive impact across the sector, supporting the review of sector support needs, which will include the remit and functions of Creative Scotland.

The planned increase in culture funding has received cross-Cabinet approval at a time when the Scottish Government faces tough choices about the funding priorities that will ensure the delivery of the First Minister’s stated priorities of eradicating child poverty, growing the economy, tackling the climate emergency by investing in green energy and infrastructure, and improving Scotland’s public services as an investment in Scotland’s future health, equality and prosperity.

I therefore urge all members of the Scottish Parliament to support the Scottish Government’s budget plans for culture in the coming weeks and make the planned increase in funding support for our vital culture sector a reality. This afternoon, we have heard a lot of powerful speeches about why we should support the culture sector. Given the funding pressures that we all acknowledge have existed, it would seem very odd indeed to be arguing, on the one hand, for increased culture funding, but then to go on to vote against that or abstain. This is the time to support the Scottish Government’s approach to culture funding and its increase in culture spending, as well as the other measures that have been announced.

I commend the motion that stands in my name.

If Michael Marra keeps it brief, I will reply as quickly as I can.

I thank members from all parties for their engaging and thoughtful contributions. Once again, I acknowledge that we are here because we are all passionate supporters of culture—we all value the artists, the creative producers, the cultural workers, the organisations and the volunteers who help to make Scotland the society that it is and who generate so much for our local and national economies as well as our cultural life. That is clear from the vast and varied experiences of culture that we have heard about from colleagues across the chamber. I will try to reflect on as many as I can; I hope that members will forgive me if I am unable to touch on all the points that have been raised.

Murdo Fraser began really well by talking about the artistic and economic benefits—

I would like to make some progress, if Mr Kerr would allow.

As part of that work, it is important that the remit and functions of Creative Scotland—one of the main distributors of public funding for culture—are reviewed to ensure that they continue to meet the needs of the sector. As I announced yesterday, I am delighted that Dame Sue Bruce has agreed to be the independent chair of the Creative Scotland review. My officials are already in discussion with Dame Sue about her role, with a view to the chair publishing recommendations by the end of the summer 2025.

The Scottish Government has also launched a short survey that asks for the views of people who are working across or have an interest in the culture sector about what they value now and what their priority needs will be going forward. That marks the beginning of an on-going conversation with the culture sector about its future requirements, which will inform the scope of the sector support review. I am always particularly interested to hear the views of our cultural and creative workforce about how they can best be supported. I also encourage the political parties represented here in the chamber and MSPs of all parties to take part in the survey.

I turn to the budget. If the budget bill is passed and the additional funds for culture are secured, we will introduce a brand-new £4 million culture and heritage capacity fund from the next financial year, to provide much-needed tailored support, funding and guidance to help build capacity and resilience in the organisations that need it most.

That is also relevant when considering the opportunities and challenges for festivals. I am sure that there is not one person in the chamber today who has not attended and enjoyed one of Scotland’s local, national or international festivals. There is so much on offer, and 2025 is no exception. Celtic Connections, which is one of our most successful winter festivals, is set for another internationally acclaimed showcase of talent and diversity this week. An additional £4 million is earmarked to support Scotland’s festivals. That will include £3 million to significantly increase our festivals expo fund to expand its reach beyond festivals in Edinburgh and Glasgow, in recognition of the importance of festivals right across Scotland in providing opportunities for the wider culture sector.

I have said clearly, and I will happily repeat, that I will not tell Dame Sue Bruce where she should concentrate her efforts. I encourage Mr Kerr and other colleagues to take part in the review. I ask them to take the opportunity to share their views in relation to the review that Sue Bruce will undertake, to help steer her in any directions that they feel are appropriate.

—but he then managed to call for more culture spending while failing to confirm that he will vote against that in the budget vote later this year.

From Neil Bibby, we heard a warm welcome for increased culture spending. He called for the Scottish Government to raise spending on culture by £20 million only days before the Scottish Government announced that we intend to raise it by £34 million. He failed to confirm that he is going to abstain when it comes to the vote on increasing culture spending, and failed to acknowledge that Labour in office elsewhere in the UK is cutting revenue funding. That point was raised, correctly, by Keith Brown, when he talked about the total lack of credibility from both the Conservative and Labour parties—given that, on the one hand, colleagues make speech after speech valuing the importance of culture and calling for financial support, but, on the other hand, they vote against that or abstain.

In contrast, we heard from Maggie Chapman, who, rightly, underlined the importance of the transformative impact of the arts, through the likes of the Big Noise project. It was good to have that put on the record. In a point that Mark Ruskell also made, she underlined the essential nature of multi-annual funding for cultural organisations.

Michael Marra needed to write to me to find out when Creative Scotland is making announcements on multi-annual funding. I point to its website, which will tell him that the announcement will be made before the end of this month. We should all look forward to that—I think that there is consensus across the parties that multi-annual funding is really important.

I have already given way a number of times to Mr Kerr’s colleagues. If he does not mind, I am going to make some progress. I will see how I am doing for time at the end, and I will be happy to give way to him then or during the summing up.

I also understand that there is much more to be done to support Scotland’s festivals to reach their fullest potential. That is why new funding will also support the activity of the newly established partnership for Scotland’s festivals. Members of the partnership have been drawn from across the sector, and I am already impressed by the constructive, collaborative and inclusive approach that it is taking to develop priority actions that will help to bolster festivals, large and small, across the country.

I turn to our national cultural institutions. Our national collections, our centre for design and our performing companies are hubs for international exchange and cultural excellence. They contribute significant amounts to the economy and support the lifelong learning, health and wellbeing of our communities. This Government recognises the importance of our national cultural institutions, and that is why we are increasing funding to the national collections and our national performing companies, as well as to our national centre for design, the V&A Dundee.

The Government believes that culture and creative expression enliven our communities, shaping their distinct identities and making them attractive places in which to live, work and visit. Every day, culture and creativity happen in communities across Scotland without Government support. However, to facilitate even greater access to community-driven creative activity locally, we have allocated additional funding to restart the award-winning culture collective programme and to expand the creative communities programme.