Neil Bibby is absolutely right to ask about changes in Government and what they mean for the decision-making process. The good news is that major culture decisions, including decision on our festivals, which are national events, are still the responsibility of the cabinet secretary for culture—namely, me. If there are day-to-day issues or areas in which there might be grounds for recusal, the minister who will have responsibility in those cases is the Deputy First Minister, Kate Forbes.

The Scottish Government provides significant funding to Creative Scotland each year. Creative Scotland received applications from 281 cultural organisations at stage 2 of their multiyear funding, with a total ask of £87.5 million per year. I expect that the ask will reduce as Creative Scotland undertakes its due diligence and assessment of applications.

Jamie Greene knows that Creative Scotland operates as an arm’s-length organisation. It is not for culture secretaries to instruct how bits of culture funding that are disbursed through Creative Scotland should be disbursed. Creative Scotland regularly gives evidence to the Scottish Parliament, so members of the relevant committees can ask questions about that.

Culture Counts is not just any cultural organisation: it is an umbrella organisation. I listen closely to what it has to say about all such things. It also regularly gives evidence to Scottish Parliament committees and publishes excellent reports that I read very closely.

I agree with Jamie Greene that we have to give the maximum amount of money that we are able to give for disposal by Creative Scotland and to our national performing companies—we were talking earlier about the Scottish Chamber Orchestra. There has been an increase in Government funding to our national performing companies. We need to ensure that funding is apportioned fairly right across the sector—

I begin by congratulating the Scottish Chamber Orchestra on marking its 50th anniversary. The SCO not only is a jewel in the Scottish cultural firmament but is outstanding in touring and performing throughout Scotland, supporting social inclusion and underlining the role of culture in education, health and wellbeing. I am sure that colleagues across the chamber will join me in congratulating Gavin Reid, SCO performers and conductors past and present and all SCO staff, volunteers, directors, donors and supporters.

In answer to Collette Stevenson’s question, the TCA review is due in 2026 but we are not waiting until then to seek changes, not least because recent research has found that Brexit cost the UK economy £69 billion last year.

I hear from stakeholders regularly about Brexit and did so most recently at a meeting of the Scottish advisory forum on Europe in April, which I attended alongside the European Union’s ambassador to the UK. The message from Scottish stakeholders was consistent: Brexit has increased costs and uncertainty for our businesses and diminished opportunities for our young people. I have repeatedly pressed the UK Government to address those self-inflicted harms.

The Scottish Government remembers and respects the service and sacrifice of the brave veterans who fought on D-day and in Normandy 80 years ago. As such, we are funding a Scottish national commemorative event in partnership with the Royal British Legion Scotland. That will consist of a concert at the Usher hall on 6 June, which will pay tribute to the heroism of our D-day veterans. In addition, Legion Scotland and Poppyscotland are working to develop educational materials that aim to raise awareness of D-day across the generations and communities in Scotland.

Michelle Thomson makes a very good point. We work with and support organisations that support young Scottish musicians. I was recently at the Scottish musical showcase Wide Days, which does tremendous work in helping young musicians at the beginning of their careers to springboard into European markets for the first time.

I also put on the record our appreciation of the announcement by the European Commission that it would welcome a youth mobility arrangement with the United Kingdom, which would obviate many of the problems that we have been discussing. It is extremely disappointing that the UK Government has already rejected that and, in some respects, it is even more disappointing that the Labour Party dismissed it even before the UK Government did.

—and that is exactly what we will do.

I hear the concern that Finlay Carson has raised. As I mentioned in my previous answer, Historic Environment Scotland will write to him directly. Should he have any further issues or concerns, I have assured him that I would welcome a follow-up discussion on the matter. We are all committed to safety at historic sites and to their speediest reopening, and having accurate information serves us all in that purpose.

The work on the properties in care is on-going. Consequently, the position is constantly changing. In order to provide the member with the most up-to-date figure on the percentage of sites that remain partially closed, I have asked Historic Environment Scotland to write to the member directly with a full response.

The first results from the 2022 census were published by National Records of Scotland on Thursday 14 September 2023. The first outputs included estimates of the total population of Scotland and the population sizes in every local authority area, including a breakdown by five-year age groups and sex. They also showed the change in population since the previous census in 2011.

The availability of up-to-date census population data has already facilitated the development of Scottish Government policies, such as developing more targeted interventions aimed at supporting communities that are experiencing population decline.

Those results were only the first step in publishing a wide range of unique data from the census. From May 2024, National Records of Scotland will publish a series of topic data from the 2022 census.