As I am sure the member will appreciate, ministers have no role in the decision making of Creative Scotland in its allocation of individual grants and support. However, the Scottish Government is engaging closely with Creative Scotland to provide support where possible for organisations such as Creative Stirling, which faces immediate challenges. The former minister for culture, Christina McKelvie, has already written to Creative Stirling with information on alternative routes of funding that it may wish to investigate.

I reiterate this point, and I think that there is cross-party consensus about it: Creative Scotland operates as an arm’s-length organisation, so it is not for me, as culture secretary, to tell it which organisations, in which parts of the country, should be funded. The member will be aware that Creative Scotland is going through a new process to deliver multi-annual funding to regularly funded organisations. Creative Scotland has gone through stage 1 of that process but has not yet reached stage 2, so I cannot comment on the conclusions of that. Creative Scotland will no doubt have heard the point that the member has raised about ensuring impact and support right across Scotland. I support that. No doubt, the decisions that are made will be examined closely by the subject committee, and I know that the point that the member has raised will have been heard by Creative Scotland.

As the member is well aware, under the Public Services Reform (Scotland) Act 2010, the Scottish Government is unable to intervene in the artistic judgment of Creative Scotland, including in relation to the multiyear funding decisions that are under way.

The Scottish Government provides funding to Creative Scotland to distribute funds across the whole of Scotland. There are three organisations based in Aberdeen that are regularly funded by Creative Scotland and receive a total of £0.69 million per year. There are also other organisations that serve Aberdeen but have headquarters outside the city. If there is anything that Jackie Dunbar wishes to bring to the attention of me or Creative Scotland, I would be grateful if she could do that in the normal way.

I take the opportunity to welcome Kaukab Stewart to her ministerial position; I look forward to working with her to deliver the annual £100 million increase in the culture and arts budget to which the Government has committed.

Since we last held portfolio questions, we have had the very sad news of the death of Russia’s leading opposition figure, Alexei Navalny. I am sure that members on all sides of the chamber will join me in condemning the Russian Government for its culpability. The whole democratic world, including Scotland, should mark his bravery and inspirational leadership, and remind President Putin and his henchmen that the memory of Alexei Navalny will not be erased and that there will be real consequences.

In answer to Claire Baker’s question about the 750th anniversary of the birth of Robert the Bruce, the Scottish Government delivers support for the historic environment through our sponsorship of Historic Environment Scotland, our leading public body for heritage. Historic Environment Scotland is marking the 750th anniversary of the birth of Robert the Bruce, as one of the main sponsors of a programme of community-led activities in Dumfries and Galloway by the Medieval Bruce Heritage Trust, which began on 10 February and will run until 14 July. There will also be Bruce-themed activities at the Caerlaverock castle jousting event on 27 and 28 July, and I commend visits to both Stirling castle and the Bannockburn visitor centre as well.

Robert Burns is an essential part of Scottish culture and heritage and continues to provide new and compelling reasons to visit Scotland throughout the year. The Scottish Government undertakes activity, funds public bodies and supports external organisations that help to maintain and increase the visibility of Robert Burns throughout the year in Scotland and overseas.

Burns night is an excellent opportunity to celebrate Scotland’s vibrant and thriving creativity, bring our communities together, boost Scotland’s international reputation and engage with our varied diaspora. For Burns night 2024, the brand Scotland strategic partnership, all the international offices of the Scottish Government and Scottish Development International, domestic stakeholders and more than 50 organisations in the culture sector have had access to a 2024 Burns night toolkit to celebrate how our creativity is influenced by both the heritage traditions of the past and the cultural innovations of today. In addition, our international offices have been engaging in supporting 27 Burns night events, most of which have involved cultural organisations.

I pay tribute to Emma Harper’s relentless work in this area. As she knows, we reluctantly informed stakeholders in September 2022 that the Scotland’s winter festivals programme was permanently closed, in the context of operating within the most challenging budget to be delivered under devolution.

Nevertheless, the Scottish Government is taking the first steps on the route to investing at least £100 million more annually in culture and the arts by the financial year 2028-29. As I said to the Constitution, Europe, External Affairs and Culture Committee on 18 January, now is the right time to look in general at how we support festivals and how it all fits together. I understand that the Big Burns Supper continues to have discussions with Creative Scotland, EventScotland and South of Scotland Enterprise. In addition, such events continue to have the opportunity to apply to public bodies such as VisitScotland and Creative Scotland, as well as local authorities, through their general funds.

Although broadcasting powers are reserved, the Scottish Government has a strong interest in there being a fairer and more representative service for Scotland. We continue to argue for its improvement to ensure that it better reflects and prioritises the specific needs and interests of Scottish audiences and our creative economy.

The Scottish Government has previously advocated for the listed events regime to be expanded, and we will continue to press the United Kingdom Government on that, so that more Scottish events, including Scottish men’s and women’s international football matches, are accessible to audiences on free-to-air broadcast television.

That would be entirely sensible. Why on earth is Scotland’s national Parliament not in charge of national broadcasting? I appreciate the question that Alex Rowley posed, because it should be self-evident to absolutely everybody that our national sport and the important games of our national men’s and women’s teams, which are doing tremendously at the moment, should be easy to access. The easy way for that to happen is through broadcasting powers being devolved. It would be great to have clarification from the Scottish Labour Party and, indeed, from other political parties on whether they are in favour of that.

Alex Rowley makes a very good point. I will definitely reflect on the potential for further discussions with the Scottish football authorities on making the matches of the men’s and women’s sides available to viewers on free-to-air television. However, we could solve the issue quite simply if the Scottish Parliament was in charge of broadcasting, because we could just get on with it and not have to rely on others realising that coverage of Scotland’s national teams and our national sport should be on free-to-view television. We should have devolved broadcasting powers some time ago. It would be fantastic if the Scottish Labour Party would confirm that it now supports that.

The Scottish Government delivers a wide-ranging programme of support for all businesses, including the music industry. Business support can be accessed through our enterprise agencies and Business Gateway.

In addition, Creative Scotland can provide programme support for small grass-roots venues, particularly where additional opportunities for emerging artists or new audiences can be identified. The Scottish Music Industry Association is a member of Creative Scotland’s regularly funded network, and it exists to strengthen, empower and unite Scotland’s music industry.