I will make a bit of progress first, if the member does not mind.

We have committed to increasing opportunities for participation and creative pursuits in supporting the protection of new works and ensuring that Scotland’s cultural output has platforms at home and abroad. We know that the sector welcomes the news. As an example, David Greig of Edinburgh’s Royal Lyceum Theatre Company has said:

“This is a seriously important intervention at a crucial moment ... this investment is to the benefit of all Scots as we build on our theatre, film, art, literature and gaming industries ... which ... are world class.”

I could not agree more with him, and I am delighted that the Scottish Government has committed to doubling spending on culture and the arts.

If the member had been here for questions on the culture portfolio earlier, he would have heard my answer on the matter. I encourage him to read it in the Official Report, having taken so much time from me in the debate.

Colleagues across the chamber will appreciate that there is a complex funding landscape for arts and culture. Funding is provided by the Scottish Government, local government and philanthropy. Even within the Scottish Government, culture is funded through a variety of means, including Creative Scotland, which is our public body for the arts and creative industries, including the screen sector. There are also targeted funds to support key areas, such as youth music and festivals, and direct funding by the Scottish Government of our national performing companies.

I have to make some progress, and I have so little time. I am sure that Mr Bibby wants me to answer the questions that he has asked.

Due diligence and consideration are needed to ensure that the increase in funding over the next five years is directed for maximum impact. The priorities for that increased investment will be taken forward in line with the Scottish Government’s upcoming refresh of the culture strategy action plan. I welcome input from all in the sector and invite them to get in touch. For now, I can say that the increase will start from next year, with further detail to be set out in the upcoming budget through established processes.

I appreciate that the sector is concerned about what Scottish funding and support look like this year. I have to put that in the context that, over the past five years, the Scottish Government has provided more than £33 million to Creative Scotland to compensate for the shortfall in National Lottery funding. As a result of rising costs and pressures on budget across the Government, we cannot make up for the on-going shortfall this year. I agreed with the Creative Scotland board that it would use its National Lottery reserves to ensure that all regularly funded organisation payments are met in full, as was provided for in the 2023-24 funding agreement. That will mean that the regularly funded organisations will not receive reduced funding this financial year.

As I mentioned, spending on culture by the Scottish Government extends far beyond Creative Scotland. We are investing £278 million in Scotland’s culture and heritage sector in 2023-24. Projects such as the youth music initiative, which has £9.5 million committed to it this year, have made a huge impact in helping young people across Scotland to access music making and develop their wider skills and learning.

I commend the Scottish Government’s amendment to the chamber. It supports the Scottish Government’s plan to more than double arts and culture funding by £100 million over the next five years. It endorses the Scottish Government’s aim of working with the culture sector to implement a refreshed culture strategy action plan. It believes that the UK Government should match that stated ambition and at least double its investment in arts and culture over the same period. If Parliament supports a doubling in spending on the arts and culture, it will vote for the Government’s amendment.

I move amendment S6M-10917.2, to leave out from first “recognises” to end and insert:

“understands that, in common with other sectors, arts and culture organisations are experiencing significant pressure due to increases in the cost of living as a consequence of Brexit, the COVID-19 pandemic, and the actions of the UK Government; welcomes that Creative Scotland has confirmed that it has used its reserves to ensure that funding for regularly funded organisations has been maintained in 2023-24; notes that, over the last five years, the Scottish Government has provided over £33 million to Creative Scotland to compensate for a shortfall in National Lottery funding; supports the Scottish Government’s plan to more than double arts and culture funding by £100 million over the next five years; endorses the Scottish Government’s aim of working with the culture sector to implement the refreshed culture strategy action plan, and believes that the UK Government should match this stated ambition and at least double its investment in arts and culture over the same period.”

I have just a quick question. Does Pauline McNeill agree that such decisions need to go through the normal budgetary processes—yes or no?

There is quite a lot in Richard Leonard’s question, and I am sure that you would wish me to concentrate my reply on public interest journalism, Presiding Officer.

There are a number of ways in which the Scottish Government can support an emerging institute. I am open to all suggestions to bring that about, because I would wish it success. Richard Leonard is right to highlight that there are different models in different places and that there are different circumstances. I am sure that he would agree with me—I hope that he agrees with me—that it is really important that public interest journalism is separate from Government and separate from any sense that there is Government interest or influence on its independence. Notwithstanding that, I am interested to learn how we can best support the emerging institute. If the member or colleagues who are involved in the steering group have suggestions, I am very open to considering them.

I attended the Creative Scotland board meeting on 27 September, where I discussed current and future funding. Scottish Government officials have regular formal discussions with officials in Creative Scotland, including with regard to budgets, as part of their normal sponsorship role, since Creative Scotland is a public body. Those discussions cover budgets for this and the next financial year. My officials will discuss funding for the next financial year with Creative Scotland as part of the budget process.

As a matter of course, Scottish Government ministers and the Scottish Government will promote and support artists the length and breadth of the country. I am delighted to hear North East Open Studios being so well promoted by its local member of the Scottish Parliament.

Specifically in relation to the funding of cultural organisations, everybody in the chamber recognises that that largely takes place through Creative Scotland, an arm’s-length organisation that makes funding decisions. I am sure that it will listen closely to the points that Karen Adam has made, because it sees it as an important part of its work that there is funding and support for arts organisations the length and breadth of Scotland.

I listened very closely to what Neil Bibby had to say. The one word that I did not hear him say was “welcome”. I do not know what it is about the Scottish Labour Party in relation to culture and the arts that makes it difficult for it to welcome the fact that the Scottish Government has committed to doubling the culture spend. That has been welcomed right across the culture sector, and I hope that the Scottish Labour Party will join the Scottish Government in supporting the increase in the budget.

The budget-related matters will be subject to the standard budget procedure, which will include the scrutiny that will be exerted through the Scottish Parliament’s committees. I look forward to giving evidence to explain the decisions that are made in relation to the fantastic increase that the Scottish Government has committed to in the culture and arts sector. Perhaps Neil Bibby can find it in himself, either during these questions or the debate later this afternoon, to use the word “welcome”.

Goodness—there was a lot in that.

First, with regard to the regularly funded organisations, I can do no better than quote Creative Scotland’s Iain Munro who, in his evidence to you, said that the use of reserves by Creative Scotland

“will enable us to maintain the payment for the RFOs as planned, without the cut being applied.”

He went on to say:

“given that this £6.6 million is a one-off and that we are using our reserves to offset it, we are protecting the balance of the reserves position to enable transition support, as far as we reasonably can.”

He then said:

“It stabilises the situation.”—[Official Report, Constitution, Europe, External Affairs and Culture Committee, 28 September 2023; c 2, 3, 4.]

That is Creative Scotland’s perspective, and I am immensely grateful for the collaborative approach that we are taking to dealing with the funding pressures that we are all having to manage. In effect, we have been able to ensure that there is no impact on Scotland’s cultural organisations as a result of the funding decision. There will be discussions about the finances for next year and the year after that; however, the commitment has been given with regard to the £6.6 million from this year, and it will be paid during the next financial year.

To those who might have been given the impression that a cut was going to be imposed on cultural organisations as a result of this decision, I have to say that that is factually inaccurate. Indeed, I do not think that such a view is particularly helpful, given the wider concerns that quite rightly exist about the financial pressures on the cultural sector.

On the wider point, the first thing to reflect on is that the particular challenge right now is that we are coming to the end of a financial year in which there have been unprecedented additional cost pressures, which I have outlined and which included the funding settlements for pay. That means that money must be found elsewhere, but one has already allocated a significant part of the annual spend earlier in the year, so one is looking at a far smaller part of the budget and a reduced amount of money for the end of the year. That is why we are in a particularly challenging situation with in-year budget finance.

As you would expect from someone in my position, I must look at that and work out what the options are. The best way to explain that is to say that there are three dimensions to the funding challenge within the portfolio. The first relates to major events that are part of the portfolio, including, this year, the UCI cycling world championships. The common consensus is that those were an amazing success for Scotland, but they led to extra costs. The second part of the funding challenge relates to the £6.6 million final payment made to Creative Scotland within this financial year. The remainder of the challenge comes from the uncontracted remaining spend on culture. We must find solutions to all three things because they are not going to go away and we must face them. What are we going to do about that?

On the first part of that equation, although the final figure remains to be worked out, I have acknowledged that something in the order of £8 million will be required in relation to the UCI cycling world championships. Those events brought benefits across Scotland and across Government, and the Scottish Government has agreed that the cost should be borne across Government, rather than simply within the portfolio. That is a hugely significant decision for the portfolio, which is the second smallest in the Government, meaning that that amount would be very significant for our budget.

The second challenge relates to the £6.6 million end-of-year finance payment to Creative Scotland. The fact that Creative Scotland made the decision to use reserves means that that challenge on the Scottish Government budget, which is under significant pressure, is obviated, and that the challenge is also obviated from the point of view of the regularly funded organisations that expect imminent payments. I understand that Creative Scotland is in the process of informing and assuring those organisations that they will be paid as they expected to be.

That leaves the final amount, which is the uncontracted spend for the rest of the year. Although there will be challenges, I am confident that, as a result of decisions made in the three areas, we will be able to ensure that we can fund areas across the culture portfolio that would otherwise have been under threat and where there would not have been the opportunity to use reserves.

That is the key thing to understand about trying to find a solution to funding pressures. None of this has been easy: it has involved colleagues in the culture sector working with Government to ensure that we can get ourselves into the best possible situation in a very challenging context. Given the pressures, I think that we have achieved a very good result.

Did I answer all your questions, which were packaged together?

My key reflection on Mr Cameron’s observations is that, to use his own words, the evidence was given before last week. It was given before the assurances by Iain Munro of Creative Scotland on the use of reserves; it was given before the assurances that have been given to the regularly funded organisations; and it was given before this evidence session, in which I have repeatedly given clarity on the zero detriment point in relation to Creative Scotland’s funding.

I view that issue separately from the particular concerns being expressed about the significant challenges that are faced by venues, of which theatres form a big part, and I know that Creative Scotland is working with venues and theatres to ensure that we are able to do everything that we can so that they can continue to operate into the future. There are some aspects of that that do not fall within the powers of the Scottish Parliament. I worked very hard with the theatre sector on the issue of tax reliefs for venues, which is a UK Treasury matter, and we were successful in increasing the timescale for the operation of tax exemptions for venues, including theatres, which I know is materially important to venues’ ability to continue trading. We must be alive to that pressure and to others, too, and I look forward to continuing to work with the theatre sector in that respect.

The key point in Mr Cameron’s question, though, was that the evidence that he cited was given before all that. It is important that we reflect on the assurances that Creative Scotland and I have given, and the self-evident fact that there is no detriment to Creative Scotland’s ability to fund the regularly funded organisations, which will be receiving the funding that they were expecting in the next weeks.