Chamber and committees

I do not have that information to hand, but I will be happy to correspond with Bill Kidd on that question. I have already put on record that the significant amount of funding for Scottish Opera means that it is the single highest publicly funded performance organisation in Scotland by some distance. Nevertheless, it is an important part of our five excellent national performing companies, and, as we move towards the delivery of the £100 million increase in culture spending, my focus is very much on the national performance companies, including Scottish Opera.

I acknowledge the concerns that Neil Bibby raises and I recognise that a great number of people, particularly in Glasgow, are concerned about those developments. In the first instance, the issue relates to Glasgow City Council and Creative Scotland. I am being updated on the situation. Discussions are on-going and, as soon as there is anything that I can report to Neil Bibby, I will be happy to do so.

That is a helpful intervention. The key operative intervention is with the Scottish Library and Information Council, which does a lot of the co-ordination work across library provision in Scotland. I have taken a note of Mr Rennie’s point, and I will raise it. I will be happy to report back to Mr Rennie.

I gently say to Roz McCall that, again, I am getting calls from members on the Conservative Party benches to intervene in the democratic decision making of local councils, which is something that they normally oppose.

In answering her question, I draw her attention to the fact that, since 2014, 140 projects have been funded, including 127 individual projects and 13 collaborative projects, reaching a total value of nearly £2.4 million. I am pleased to confirm that the Scottish Library and Information Council is receiving a £100,000 uplift in funding in 2026-27.

The Scottish Government will provide £24.6 million in funding in the 2026-27 financial year to support our five world-class national performing companies, which demonstrates our support for those organisations. We have provided an uplift of £1 million in funding across our five national performing companies in 2025-26, and they will receive an additional £700,000 of funding in 2024-25. That investment takes their core funding to the highest level of funding since 2011-12.

The Scottish Government will provide £8.6 million in funding to Scottish Opera in 2026-27 as part of £24.6 million in funding for the five national performing companies. The Scottish Government aims to provide additional funding in future financial years as part of the commitment to an additional £100 million per year by 2028-29. I recently met with all five national performing companies, and my officials will continue to work closely with them over the coming months to develop plans to support the long-term sustainability of our world-class national performing companies.

I agree with Emma Roddick that one of the advantages of having national performing companies is that they perform throughout the nation, including in Eden Court. I know that their performances are greatly valued in the Highlands, as they are elsewhere in the country.

I expect the national performing companies to continue to deliver their world-class productions across Scotland, including in the Highlands. I recently met the chief executives and the chairs of all five companies, and I reassure Ms Roddick that the Scottish Government aims to provide further funding to the national performing companies in future years.

Although it is for local authorities to decide how they allocate their funding, the Scottish Government’s budget for 2026-27 provides, in addition to the block grant, a further £20 million in funding for culture. That provides on-going funding for our flagship culture collective and creative communities community-led arts programmes and supports local authorities to promote culture and the arts. The Scottish Government is working with culture conveners on how local and national organisations can work together to continue to support and promote culture.

I thank Foysol Choudhury for the opportunity to highlight Edinburgh international festival’s launch announcement. I encourage members across the chamber to share the exciting contents of the programme and the details of what we will be able to see later in the year.

Mr Choudhury will be aware that the Edinburgh international festival is now being funded on a multiyear basis. That is huge progress, but more can be done. I have set up a festivals task force to co-ordinate the work of the Government and other public agencies with our festivals, including the Edinburgh international festival. We acknowledge the important role that the world-class festival fulfils, and I will do everything that I can to support it and other festivals, not least because I am the member of the Scottish Parliament for Edinburgh Central and the Cabinet Secretary for Constitution, External Affairs and Culture.

Mr Choudhury has highlighted an important month in the calendar for Scotland’s cultural life. The Scottish Government will work closely with the Edinburgh international festival to support it to succeed, as it has done over the past 47 years.

We are now 70 per cent through the record additional uplift in annual spending in culture, which I hope that Murdo Fraser—having voted against the budget, of course—will welcome. It is also fair to put on the record that multiyear funding has been delivered through Creative Scotland to a record number of organisations. Mr Fraser will know—as do colleagues across the chamber, and as do the national performing companies—that I am in favour of multiyear funding being delivered for the national performing companies. I hope that his party will commit to that. If I have the good fortune to return to this place and, indeed, to this office, I look forward to delivering just that. Perhaps next time, Murdo Fraser might actually vote for it.