Chamber and committees

I regularly hear, particularly from the member’s side of the chamber, that local decision making is important. I agree that it is right that local councils should make decisions, but I appeal to them to protect and support cultural provision in their local authority areas. The member knows the figures for the increases in council funding. He also knows that I am working closely with the council culture conveners in the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities. That commitment will continue. I acknowledge that it is important that national and local government work together to protect and support the cultural infrastructure across the country.

The Scottish Government recognises freedom of speech as an essential part of a healthy culture sector and democracy. At the same time, the exercise of that right must never be used to justify behaviour that is harmful, intimidating or unlawful. The Scottish Government works with publicly funded culture bodies to ensure adherence to public sector frameworks that govern the use of public funding. Those principles, and the legal frameworks within which all organisations must work, also apply to cultural organisations in receipt of public funding and are subject to the regular scrutiny of the awarding public body.

I pay tribute to Mark Ruskell for his tenacious pursuit of this issue and for the invitation to attend Scone library. He will wish to be aware that the Scottish Library and Information Council will publish the recommendations from the public libraries beyond adequate working group tomorrow. The working group considered how local authorities can meet their statutory duty to provide an adequate public library service in a way that is equitable, financially sustainable and aligned with Scotland’s national outcomes.

I cannot comment on the recommendations today, but I encourage Mr Ruskell and other colleagues to read them when they are published, and I hope that everyone will agree that they should be warmly welcomed.

The Scottish Government will provide an increase of £100,000 in funding to the Scottish Library and Information Council in 2026-27. This will take funding to £1.035 million. That is on top of our general revenue funding to local authorities and includes £450,000 for the public library improvement fund, which has been awarded annually since 2006, with £200,000 going to support creative, sustainable and innovative public library projects throughout Scotland.

Clearly, Graham Simpson is a keen genealogy buff, as am I. I have an account on Scotland’s People, as he does. It would be incorrect to leave the impression that Scotland’s People is not available around the world. It is open to everybody. I acknowledge that Scotland’s People is the official site for searching and viewing public records and archives. The records available to search include historical statutory registers, church records, census returns, tax and legal records, poor relief and migration records, prison registers, historical employment records and the Scottish Cabinet records.

I will repeat the last part of the reply from the chief executive of the National Records of Scotland: she said that NRS is exploring options to let commercial partners integrate a digital interface so that customers can search the Scotland’s People database directly. That should answer the concerns that Mr Simpson has raised.

This is the final portfolio question time of the parliamentary session, so it is an opportunity to put on record my appreciation of having been able to serve as the cabinet secretary as well as my appreciation of colleagues across the parties who have an interest in the portfolio and the dedicated and talented civil servants whom I have had the honour of working with.

I thank Bob Doris for hosting an excellent parliamentary reception last month to celebrate the National Theatre of Scotland reaching its milestone birthday. The Scottish Government will provide £4.5 million to the NTS in 2026-27. That significant funding demonstrates the Scottish Government’s recognition of the important role that the NTS plays in the culture sector of Scotland as a theatre without walls taking its world-class productions to venues across Scotland.

I join Bob Doris in congratulating the NTS on reaching its milestone anniversary and in wishing it well for its 20th birthday year. We aim to provide additional funding in future years. I understand the importance of multiyear funding, having seen how it is benefiting other areas of the culture sector through Creative Scotland’s multiyear funding programme, and I have asked my officials to undertake work to explore that further.

I asked Alison Byrne, the chief executive of National Records of Scotland, to respond. The answer is as follows: as well as through the Scotland’s People website, National Records of Scotland provides access to its records at General Register House in Edinburgh, local family history centres across Scotland, and through its extract services. Scotland’s People offers a unique service, with around 1.3 million global users and no restrictions on who can access the records. Searches are free, with charges applying only to viewing or saving records. NRS is exploring options to let commercial partners integrate a digital interface so that customers can search the Scotland’s People database directly.

I would take Liam Kerr’s calls for more funding for the national performing companies seriously if he had actually voted for the record increase in culture funding, but he voted against that. Scottish Opera will receive £8.6 million in 2026-27, which will ensure that it is the single highest publicly funded performance organisation in Scotland by some distance.

I acknowledge the point that he makes about talent. It is important to retain talent, and I acknowledge that funding is an important part of the picture in ensuring that that happens. I have stated a number of times my desire to introduce multiyear funding for the national performing companies and to look at the last 30 per cent of the increase of £100 million for culture that the Government is delivering with a particular focus on the national performing companies.

I encourage Liam Kerr, should he be returned to this place, instead of voting against those record increases—

The first point that I will make is that—as I hope that Tess White knows—Creative Scotland operates at arm’s length from Government. It does so for very good reasons, because it is not for a culture secretary to order an arm’s-length organisation when it comes to creative content. In relation to the case that Tess White mentioned, Creative Scotland has clarified that it does not regulate editorial content. Intervention is possible only where funding conditions are breached, and its funding approach is shaped by equalities and access priorities. However, if Tess White would like to write to me about the specific case, I would be content to write back to her.