Chamber and committees

Thanks, convener. I welcome you to your role, cabinet secretary.

In its manifesto, Culture Counts made the case for culture being key to achieving wider public outcomes. I know that you reflected on that in your opening remarks, but you will also probably have seen the front page of yesterday’s Herald, which features the submission from Culture Counts on public service reform.

Before I ask you to reflect on that, I just want to say that I agree with Culture Counts that the arts—and culture in particular—are incredibly important for wider outcomes, particularly wellbeing. Over the summer, I visited An Talla Solais in Ullapool, which does incredible work not just with local schools but in workshops with folk who have dementia and their carers. First, will you reflect on the importance of that sort of thing? How will the Government recognise and protect it?

The second part of my question comes back to the evidence that you provided to the committee prior to today, in which you say that

“everyone has an equal opportunity to get involved irrespective of background or where they live.”

I represent a very rural constituency. We will all have heard evidence that, when it comes to the arts and culture, geography is often a barrier. How will the Government address that issue? I am thinking in particular of aspects such as rural proofing.

That is excellent, cabinet secretary—thank you. I would encourage you, along with Government colleagues, to look more closely at rural proofing and ensure that it is reflected in the decisions that are made, particularly when it comes to spend.

I have a short follow-up question that takes another example from my constituency. Heritage is a side of the issue that we sometimes forget. Over the summer, I visited volunteers from the incredibly exciting Caithness Broch Project. They want to build the first broch in more than 2,000 years, and it could absolutely be a destination point—a real anchor for getting people to the far north.

You can probably guess where my question is going. Given how exciting that project is, would you be willing, in your list of engagements, to come and visit the volunteers and see what they are doing and what support the Government can lend?

We have five national performing companies—I am looking at the list right now—and four of them are based in the central belt. The fifth is the National Theatre of Scotland, which is famously a theatre without walls. I recognise that a consultation is happening now, but I imagine that a lot of my constituents would probably argue that the Highlands and Islands is very much the spiritual home for much of our traditional music. Would the Government be looking to explore the Highlands and Islands as the physical home for the new performing company?

Welcome to your role, Deputy First Minister. On the proposed food prices bill, I know that we will not get into the details of the policy, but we need to recognise that there is uncertainty around the bill. I have spoken to a lot of farmers over the summer, and NFU Scotland in particular is concerned that the policy will hit producers.

That point about uncertainty is important, because there is also a lot of discussion, particularly in the media, that ultimately we might be seeing a bit of a constitutional rammy with the UK Government, which might block the bill through UKIMA. That uncertainty is not helpful. I have also seen trailed in the press that the Scottish Government might look at other avenues, such as using health powers. Can you address that uncertainty? I recognise that there is a consultation, but how might you try to avoid those challenges down the line?

I want to ask about devolution by default and to move the conversation on to your relationship with the UK Government. As we discussed in the committee meeting last week, since 2024, the UK Government has had a policy of devolution by default. That is the idea within the civil service that, as it says on the tin, local communities should be empowered first and foremost, rather than central Government. Do you agree that there is a lot that the Scottish and UK Governments could learn from each other in that space?

Excellent. Perhaps you could expand on that. In the programme for government, we have seen that there may be changes to the settlement for local authorities. The new Prime Minister, Andy Burnham, is exploring devolution within a wider UK or an English context. Is there an opportunity to learn from one another? I hope that both Governments are looking at the principle of devolution and how powers can go further.

Mayors seem to be getting a lot of airtime this morning. I return to my earlier question about learning from one another and the idea of devolution by default. My constituency in the Highlands is very different—

Yet you know that that is not something that Scotland should have.

It is helpful to have that on the record.

—from your constituency in Fife, Deputy First Minister. There may be different approaches to how decisions are made in different parts of the country. If we adopt that principle of learning from one another, why are you so sure that mayors would not work in a Scottish context? Has the Scottish Government considered that approach?