Chamber and committees

That is helpful. More broadly, on public service reform, have you had discussions with the Cabinet Secretary for Education, Culture and Gaelic or the Cabinet Secretary for Public Service Reform about what that will look like for your organisation?

Cabinet secretary, when you were here in early September, I raised with you the issue of the national performing companies. In the context of pre-budget discussions, I want to share with you some of the detail that Liam Sinclair from the National Theatre of Scotland shared with us when he attended the committee about a month ago. Talking about the discussions that took place in the previous parliamentary session, he said:

“There was an indication that a funding uplift for the national performing companies would be provided within the timeframe of the previous parliamentary session.”

Obviously, that uplift did not materialise. He went on to say that

“all the national performing companies are projecting a level of deficit budgeting for next year.”—[Official Report, Europe, External Affairs and Culture Committee, 29 September 2026; c 24.]

It was not all bad, as he also said that the performing companies understand that £30 million is forecast to be provided in the 2028-29 financial year, but he spoke in some detail about the impact that deficit budgeting is having for them in the immediate term. He has been encouraged by comments that you have made since becoming cabinet secretary and, I am sure, by discussions with others.

In your discussions with the Cabinet Secretary for Finance, have you made the case for that investment to be brought forward to the 2027-28 budget?

Thank you. That is helpful.

Who did you consult prior to making the announcement? I appreciate that it was a manifesto commitment. You obviously had not consulted the Traditional Music and Song Association of Scotland, but I appreciate that there are other organisations. Who had been consulted?

That is really helpful.

There is one other area that I want to touch on. In a lot of the written evidence, and in some of the evidence that has been given in person, concerns have been raised about the impact of reductions in local authority funding on cultural organisations and cultural activity in local areas. That has led to some organisations calling for cultural services or cultural activity to be made a statutory service within local authorities. I put that to Councillor Maureen Chalmers, who is the COSLA spokesperson for community wellbeing, on 6 October. I am concerned about that proposal, and she seemed to share that concern. She said:

“A statutory requirement for provision is fine as long as it is fully funded and comes with the funding to successfully implement it.”—[Official Report, Europe, External Affairs and Culture Committee, 6 October 2026; c 35.]

Do you share that concern? I am concerned about saying that everything is statutory if local authority funding remains there or thereabouts—there might be a small uplift, but it remains broadly similar—because local authorities are grappling with huge challenges in public finances, as are Governments, as you said.

I do not think that it is realistic or fair to give the public an expectation that those services will definitely continue, although we want them to. Do you share COSLA’s concerns that, if we were to make all those activities and services statutory, it would add a further unmanageable burden to local authorities?

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Do your staff work remotely, are they mostly based in Edinburgh, or are they spread out across the country? What is the rough spread in terms of numbers?

How are you measuring the progress of that work? You are quite right to say that this matter was raised with our predecessor committee many times, so it is a long-standing issue. You are also right to say that there may be issues in local areas with regard to the actual number of organisations that exist. Nonetheless, people everywhere deserve access to culture, and you are the national body and funded by the Government to deliver that.

It strikes me that you are in a prime position to take a strategic approach. Can you talk about how you are measuring the progress of that work to spread the funding and the opportunities across the country?

Do you have a footprint? Do you have offices in local communities in more remote and rural areas?

That is helpful.

Do you have a timescale as to when you might have a firmer idea of a proposed operational structure and of when the company might begin to operate?

That is grand, thank you. I thank the witnesses for their opening statements.

In a previous evidence session, the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities reported a huge variation among local authority areas across the country in accessing funding, which it thought was down to the variable relationships. Local authorities where there are strong relationships with Creative Scotland and other national bodies and organisations were very successful in securing funding, whereas other areas and communities in which, for a variety of reasons, those relationships were not strong or as well developed were missing out.

What is your reaction to that? Is it something that you have heard?