Chamber and committees

Museums Galleries Scotland’s written submission mentions the UK Government’s museum estate and development fund and its announcement this year of additional money to support museum infrastructure. Have you had any discussions with the Scottish Government about establishing an equivalent fund, or even about whether Scottish funding could be topped up through the Barnett consequentials that will flow from that extra funding?

Yes, absolutely.

On the Scottish Government’s commitment to create a new national performing company for traditional music, we already have five national performing companies and we have rehearsed the budgeting issues. Have you or the other national performing companies, as far as you are aware, had any communication from the Scottish Government about how the new national performing company will function or be funded? In your written submission, I picked up concern that the current pie will just be sliced in six rather than five.

That is helpful. Community buyout and asset transfer are often put on the table as an alternative but, as you say, it can be challenging for organisations that are already stretched too thin and are concentrating on what they normally do to get together a business case and all the rest of it. I have heard that locally.

Before we move to my colleagues, I want to speak to Fiona Campbell about the national performing companies. Earlier, we heard from our colleague from the National Theatre of Scotland about the funding challenges for the existing five national performing companies, but the Government has now committed to having a sixth, which will be for traditional music. Fiona, could you say a little about whether that is needed and, if so, why? What would be the positive impacts for the people who you represent?

Liam Sinclair, you mentioned that you were at a meeting of the Finance and Public Administration Committee in January, in advance of the budget being published that day. I was reviewing the Official Report of the meeting, and there seemed to be a hope from you and the other representatives of the performing companies that it might be your turn, following the funding uplifts that Creative Scotland received, as has been discussed at length, but an uplift did not materialise in the 2026-27 budget. In your submission, you talk about the need for an uplift, and there has been a promise that there might be one in 2028-29. What has been the impact on the National Theatre of Scotland and, more broadly, on the national performing companies of not receiving the uplift that you needed in the 2026-27 budget?

That is really helpful. It would be interesting to see your response and those from other organisations to the consultation. Clearly, there is more work to be done.

Thank you. On how organisations interact with their local authority, many of the cultural venues that your organisations or your members use for performances and rehearsal space are owned or operated by local authorities. We touched on that issue in the earlier evidence session. The state of local authority funding presents a challenge, with huge reductions having been made over many years. My colleague David Green reflected on the fact that it is often in the breach that we have a spotlight on those venues. Veronique Lapeyre, you have talked about the various cultural venues that are at risk of closure, although they are not all local authority run, so Veronique—or Kenny McGlashan or Fiona Campbell—could you share your views on the current situation? How does the interaction with local authority funding impact or threaten the work that you do?

That comes back to the funding issue. Local authorities are largely forced to work to statutory requirements, because that is all that they can really afford. Does anyone else want to come in on the broader issue?

11:15

The point about the three-year projection is a really fair one. We have heard those warm words from the previous cabinet secretary as well as from the current one, but until you actually see the numbers in the budget spreadsheet—you can speak to the experience of the past five years—there will be some doubt as to when that will actually come about. As you said, the Scottish Government has said that the big uplift should be coming in 2028-29, but it has been suggested that it needs to be in the budget for 2027-28. Can you be more specific about why you really need that money now?

Good morning. The first area that I want to ask about is the use of electronic purchasing cards within the organisation. When you were before the Public Audit Committee in February, you said that the organisation had 400 cards. Are you able to advise us of the updated figure?

My final question is about a broader look at the issues.

Mr Hinds, you mentioned that you were also brought in as interim chair of the Water Industry Commission for Scotland, which is another public body in receipt of taxpayer money that has had its own challenges, to put it very mildly. That was obviously a different situation from that at HES, but there were also issues around the use of public funds and the conduct of senior leaders. There was also a degree of organisational breakdown. This is not the first time that you have had to come into an organisation in turmoil, shall we say.

Do you have any reflections on the ways in which such bodies are run or overseen that might allow individuals to take advantage of situations or of their position, or to go unchecked for a considerable period, at considerable cost to the taxpayer?