Chamber and committees

Hold on. Before you say that, I want to let folk know what is happening.

We will have about 10 minutes following Liz Smith’s comments, so I ask our guests to think about what they would like to say in winding up. I will give you all an opportunity to make a final contribution. Our next evidence session is with witnesses from the Office for Budget Responsibility, and I can see that they are staring at us from the public gallery, so we do not want to keep them waiting too long.

Have a think about what you want to say to wind up. We never got on to freelancers, so somebody might want to talk about that, because there is an issue about the ratio of permanent employees to freelancers.

Welcome to the second meeting in 2026 of the Finance and Public Administration Committee. Today, we are taking evidence on the economic impact of Scotland’s five national performing companies in round-table format. Our witnesses are Alistair Mackie, chief executive at the Royal Scottish National Orchestra; Alex Reedijk, general director at Scottish Opera; Gavin Reid, chief executive at the Scottish Chamber Orchestra; Steven Roth, executive director at Scottish Ballet; and Liam Sinclair, executive director and co-chief executive at the National Theatre of Scotland. I warmly welcome you all and thank you for providing a joint economic and wellbeing impact assessment, which is very helpful in informing our questions.

I intend to allow up to 90 minutes for the session. I will explain the process. I will start by asking the first question, which is for Alistair Mackie. If anyone else wants to come in, just let me know by putting up your hand or nodding or by indicating to the clerk. If you decide to tickle your nose at any point, you will be brought in.

Our approach is to enable everyone to contribute to the degree that they wish to and to make it more relaxed, instead of holding a session in which the same question is put to all and we end up with five people giving the same answer. This format allows you to come in when you feel that you wish to.

Alistair, we are considering the costs and benefits of our performing companies. We have a paper that says that

“every £1 received from the Scottish Government generates £2.62”

in gross value added,

“along with £1.75 in wellbeing benefits.”

However, figures for the RSNO alone suggest that you generate £4.10 in GVA and £2.80 in wellbeing benefits. Why is support for the RSNO so much more valuable than for the other performing companies?

Telepathy does not work particularly well with me, I have to say. I will continue.

First, I should say how much I am looking forward to your Viennese gala at the Beacon arts centre in Greenock on Saturday.

You did yourself down a wee bit there because you said that there is no real economic benefit, but the report that you submitted shows there to be significant benefit. For example, one of the things that the RSNO has said is that an additional £3 million of funding would provide some £13.9 million pounds of economic impact. Some of that would percolate to other communities. When one actually looks at the impacts on community wellbeing and does the sums, performing in the community is 2.8 times more valuable than performing in some of our larger urban theatres.

We will probably come to Scottish Opera, which, as it highlights is extremely successful around Scotland. Although we might be talking about four singers and a piano player in the production, support staff will accompany them, too.

One part of your submission that I found interesting dealt with the funding scenario for RSNO. It talked about the ratio of economic impact and wellbeing impact and there was a suggestion that a £3 million increase in your funding, should that transpire, would—relatively speaking, although not in total—actually provide greater returns than a £5 million addition. Why is that the case?

Michael Marra wants to be President of Argentina. [Laughter.]

The UK Government is trying to disincentivise people from using ISAs. Instead, it wants people to invest in equities because it considers that to be better for stimulating economic growth. However, if you are predicting that there is the potential for a 35 per cent reduction in the value of those equities, it might not be the best time to suddenly move money out of a bank account into those equities, particularly given the fact that, as I mentioned, equity prices are already double the level that has been forecast.

One of the key issues regarding the UK budget is the increase in the amount of taxation; some £26 billion in extra taxes will be imposed, with a significant number of people moving into higher rates of taxation. Have you looked into the behavioural response that that will cause? When we take evidence from the SFC, we often talk about the behavioural impact of, for example, increasing taxation on people in Scotland who are in the higher bands. That behavioural impact can reduce the take by as much as 83 per cent. What is the likely behavioural impact of the tax changes in the UK budget?

That figure of 1 per cent of GDP would be £30 billion—

Alex, do you want to come in on that question?