Chamber and committees

I will ask all three witnesses about their organisations’ changing remits. Nick Halfhide talked about the need to scale up to tackle the nature emergency, and I think that he said that NatureScot is taking over from Marine Scotland the responsibility for marine protected area designation.

I am interested in understanding how the witnesses expect their bodies to develop. What changes do you hope to make to your remits? How will you develop more partnership working?

That is regulation, but it is not just transition, is it? Just transition is not only about the boardroom; it is about workers and communities and planning that transition. Are you working in that space of just transition, or are you still applying the regulatory limits and enforcing them where appropriate?

I just want to make the brief point that the policy will be brilliant and transformational for young people. The price of bus travel excludes so many young people, particularly in rural areas. On the wider issue of the quality of services, we have had constructive conversations with a number of bus companies that look forward to the scheme and are considering how to improve services on the back of it.

I was also pleased to hear from the minister about the commitment to a fair fares review. We will need to consider wider public transport at some point. I know that there is interest in ferries—free ferry tickets and so on. It will be important to consider the issues in the round, including any moves to extend the age limit further.

The scheme is welcome, and I hope that the launch at the end of January will be successful and that the message and the publicity can get out there to young people and families that free bus travel has now arrived.

Perhaps I can bring in Katie Reid here. Who should lead on this work? It has come from an amendment to climate change legislation and has been commissioned by the Government, but does this sort of thing have to start that way? Could it be driven by schools or councils, or should it be driven by, say, public service operators themselves? Where is the starting point?

I wonder whether Jocelyn Richard has any reflections on Katie Reid’s comments about the involvement of young people and the exchange—indeed, cross-fertilisation—of ideas between generations.

Great—thank you for that. I turn to what Iain Munro said earlier about the big challenges that we face as a society and how those are reflected in Creative Scotland’s objectives, because I am curious as to why your annual plan does not mention the word “regeneration” anywhere. You talked earlier about the pandemic and climate change. One of the consequences of the pandemic is that our high streets and towns are dying, because there are lots of empty spaces, but some creative groups are coming in to repurpose our high streets and draw more people back into our places. Where does what we traditionally call regeneration sit within your plan? How many of the projects that you fund each year are about urban, community-based regeneration?

As part of that renewal, do you see the creative sector leading that public participation? Previously, councils or particular agencies might have tried to lead that process. How much involvement do you see the creative sector having? You said that there has been £6 million for one fund. Is that funding particularly for high street regeneration work? Does it involve participatory conversations with communities to regenerate areas?

I have a brief supplementary question for Alison Reeves. How does what you were talking about materialise when it comes to funding and discussions with, for example, health and social care partnerships? Are music projects going to the national health service locally to have a discussion about social prescribing, and getting funding to do that kind of work, or is it just a useful add-on? Is it that the NHS and general practitioners might be aware that voluntary projects are happening locally but there is no direct funding?

I refer to Lucy Casot’s points about managing assets over time, particularly in relation to future proofing, reducing energy costs, investing in buildings, and making them climate resilient. I used to sit on the trustee board of the Stirling Smith art gallery. We were going through a period of expansion and were changing the business model a bit. It was challenging to get advice, support and bespoke funding. What does that landscape look like? Is bespoke funding available now for museums, galleries and other organisations to invest in those changes, or are you looking to build that into your mainstream funding if you are going to the National Lottery Heritage Fund, say, to fund that sort of work?

I will start with a question for Isabel Davis. You might have noticed that the recent co-operation agreement between the Green MSPs and the Scottish Government commits to

“additional resources to Screen Scotland for the purpose of facilitating year-round engagement between the Scottish and international film & television industries, with a particular emphasis on the USA.”

What is your reaction to that? What should the priorities be to ensure not only that the best of Scottish talent is working internationally but that we start to bring some productions into Scotland, too?