Chamber and committees

From our perspective, some of the abuse that we, as MSPs, get is pretty brutal, but we are all full-grown adults and as grown up as we are ever going to be. I have more people on mute on Twitter than just about anything else, because I cannot be bothered to listen to their nonsense. However, when you are young and just trying to make your way in the world, that will really affect you. Is the Scottish Youth Parliament doing any projects in that regard?

One of my other questions is about the organisations that we had in front of us last week. The difference in attitudes among them was stark.

Historic Environment Scotland, for example, said that it is working in very difficult times and has many challenges, but has a plan with the Government on how it can release funding streams from elsewhere. Other organisations, as colleagues have mentioned, went down the route of saying, “Well, I just need the power to sack people and cut my wages bill”, rather than looking at different ways of working.

One individual in particular, when asked about commercial funding, said, “Well, I don’t think there’s much chance of us being able to get that”. I do not believe in double-jobbing as an MSP, but I felt like saying that I would quite happily take an afternoon off and get them the commercial funding that they are looking for.

Surely, in current times, organisations should be looking at other ways of getting funding. Historic Environment Scotland is a perfect example of an organisation that has found a different way of doing business.

When you have been here as long as I have, cabinet secretary, you have heard and seen just about everything. I cannot believe how smug Mr Bibby was, talking about sitting on his hands and abstention in the budget vote.

In relation to the budget process, so that everybody in the room understands, I note that it is not a case of simply picking and choosing parts of the budget; it is about the budget in its entirety. In the past, we have had political parties who have had the maturity to say, “There are certain aspects of the budget we don’t like, and there are certain bits that we do like, but it’s about coherence, and the way in which this place works is done in such a way.”

However, we do not seem to be in that place now, but in a place where the Labour Party wants to sit on its hands and say to everybody, “We’re doing absolutely nothing”, while the Conservative Party simply wants to say, “We just think it’s all rotten and we’re going to vote against it.”

You have had your time, Mr Kerr.

Finally, on that point, one reason why I am quite disappointed with the national creatives when they come here with their attitudes is the fact that, being from Paisley, I know that the creatives in Paisley are extremely proactive. Indeed, everyone in Paisley has had to fight for everything in our lives over the years. Let us look at the projects that have been on-going in Paisley for the past five or six years. In the High Street, there is the multimillion pound investment in the museum at the top end, a new library in the middle and the renovated Paisley town hall bookending it. There is a venue at one end and a museum that will attract more footfall. That shows a different approach to town centres, with culture at its heart.

I have often said that culture and the cultural world will regenerate our high streets and town centres, given that the big-box retailers will not be coming back to town centres the length and breadth of Scotland. Do you agree with that? I would be quite happy if we were to use Paisley as a pilot for such a programme, should you ever look at anything like that, cabinet secretary. I think that that is the way forward. What are your opinions on that?

That is exactly what I am doing.

That is important. Creatives in Scotland will always complain about Creative Scotland, but it is a grant-awarding organisation. There will be those who get their grants and those who do not, so someone will always complain about it.

There are issues with Creative Scotland. I was perhaps a bit harsh when Robert Wilson was here and I asked him what the point of him was, which was because I could not really see what Creative Scotland was delivering for many creatives. There is a need for an organisation like Creative Scotland, however, whatever we call it. Back in my day, it was the Scottish Arts Council.

We can look at the success of Screen Scotland, as part of Creative Scotland. It is working on a commercial basis and is able to generate some funding itself. How could we make that model part of Creative Scotland and get that dynamism into the organisation?

Surely it is a case of having a level of maturity in the debate about the Scottish Government’s budget. Surely they should up their game a bit in this situation.

It is a budget-related matter as well.

Good morning, everyone. Each project and area has specific needs and ways of delivering services. How do you balance the flexibility to be able to do what you want to do with the recommendations of the Promise? How do you manage to square that circle? I ask Linda Richards to answer that, because Perth and Kinross Council has gone down a particular route.