Chamber and committees

I give a warm welcome back to everyone. We now move to agenda item 3. As part of our budget scrutiny, we will take evidence on the culture portfolio spending for 2023-24. We are joined by Angus Robertson MSP, the Cabinet Secretary for the Constitution, External Affairs and Culture. He is joined by Rachael McKechnie, deputy director of major events and themed years in the Scottish Government. Thank you both for coming this morning. Cabinet secretary, I invite you to make an opening statement.

Thank you very much for offering to do that for us, cabinet secretary.

I move to questions from the committee and invite Mr Cameron first.

Good morning everyone, and a warm welcome to the first meeting of the Constitution, Europe, External Affairs and Culture Committee in 2023. Our only agenda item is to take evidence as part of our budget scrutiny of the culture spending portfolio for 2023-24 following on from the committee’s pre-budget scrutiny last year.

We are joined in a round-table discussion today by Alex Paterson, chief executive of Historic Environment Scotland; Iain Munro, chief executive of Creative Scotland; Donald Smith, director of the Scottish international storytelling festival and chair of the programmers group at Festivals Edinburgh; Chris Sherrington, policy and strategy support at the Music Venue Trust; Moira Jeffrey, director of the Scottish Contemporary Art Network; and Sir John Leighton, director general of the National Galleries of Scotland. Thank you all for your attendance at the committee this morning.

I will begin with a general question. In our pre-budget scrutiny report, we concluded that

“the sector now faces a ‘perfect storm’ as it struggles to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, compounded by the cost of living crisis, and following on from longer term budget pressures.”

What is your assessment of how the Scottish budget for 2023-24 has responded to that “perfect storm”? How, if at all, has the outlook for the sector changed since evidence was presented to the committee a couple of months ago?

I invite Iain Munro to start.

I think that we have exhausted our questions. I thank everyone for what, as Sarah Boyack said, has been a really important and interesting session to have had prior to the budget.

Next week, we will take evidence from the cabinet secretary on the budget. We will also hear from the Swedish ambassador on the priorities of the presidency of the Council of the European Union.

Mr Sherrington, did you want to come in?

Last night, we hosted the Scottish Youth Film Foundation. That organisation, which started by working in schools in Armadale, is a great example that has developed and is now feeding people through to working in the arts. That is quite profound, and it was timely to have hosted that organisation last night.

I am just going to ask all the witnesses to respond in turn. Ms Jeffrey, would you like to go ahead?

It was remiss of me not to thank you all for your previous written submissions on the budget process and the newer updated ones that came in before today’s meeting. I expect a free-flowing round-table discussion, so if you want to come in and answer a question that has not been directed at you by a member, please catch my eye or the clerk’s eye and we will try to get you in.

I open with questions from members, and I invite Ms Boyack first.

I have a final question, as the MSP for Motherwell and Wishaw more than as the convener of the committee. You talked about how, to a certain extent, the penny has not dropped for all areas in relation to what all this means. You said that only 4 per cent of businesses feel that they fully understand the impact of the bill. I am concerned about my constituents’ understanding of the situation.

Today, we have the Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in the Parliament building as part of its campaign in relation to puppy sales, illegal importation and animal welfare around puppy farms and so on. It would be a great disappointment to those who are still able to donate to charities such as the SSPCA and children’s safety charities to find out about the level of impact on charities and their work.

Also, we know from the evidence that we received from the Society of Chief Officers of Trading Standards in Scotland that, post-Brexit, they no longer have an ability to identify what is a European import and what is a non-European import, which impacts their ability to target what they suspect might be dangerous products, including flammable materials—the list could go on, from nail gels with substances in them that are banned in the EU to disposable vapes with illegal batteries that explode. As someone who lost a young constituent—a toddler—last year to button battery ingestion, I know that this is a big problem and we want to keep such things off the shelves. Given the uncertainty about what this will all mean and what will happen if there are gaps, the potential impact could not be more serious for people.

I wish you a good morning and give a warm welcome to the 29th meeting in 2022 of the Constitution, Europe, External Affairs and Culture Committee.

Our first agenda item is a decision on taking business in private. Are members content to consider the committee’s work programme in private at future meetings?

Members indicated agreement.