 The next item of business is a debate on motion 11153 in the name of Claire Adamson on behalf of the constitution Europe external affairs and culture committee on culture in communities the challenges and opportunities in delivering a place-based approach. I would invite those members who would wish to speak in the debate to please press the request to speak buttons and I call on Claire Adamson to speak to and to move the motion on behalf of the constitution Europe external affairs and culture committee. I am delighted to open this debate as a convener of the constitution Europe external affairs and culture committee. I would like to put on record my thanks to our clerks for the work in organising this inquiry and I also want to thank those who took part in our lunchtime event to highlight the report. We are joined in the gallery by representatives who took part in the evidence sessions including Quail Art Centre's Museums Association, Museums Galleries Scotland, Creative Lives and Art 27 and we also had performances for those delivering on some of the projects so we welcome as well Recovery Scotland and North Lanarkshire Recovery Band with real-time music, culture collective representative John Martin Fulton, Storytelling Centre representative and again part of the culture collective Jane Mathers and Shot Spotlight who are with us in the gallery today so we welcome them. I am delighted to open the debate and our inquiry considered the important matter of access to culture within communities because as we heard for many people participation in culture within their community is quote what their cultural life looks like it's being part of a local choir a book club or a drama group it's going along to a makeshift cinema in a town hall or library setting up an open night night or joining in in the gallery Scotland is of course a culturally rich nation and so it's important to ensure that communities right across Scotland have the opportunity to participate in and enjoy cultural activities and not only just to participate but to be empowered to shape the cultural life of their place their community and for organisations delivering cultural interventions in community to truly understand and respond to the unique needs of those communities. Indeed the Scottish Government's culture strategy is clear that giving people a greater say in the shaping of cultural life in their communities can help protect Scotland's cultural heritage. This gets to the nump of place baits approach to culture which is a key focus for the culture strategy and it builds on long-standing ambitions to adopt community-led approaches to service delivery. Our report considered the challenges and opportunities in delivering this place baits approach to culture. I'd like to thank again all the organisations who submitted evidence to the inquiry or took part in our visits or who took part in roundtables that we held during the course of the inquiry and for those who facilitated and participated in our engagement visits to the communities in Westerhales, Craig Miller, Dunfries and Orkney. That rich evidence helped informer inquiry and the findings of our report. We had countless positive examples of this place-based cultural work being delivered in communities. We saw first-hand the transformative impact local culture projects are having, including on regeneration, on creative placemaking, particularly in the support of wellbeing. However, our report also identified several challenges facing both national and local government in delivering this approach. Those challenges must be addressed to realise the ambition of the cultural strategy. The deputy convener will expand on some of those challenges in his closing remarks, but I'd like to begin with the importance of supporting the vital role of voluntary arts. We heard that the vast majority of cultural activities in communities is dependent on the efforts of volunteers. We saw that in action in our visit to Orkney, where we met with the volunteer-run cultural groups and the backbone of Orkney's cultural life. We heard of the immense commitment from the community to make cultural activity happen, but also the challenge in volunteer fatigue and burnout. We know that not all communities have the time and resources to volunteer. Given the vital role of volunteers in sustaining local culture, we are concerned about the impacts of those inequalities and opportunities for cultural participation. We also heard calls for there to be greater support for the voluntary arts, with capacity building, regular microgrant funding for voluntary groups. We have asked the Scottish Government and Creative Scotland to explore whether further support can be provided, in particular to the communities with fewer resources. If I could turn to the wider challenge of funding, that was central to the evidence that we received. The long-standing financial challenges facing the culture sector, which have been intensified in recent years, have been well documented. Indeed, our own pre-budget report published last week found that the, quote, perfect storm facing the sector has not baited over the last 12 months. We heard that the wider budgetary pressures were constraining funding for cultural organisations to deliver place-based projects and activities for local government cultural services and publicly-owned community spaces, where cultural activity takes place. Those funding constraints pose a significant challenge to the successful delivery of the culture policy. Community-based cultural projects need to be embedded in the longer term to be successful, but that work often relies on short-term and volatile project funding. Indeed, we heard the phrase doughnut funding being mentioned, in that quite often a project would be funded but not the infrastructure and the organisational funding that is needed to support those individual projects. We heard that the culture collective programmes had been a powerful example of a nation-based place-based initiative that should support cultural organisations and artists to work in partnership with communities and develop local projects. That benefited from being funded at scale over a two-year period. Stellar Quines said that the programme had enabled them to show how it could be and what it might be possible if the necessary funding was available to deliver that work on an on-going basis. However, the funding for the programme is concluding. The Scottish Government should now set out how its legacy will be built upon to the future place-based initiatives and the new cultural strategy. On our visit to Whale Arts in Westerails, we heard of the doughnut funding, which supports delivery but not the overheads from having a building or from the infrastructure needed to support an organisation to do administrative and planning work. A significant challenge for organisations was trying to deliver long-term transformative work. So who, within the funding landscape, should cover those overheads? That is a question that we think needs further consideration. We believe that there needs to be a clearer understanding of the respective roles of national and local government funding for community-based culture, in both supporting the activity itself but also the infrastructure underpinning it. The emphasis on the role of communities in place and culture strategy is very welcome. In practice, there still needs to be much greater prioritisation of the role of community culture at the heart of the cultural sector as a whole. In recognition that, for many people, their cultural participation within their communities is perhaps the only cultural activity in which they will take part. We invite the Scottish Government to consider whether community-based culture should be funded separately from professional arts and they should not be seen as a non-parity. I note in the response from the Scottish Government that this model will be taken into consideration moving forward. Local government, too, has an essential role to play, but the on-going funding challenges that it faces are leading to real-time reduction in spend on local culture activities, often seen as a low-hanging fruit. We are concerned about the impact that this could have on the delivery of services in community. The Culture Trust Glasgow Life said that the health of local government finances is having a direct impact on the funding available for services that it provides. Community letters said that any reductions in spending culture will now result in reduction in provision, as all other savings mechanisms had been already implemented and considered. The Museums Association said that it could lead to local authorities limiting culture provision or removing free access to culture. National and local government need to work in partnerships to assess the on-going impact on the fiscal environment. I beg your pardon to say that we don't have any time in hand to say that. I will conclude and I move the motion in my name. I now call on Cabinet Secretary Angus Robertson up to eight minutes. I am pleased to be here today to hear from colleagues across the chamber around how we harness the opportunities and rise to the challenges of place-based cultural provision and pay tribute to all members of the committee for their report. One of our ambitions in the Scottish Government is to meet communities, economic, physical and social needs, ensuring sustainability and supporting well-bearing. Culture and creativity are a vital part of that, and our ambition for everyone to experience a transformative potential of culture is one of the key pillars of our culture strategy. We are very alive to the fact that this is an incredibly challenging time for the sector, the enduring shocks of Brexit fall out, the pandemic, the energy crisis and the mismanagement of the economy by the UK Government have sent prices spiralling. We have had to make incredibly difficult decisions in light of those financial challenges. However, we have prioritised support for culture and I was delighted yesterday to report that the Scottish Government has released £6.68 million worth of funding to the culture sector for the rest of this financial year. The funding comprises £1.5 million to the culture collective programme, about which we have heard so much already, £2 million to Screen Scotland, £250,000 to the platform for creative excellence, £130,000 to the national performing companies touring fund and £2.8 million to fund public sector pay policy uplifts. The funding will support individuals and communities across Scotland via our funding to the culture collective programme, but it is also a demonstration of our continued investment in Screen and Edin festivals. In addition, we have now released £2.6 million to Systema Scotland, delivering on our commitment to ensure that the organisation has the funding that they need this year to continue to deliver their big-noise programmes in communities across the country. Separately, and in light of the challenging context that we are in, we have been reviewing the actions that support the culture strategy, and while we recognise the aims and ambitions of the strategy that are still very relevant, we will publish a refreshed action plan later this year, setting out what we will do to respond to those challenges. This will include actions on how we will support culture and creativity in our communities. I have already mentioned that one of the ways that we do this is through our support for programmes such as Cultural Collective and Systema Scotland, but also through the Youth Music Initiative support to independent museums, funding of our national bodies and performing companies and Edinburgh international festival. We are proud that, in spite of on-going challenges, our funding for culture reaches the grass roots, local, regional, national and international communities, and we cannot understate the value that we place on our cultural and creative organisations and the contribution that they make to the wellbeing of individuals and communities across Scotland. The First Minister announced last month that the Scottish Government will increase our investment in Scotland's art and culture by £100 million over the next five years. That is a huge vote of confidence in our culture sector and will help to protect the sector and the impact that it makes on people's lives. A set-out in our 2023-24 budget, around £90 million was allocated to budget lines for Creative Scotland and other arts, for national performing companies, for the royal and ceremonial and for culture and major events staffing. That amount seeks to more than double that funding by 2029. Ministers will take decisions about where the funding is allocated in 24-25 in future years, subject to the outcome of the Scottish budget process and associated approval by the Scottish Parliament. I have encouraged colleagues and parties across the chamber to let their views be known in advance of that. The Scottish Government intends to present the draft budget 24-25 to Parliament on Tuesday 19 December 2023. I reiterate the words of the First Minister that we are making a choice to ensure that Scotland's arts and culture are supported to grow at home and to be seen across the world. Working in collaboration with the culture sector around that will be absolutely vital. In fact, I have already begun meeting with MSP colleagues and members of the Constitution, European External Affairs and Culture Committee to discuss the culture funding model. I welcome ideas from all members and encourage my colleagues to get in touch to share their thoughts around the culture funding model. I think that we are in agreement across the chamber that collaboration and this respect is key. In October, I was lucky to get to attend a showcase for the Culture Collective programme and see the inspiring work taking place across the network of 26 participatory arts projects, hearing from participants and practitioners about the impact our investment has had on their lives through grassroots community-developed cultural provision. For example, the street-level culture collective offered a wide range of artistic residencies in the new Gorbals and Govanhill areas of Glasgow, connecting to communities via local community connector posts and housing associations. The artists were open to adapting their practice to meet the needs of the communities in which they are based. In the Gorbals alone, residencies and locations range from the local primary school, youth centre, local community arts clubs, to a hair salon, a barber shop and even the local chippy. Whereas An Lantar Culture Collective project took a completely different approach, developing an intergenerational project with a local museum and a youth club, it was a multi-art form and heritage project where participants explored local stories, geography, history and culture resulting in the creation of new artwork based on this heritage material. That led to the development of a collective intergenerational picture of the community, detailing what is special to the community about their own area and highlighting the similarities and differences of the community over time and the generations. I am proud that we have protected our investment in the programme. Communities have the opportunity to contribute to what they would like to see in their local area in regards to culture, and that brings to life our culture strategy ambition that everybody should be able to experience and take part in culture. Thank you Presiding Officer. I look forward to hearing the views from members across the chamber this afternoon, but end where I finish in extending my appreciation to the convener, to other members of the committee, for their hard work in drawing up this report to fellow members of the chamber who also have a close interest in cultural affairs. Today's debate provides a welcome opportunity for the Parliament to set the vision for the culture and embedded within our communities. An effective place-based approach should be one that empowers communities to create cultural projects that meet the needs of many communities. In a cultured or versed place such as Scotland, that raises the question of how best to meet those needs. On that question, there was broad consensus on what good practice should look like. Dumfries and Galloway Council perhaps gave the best highlight when they talked about cultural participation, meaning that cultural projects should be developed from the bottom up rather than from the top down. In essence, it is only for communities themselves to decide which cultural initiatives they would like to see instead of governing bodies deciding that for them. Community-based cultural organisations are key to part of achieving that objective. Throughout the inquiry, our committee heard evidence from organisations that were embedded within communities in the long term as far more effective engagement. Ultimately, cultural engagement is indeed a long-term project and the way to engage with communities should be set out and reflected. We know that funding for those types of organisations are crucial. The cultural collective programme has provided important funding for numerous art projects across Scotland which will and has been much welcomed. As of last month, the funding is now ending, so it is a key recommendation of our committee's report that the Scottish Government should set out whether or not any further funding will be provided. I note the comments that the cabinet secretary has made over the last few days with reference to that funding and how that will be engaged. I have no doubt that the sector will embrace that, but we need to consider what we do in the future. Following the Scottish Government's recent U-turns on cultural funding, now is not the time or even more financial uncertainty within that sector. On the issue of funding more generally, our committee also called for a more initive approach on the funding of the sector itself. While evidence was conclusive, we heard that such funding of professional organisations and the evidence is clear that the flexibility that is required by those organisations is the area that they are required and they talked about. On one issue, the Stove network highlighted that the current system forced community-based culture projects to compete with others in that community. They are of different structures and of different types, which at the same time caused some conflict. Creative lives spoke about the cultural funding streams that are more effective when the scope is flexible and open to projects. Several stakeholders have also talked about multi-year funding settlements, which are vitally important to play a part in the potential funding reforms. The Scottish Government should listen to the sector that is telling it some of those issues, because it understands how to manage them. It wants to be supported, but it also wants the Scottish Government to take on board its concerns at this time. It is time for the Government to come good on the talks about potential reforms with reference. The sector has reformed itself and continues to do so, but it wants the Scottish Government to be supportive of some of the reforms that it has brought forward and work collectively. I look forward to seeing whether that will happen. Another key theme to the committee's work on the issue was community assets. Potential cultural venues that we know include many spaces. That could be a village hall, a library or churches within our communities. The committee heard throughout the inquiry that there are currently various potential threats to many of those cultural assets. Communities therefore sometimes feel under pressure to rescue some of those venues that are at risk within their communities, and many have taken them on board. Although it is a large responsibility for community groups to acquire those venues, it is only right that they should be empowered to do so with understanding the circumstances. It was back in 2015 that the Community Empowerment Act came into play. Bodies and organisations are working to ensure that that takes place. With the power having been affected since 2017, there is still much to do for communities to benefit from the potential community asset transfers. Although community groups are often fully aware of their legal rights to acquire assets, in practice many groups are still finding it a little bit bureaucratic to manage to take on board some of that. Some public bodies are still focused entirely on the monetary value when it comes to what those assets should be doing. There are still some cultural shifts required to take full advantage of those assets, and it is important that the Scottish Government work together with councils to ensure that the process is running smoothly and as smoothly as possible. There have been 225 successful asset transfers since the legislation came into force. It is clear that the area of great cultural potential—we have to maximise and we need to look at how we maximise that potential within our communities. It is clear that the Scottish cultural landscape is facing many challenges. It is also clear that the landscape is of great importance to many individuals and to many communicators—the length and breadth of Scotland—a landscape that has many potential benefits for the communities that they are looking to harness and that they want to be empowered to support and do what they can. It is important that the Scottish Government understands the logistics of that and is working closely with those partnerships and working with those organisations and councils in Scotland so that they can work collectively and work together to try to embrace that community culture that is vitally important for so many individuals and organisations. I hope that the Government is able to approach the recommendations of our committee's report in good faith and commit to playing its part to protecting the vitally important sector and the vitally important assets that those communities have, because our society depends on it. The Scottish culture is one that is recognised the world over and communities have their part to play, but the Government has their part to play also. I am pleased as both a committee member and on behalf of Scottish Labour to welcome this report, which highlights the benefits of a place-based approach to culture and the many challenges facing its implementation. I believe that it is a thorough and carefully considered report and I extend my sincere thanks to all those who have contributed towards it, the stakeholders who answered the calls for views and provided evidence, and the committee clerks who have done such an excellent job of organising evidence sessions in Edinburgh, Orkney and Dumfries, as well as writing the report. I commend also our conveniently random son and fellow members of the committee for their constructive and collegiate approach and I extend my thanks also to Sarah Boyack, who sat for Scottish Labour on the committee in the early phases. Well-being, quality of life and physical mental health are all influenced by the quality of the places we live in. I heard that yet again in a moving testimony this lunchtime from the recovery group from North Lanarkshire about the power of music being used to tackle drug and alcohol addiction. A place-based and community-led approach to service delivery, including in relation to cultural provision, has for some time been recognised as a useful framework. One that recognises that communities themselves ought to be central to the delivery of creative activity within their own areas, to ensure that their activity responds to distinct opportunities and challenges within different localities. In that spirit, I would like to pay tribute to organisations such as the Beacon Arts Centre in Greenock, who do tremendous work with young people in Inverclyde. I would also like to pay tribute to the Bungalow Bar in Paisley, an outstanding local venue that was recently named Best Music-led venue in Scotland at the Scottish Licence Trade News Awards. Our report notes, however, that despite many positive examples, the proper entrenchment of a place-based approach to culture is inadequate at present and that is a huge amount of progress is required in order to make it a reality. It identifies a number of challenges for national public bodies and local government in delivering a place-based approach to culture in which communities are central to shaping the cultural life of their place. Those challenges are listed in the report as supporting community-based cultural activity, funding culture in communities, providing and supporting local cultural services, and providing and protecting physical spaces in communities for cultural activity to take place in. The report rightly highlights, as has been mentioned, the vital role of volunteers in supporting community-led cultural activity. However, it is also right to acknowledge that such volunteering is time and resource intensive. As a convener said, the committee was concerned by the evidence that there may be disparities between communities that have greater time and resources to volunteer and those who do not. The committee's view is that it is crucial for all communities across Scotland to be able to shape the cultural life of their places and to sustain the cultural activity that meets their needs. Ensuring that that is likely to involve the Scottish Government in providing funding and support. The report rightly invites the Scottish Government and Creative Scotland to explore whether further support can be provided to protect and encourage the vital contribution of volunteers to culture in their communities, including the communities with the least resources. The report also highlights the culture collective programme as an excellent example of place-based cultural initiative. The committee calls on the Scottish Government and Creative Scotland to set out how its legacy will be built upon. In terms of protecting the future of local physical spaces for cultural activity, the committee also rightly recognises that for culture to thrive within communities, there must be space in which cultural activities can take place. This is critically important. The committee is therefore concerned by the evidence that has been received that some cultural and community assets are becoming less available, less affordable and are at risk of closure, including many churches, as Alexander Stewart said, who provide a venue not just for places of worship but places of culture as well. I, too, would urge the Scottish Government and Creative Scotland to take all the action it can to protect local cultural spaces. I commend also the committee's suggestion of considering a role for Creative Scotland in delivering a capital programme to support the refurbishment and upkeep of such spaces. In relation to the provision and supporting of local cultural assets, the committee is right to note the essential role of local government in the delivery of place-based approach to culture. The report is right, therefore, to note with concern what it politely terms the funding challenges facing local government. It notes the enforced reduction on cultural spend by local authorities in the face of persistent cuts to council budgets over many years. I hope that the Scottish Government will reflect on that as well as its own spending commitments in the cultural sector. The report also highlights the importance of a joined-up approach between local government and national agencies and that further progress is required to improve collaboration. I echo the report's call for a further update before the end of the year on what progress has been made on the commitment from the Scottish Government to work with Creative Scotland to map local authority support for culture and to explore future models of collaboration between national and local bodies. Finally, there is a challenge of funding, which is an overarching concern that touches on almost all areas of the report. Culture activity and culture life place-based and otherwise relies on Scottish Government funding and support. Years of standstill funding and increased costs have created a situation of chronic underfunding and a sector at breaking point. There is an urgent need for investment support and a new long-term culture strategy. Finally, there is also as many stakeholders highlighted a need for funding to be placed on sustainable footing. I commend the report to the Parliament and I hope that we can all work together to ensure that we support culture in our communities just now and into the future. Thank you, Mr Bibby. We now move to the open debate. Speeches of up to six minutes. I call Keith Brown to be followed by Sharon Dowey. Thank you, Presiding Officer. I should say that I am a member of the committee, but I am not like the previous speakers being there during the course of the consideration of the report that we are discussing today, so I cannot speak but the same. Authority is those speakers, but I am absolutely on board with the approach. In a culture debate a few weeks ago, I gave a number of examples of organisations that take this approach in my constituency, as well as stating that, to state the obvious, that we all want to see culture and Scotland thrive. Not just for economic reasons, those are very important, but also for the difference that it can make to people's lives. We need to be clear—I listened to the last speech—that the biggest obstacle in the way of the implementation of many of the recommendations in this report is the extremely limiting financial situation that we are in as a country, and the report rightly mentions that. In my view, the current financial restraints facing Scotland are perhaps the starkest we have seen since this Parliament was established, and we need to be really explicit with the people of Scotland. We can all shout about that it must be sustainable and multi-year funding. If that is not what the Parliament is getting, how are we going to provide it? Let's be serious about the challenges that we face. The devolution settlement has created a situation in which the UK Government still has control over the vast majority of Scotland's finances. If the UK Government chooses to implement cuts in real terms, as it very often does, the Scottish Government must make very difficult decisions in order to implement those cuts, either by cutting elsewhere in the Scottish Government's budget or by raising one of the few taxes that the Scottish Government is responsible for, both of which options are virtually always met with universal criticism for null position benches. As for the point about local government, local government is obviously constrained, but much less so in Scotland than in England or Wales. In England, you have had 40 per cent cuts in council budgets. If a number of councils are going to the wall financially—we haven't seen that in Scotland—it is a difficult situation, and we should acknowledge that and the impact it has on a place-based approach to culture. However, the Scottish Government has done and continues to do what it can within the devolution settlement to support a place-based approach to culture and the communities. I am also sure that the commitment to double funding for culture and the arts by £100 million over the next five years will play a part in furthering that approach. The title of the debate is challenges and opportunities. Where I have highlighted the challenges, I would also like to try to highlight the opportunities. Oddly, one of the side effects of austerity over the past 14 years has been the increase in community ownership of cultural assets, which we have seen across Scotland, and which the report rightly highlights. During this summer alone, I visited Wimpi Park Community Garden in Allawa, which is recently taken over by Wimpi Park Community Group, a group of residents who had a vision and worked immensely hard to bring it to life. It is a real example of cultural empowerment in our communities—indeed, in one of our most deprived communities—and it is absolutely to be commended. That is just one of a few examples of my consistency across Cluckmanish and Dunblane, thanks to the work usually of immensely dedicated volunteers and community ownership. Many formerly publicly-owned spaces have taken on new roles in the community, Tullabuddy Community Development Trust, which operates a civic centre in the town, Dollar Community Development Trust, which operates to Hive and Dollar, Dunblane Development Trust, which manages the Brayport Centre, and perhaps best of all, the Sochi Community Group, which operates the Sochi Resource Centre among many others in my constituency. All those are used by their communities as spaces for culture, another important aspect of a place-based approach to culture, highlighted in the report. I welcome the report, and I add that one of the most critical aspects of delivering a place-based approach to culture in our communities is by giving the people in those places a significant role in developing and delivering those services. However, as a Parliament, we need to be aware of the root causes of the significant financial challenges that are facing the implementation of the recommendations in the report, and we do not serve the people if we try to ignore the source of those financial constraints. Asterity has been one of the biggest problems, but can I mention another one that was brought home to me today during the committee session that we had with touring musicians, a different category, but a very similar challenge. That was largely Brexit, which had caused a huge meltdown in that sector. We all heard it, and we all heard the evidence. I asked the participants if the two scenarios that we were given about Brexit were to have the sunny uplands full of opportunity and no regulation, or the enormous economic and cultural self-harm. I can tell you that it is a latter that characterises their experience in Brexit. They also said that most of the things that they are suffering from were predicted at the time of Brexit. It is honestly to hear it that what you heard was the decimation of the Scottish cultural sector in that area. You heard some Scottish artists continuing, but only if they could get an Irish passport to appear at Irish events in Germany and elsewhere, not as Scots, but as Irish, that is actually the only way they could continue. It was like not an iron curtain, but a theatre curtain coming down on a vitally important part of our cultural heritage. People have lost their jobs, people have walked away from the centre and that is lost to Scotland now. It is an absolute crime that is going on and they fairly and squarely laid it at the door of Brexit, although made requests quite really, as you would expect them to do, in terms of the Scottish Government and what support they can bring as well. That is the reality of what our cultural sectors are going through. I would hope that, when the very welcome news of the additional £100 million from the Government was mentioned, I would endorse some of those people that we heard from today and their requests that some of that money finds its way to touring musicians, because it is so important for the international reputation of Scotland. It is how the rest of the world views us and they also made the point very fairly that Scotland, grim as that situation, is over-endowed with talent and artists that can enhance Scotland's reputation. That would be my main appeal, that the place-based approach that we are talking about today is supporting it, is also done at the same time as we support culture and trying to reverse the damage of Brexit that we have seen decimating our cultural sector. I welcome this debate today on the conclusions and recommendations contained in the constitution, Europe, external affairs and culture committees report titled, Culture and Communities, the Challenges and Opportunities in Delivering a Place-Based Approach. I commend the members of the committee and the clerks for their work and all those who contributed. Today I will highlight two areas in particular that the committee report examined, which I believe need greater focus from the Government. My speech will discuss funding challenges for the cultural sector and then I will move on to the need for the Government and its agencies to listen to local communities and empower them. Firstly, the committee looked in detail at funding issues in the cultural sector. It heard from a national museum of Scotland spokesperson that the current financial climate is one of the toughest the heritage and culture sector has ever faced. The Federation of Scottish Theatres said that organisations that deliver cultural work and communities are in an extremely precarious financial position. The committee report cited a spice assessment, which found that the total grant funding for Creative Scotland in 2021-22 was about 10 per cent lower in real terms than in 2014-15. The lack of funding from the SNP Government has been a real thorn in the side of the cultural sector. However, the problem is not only the lack of funding but the inconsistency of its delivery. Even when they are announcing more funding for culture, the SNP have often managed to make a confusing mess of it. Last year they cut the budget for Creative Scotland by several million pounds. Then they made a big announcement that they were restoring the funding. After patting themselves on the back, the SNP then announced that they changed their mind and that they were going to go ahead with cutting that funding. This flip-flopping does not help the culture sector to plan. How are the organisations supposed to plan when the SNP is on a U-turn? No, the time is short today. The lack of certainty and stability makes their life very difficult. That is just one example, but the committee report looked at many other funding issues. In particular, the extremely short-term approach of culture policy came in for substantial criticism. Professor David Stevenson, Dean of the School of Arts, Social Sciences and Management at Queen Margaret University, said in his words, that the biggest challenge that the culture sector faces is a persistent and pernicious obsession with short-term project funding. Scottish Bally said that this approach created a stop-start mechanism. The Federation of Scottish Theatre also highlighted issues with the inconsistency of funding. Professor Stevenson said that in other countries there is, and I quote, much clearer understanding of how different elements of the funding landscape support different things. I hope that the Government reflects on that and learns from the best examples of how other countries operate. I note that earlier this year, the cabinet secretary, Angus Robertson, said that he was keen to work in a multi-year funding approach, and I hope that that work will conclude imminently. A clearer funding system would be very beneficial to the culture sector. However, funding is not the only issue that needs addressed to promote culture more effectively in Scotland. The Government must also listen more closely to communities. As a point of principle, my party believes that local people are best placed to decide what is best for their community. We firmly support communities having more power to shape the cultural life in their own local area. The best preservers and promoters of local heritage and cultural sites are the people in those areas. They must be empowered to take the lead themselves free from the constraints of too much bureaucracy or too much imposition and top-down control from the Government. The role of the Government and councils must be to deliver the platform and the environment so that local communities feel able to make a difference themselves. As it stands, the Government are not meeting their end of the bargain. Returning to Professor Stevenson's evidence to the committee, he noted that, and I quote, we fall into thinking that there is a one-size-fits-all model. The report also notes his comments around the danger of only helping individuals overcome barriers to cultural participation, where those are barriers to the type of culture that we feel is valuable for them to take part in. It was welcome in the evidence to the committee that Creative Scotland acknowledged that there are cases of what might be felt as we are doing good to communities, we are offering you something so come and see it without understanding what it can mean to the people and what the unmet need is in that community. All of that evidence seems to indicate that, at the moment, there is too much of a top-down approach to culture in Scotland. Local communities are often boxed into what cultural projects they get, and that is not how it should be. In conclusion, I hope to see the Government focus on improving how they co-operate and work with local communities, and I hope that they will address the inconsistency of funding so that the culture sector can more effectively plan for the future. I would like to start by praising the work of the Constitution, Europe, External Affairs and Culture Committee. A lot of work goes into taking evidence and producing those reports, and the result here is something that is informative and I hope can guide the Scottish Government. The Scottish Government's commitment to a place-based approach within our cultural strategy stands as a testament to the belief in empowering communities and fostering their engagement and weaving their stories into the very fabric of our national identity. What is clear to me as a representative of this place of many communities from Glasgow-Kelvin is that the affiliation that people have to the place that they belong is so important. It is about the identity of belonging, and it is the overall welfare of communities and the people who live in them. It is a strategy that not only recognises the intrinsic value of cultural diversity, but it seeks to empower diverse local voices in weaving that cultural tartan of our nation. However, in navigating this, there must be great many challenges that we must be cognisant of and work together to resolve. The economic landscape that we face today is littered with financial constraints, as was mentioned by Keith Brown, my colleague. Those present formidable barriers in financing community-based cultural initiatives, nurturing local government cultural services and providing the essential spaces where cultural expression can flourish. Those challenges, although significant, present opportunities for strategic intervention and innovative solutions, aligning our endeavours with our collective aspirations. From my perspective, as the member for Glasgow-Kelvin, the cultural strategy emphasis on community and place is pivotal. Many members will already be aware of the community victory over children's wood in my constituency, which is a fantastic outdoor community space where I held my first-ever surgery after being elected. Over a relentless 25-year campaign, teachers, climate advocates, local residents and even celebrities, one of whom was indeed our late queen, rallied to protect the children's wood and North Kelvin meadow. In 2020, a grant of a community asset transfer by Glasgow City Council signified more than just land preservation. It symbolises the triumph of collective will and the validation of a community vision. That success is not solely about land, it is about nurturing a community heartbeat. The children's wood chair, Professor Neve Stack, rightfully calls it a community anchor, emphasising its pivotal role in current times. I frequently visit there and join in with a wide variety of the activities that take place, including hearing children and families running around in their laughter, hearing the buzz of the bees from the hives that are kept there, and also listening to opportunities where toddlers and mums can get together to not only weave stories in the local environment but also develop, among other things, Scottish storytelling. The agreement demonstrates a shared commitment to empowering communities. That is a model for fostering sustainable, playful and resilient communities, especially vital after the challenges that are faced. Yet, there remains an inherent need for a deeper integration of community culture in what we do. The Scottish Government's commitment to empowerment mechanisms, such as the place principle, calls for a robust amplification of cultural voices at the grassroots level. The committee's inquiry into this matter unveils the positive strides that are made in place-based cultural initiatives across communities. There is a resounding recognition from a diverse array of stakeholders regarding the importance of this approach. That recognition is deeply rooted in the Scottish Government's cultural strategy, which building on long-standing ambitions seeks to adopt place-based and community-led approaches to service delivery. However, the findings from the inquiry also highlight the substantial hurdles that must be addressed to realise the aspirations that are set forth in the strategy. Those challenges, spanning both national and local spheres, require a whole system approach and overcoming those hurdles, cohesive collaboration across the different layers of government, transcending partisan interests for the collective betterment of our cultural landscape. To be completely frank, more than a decade of austerity, polished off by economic turmoil at the hands of the Tory United Kingdom Government, has presented severe challenges to the implementation of place-based cultural policy. Those constraints affect the funding of the community-based cultural organisations and support for local government cultural services, and the provision of publicly-owned community spaces that are vital for cultural activities. Despite the commendable emphasis on the role of communities and place within the culture strategy, there remains a pressing need for a more robust prioritisation of community culture, putting it at the core of the sector. The report is a call to action to the Scottish Government to address those challenges and heed the findings and recommendations. The imminent finalisation of the refreshed culture strategy action plan later this year presents a critical juncture to tackle the essential facets that will ultimately shape Scotland's cultural trajectory. I add my thanks to the members of the committee for currently this inquiry. Those who gave evidence and the committee's clerks and researchers for their work are still in that evidence into the committee's report. An excellent report that makes a timely and important contribution to the debate on the crucial role of the culture sector in our local communities. I was particularly pleased that the committee took time to visit my hometown of Dumfries, where they experienced an outstanding example of that place-based approach by the Stove network that has been genuinely shaped by the community. I have had the privilege of working with the Stove since its inception over a decade ago, including as local councillor when the council transferred the high street base to the Stove and a community asset transfer. I have seen at first hand the development of that property into a café, a meeting place and an outstanding events venue, but it is what the people inside do that excites me, the way that the Stove has used arts and cultural activities to bring together diverse communities to drive positive place-based solutions to the challenges that people care about, for example the future of their town centre. Using arts and culture not as an end of itself but as a means to deliver a well-being economy. The Stove's engagement with people often underrepresented groups in some of the most vulnerable communities on issues relevant to their lives ensure those solutions are genuinely bottom-up, not top-down and important principles stressed by Dumfries and Galloway council and their submission to the committee. It was that work by the Stove that led to the creation of the Midstiple quarter in Dumfries, a community benefit company, taking on the problem of absent landlords in our town centres, becoming the landlord themselves, taking back our high street shot by shot, investing in neglected properties and then using them for the benefit of the community. However, the work of the Stove goes beyond Dumfries town centre, and I know that the committee also visited a community that I am proud to say that I was brought up in, where members witnessed the DG lift project, which again is supporting and transforming the community. That project is again community-driven, using culture, the arts, to build community conference to take on and dispel the outdated negative perception of the area and in doing so seek to change the perception that culture is not for me. However, the committee heard that one of the biggest barriers that Stove and others faced with those projects was the outdated approach that we have to how we fund culture and the arts, an approach that means that it is about performance, often professional, not participation and certainly not community participation. That means that when seeking support for their important cultural contribution to building that wellbeing economy, the Stove often finds itself competing with wellbeing projects such as food banks for non-culture-based sources of funding, because the current silo model of Creative Scotland funding does not properly recognise cultural and community participation. On the committee's visit to Dumfries, members heard about a different approach in Ireland, where there are separate bodies and separate funding streams for participation and community-based practice, but we do not have to look beyond Scotland to see that. Scotland recognised the role that sport has on our wellbeing, particularly health, with separate funding streams for elite sport and for participation in sport. As Stove said in his submission to the committee in Culture, we do not have the participation strand only the elite one. The Government has said and now intend to double culture spending, which I welcome, but I hope that, as we grow that budget, it cannot just be about more of the same. We need to better recognise the wider role of culture in delivering that wellbeing economy. It is a preventative social impact on social isolation on mental health by better ring-fencing funding streams for community participation. I also hope that the Government will look again at the geographical spread of funding. The focus on professional performance does often mean that a disproportionate amount goes towards big events in our cities, and that often leaves events in peripheral communities where margins are tighter in a precarious position. Festivals and events are hugely important to my home region of Dumfries and Galloway. However, in recent years, we have lost major festivals, the Wickermann Festival, the Electric Fields Festival and now the Big Burn Supper Festival has been cancelled for this year. The Eden Festival is also scaled back, given the challenges of higher policing costs since the establishment of Police Scotland. However, when new developing events such as Music at the Multiverse emerged and a bid to replace those we have lost, they have not received the support needed from events in Scotland and other national agencies to develop. The three years since Music at the Multiverse began, studies have shown that the important economic benefit it has on upper Nisteil, one of the most deprived parts of Scotland. There is clearly a real potential to grow that contribution to make the visitor attraction of the Croyote Multiverse viable for the future, but that has not been recognised when it comes to support. Likewise, as a result of the Scottish Government's decision to remove Winter Festival funding in 2022 and then the rejection again by events Scotland of an application from Dumfries and Galloway, sadly the curtain has been pulled on the Big Burn Supper this year, a genuine grassroots event that has transformed the lives of hundreds of young people who trained as the producers of the future. Ministers used to queue up to cut the ribbon at the opening of the Big Burn Supper. Sadly now, the only cut being made by the Government is in the funding to the main event celebrating the birthday of Scotland's greatest cultural icon all for the sake of £25,000. It is a huge blow to the south of Scotland and it shows that we still have a long way to go to properly recognise the value of grassroots community participation events and to ensure that every part of Scotland is fairly supported in delivering them. That is why I very much welcome and thank the committee for this important contribution to the debate on tackling this issue. I welcome the opportunity to speak in this debate and I, too, put my thanks on the record to the Constitution, Europe External Affairs and Culture Committee, the members and the clerks for creating this comprehensive report on culture and communities. Places and people underpin culture and communities across Scotland and generate a distinct sense of place, identity and confidence. Keith Brown is absolutely right to mention that supporting culture is not just about economics, there is so much value that people obtain in cultural experiences. Evidence from this report consistently points to the need for integrated co-ordinated actions to deliver improvements for communities rather than a focus that isolates social, economic or physical aspects. The Scottish Government's culture strategy action plan refresh will support the recovery and renewal of the culture sector with a focus on empowering individuals and communities to further develop their own cultural activity. I welcome that the Scottish Government has provided that commitment following the committee report. Scotland is a place where culture is valued, protected and nurtured. Culture is woven through everyday life, shapes and is shaped by society and its transformative potential is experienced by everyone. Scotland's rich cultural heritage and creativity of today is inspired by people and place. It enlivens every community and is celebrated around the world. However, as the community report acknowledges, we have challenges within the cultural sector. I am all too aware of those challenges from my constituency casework in Dumfries and Galloway and the Scottish Borders. It is important to acknowledge that the Scottish Government is operating in an extremely challenging fiscal context. A combination of the impacts of Brexit, the aftermath of the pandemic and the energy crisis fuelled by Russia's illegal invasion of Ukraine have sent prices spiralling upwards. In light of that challenging context, the Scottish Government has been reviewing the actions that support its culture strategy. Although the aims and ambitions of the culture strategy are still relevant, the Scottish Government will publish a refreshed action plan later this year, setting out what it will do to respond to those challenges. That plan will include actions on how the Scottish Government will support culture and creativity in our communities. It will support them to do so by identifying and removing barriers to access, championing the economic impact of culture as well. While that is welcome, it is important to acknowledge the impact of the removal of much of the Winter Festival funding that has impacted the grass-roots-created Big Burn Supper. Colin Smyth has just outlined the challenges there as well. They have had to cancel their 2024 festival, but I have been working closely with the team at the Big Burn Supper. It is now in its 13th year, so I have been working with them to support them. I thank the minister for engagement and advice to me so far. I am planning to convene around table with the Big Burn Supper, Event Scotland, Creative Scotland and additional key players to discuss how the Big Burn Supper could be supported in the future and even similar organisations, how they can be supported better in the future. That will include how organisations such as Event Scotland could potentially improve their communication should funding and other issues arise. I ask if the minister would agree that it is important for key persons from those bodies to engage in such round-table discussions so that they can support our creative and event sector and look to improve the support offered to them. I would also like to highlight some of the key points from the committee evidence session, which took place in Dumfries. I was pleased to be able to join the committee members that day—Neil Bibby, Donald Cameron and Ben Macpherson—when he was on the committee at the time. There were three site meetings, and we met representatives from the Stove Network, Arthur Ertson's anchor and representatives from D&G Council and Lyft D&G. Again, Colin Smyth has described well what the Stove and Lyft do in our communities, and I enjoy engaging with them and supporting them and working with the Stove Network and Lyft as well. The committee heard that good place-based cultural policy involves empowering the local community to create a cultural offering that caters to their specific needs. Dumfries and Galloway Council provided evidence that, to overcome barriers to cultural participation, it is important to support communities to grow the cultural activities that they want to see rather than taking a top-down approach. Rural transport was flagged by all as a huge issue for people in the area and a barrier to cultural participation. Since the pandemic, there has been more awareness of the need for a hybrid approach, recognising the need for direct human connection, but also in keeping engaged for those people who might not be able to travel to events in person. We saw during the lockdown that Big Burn Supper broadcast online and reached 300,000 people globally. It was excellent that they took to the online platform during the pandemic, so we can learn from what we had to do while we were required to stay at home. The work and support of the South Scotland Enterprise Agency was discussed in positive terms with the agency adopting a strategic overview and encouraging what was seen as a shift in the approach to community engagement and finding support for individual projects. Finally, AstroNoir Oyster Festival was cited as an example of where that engagement worked really well. That is a grass-roots-organised festival. It has held over two and a half days and contributed £2.3 million to the local economy this year alone. That is a complete local culture success, and I know that the rural cabinet secretary will attest to that. Ms Harper, we do not have any time in hand, because you please bring in your answer. Okay, I am in my final sense, so I welcome the committee's report and this debate today. Thank you. Thank you very much. I now call Mark Ruskell to be followed by Audrey Nicholl, Mr Ruskell. Thank you, Presiding Officer. It has been an absolute privilege to sit on the committee during this inquiry. We had a really unique opportunity to hear from an incredible array of cultural organisations and artists from across Scotland, ranging from grass-roots community arts groups to more established national charities and projects, but it has at times been a pretty humbling experience. While we have spoken quite often about there being a perfect storm facing our cultural sector, it is another thing to hear first hand just the scale of the challenge that many of these organisations are facing. I would really like to take this opportunity to thank all those who gave evidence in this inquiry. Of course, culture does not happen exclusively in the programmes of national performing companies or gallery spaces. It is hugely important as they are. Culture is also in the very fabric of our communities and civic spaces. It is in every community-led arts group up and down the country and in hubs that bring creative projects together, such as creative sterling or well arts. It is the work of these organisations that is vital to our national cultural ecology, and they are everywhere that you look. These cultural spaces are where communities can come together to educate and organise. During the depths of the Covid crisis, it was often the organisations that helped to look after each other. The evidence through Edinburgh's cultural hubs in this inquiry was important. It underlined that, even in a city where we have a big and profitable culture sector, communities can easily be left behind unless there is a commitment to partnership and co-production. The community hubs want to be empowered to do amazing things, rather than just to get free tickets for friend shows. It is often the makers, artists and other creatives who are providing that spark for transformation and change, while providing support for the most vulnerable. Radical weavers and sterling, for example, are helping survivors of trauma through weaving, including ex-servicemen. They have also run a project to help trans and non-binary folk alter clothing, building personal confidence and connection to a wider community. This lunchtime, we heard from other wonderful community organisations who are working on rehabilitation and empowerment of vulnerable people. This inquiry took the time to explore culture and communities in all its forms and in all its spaces. The consensus was clear that the vision for place-based culture is clear, but it is a fragile ecology that needs to be protected and nurtured if it is to thrive. The funding settlement given to the Scottish Government from Westminster does not keep pace with inflation and is forcing difficult choices. When projects and organisations are already running on shoestring budgets, changes to funding can have a disproportionate impact on delivery. Standstill funding across the sector has meant that many groups are trying to do more with less. Running costs for organisations are skyrocketing, while the need for affordable cultural activities continues to grow. Project-based funding has hollowed out community organisations finances, with many struggling to cover core costs or keep buildings running. Local authority arts and cultural services have, of course, been cut to the bone. The committee's report is clear. We must find a way forward that provides the financial security and certainty that our cultural sector needs. We must do that with some urgency. I am pleased that the First Minister has made the commitment to double cultural funding over the next five years, with increases starting from next year's budget. Beyond bigger budget lines, we need to rethink the way that the sector is funded to secure a sustainable future. There are innovative financial levers that we can use, and some of them are already under development. We need to see a long-term strategy for culture that pivots away from stop-start funding towards multi-year budgets. The new Creative Scotland funding model will go some way towards that, allowing cultural organisations to do long-term community development work, to thrive not just to survive. We also agreed that community-based organisations support the fulfilment of many of our key national outcomes across Government, and our funding model should also reflect that. This is about understanding the wider benefits that culture brings, including through leveraging spending across Government portfolios for culture. We know that the Scottish Government is still on the early days of considering cross-departmental budgeting for culture and preventative spend, but we cannot sustain our culture ecology from a single budget line. That work really has to be accelerated. There are important lessons from Wales here, too, where the future generations commissioner has embedded that longer-term thinking about culture, place and the role of preventative spend into the public sector. The report calls for innovation in cultural funding, such as a percentage for the arts scheme. We also looked at the potential use of the transient visitor to Levy, and the importance of having the cultural voice at the table when councils are looking at how that is spent. However, we can see how percentage of the arts schemes have worked across the world. In Netherlands, Ireland and the States are redirecting funds from major developments into the arts, and it is time that we developed more tools like that in Scotland under devolved powers. Although I do agree with Keith Brown, Ireland has turned into a cultural powerhouse because it is an independent country. It has the powers of a small independent nation, and it has not severed its ties with the EU. It is integrated into the EU, and that has driven its incredible work on culture. The cultural strategy action plan later this year will be a really important opportunity for the Scottish Government to set out a plan that delivers radical change for our community cultural sector. I hope to see the committee's recommendations reflected in that action plan. I am excited to see what the new investment in the sector can deliver over the next five years. As a substitute member of the Constitution, Europe, External Affairs and Culture Committee, I am very pleased to speak in this debate this afternoon. One that has offered us the opportunity to celebrate an amazing wealth of culture in our communities, but, while thinking about how we respond to the many challenges that have already outlined facing culture, building on the opportunities that already exist and enabling local communities to shape what that looks like and make it sustainable in the longer term. The fiscal landscape is indeed very challenging, however. In this regard, I am very pleased that the Scottish Government is refreshing the national culture strategy action plan, taking account of the way in which external factors such as the Covid-19 pandemic, rising energy prices and Brexit have had on our cultural sector. I recall only too well meeting local creators in my constituency last year in hearing their deep concerns about whether or not they would be able to keep their studios open due to the sharp rise in energy prices and rental costs, so those challenges are very real and there is work for us to do. The report produced by the committee is extremely comprehensive. It recognises that a place-braced approach to culture is not new, and it considers a number of challenges in delivering local culture, including supporting cultural activity through, for example, volunteering, cultural provision and protecting spaces for culture. Personally, I found it an immensely helpful report in providing a reference point for what I and others should be thinking about in terms of how we support culture in our communities and regions. The report reflects the importance of local networks to cultural ecology. D-Mouth artist studios in my constituency is a perfect example home to artists, designers and makers with a strong relationship with Grey's School of Art, community and cultural organisations, but there is absolutely no doubt that the success of the studios has been a slow burn, has been hard-earned and it has faced many challenges, not least of all funding, as highlighted in the report. I welcome the Scottish Government's recent announcement of almost £7 million to support the culture sector and, of course, the £100 million committed by the Scottish Government to the sector over the next five years, reflecting the real value that we place on culture in our communities at a time when the fiscal landscape has never been so challenging. I seek an assurance that the culture funding, through, for example, the culture collector programme, continues to support grass-roots projects so that place-based culture, such as the Tory Heritage Trust, the Doric Festival and the North East Open Studios in my constituency, can be sustained in the longer term. Another issue that is highlighted in the report is that of community assets. I highlight the on-going effort that is made in my constituency to secure the community asset transfer of a former police station that has recently closed to become a community hub that will support culture. I recognise that there is already a community asset transfer process available for this purpose. However, I am concerned, and I think that I reflect the concerns of those involved in this particular transfer opportunity, that the process is less than user-friendly for groups that are perhaps unfamiliar with what is required. I think that that was a point that was raised previously by Alexander Stewart. I hope that the Scottish Government responds to the committee's recommendation to engage with organisations to better understand what support can be provided around community ownership of assets, enabling them to really realise their cultural potential in a truly place-based way. I also want to pay tribute this afternoon to the volunteers and others who support culture in the justice space. I recently hosted, aid in a bet, in the Scottish Parliament, an organisation that supports recovery for people leaving prison. We celebrated the recent launch of The Good Prison Officer, a collection of reflections written by ex-prisoners about the experience of prison, and a fantastic example of how imprisonment inadvertently led to a creative endeavour in bringing a group of people together to write about their life-changing relationships with prison officers. I pay tribute to Space Arts Scotland, Kessler Arts and the many projects and organisations that promote access to the creative arts for those subject to and in the justice system. Through exhibitions and creative interventions, they harness the arts to support rehabilitation and recovery from alcohol and drug harm. Some may feel culture injustice is a bit of a stretch in the context of place-based culture, I disagree, and you only had to pop along to the culture in communities event in the Parliament earlier on this afternoon to hear the fantastic North Lanarkshire recovery band supported by real time to appreciate just the utter value of this important work. To conclude, my thanks again to the committee for bringing this debate forward, reflecting the content of a really important report. I look forward to remaining involved and working for my constituents in this wonderful creative space. Place-based approaches to culture are vital. They allow for communities to make decisions about culture that best suit the needs and wants of the local population and allow for much needed local engagement in Scotland's culture. I welcome the announcement of an extra 100 million for the arts and culture budget and await further details. However, this report and the committee's pre-budget scrutiny highlights the questions still need to be answered given the dire situation facing our cultural sector. As Karen Adam and Kit Brown rightly pointed out, we are in the difficult financial situation and the cultural sector is feeling the burn of this. I have been contacted by a number of organisations and event organisers who future remains uncertain due to the continued funding cuts in the arts. As a result, Scotland's cultural sector hangs in the balance. A straightforward and coherent approach to protect Scotland's unique culture and heritage is crucial. Curse and short-term projects-based funding schemes jeopardise the ability of the cultural programme to reflect the communities they serve. Our cultural sector needs long-term sustained funding. Community organisations cannot continue operating and wondering when the next funding cuts will be. Long-term and continued funding is the only way that a place-based approach to culture in the communities can work. Without it, community organisations cannot plan ahead. They cannot commit to a cultural event and they cannot ensure progress for culture in their own communities. A successful place-based approach to culture must also address the individual needs of people in each community. The report rightly recognises the important role that volunteers play in supporting community-led cultural activities. However, Neil Bibby rightly pointed out the need to address the disparity between communities who do not have the capacity or resources to sustain a long-term volunteering. The cultural needs of one community may not be the same for the other. Scotland is a diverse place. There must be a targeted approach to ensure that each community's unique needs are being met. A place-based approach must also acknowledge the unique cultural heritage and history of individual communities. It must recognise the multicultural heritage and make up of many communities across Scotland and work towards meeting the needs of the many, not the few. Presiding Officer, a place-based approach to culture is what is best to serve our communities. But this cannot be fully implemented without decisions-making being handed back to the local communities. Decentralisation will put decisions-making closer home and back to the hands of those that it directly impacts. Local communities know best their own cultural needs. By giving communities a choice and, say, in shaping the cultural life of their communities, we will only help to strengthen and improve multiculturalism and Scotland's rich cultural heritage. Finally, Presiding Officer, despite Scottish Government commitments to culture, access to cultural spaces in communities is on the decline. Giving power to the communities to implement for their own cultural activities will go nowhere if local spaces are not made available to bring them to life. Alexander Stewart rightly pointed out that there is immense pressure on many communities' arts groups to rescue spaces used for community cultural activities. There are some success stories with this, such as North Edinburgh Arts in my region. But the current crisis facing the sector means that many community organisations spaces are still at threat of closure. This is particularly in deprived urban areas where individuals may feel further removed from engaging in culture. We must ensure that spaces are open and maintained to allow communities to meet the cultural needs of individuals and encourage everyone to engage in local, cultural and arts settings. I'm pleased to be able to contribute to today's debate on how we can empower our communities to deliver a place-based approach. It's great to hear today around the chamber that if there's one thing that we all agree on is how important and how valuable our cultural sector is, Scotland is a country that is rich in cultural heritage. It is therefore not surprising that in every corner of the country we see communities approaching cultural projects in their own unique way. I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge the amazing work that is done with the great organisations and volunteers in my own region. That includes the Mulgaid bid, which does great work in bringing the local community together with events such as Macau Street Party, Mary Mulgaid and many others. I welcome that the Constitution, Europe and External Affairs and Culture Committee has been able to produce their report, which sets out a way forward for a place-based approach to culture. I would also like to thank everybody who came along to the committee to provide evidence to the committee. I hope that the Scottish Government will pay close attention to the report's recommendations. The report speaks about the key role played by local support networks within our communities, and it's important that we recognise the importance of the cultural ecosystem within the communities. Local networks of community-based organisations are vital to the ecosystem. We should not forget that those networks are often made up almost entirely of volunteers whose time and efforts are essential to the delivery of cultural projects. Volunteer Scotland highlights that so much of the work done by volunteers is unseen, but that is essential to community projects. We need to recognise that not all communities have equal access to those local networks of support. The committee's work revealed that communities in more deprived areas simply have less time to volunteer. In 2021, the Scottish household survey revealed that just 21 per cent of people in the most deprived areas were involved in volunteering in the previous 12 months compared to 33 per cent for the least deprived areas. However, a community with fewer potential volunteers does not mean a community with less cultural needs. Cultural events can provide an important boost to people's mental health. They can allow people to escape their everyday lives. That is just as true in one area as it is in the next. We also know that many of those volunteer-led groups face significant financial challenges. Many of those groups are almost entirely self-funded and more and more of them are having to charge for their services. At the very least, that makes cultural activities even less accessible to communities with more deprivation, but at the worst it makes many cultural projects unsustainable. The committee is therefore right to urge both the Scottish Government and Creative Scotland to explore further avenues of support to protect and enhance those fantastic volunteer-led projects in our communities. On that note, it is of course difficult to talk about support for cultural activities without discussing the issue of funding. As has been mentioned already this afternoon, today is not the time to rerun debates on local authority funding trends, but the fact is that local government funding has fallen in real terms over the last decade. It is therefore unsurprising that the analysis by Audit Scotland shows that the local government spending on culture leisure services has fallen nearly 20 per cent since 2013. I do not think that I have enough time on this. The committee was therefore right to recommend that the Government works with Creative Scotland, COSLA and individual councils to assess the impact of the current physical environment on local cultural projects. I hope that the minister, when closing, will be able to comment further on that recommendation and how the Government plans to address that decline. However, another barrier preventing community groups from engaging in cultural projects is about the red tape that those groups are facing, which is another issue that the committee was right to highlight. I hope that the Government is able to engage with planning aid Scotland to ensure that unnecessary bureaucracy does not prevent communities from pursuing cultural projects. In conclusion, there are numerous challenges facing Scotland's cultural landscape. Although various public bodies have a role to play tackling those issues, the Scottish Government must play its own part. I hope that the Government listens to what the cultural sector and the committee's report is telling them. We need to see clear assurances that the current decline in cultural spend will be reversed and a clear strategy for how our communities will be empowered to take forward the cultural projects that they choose. With those steps, I hope that Scotland's vibrant cultural landscape will be able to truly live up to its full potential. I thank my colleagues for their contributions today and the committee diligently chaired by Clare Adamson for its detailed report. I am very pleased that we have the opportunity this afternoon to discuss the importance of culture in our communities. Today, Clare Adamson hosted groups that had given evidence in our Parliament the North Lanarkshire Recovery Group in real-time music that created the band and sang their own songs and gave us all a very poignant rendition of Stand By Me. I think that that is a nice note to take away for today. I have been listening with interest to all the contributions across the chamber to date on the challenges and the opportunities in delivering a place-based approach. As Creative Scotland has said, a good place-based cultural policy recognises individual needs of people, communities and places, recognises the unique culture and heritage of individuals and communities and responds to the ambition, need and challenges of each place. We are a nation of storytellers and at that event, Clare Adamson chaired today, I loved hearing a spellbinding tale from Jane Maithers from her very own storytelling centre in Edinburgh. A salient tale about heeding the advice from your mami in your gerani. That aligns well with our ambitions of the culture strategy and we remain fully committed to delivering at this standard for everyone in Scotland. I will pick up the points raised by Emma Harper and Colin Smyth on the Big Burn Supper. I have been in communication with the organisers of the Big Burn Supper and Creative Scotland continues to have a relationship with Electric Theatre Workshop, who managed the Big Burn Supper and Creative Scotland are also engaging with them to advise on any suitable funding routes. I thank Emma Harper, I am grateful to her for the work that she is doing to support the Big Burn Supper, and yes, I agree on the importance of the round table and the event, and I will look forward to the response from that. We have embodied this commitment through our support of programs such as Culture Collective. We have heard a lot about that today. For example, the Ergati Culture Collective worked with partners, including the Violence Reduction Unit, Newton Primary School, South Ayrshire Council and others to gather ideas about what the community needed and wanted. That came across very clear today from the people from the recovery network and the band at Claire Adams' event. That was really important to them. One member told me that the importance of the music was life-saving, and I do not think that we can underplay how powerful that is. The work that we have done so far and the work of the Culture Collectives and others have led to the development of community gardens, women's groups, a range of summer activities for young people. It is one of the many opportunities that the programme has created, but it also demonstrates where Scottish Government support is fostering grass routes, community-developed initiatives. However, our support for culture and communities reaches far beyond our funded programmes. I am sure that everyone in here would welcome the extra £100 million announced by our First Minister. Along with the COSLA spokesperson for community wellbeing councillor, Maureen Chalmers and I co-chair the culture convener's group. That group of elected officials shares the Scottish Government's view that culture is of great importance to our communities across the country. We are working with them to develop ways for local and national organisations to work together to further our shared priorities. We have heard many examples today of those contributions, and I hope that colleagues welcome the local and national government collaboration. We are exploring and discussing the provision of cultural services, the impact of the cost crisis, the impact of Brexit, as well as an accessible recovery. I raised all those issues with Lord Whittingdale a few weeks ago. Tories in this place cannot just blame the Scottish Government when most of the challenges that those organisations face and the response to them lie with the UK Government. We cannot get away from that fact. To fully harness this potential, it has been clear that we need to collaborate strategically across central and local government using all the lessons, creativity, levers and comparative advantage that we can bring to the table. Mark Ruskell and Colin Smyth described Ireland and how it funds their culture organisation. Well, that is the power of a small independent nation with a budget surplus. Our cultural strategy sets our ambition that everyone should be able to experience the empowered potential of culture wherever they live in Scotland. Mark Ruskell reminded us that cultural groups brought us all light in the dark days of Covid. Alexander Stewart, Neil Bibby, Keith Brown, Colin Smyth, Audrey Nicholl, all spoke of community ownership. We know that ownership and control of land and buildings is a powerful tool for communities to drive change and achieve their own goals. It can help to develop the local economy, provide activities and services and boost community identity. Audrey Nicholl mentioned the challenges with the process. I hope that she will be interested to know that the Scottish Government launched the review of the Community Empowerment Act 2021 on 21 July 2022. What to review the act is due to conclude in early 2024 with a report being made available. I hope that members take an active interest in that. Place-based and community-based collaborations can be the very heartbeat of our local community. We heard that today. We also heard about cultural assets and the cultural programs. Let's look at that. Keith Brown spoke of funding constraints, and others did as well. The outlook for our capital budget is very challenging, with high inflation and a projected 6.7 per cent real-terms reduction in our capital funding over the medium-term. To meet all the pressures and spending commitments within the investment pipeline, an additional £1.9 million for 2024-25, £2.5 billion for 2025-26 and £2.8 billion for 20-26-27 is required against a funding envelope of £5.9 billion. The numbers speak for themselves. I heard Faisal Choudhry. I also always enjoy listening to Faisal Choudhry, and he brings up the terms of how diverse and multicultural our nation is and the importance of including that. Pam Goswell raised that in her point as well. As the cabinet secretary mentioned, our refreshed cultural strategy action plan, developed with close engagement with the sector, will set out actions that we will take forward to respond to some of the challenges that we have heard today, including around a place-based approach to culture. I will ensure that Faisal Choudhry's ask is considered among us. You have heard from the cabinet secretary today when he talked about the new funding that we have mentioned this week—$6.68 million. I know that that was welcomed by many, including Audra Nicolle. I know that Keith Brown will be interested to know that the impact of Brexit has been taken into account here, because we have now committed that additional funding to our national performance companies' touring fund. I think that there is agreement across the chamber on the importance of culture in our communities and a recognition that we must collaborate to realise the full potential of place-based culture. Alexander Stewart asked the Scottish Government to approach the recommendations of its important good faith. I can certainly agree to do exactly that. We can all acknowledge culture's unique power to inspire, enrich and transform lives, not only as individuals, but also for the collective wellbeing of our communities. Co-cab Stewart said that we are a richer nation for our weaving of our cultural tartan, and I couldn't agree more. I think that this debate demonstrates that. Thank you. I call on Donald Cameron to wind up the debate on behalf of the Constitution, Europe, External Affairs and Culture Committee. This has been a wide-ranging and helpful debate. I take this opportunity to add my thanks to the committee clerks for all their work on this inquiry into culture in the communities and to all those who gave evidence to the committee, to those who hosted visits from the committee, including the excellent visits that some of us took part in to the Stove Network and Lyft D&G in Dumfries, to the various venues here in Edinburgh, as well as a visit to Orkney that some members of the committee attended. Before I respond to the contributions that have been made, can I expand on some other important aspects of our report, further to those raised by the convener in her opening speech? Through our inquiry, we sought to better understand the factors that either support or impede the development and growth of cultural activity within communities in Scotland. One thing that we consistently heard was that there must be physical spaces in which cultural activities can take place. That can include traditional venues such as theatres and cinemas, but it can also include community assets such as village halls, community centres, schools, libraries and church buildings, which are equally important to the cultural ecology. On our visit to Dumfries, we saw the vital role of the Stove Network building that provides a cultural venue and meeting place on the high street in Dumfries and is somewhere to bring the community together to participate in culture. In Lockside, we visited the Lyft D&G project space, which is now operating as a community hub, having successfully moved into community ownership. However, we have also been concerned to hear of a growing trend of cultural and community assets becoming less available, less affordable and at risk of closure, and that will no doubt negatively impact on access to culture for those communities. Volunteer Scotland lamented the lack of affordable and accessible community venues. Fasian and Gail said that unaffordable rental levels for community spaces such as school buildings presented a very real threat to community cultural activities. Making music said that the rationalisation of the church estate was proving a significant challenge for its members, and creative lives expressed concerns about the longer-term viability of venues run by local councils or arms-length culture trusts that may be subject to closure as they face financial pressure. Professor David Stevenson spoke of the anguish expressed over the closure of the film house but said that the closure of community halls, the cornerstone of community culture, was being ignored. He told us that the impact of community spaces closing was, and I quote, even more significant in rural areas and smaller places in terms of the effect of one space, one community hall, that had supported a multitude of cultural activities closing down. We heard that there was a need to improve the mapping of assets at a local level in order to support those assets to be better used, to improve understanding of the impact that individual site closures could have within the wider local context and to inform planning decisions. We heard that the Scottish Government should also have a better understanding of which communities across Scotland have limited access to spaces for culture. We considered community ownership as one possible route to keeping spaces open for use by the community. In her opening remarks, the convener touched upon the vital role of volunteers in sustaining community culture but also the burden that this can place on individuals. We heard similar challenges in relation to community ownership of assets. That requires expertise as well as the time and resources of volunteers and there are often high costs associated with the management and maintenance of these spaces. It was clear to us that community ownership therefore cannot always be the answer to protecting cultural assets subject to closure, but where this is a viable option, communities need to be provided with on-going support and advice. We also heard during the evidence the importance of transport links and affordable reliable public transport to get people to those spaces and access cultural opportunities. We agree that it is another issue that we need to consider around access to cultural opportunities. I absolutely agree with that. It was very clear when we visited Dumfries, which Mr Bibby did with myself and others, that rural transport in particular was an issue and a barrier. We also consider the role of the planning system in protecting cultural and community assets with the welcome inclusion of a new culture and creativity policy in NPF4. Local place plans have an important role in enabling communities to make their views heard on cultural spaces and assets, but the committee thinks that there needs to be further capacity building provided to support communities to engage in the planning process and to embed culture in their LPPs. I would now like to pick up on the importance of funding for culture in communities, which is a theme that permeates the committee's report. As mentioned earlier by the convener, the funding constraints in the current fiscal environment pose a significant challenge to the successful delivery of place-based cultural policy. Several organisations told the committee that their funding had been at a standstill for several years. This was underlined by Creative Scotland and had previously told the committee that many organisations that it funds on a regular multi-year basis have received unchanged levels of funding for a number of years, and that that is increasingly unviable as it represents an increasing year-on-year cut for organisations. Analysis by SPICE for the committee revealed that the total grant funding for Creative Scotland in 2021-22 was approximately 10 per cent lower in real terms than in 2014-2015. The committee heard of the impact of that on the ability of the sector to deliver cultural projects in communities. Caitlin Skinner, chief executive of Stellar Quines, warned that the arts have been chronically underfunded and on standstill for so long that it creates a limit on what is possible. The Federation of Scottish Theatre warned that organisations that are needed to deliver cultural work in communities are in an extremely precarious financial position. As the committee noted in our pre-budget report that was published last week, we acknowledge that the First Minister has committed to increase the Scottish Government's investment in arts and culture by £100 million over the next five years. However, we await the detail of how that funding will be rolled out in each of the next five years and how it will be allocated within the culture budget. In that regard, I acknowledge the comments that were made by the cabinet secretary in the chamber yesterday and the further information that he imparted about the breakdown of £6.68 million of Scottish Government funding. In the brief minute left to me, I mentioned a few of the contributions that were heard today across the chamber. One consistent theme was the importance of local grass-roots development of culture and the importance of local people and their role in developing cultural services. That was mentioned by many Neil Bibby, Keith Brown, Sharon Dowey and Coqab Stewart, who spoke about empowering communities and the identity of belonging. Many people spoke of their local experience, Colin Smyth, about his experience of the stove in Dumfries. Mark Ruskell rightly spoke of how important it is and how lucky we were to meet such a wide array of people and the scale of the challenge that they described. He spoke of the opportunity in the Scottish Government's action plan later this year and hoped that that plan would take account of the committee's recommendations. Audrey Nicholl made an important point about community assets and spoke about a former police station in her constituency and about culture in the justice space. Faisal Chowdry spoke about cultural needs differing in Scotland and that Scotland being a diverse place meant that cultural needs differed from one community to another. I wish that I could mention more, but I do not simply have the time, Presiding Officer. In conclusion, the committee report clearly sets out the number of distinct and unique challenges that are currently facing culture in communities in Scotland to squeeze on funding, pressure on volunteering, affordability and availability of spaces for culture and a lack of rural transport, which can all act as a barrier to cultural participation. We hope, as a committee, that the Scottish Government will now respond positively to the challenges to safeguard the future of culture in all our communities across Scotland. I support the motion in the convener's name. Thank you. That concludes the debate on culture in communities, the challenges and opportunities in delivering a place-based approach. It is now time to move on to the next item of business, which is consideration of parliamentary bureau motion 11305 on committee membership, and I ask George Adam on behalf of the parliamentary bureau to move the motion. Thank you minister. The question on this motion will be put at decision time. There are two questions to be put as a result of today's business. The first is that motion 11153, in the name of Clare Adamson, on behalf of the Constitution, Europe, External Affairs and Culture Committee, on culture in communities, the challenges and opportunities in delivering a place-based approach, be agreed. Are we all agreed? The motion is therefore agreed. And the final question is the motion 11305, in the name of George Adam, on behalf of the parliamentary bureau on committee membership, be agreed. Are we all agreed? The motion is therefore agreed. That concludes decision time and I close this meeting.