 The next item of business is a member's business debate on motion 1-2-5-1-6, in the name of Adam Tomkins, on welcome to Glasgow, a world city of music. The debate will be concluded without any questions being put, can I ask those members who wish to speak in the debate to press their request-to-speak buttons now in a call on Adam Tomkins to open the debate. Mr Tomkins, please. Thank you, Presiding Officer. I'd like to thank all members who supported my motion and who will speak in this evening's debate. The debate was secured some weeks ago, long before the fire last weekend that consumed not only the Glasgow School of Art, but also one of my favourite live music venues in Glasgow, the O2 ABC on Sockel Street. I have enjoyed that venue for years, not because of its enormous mirror ball, the biggest in Europe, apparently, but because of its size and its sound quality. With the capacity of about 1,300, the ABC is smaller than the Barrelands, but bigger than our and more and King Tuts. You could always get close to the stage, and because of the acoustics in the room, bands could turn it up and up without compromising sound quality. I've seen countless great gigs in that venue, including some of my favourite bands, the Felice Brothers, Jason Isbell, Drive By Truckers, among them. The smaller ABC2 in the same building is also a great venue, much more intimate than the main stage. I was last there to see Courtney Maria Andrews earlier this year when she played as part of the Celtic Connections Festival, so I go to a lot of gigs, Presiding Officer. I know that I'm not alone among members of this Parliament in enjoying what Glasgow's live music scene has to offer. That's what my motion tonight and this debate is all about. Glasgow has world-class venues, from the Hydro to King Tuts. Many of those venues are famous not just throughout Scotland but throughout the world. Bands love playing Glasgow because the venues are great and the people who flock to them are the best crowds in the world. Nothing beats a Friday night gig in Glasgow. Bands come to Glasgow to be discovered and they keep coming back once they've broken through. Of course, Glasgow grows its own bands and musicians. Bell and Sebastian, Teenage Fan Club, Mogwai, Franz Ferdinand, Travis, many, many, many more. People make Glasgow, they say. Music makes Glasgow and Glasgow makes music every night of the week. All of that adds immeasurably to Glasgow's rich and diverse cultural life, but it also makes a vital contribution to Glasgow's economy and, indeed, to Scotland's economy more generally. Music is a driver of economic growth for Glasgow. The value to Glasgow's economy of live music attendance is in the region of £160 million a year. To put that in context, more than £3 million is spent every week in Glasgow as a direct result of the live music events that the city hosts. That sustains more than 1,100 jobs across the city and attracts nearly half a million music tourists to Glasgow every year. A recently commissioned report for Scottish Enterprise and Glasgow Life explains that much more could and should be done to build on, develop and capitalise on the strength of Glasgow's live music scene. The report, growing the value for music tourism in Glasgow, is a terrific piece of work, and I commend it to members. Today, Danny Cusack, the tourism director at Scottish Enterprise, said, and I agree with him, Glasgow has huge potential to develop its music through its rich cultural heritage, as well as its range of atmospheric venues and world-class performers. We can do that not only by increasing audience numbers, by increasing audience spend, both on and off-site, and by increasing the numbers of music tourists that stay overnight or longer when they visit Glasgow for a gig. We can do it also by being much more creative and imaginative about how we celebrate Glasgow as one of the world's leading cities of music. Ten years ago, in 2008, Glasgow became the first city in the UK to be recognised as the UNESCO World City of Music. Liverpool was awarded the same designation in 2015, but Glasgow remains the only city in Scotland to have been recognised in this way. Yet we do painfully little to broadcast this fact. I have lived in Glasgow for 15 years, and in that time I have been to dozens, if not hundreds, of gigs, yet I confess until recently I did not know that Glasgow is a UNESCO world city of music. Glasgow could be twinned with other world cities of music and, indeed, with other cities with global reputations for the contribution that they have made to live music—Nashville, Memphis or New Orleans, for example. We could learn from each of these great American cities and create within Glasgow music districts. We could signpost and map routes that tell the story of Glasgow's immense and diverse contribution to music, linking the hydro in Finiston with city centre venues such as the ABC and King Tuts and on to east-end landmarks such as the Barrelands. For relatively modest investment, ideas like those could reap significant rewards in enhancing Glasgow's visitor attractiveness. With that in mind, music is quite rightly a key pillar of Glasgow's tourism and visitor plan, which has set the ambitious target of attracting 1 million more overnight visitors to Glasgow by 2023. Meeting that target will require cross-party support and collaboration, so I was delighted to see the SNP's councillor David MacDonald, deputy leader of Glasgow City Council, welcome this evening's debate. I agree with him that for Glasgow music and tourism go hand in hand. One quick change that we here could make, which would help the live music business not only in Glasgow but across Scotland, is to incorporate the so-called agent of change principle into our planning laws. That is something that a large number of Glasgow venues expressly called for in evidence to the local government committee in its stage 1 inquiry into the planning bill that is currently before us. It is a change that is also supported by UK music and the music venue trust. In short, the agent of change principle shifts responsibility for mitigating the impact of noise from an existing music venue to a developer moving into the area. If a new venue wants to open up, the burden is rightly on them to mitigate, to minimise, and to manage the effects of noise. However, if a venue already exists and developers bring forward proposals to develop nearby, the venue should not be hit with additional costs, yet that is what is happening at the moment. It is unfair and puts live music venues at a real disadvantage. That is why I lodged yesterday an amendment to the planning bill to put the agent of change principle on a statutory footing as the Parliament's local government committee recommended unanimously last month. I hope that amendment will attract all party support as this motion and debate have done this evening. Given the devastation of the fire at the Glasgow School of Art and the O2 ABC last weekend, it is quite a week to be talking about the unrivaled contribution that music, and especially live music, makes both to Glasgow's cultural life and to its economic health and wellbeing. Music pulses through Glasgow's veins and no fire will ever stop that. However, let's capitalise on what we've got and build on Glasgow's success. It is who we are, it's what we do, because we are a world city of music. Thank you. Thank you very much, Mr Tomkins. I now call Sandra White to be followed by Pauline McNeill. Ms White, please. Thank you very much, Presiding Officer, and I thank Adam Tomkins for securing this debate. As he has mentioned in his speech, it is rather poignant particularly what is happening to the Macintosh and the O2 as well. I also welcome visitors to the gallery. There is Roger, Mary, Robert, Jeanette and many others who have a great love of music in Glasgow and otherwise as well, and obviously a great interest as well. Presiding Officer, from the baror land, which I used to go to many years ago and still go sometimes, the concert hall to King Tuck, to the garage to Kelvin Grove bandstand where it was on Saturday night to see Dr Hoot, the list could go on and on and on of the many music venues across the city, and of course we can't forget the city's buskers, who are absolutely fantastic as well. Glasgow, Kelvin, my constituency alone has a massive range of word-renowned music venues, stage and electric mix of not only well-known artists and bands, but also offering opportunities for budding new musicians and songwriters to take part in a very energetic live music scene, and energetic it certainly is. In 2017, I think that Adam Tomkins has already mentioned this, three venues in Glasgow made the top 100 in the Polestar Top 100 club venues worldwide. The O2 academy, King Tuck's Wawahut and the O2 ABC. With the Hydros sitting at number four of the top 100 venues, it is an absolutely fantastic achievement for Glasgow, the people in the city as well. It is especially the point that this is the week that we are highlighting the huge contribution that live music makes to the city and our culture. We have witnessed another iconic venue devastated by fire. The O2 ABC is a hugely popular venue, and I along with many others hope that it is much love. We must remember a historical place that used to be a circus, a nice drink and a cinema. Adam Tomkins has already said that it is a fantastic live music venue. We hope that it will be salvaged and that it will continue to be an important part of the city's music scene. I welcome the report. Adam Tomkins has also mentioned this from the Scottish Enterprise in collaboration with Glasgow Life. I thank those involved in gathering the information. It is very important. It outlines further opportunities for the ready, well-established music industry that we have here in Glasgow and the huge potential to build on a successful music tourism industry, particularly if we make greater use of our UNESCO World City of Music. I agree that we should be publicising that more so that perhaps Visit Scotland and others could listen to the debate and hopefully take something from it as well. It is not only the terms of the culture effect that it has for our city and Scotland as a whole. It is also the economic effect for the city. Our night-time economy is hugely important to our city as well. The agent of change has been mentioned. Recommendations for the introduction of agent of change would certainly safeguard the future of our venues and a thriving music scene. I know that the Minister of Local Government, Adam Tomkins, has already said, along with many others and I think that Lewis Macdonald will mention that too. I think that I first mentioned it along with Lewis Macdonald quite a while back, so I am sure that Lewis Macdonald will put in more to that as well. That has been mentioned in many, many times. It is essential, particularly for smaller venues such as King Tuts, who have been under threat from developers and neighbours for a number of years and I have met up with them, Geoff Ellis and others, to talk about the agent of change and others as well. The agent of change, if it is realised and put in place, would make a great difference to the smaller venues. We cannot stand by and watch the foundations of Glasgow's successful music landscape. I am not saying that it would be destroyed, but it is a threat if the agent of change is not particularly looked at, particularly if it is to make way for luxury developments in the city. We will lose things such as King Tuts and other small, important venues. Live music has and will always be a cornerstone of life across Glasgow, and it is essential that the agent of change principle is adopted into Scottish planning policy to protect those venues. They are both cultural landmarks and tourist attractions, as well as being home to fantastic live music. It goes without saying that it is the best audience in the world—that is from Glasgow. I call Pauline McNeill to be followed by Tom Arthur. I would also like to thank Adam Tomkins for bringing in an excellent debate to the chamber. I am sure that there could be no doubt that Glasgow is the European capital of music. I believe that it is because the passion of the people who come to Glasgow and the people who live in Glasgow have for music is what makes it what it is. Music matters to Glaswegians. Music matters to people across Scotland as we sell more live tickets than any other part of the UK. Of all genres—and I think that it is important to say whether it is traditional music, classical music, rock and pop—is the combination of all of those not to exclude the DJs, who are an important creative part of the music scene. King Tuts has been mentioned many times, probably the finest small venue in the world. I will not rehearse what has already been said about the marvellous O2 venue. We will have to wish that that will return to its glory. The garage, the concert hall, the clysa, black friars, the Kelvin Grove bandstand, orn more—it could go on. They happen to all the venues, but I have experience of playing in myself who I can speak to, how wonderful they are from the largest to the smallest. The number of bands, concerts and music performances at any given time or moment in Glasgow is quite astonishing. It is thriving with creativity, and I think that it speaks to the character of the city of Glasgow. Berkeley 2, which is a well-known rehearsal space for bands, if you have ever visited it, you will see a constant flow of young bands, and it would not be unusual to bump into Susan Deakin or members of Deakin Blue, and it just shows you the metropolitan nature of Glasgow's music scene. However, as we have heard, half a million people gig in Glasgow and citizens enjoy their music. The new transmit festival, which will be two weekends this summer, is a new addition to the scene. The hydro, named as the third most popular venue in the world by Paul Start, beating Madison Square Gardens, further increases our status as the city of music. As a Glasgow citizen, it is great that you can attend a concert, go and see beyond, see whoever your favourite artist is, and be home in half an hour for tea and toast or whatever it is you do. However, the report itself highlights that there are forty-three live music venues and thirty-five music bars, and that music is one of the six core themes along with heritage contemporary arts. Perhaps what the report does our attention to is where we have maybe failed to capitalise on the question of music in the city. The UNESCO status has a badge, and the report itself says that it is poorly used and largely recognised. However, those assets, as Adam Tomkins and Sandra White have said, are under threat for key venues, which are key to the status that Glasgow has as a city of UNESCO city of music. The Barrolans ballroom, King Tuck's Wabahup, the sub-club and the classic grand are all under threat if we do not get some protection in the forthcoming planning bill. I know that Lewis Macdonald will talk about that in greater length than me, but King Tuck's this year alone has been fighting two different applications, and what they fear is enforcement action being taken against the venue, because a new development, which has admitted against the noise issues, will face complaints and possibly legal action after the building is developed. As is clear to me, if we want to protect that asset, then there has to be statutory legislation, and if I thought that that is what the Scottish Government had promised, the Barrolans ballroom in Glasgow faces the same issues. There are now severe restrictions for bands loading and unloading, or constant complaints from the new build houses across the road. That was never meant to be the case if we want to protect music venues in Glasgow. We really need to give them statutory protection. It will not be enough to introduce the agent of change as a guidance. It must be law, and if Adam Tomkins has submitted already an amendment that is subject to seeing the detail of it, I will be supporting that, and I hope that other Glasgow MSPs will do too. What to do with the report? Doug O'Pairman, who is the chair of the Scottish Music Indies Association and compiled the inner year report, clearly says that there are so many things that we would have to do to bring some of those recommendations together. The Scottish Music Industrial Organization is something that I helped to set up along with Ken Macintosh MSP, Frank Macavity, Ian Smith of the former arts council on Tam Coil, and I'm pleased to be associated with it. The music history of the city is not evident on the ground, and we have to bring that together. Twinning cities, with Glasgow such as Detroit, Rio, Paris and New York, is an important recommendation. In fact, it was the manager of Radiohead that said, first made the case for a Scottish base in New York, because he said that it would be much easier to make contact with record companies if such a basic system exists. In conclusion, Glasgow is certainly the world city of music. It should be known as such. It is a title that is deserved. It fits with Glasgow's commitment to music, and I commit to working with other MSPs, Adam Tomkins and others, to ensure that the world knows that that is the case. I thank Adam Tomkins for bringing us this issue to the chamber, and as well as reminding the chamber about the arm of the PLO to the cabinet secretary, I should also declare that I am a member of the musicians union. I have played in many of the venues that we have spoken about this evening, alas not the hydro, but I think that there are two aspects that I want to capture, and just the actual kind of value for what it is to have a city like Glasgow in a life, and the fantastic array of live music that it has. I also want to touch on what it is for the musician to have somewhere like Glasgow, which I think is very important as well. For me, Glasgow is hardwired into my whole musical development and experience. I remember going to my first gig to see Death Leopard at the ASDCC. It was 19 years ago now. I went on to see Megadeth at the Carling academy, a beggar pardon at the Barrowlands, Sigurd Rost at the Carling academy, Queen Adam Lambert at the Hydro, and that is just an array of the very many fantastic huge venues that we have and many that we have touched on. A particular venue means a lot to me as well as ABC, and it is a poignant element to this debate given the events. A particularly pleasurable woman from ABC was of all things a political party event. The SNP had a concert there just ahead of the election in 2011, which was a fantastic evening. A great experience, live music and lots of promising talent performing on stage that evening. One of the great things about Glasgow is that it is not just all these big headline venues that we know about. It is places like the state bar, howling wolf, where you will have one of the best blues jams in Glasgow, box, nice and sleazy. So much of the talent that we have in Glasgow and M&H relies on these grassroots venues that they guard upon, that they rely on the opportunities provided by those venues. Certainly for me, as someone who has been trying to make my way music and function bands and many of my colleagues, having that opportunity was invaluable. It was tough. It was difficult. Sometimes it was a question of rushing to let what kind of sound engineer you were going to have that night, and probably you were going to hear yourself on stage. Nonetheless, you had an opportunity to connect with people, to connect with punters, to build an audience. I know folk that have gone on to build successful careers. One colleague of mine from years back when I was playing a guy called Gary Johnston, he is probably not a household name, but one of the most successful guitarists and singer-songwriters in Glasgow who has been producing for a long time. He regularly, when he gets a chance off from playing many functions and events, will go to places like Chicago, New York and Nashville and go up on stage and jam with the best. When I speak with Gary, I will give him the opportunity to see the comments that he makes about just how much he values Glasgow, someone who has experienced playing in all those venues. It is clear that Glasgow is a world music city, and it is not just for audience, for spectators and for the people who consume music, but for the people who produce music. We can look at the United States, how effective it has been at advertising Chicago, Nashville and New York in particular. We know of venues that have iconic status, Madison Square Gardens and Village Vanguard. We have to be working more to make sure that those venues in Scotland have that same international status, because in terms of facilities, capacity and talent and the artists that we can attract, they are world-class venues. We must celebrate that. I very much welcome the comments from Adam Tompkins regarding looking at ways in which we can line up. Finlayson has in many regards been transformed since the advent of the Hydro, a fantastic venue, and we have seen the benefits that it has. What we have to be making sure is that when people come to the Hydro to enjoy those events, we are not just jumping on the way to training going home or popping in for a Python Finlayson, but heading in and exploding all-weeds other venues in Glasgow and having the opportunity to engage in that rich musical culture and heritage. I would again like to thank Adam Tompkins for bringing the debate to the chamber, and I look forward to seeing Glasgow continue to be a thriving and diverse world music city. I call Brian Whittle before we fall by Lewis MacDonald. Lewis MacDonald will be the last speaker in the open debate. Mr Whittle, please. I congratulate my colleague and fellow rocker, Adam Tompkins, on securing time in the chamber to debate, which, as you know, is my first love of music. I associate myself with Mr Tompkins and other comments regarding the fire at the Glasgow School of Art and the O2ABC music venue next door. I know the keenest loss that we felt in that community, and we all recognise the cultural loss of both venues. I think that the loss will be felt, much more felt, further afield, and hopefully there will be a way to be found to restore those iconic buildings now, Deputy Presiding Officer. As I have mentioned, music is my first love. Indeed, my promising career as a rock guitarist was only tragically cut short when I discovered that I had a severe lack of talent. I have had to make do with attending gigs, which I do quite regularly. Glasgow has long been a preferred music destination. Surely everyone in the chamber has a copy of that iconic album, If You Want Blood, by that little low band from Glasgow ACDC. The album was recorded at the Gold Glasgow Apollo when the band appeared on stage wearing the 1978 World Cup Scotland kit. Who does not own an album called Coal Live? It is also recorded in the Glasgow Apollo. I know that it is Mr Tompkins' music of choice as he bounces along on his runs. I suggest to him that he should be careful what he divulges in casual conversations. A band used to say that, if you can make it in Glasgow, you can make it anywhere, because if they love you, they really love you, but if they do not, keep them out of running. As I said, they are a very passionate crew. Since those days, Glasgow has grown into one of the world's premier music destinations. In fact, it is the fourth-biggest in the world by attendance. I attended a couple of concerts this year at the SAC Hydro. I have a couple more to go, both at the Hydro and at the Barlands. I would say that it is just one of those bands that I am going to see is Death Leopard. If you have time to grow your hair, Mr Arthur, you have time to grow your hair and join me at the Death Leopard concert. I am also going to the Barlands actually to see the first band that I ever saw live in 1980, a band called Saxon. Obviously, if they are still able to make it on to the stage. To balance that coolness out, I also have three daughters, which has necessitated me going along to see steps twice. I just say tragedy. The Pavilion is another gig venue that I am really attached to. I organised a gig there for three bands, one called Fat Betty, who was a thin Lizzie tribute band, absolutely fantastic band. I also backed up by Gary Mullen, who, once stars in your eyes, is Freddie Mercury, and the headliner, Pete Lof. 1,500 people enjoyed that. I wonder if the member would acknowledge that Gary Mullen is actually from Barhead in my Renfisher South constituency, showing yet again the level of musical talent that emerges from Barhead. Brian Whittle Despite the fact that he came from Barhead, I do not know if you have ever met Gary Mullen. A man more unlike Freddie Mercury will ever meet in your life until he puts his kit on. He is unbelievable. Glasgow has an incredible global reputation for music culture. It is a destination for bands setting out on their musical journey right through to global bands and stars. I have to say that, in Glasgow, I saw Bon Jovi's first-ever gig in 1983 as a support band in the Glasgow Apollo when they supported Kiss in 1983. I said that there is always a venue, there is always an audience, no matter where they are in their musical journey. It is a business that enriches the cultural reputation of the city of Glasgow and of Scotland. The value of music tourism has been estimated at £160 million, sustaining more than 1,000 jobs, and long may it continue. I once again thank my colleague Arab Tongans for bringing this debate to the chamber. I look forward to many more music bands and venues in Glasgow, as long as the bands that I follow can still remain in an upright position. I do not know if Caldwell is MacDonald. I know that this is another confessional of youth, but there we go. Mr MacDonald? No, I will resist that invitation, but thank you very much. I too would congratulate Adam Tomkins on securing this debate at what is a critical time for music venues in Glasgow and across the country. The headline story, as we have heard, is the devastation of the O2 ABC in the same conflagration last weekend that hit the School of Art. The bigger picture is the loss of venue after venue in our cities and across the country as a result of inadequate legal protection against the effects of inappropriate development. Every live music venue knows that, as things stand, it is only one persistent complainer away from being forced to close or to spend prohibitive amounts of money on sound proof technology. Studio 24 in Edinburgh downstairs in Aberdeen have already gone, and now King Tuts in Glasgow, as Pauline McNeill said, is under threat. I was at King Tuts last week, not on that occasion at a gig, but actually at the first meeting of the Scottish Venues Trust—sorry, the Scottish Venues meeting the first time that has been organised by the Music Venues Trust. I met representatives of venues all over Scotland, Sneaky Pete's in Edinburgh, Krakatoa and the Lemon Tree in Aberdeen and the operators of King Tuts. Our conversations were about the threats that they face and the opportunity that we have to change the law in their favour. One of the most immediate threats, as I say, is to King Tuts itself, because Glasgow City Council has just granted planning permission for our private residence to be built next door. The terms of that approval—a public document—are disappointing, and they appear to confirm the fear that the Scottish Government's acceptance of the principle of agent of change does not, of itself, go far enough. According to the letter issued to planning authorities in February by the chief planner on behalf of the Scottish Government, where a new residential property is to be developed within the vicinity of an existing music venue, the responsibility for mitigating adverse effects should sit with the housing developer as the agent of change, pretty clear. However, Glasgow City Council's approval of the housing development application in May says, by contrast, that it should be noted that the nearby licensed concert venue has a duty and obligation to control and manage noise within the premises and any noise escape and ensure that their premises are suitably sound attenuated. In other words, for this planning authority, the chief planner's letter, which introduced the principle of agent of change to planning practice in Scotland for the first time, has not been applied. That letter directed planning authorities to ensure that issues around the potential impact from live music venues are always appropriately assessed and addressed when considering proposals, either by venues themselves or for development in their vicinity, and that decisions reflect the agent of change principle. Well, clearly that has not happened in this case. Of course, Glasgow City Council will not be the only authority that has yet to change its approach to such issues in line with the new ministerial guidance. The problem is that, although that new guidance is welcome, it is only guidance. Until the agent of change principle is enshrined in law, venues such as King Tuts in Glasgow and others across the country will remain under threat. That is why I think the local government and communities committee recognised in its stage 1 report in the planning bill that a principle that is not enshrined in statute will always be open to interpretation and to challenge in circumstances in which councils have traditionally been used to giving developers the benefit of the doubt. If we are to secure the objectives that are shared by ministers and by the local government committee, and I suspect by the great majority of members of this Parliament and, of course, by the music industry and music venues, we need to go beyond guidance and enshrine the principle of agent of change in planning law. That way, we can really protect all of our live music venues, both in Glasgow and across Scotland. Thank you very much and I call on Fiona Hyslop to close to the cabinet secretary please. Thank you to Adam Tomkins for the opportunity to have this important debate. Perhaps it is even more important now in light of that terrible and devastating fire at the Glasgow School of Art, which also spread to the adjacent O2ABC building, one of the city's major live music venues, as we have heard in this debate. While investigations will now take place to establish what happened and what can be done, it is also important that we do not lose sight of the many great things that are currently happening in Glasgow, particularly around music. Glasgow is recognised internationally for its vibrant and thriving music scene, which attracts music lovers from all over the world. As we have heard and as the report clearly sets out, that translates into an important economic contribution and more than 1,000 full-time jobs. However, the value of music to Glasgow is far from limited to economic benefits. Music in particular live music enriches people's lives and enhances our society. It makes a huge contribution to our culture and also how others see us. It demonstrates what a vibrant, lively and exciting place Glasgow but also Scotland is. Music is in the very fabric of the city, which is why it has been named a UNESCO city of music. It is a great recognition that, as a number of speakers have said, deserves to be brought to the fore. Last year, when I met Councillor David Macdonald, I then knew the appointed chair of Glasgow Life. He shared his plans to make more of that UNESCO designation. In March this year, I met the Deputy Director General of UNESCO in Paris. I expressed our strong support for UNESCO's work and our commitment to promote and harness the value that its recognition brings. He was also very pleased in March that I told him of the Glasgow City Council's undertakings to make more of the UNESCO city of music recognition. Glasgow has a great opportunity to put its name on the music map that it already does through the recognition and the networks that it brings. Working in partnership, we need to do everything that we can to ensure that that opportunity is lost. Tom Arthur and his remarks have effectively made the important point about the grassroots venues and being a pipeline of music opportunity and talent. I have already been tasked by officials last year to look at what can be done in terms of support. It has already been discussed with other jurisdictions, Wales and others at the British Irish Council, including the discussions around agents of change. Festivals are a key part of the music experience in Glasgow. The world's largest winter festival, Celtic Connections, is a great showcase of Scottish traditional music. Earlier this year, I decided to open up the festival's expo fund to include Celtic Connections for the first time, enabling them to apply for funding of up to £100,000 in the £18-19 budget. Set up in 2008, the festival's expo fund also supports artists from Celtic Connections to make their most of their career opportunities internationally. Of course, no-one has mentioned that this summer we will also see again the world pipe band championships, which again has a fantastic opportunity to bring people from music to the city. Four of our five national performing companies are based in Glasgow, the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, the National Theatre of Scotland, Scottish Ballet and Scottish Opera. Now, in the 12th year of direct government support, they are making significant contribution to Glasgow and across all of Scotland. In terms of the major infrastructure investments that the Government has provided, capital support of £5.4 million to develop the Glasgow Theatre Royal for Scottish Opera and £8.5 million to support the creation of a new home for the Royal Scottish National Orchestra as part of the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall. That new national orchestra centre not only provides the orchestra with state-of-the-art operational base but also provides Glasgow with a purpose-built music venue in addition. The dedicated learning and engagement centre supports music making and creativity for young people and communities across Scotland. Of course, much of this debate has been about contemporary music or, in Brian Whittle's point, contemporary music that was once contemporary but is now part of the history of many. The National Museum of Scotland will this week open a major exhibition over the summer dedicated to Scottish pop music. Rip it up, exploring the musical culture of Scotland over more than half a century, featuring artists and bands from Orange Juice to Franz Ferdinand. Live music venues are an important part of why people come to Glasgow for music, and I was saddened to hear about the fire this weekend at the O2 ABC. We have a number of much-loved venues that have provided both a stage for emerging new talent and some of the biggest names in the music industry. We have venues that include the Barlands, I think that I saw the alarm there once, and the King Tuts, the sub-club that played such a pivotal role not only in the careers of Scottish but also international acts. That is a very important point that Pauline McNeill made about the relevance now to the international aspects. Their character and uniqueness are a key part of that live music experience. I was also pleased to see that the SEC Hydro was the fourth busiest arena in the world in 2017 in terms of ticketed sales, according to Polestar, behind only the O2 in London, Madison Square Garden and Manchester Arena. That quick and rapid assent to that top world-class experience is something that we should be very conscious of. Whether it is long-established or new and emerging, we need to protect the culturally and socially significant space that music venues provide. I want to play tribute, particularly to Lewis MacDonald, because he has pursued this issue for some time. I also want to say to those who are on the local government committee where Bob Dorris, who is a convener, made sure that there was extended evidence on this particular subject as part of the planning bill consideration. That is precisely why the minister for local government and housing announced earlier this year our intention to introduce the agent of change principle into the next planning framework. At the same time, as we have heard, the chief planner wrote to all planning authorities, highlighting the Scottish Government's support for agent of change, specifically asking them to ensure that issues around the potential impact of noise from live music venues are always appropriately assessed and addressed. In giving evidence to the local government and communities committee on the planning bill, the music venue trust noted that Scotland is already leading the way in the UK with the strength of our message on agent of change. We have viewed the inclusion of the agent of change principle in the national planning framework as the appropriate approach, and the planning bill seeks to strengthen the status of the framework. Nevertheless, I understand that the minister for local government and housing is considering the views of the committee as to whether it might be appropriate to bring forward an amendment to the bill, and I undertake, if at least what Donald has not already done so, to draw the attention of the chief planner and the minister to the May case that he was referring to in Glasgow in the generality of the policy issue. This year, of course, is a particularly exciting year for Glasgow, running alongside the biggest sporting event in Scotland since the Commonwealth Games. We have the 2018 European Championships. The cultural programme festival 28 will deliver the best in music and other art forms, and through a groundbreaking cultural partnership between Glasgow and Berlin, a scaled-up merchant city festival will deliver the best in Scottish and international arts and entertainment. Music will be the heart of the festival, with a range of concerts and activities, including Mix the City, a digital online music platform that creates musical soundscapes of Glasgow and Berlin. That has been a very important, constructive and engaging debate. It puts the importance of music rightly at front and centre. I am very supportive of many of the comments that I have made that members might appreciate, and I will use my efforts to ensure that we continue to have a great grassroots pipeline of music in Scotland, but also some of the practical issues that are facing the venues, whether it is immediate or, indeed, strategically, can be addressed. We have great ambition in Scotland, but we also have great talent. There is something about the audiences in Glasgow that many have referred to that is very special indeed. I particularly like Adam Tomkin's comments that, yes, music makes Glasgow, but Glasgow makes music, and it does not do that particularly well. Thank you. That concludes the debate, and I have learned much more about Mr Tomkins than perhaps I ought to know. I close this meeting of Parliament.