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Official Report: search what was said in Parliament

The Official Report is a written record of public meetings of the Parliament and committees.  

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Dates of parliamentary sessions
  1. Session 1: 12 May 1999 to 31 March 2003
  2. Session 2: 7 May 2003 to 2 April 2007
  3. Session 3: 9 May 2007 to 22 March 2011
  4. Session 4: 11 May 2011 to 23 March 2016
  5. Session 5: 12 May 2016 to 5 May 2021
  6. Current session: 12 May 2021 to 21 April 2025
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Displaying 498 contributions

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Constitution, Europe, External Affairs and Culture Committee [Draft]

Crisis in Ukraine

Meeting date: 26 January 2023

Sarah Boyack

Another thing occurred to me after Jenni Minto’s question about culture. Most of us do not know about Ukrainian heritage, so would it be possible for you to send us a briefing on the key dates in the year so that we could put them on our website or have them in our minutes?

Constitution, Europe, External Affairs and Culture Committee [Draft]

Crisis in Ukraine

Meeting date: 26 January 2023

Sarah Boyack

One thing that strikes me is that the welcoming at the start of the process is very good, but the following-up with people and making sure that information is available afterwards is an issue, and your suggestions on that are helpful.

The other observation that I have is that we first had these discussions early on in Putin’s invasion, and people were thinking in the short term. We now have the experience of Ukrainians who have been in Scotland for several months, and we need to raise that longer-term support and connectivity with colleagues.

Ukrainians have mentioned to me that when they arrived they were so grateful that they had escaped and had another start, but they did not want to mention health issues such as post-traumatic stress disorder or other long-term conditions on day 1. We need to make sure that we give them relevant information. I know that some of that information is available in Ukrainian from the health service, but perhaps we need to work out how to get it to people directly, so that they can access that advice and make use of it.

Constitution, Europe, External Affairs and Culture Committee [Draft]

Crisis in Ukraine

Meeting date: 26 January 2023

Sarah Boyack

We can feed that in as well. Thank you.

Constitution, Europe, External Affairs and Culture Committee [Draft]

Crisis in Ukraine

Meeting date: 26 January 2023

Sarah Boyack

In Edinburgh, we have a group called the Welcoming, whose members reach out to people who have come to Edinburgh—because it is a capital city, we tend to get a lot of folk. The group has put on lots of classes, so maybe there is experience there that could be shared. Could we do more to mobilise our local community support? I know that that has been successful when it has happened in Edinburgh. Could we as MSPs do more to encourage that work to happen with our councils?

Constitution, Europe, External Affairs and Culture Committee [Draft]

Crisis in Ukraine

Meeting date: 26 January 2023

Sarah Boyack

I mean both the local community and the Ukrainian community.

Constitution, Europe, External Affairs and Culture Committee

Presidency of the Council of the European Union

Meeting date: 19 January 2023

Sarah Boyack

Are there any practical ways that we could do that across the Council of Europe or by talking to different countries in the network?

Constitution, Europe, External Affairs and Culture Committee

Budget Scrutiny 2023-24

Meeting date: 19 January 2023

Sarah Boyack

Cabinet secretary, you mentioned the issue of where the money will come from. I note that solutions have been suggested, such as the tourism visitor levy; a percentage for the arts scheme, which your manifesto said could generate £150 million a year; and social prescribing. However, as with multiyear funding, those are not here now; potentially, they are years away. Does that not take us back to the perfect storm and the need to save organisations now? That came across incredibly strongly from Creative Scotland last week, and it has also come across from many organisations that have lobbied us individually.

I know that you will not be able to comment on the Filmhouse. However, to look at the issue, there were enough investor organisations to keep the Filmhouse going, yet it went straight into administration, with no public discourse and with nobody knowing about it. There is something about keeping our organisations open—keeping the “doors open”, as Sir John Leighton said to us in September. How do we support Creative Scotland now, rather than cutting it? There might be cross-Government support, such as business support and economic advice to organisations now.

Creative Scotland made clear to us that organisations will potentially go under without support now. Therefore, it is about two things: not only support now, in terms of funding through Creative Scotland, but advice and support to avoid that culture of doom that was talked about last week. How do we keep organisations going when there are potentially donors, funders and local organisations that, when faced with a crisis, would come together?

I know that you cannot talk about the Filmhouse but, with two weeks to go, there are people out there who have resources and would be up for saving that organisation. That issue is not just local but international, because of the Edinburgh international film festival. What do we do now?

10:15  

Constitution, Europe, External Affairs and Culture Committee

Budget Scrutiny 2023-24

Meeting date: 19 January 2023

Sarah Boyack

I have a brief follow-up question, cabinet secretary. It was good to hear that you talked to local government representatives. Every time that I do that, they just remind me of the cuts that they have experienced over the past decade and of the fact that culture has taken the biggest cut. It would be very welcome if new items could be put on the agenda to support culture, and to support people in the cultural sector, and—reflecting on your last comments—artists in particular, to work in schools.

Constitution, Europe, External Affairs and Culture Committee

Presidency of the Council of the European Union

Meeting date: 19 January 2023

Sarah Boyack

It is excellent to have you with us today. I have a follow-up question. In June last year, we had a very good visit to Brussels. We need to follow up, rebuild and reset our relationships. You have your top priorities, and I wonder about the other softer power issues, such as culture, education and tourism—you also talked about trade. Are there ways that we can re-establish connections or not lose those connections with the range of members that you have in the Council of the European Union?

Constitution, Europe, External Affairs and Culture Committee

Budget Scrutiny 2023-24

Meeting date: 19 January 2023

Sarah Boyack

Following on from that, it is about what practical support could be available now. There is support for organisations through Creative Scotland. It is clear that it is difficult for organisations that are using reserves, because they have those reserves for very good reasons—they could be about the organisation’s legal obligations, for example. The issue is about support for them now. Going back to the cuts to Creative Scotland, it is about that message of health and wellbeing, jobs, economy and tourism; it is about not only the cultural aspect but the wider impact on the economy.

I will broaden that out to look at our big five cultural organisations: Scottish Ballet, Scottish Opera, the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and the National Theatre of Scotland. They have had standstill budgets since 2016-17. How do we support our organisations now? Part of that is through funding, but part of it is through challenging Covid hesitancy, which Donald Smith spoke about last week. What is the Scottish Government doing to get people back into culture? We have a cost of living crisis, but what more could the Scottish Government do now to get people back into culture and to support those organisations now?