Seòmar agus comataidhean

One thing that has come up—or that has certainly been put to me—is that, when an escape takes place, it needs to be reported and information needs to be made available to the community in real time rather than weeks or months after the event. What can be done practically in regulation to make sure that the reporting to the community and other interests around about is done quickly?

I have no idea what the ministers’ diaries are like. I agree that, ideally, it would be a minister, but we really should keep our minds open to the possibility that it would be an official at this very short notice, given the fact that much of what we are looking for is technical information.

I will pick up on and amplify that point. Obviously, industry has a role in compliance, whether with regard to escapees or anything else. Without minimising the role of Government and legislation, do you know whether the picture is improving on the efforts that industry makes on compliance?

Good morning, everyone, agus gu sònraichte madainn mhath dhan nàbaidh agamsa an-diugh, Art bho Fhèisean nan Gàidheal.

I want to ask about the concept of unmet cultural need. I want to start with Steve Byrne and Arthur Cormack in the context of traditional arts and then perhaps broaden the discussion to everyone to talk about what they understand by the concept.

I want to start with Art Cormack, because, traditionally, traditional arts have not historically featured as a priority in educational or cultural policy in Scotland. As people have said, that is now changing for the better. Is there still an unmet cultural need in Scottish traditional culture, and is there a more general unmet need in other areas of the arts that we should also try to fill?

The question is for Art and Steve first, then for everyone else.

I hope that they have recorded that in the Official Report.

I can bring him in, either in continuous prose or in song or music before I open it up to everyone else. No pressure, ma-thà.

That wis fair braw that Ah set that up. Fowk micht jalouse Ah hid set it up, but Ah hidnae.

Art Cormack is a fine singer too. I do not know if he has a song.

My final question is for Gilly Mendes Ferreira. Your organisation’s position is that unregulated tracks should come to an end. I realise that there is only one track in Scotland and that it is unregulated, so it is difficult to make a recommendation about anything else. However, as others have mentioned, we have heard an awful lot about the differences between the commercial GBGB tracks operating in England and what seems to be a hobby activity in Thornton. I do not say that to minimise the risks, but we have heard an awful lot about some of the casualty figures for GBGB tracks. I appreciate that there is only one track in Scotland for you to come to a view on, and that it happens to be unregulated, but why did you focus on unregulated tracks and make recommendations to bring that activity to an end?

Some of the points that I was going to ask about have been covered. I want to briefly get your assessment of the SAWC report. As members have said, in questioning people at committee sessions, it was difficult to get an indication of how evidence was gathered. A lot of our questions simply drew answers such as, “Oh, we don’t have any evidence on that.” Are you satisfied with the report? I am not here to rubbish it, but we were surprised by how many times we heard the answer, “We didn’t gather any evidence on that—sorry, we don’t know.”

Thank you.