Culture summary - Programme for Government
Today the Scottish Parliament returned from summer recess and First Minister John Swinney delivered the first Programme for Government (PfG) since the election. The lead up to and both events themselves contain a number of noteworthy updates.
Programme for Government
Unlike PfGs of the recent past, culture featured heavily:
On funding, the FM confirmed the Scottish Government’s commitment to deliver a £100mil uplift in funding to the sector by 28-29, and a further £50mil by the end of the Parliament (May 2031)
Further specific announcements were framed in terms of the duration of the Parliament (rather than the coming year), these included:
Introducing a Youth Culture Pass
Working with the sector to design and deliver a National Performing Company for Traditional Music
Piloting a Scottish Artists Minimum Income
Importantly, the PfG contained a commitment from the FM to deliver all our other commitments to the sector.
Our manifesto commitment tracker includes detail on these. We’re pleased to see an explicit commitment to delivery on all commitments made by the SNP during the election, particularly in relation to cultural legislation. We've been making the case and building the evidence base for the development of A Culture Act for Scotland for the last 12 months.
Central to the case we’ve made is that new legislation for culture must be consultative - developed in collaboration with the sector, the public, and partners across related policy areas, and flexibly responding to the differing needs across the diversity of Scotland’s places. That level of consultation would not be possible if the Bill was brought forward too quickly. We’ll be seeking detail on Scottish Government’s plans to begin that process, and looking to see progress reflected in subsequent Programmes for Government.
Cultural legislation also featured heavily in the last meeting of the Europe, External Affairs and Culture Committee before the summer recess. Convener, Patrick Harvie MSP noted:
The Scottish National Party also committed in its manifesto to introducing a culture bill. I think that it is reasonable to expect that that legislation will be co-developed with the sector. If that is the case and we can get early indications from the Government about its intentions on timing, the committee will have an important opportunity to provide a space in which the sector can, on the record and in public, express its view, or multiple views, on the direction of travel for that legislation.
In terms of the PfG more widely, Public Service Reform featured heavily, and the year 1 legislative programme accompanying the PfG included a Public Service Renewal (Scotland) Bill to give statutory backing, where required, to reform the public service delivery landscape in support of the aims of the Public Service Reform Strategy.
As we’ve highlighted in recent evidence to the parliamentary committee, public service reform contains both significant opportunities and risks for culture – this is an area we’ll continue to monitor closely over the coming months.
Additional Scottish Government announcements
Further detail on the development of the National Performing Company for Traditional music was announced in advance of the PfG (press release here). The Scottish Government team working on this initiative have released this survey (deadline 30 September) seeking views from those working in the sector on the shape the new company should take
Further announcements from SG include £1.5 million for local authorities working to establish Areas of Linguistic Significance and up to £14m to support the refurbishment of the People’s Palace and Winter Gardens.