Scottish Parliament – Jan. 14, 2025 – 2

S6M-16092.2: As an amendment to motion S6M-16092 in the name of Angus Robertson (Valuing Culture: Scotland's Support to the Culture Sector), leave out from second “welcomes” to end and insert “acknowledges the scale of the crisis that the culture sector has been suffering over a number of years;

notes that the Scottish Government has not held a debate on support for the culture sector in the current parliamentary session until now;

welcomes the intention to increase the culture budget by £34 million in 2025-26, following the record budget settlement of £47.7 billion to the Scottish Government from the UK Labour administration;

notes the observation by the Constitution, Europe, External Affairs and Culture Committee that the culture sector’s ‘confidence remains low due to the lack of clarity from the Scottish Government regarding its priorities for the additional investment’, and believes that Scotland’s cultural communities must be supported to continue to develop and innovate in exhibition, performance and participation in Scotland’s artistic life.”

Original motion(S6M-16092): That the Parliament celebrates arts and culture in Scotland in all their diverse forms, past, present and emerging;

recognises the transformational impact that they can have on people’s lives across Scotland;

welcomes the economic contribution that the cultural and creative industries workforces make to society and the economy;

acknowledges the importance of the community culture sector, and commends the innovative local organisations, in both rural and urban areas, for the work that they do to support participation in cultural pursuits;

considers that a strong and successful culture sector is central to the prosperity of the nation;

welcomes that, against a backdrop of cultural funding being cut by the UK Government, the draft Scottish Government Budget for 2025-26 increases frontline culture funding by £34 million, and believes that Scotland’s cultural communities can be supported to continue to develop and innovate in exhibition, performance and participation in Scotland’s artistic life.