To ask the Scottish Government how much money has been distributed by Creative Scotland in the previous 12 months. (S6O-05123)

I begin by drawing members’ attention to the publication today of the Scottish Government’s international strategy report. I am sure that I speak for us all when I thank everyone in the global network who does so much to promote Scottish exports, inward investment, tourism growth and much else besides.

In answer to Liam Kerr’s question, Creative Scotland distributed a total of £113,266,072 in award commitments between 1 November 2024 and 6 November 2025. That figure consists of more than £88 million from the Scottish Government and more than £25 million in national lottery awards to promote resilience, diversity and innovation and to help support the arts to thrive in communities across Scotland.

A key development over that period was the delivery of the multiyear funding programme, which began distributing funding in April this year to more than double the number of organisations that had previously been in receipt of core funding from Creative Scotland.

Interrogating those figures, we see that in the past five years, Creative Scotland has spent just over £430,000 on culture projects via its crowdmatch fund. Out of 110 projects that were given public money, only four were from the North East. Those projects got a total of £20,330—that is less than 5 per cent of the fund for Aberdeenshire and Moray. Does the Cabinet secretary believe that Creative Scotland is too focused on the central belt and will he commit to reviewing how Creative Scotland can ensure a more equitable distribution to the North East?

I thank Mr Kerr for raising the issue of regional distribution. I know that members across the chamber who represent different parts of the country will want to make sure that local arts and cultural organisations and venues are properly funded.

Across the North East region of Scotland, there are 24 multiyear-funded organisations. Those include seven in Aberdeenshire, eight in Aberdeen city, eight in Dundee city and one in Angus. I will look closely at the fund that Mr Kerr has drawn my attention to, to satisfy myself that the applications match the criteria. To him, and to all members, I say that I would encourage all cultural and arts organisations, regardless of where they are, to apply for funding. That is their best chance of getting a successful funding decision, so I encourage as many cultural and arts organisations in the North East as possible to do so.

The Cabinet secretary has been engaging with Cumbernauld Theatre Trust in relation to support when its transition funding from Creative Scotland runs out. Can he provide an update and state his confidence in Cumbernauld theatre and its ability to successfully resolve the matter to enable it to continue the good work that it has been doing for the past 60 years?

The Scottish Government understands the important role that Cumbernauld theatre plays in its community and the wider culture sector. As Mr Hepburn indicated, the Scottish Government continues to engage with the Cumbernauld Theatre Trust and the theatre’s other public sector partners, including Creative Scotland and North Lanarkshire Council, to support efforts to secure its future and to understand the options that are available to the trust.

I take this opportunity to publicly thank Jamie Hepburn for all that he has been doing to support Cumbernauld theatre.

There has been a lot of controversy about the issue that Liam Kerr raised, as well as about the transparency of the decision-making process behind the awards of funding. Angela Leitch’s review of Creative Scotland is due to be published this month. Will it be published?

I am confident that the report will be published as planned. On Stephen Kerr’s point about transparency, I have no doubt that the Constitution, Europe, External Affairs and Culture Committee, of which he is a member, will make sure that it has the best possible answers from Creative Scotland and from the review process so that he and other members can satisfy themselves about the conclusions that are presented. I have not seen those conclusions; I look forward to seeing them. I lay great weight and store on the advice that we will be receiving, and I look forward to seeing that report as planned.