Chamber and committees

Good morning. Last night, when I was preparing for the meeting, I looked at your website and your strategic framework, which says that Creative Scotland supports

“the arts, screen and creative industries as a development organisation, a funder, an advocate, and as a public body that seeks to influence others to increase opportunity and maximise the impact our resources can offer.”

A lot of major players in your sector have given evidence in the past couple of weeks and, each time, I have asked the same question: I have asked how they influence others and how they engage with the Government on how their creativity can make a difference in Scotland. When I have asked that question, as I did earlier, not one of the representatives of those organisations has mentioned Creative Scotland as being part of that, so my question is: what is the point of Creative Scotland?

I will tell you exactly what I need from you, Lori. I am buying into the idea. My constituency in Paisley is a post-industrial town. Culture is a major part of the regeneration of that town centre and will be part of the regeneration of town centres throughout Scotland: I want Paisley to be that pilot.

The Ferguslie Park idea is a perfect example of how culture makes a difference in communities. What I need from you, therefore, is to get a loudhailer and make sure that everybody knows and hears that. I will do all that I can on my side, but we really need to go into Government with a sharp elbow, especially in these challenging times. I am just trying to work out what the mechanisms are for you to do so.

I am quite happy for Mr Rennie to ask his question, convener.

I was quite interested in what Mr Rennie was saying there.

Professor Muir, you have talked about the governance of the bodies. What should the key functions of the bodies be and what should the new organisation look like?

I said that I was not going to go on about culture change, but I am going to come to it now, Professor Donaldson. I agree with you, but how do we get to that stage? All the organisations that I mentioned, including the education committees in 32 local authorities, will sit there saying, “This is a fantastic report that we have just received on that school.” If people take that and look at the new ways of working, they might get a bit cynical about it and ask how we can convince the partner organisations that that is the way forward.

Clearly, the next round is on you, if you have that swear box. [Laughter.]

Finally, you have admitted that it is quite a crowded landscape. I am buying into what you say, but how do we navigate that crowded landscape to get ourselves to the stage where we are making the cultural change that you keep talking about, Professor Muir?

Thank you and good morning. This follows on from the questions that I asked earlier. I am not going to go on about the cultural part, because we kicked that ball around quite a bit earlier on.

One of the things about inspection is that we know that local authorities appreciate inspections. We know that the education authorities and parents respect the whole process. When we get to the stage of making a decision on how we will go forward, should it be the new chief inspector who makes decisions on the principles of inspection, or should that be in the bill? Probably Professor Donaldson is a good starter for that one.

We talk about a refocused Education Scotland, which to me seems strange: either it is working or it is not working—maybe that is because I am a St Mirren fan and like black and white, but never mind. You have spoken today about cultural change with an open and listening leadership. That sums up everything that you have said today. What does Education Scotland need to do? You are saying that much does not come from the ground up but seems to get stuck in the middle before it gets anywhere near a Government minister hearing about any ideas coming up from the trenches. How do you see that organisation going forward? What changes are needed for some of your ideas, which I have much sympathy with, to work?

It is not so much that they need to know more than a single word. It is more about knowing that parents are engaging with the process when their child is going through education. Parents have got busy lives; it is just a case of finding a way to get the message across.

I take on board what you are saying but do you believe, as Professor Muir says—I suppose that you do as you have spoken about citizens assembly ideas—that we have to engage with all the stakeholders involved to get that idea of cultural change over? Otherwise, I know that in education you can go down one route and then there will be somebody over there in the corner saying, “You forgot about me”.