Half Term

The Parliament is now in recess for 2 weeks due to the half term holidays that take place at different times across Scotland. With a general election less than 4 months away, many MSPs (and their staff) will be helping in the campaign with a view to the Scottish elections next year.  While they are in campaign mode the Scottish parties will also be looking to develop policy for the manifestos, so a ripe time to influence the future political direction.

Creative Industries

Last week it was the turn of the The Cabinet Secretary for Culture, Europe and External Affairs, Fiona Hyslop to give evidence to the Economy, Energy and Tourism Committee to the review of the Economic Impact of the Creative Industries.

Economic Impact of the Creative Industries

Economic Impact of the Creative Industries

Economic Impact of the Creative Industries

Economic Impact of the Creative Industries

She was accompanied by John Swinney, Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Economy, who had announced an extra £3 M for the screen sector the day before.  During the evidence, Hyslop said the timing of this announcement was coincidence.

Much of the session was spent defending the role of Creative Scotland using the example of World War Z and Outlander. As I have previously pointed out in these blogs, Outlander did contribute to the economy as it was produced here whereas other films such as Z just used Scotland as a back drop and contributed very little, except disruption.   The Minsters went on to point out the tension between the artistic remit of Creative Scotland and the business development of Scottish Enterprise but stated that Creative Scotland is the lead body on the creative sector. 

Studio

Hyslop said there was progress towards the private development of a film and TV studio in Scotland through a government loan and she hoped that would be delivered in the near future and maybe optimistically claiming it would be delivered by the present government. The studio has been a long running saga with witnesses saying that it was first discussed in 1940 and the lack of these facilitates had led to a decline of the screen sector in Scotland.

Video Gaming

Swinney stated that Scottish Enterprise was able to deliver diversity in its support for companies and sectors and it did not just support large firms.  He went onto to say that games producers were just as likely to be supported as any company with growth potential and were able to access funds and expertise. They also promised to consider the evidence that the Games industry is caught between the 2 stools.

Life Sciences

Last week the life sciences industry was celebrated at the annual awards ceremony organised by Scottish Enterprise.  There were 800 guests at the event which recognises the achievements in a sector worth £3 billion.

Lobbying Bill

Scottish Committee calls for register of “significant” lobbying activity which would include consultants and those employed to undertake public affairs.  

For those interested further analysis is provided by @PubAffairs.