Current Petitions

We now come to the petitions on Robert Burns. The first is PE861 by Bob Leitch, on behalf of the board of directors of the Ayrshire Chamber of Commerce and Industry, which calls on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Executive to act immediately to create a task force to integrate and develop all Burns assets, properties and locations throughout Scotland, which would result in a national Burns heritage trail being ready for the year of the homecoming in 2009 and available for promotion internationally by the end of 2006.The other petition is PE824 by Peter Watson, on behalf of Alloway and Doonfoot community council. It calls on the Scottish Parliament to review the policy and commitment of the Scottish Executive to place Robert Burns and his legacy at the heart of its culture and tourism policies and to urge the Scottish Executive to assume responsibility for bringing together all interested parties to ensure that the flagship assets of our Burns heritage are properly restored and developed in good time for the major events planned for the 2009 homecoming year, which marks the 250th anniversary of the birth of the national bard.Given that we have had a series of petitions on Burns, the committee felt it appropriate to invite the Minister for Tourism, Culture and Sport to discuss the issues with us more fully. I am delighted that the minister accepted our invitation and is with us this morning. She is accompanied by Dr Carolyn Ferguson. I offer the minister the opportunity to comment on the petitions and Robert Burns generally. We will then discuss the points that you make to us. I thank you for coming this morning.

I am happy to make some remarks and I thank the committee for inviting me.As the committee knows, Scotland's tourism industry benefits greatly from our cultural history and Burns is one of our best-known figures. He has attained, at least in some countries, the status of cultural icon. The legacy of his work is well known and is enjoyed far and wide.As I think committee members will be aware, the Scottish Executive is committed to using the 250th

anniversary in 2009 of Robert Burns's birth as one means of encouraging people of Scots ancestry worldwide and people without that background to see this as an opportunity to come to Scotland. It is an opportunity for us to showcase our country generally. I have taken a close personal interest in the development of the celebration. We have been working to ensure that we address as a matter of urgency the poor state of the Burns cottage and the museum and the difficulties that face the heritage park. Those issues should be of concern to everyone in Scotland, but I reassure committee members that I believe that we are moving in the right direction to secure their future. I have been encouraged by recent positive developments.The Executive took the initiative and brought together relevant interested parties to secure a positive outcome for the long-term future of the national heritage park and the Burns collection. Proposals for a significant redevelopment of the heritage park, including a new museum, are being taken forward by the Scottish Executive through the National Trust for Scotland. The Executive expects, in the fullness of time, to be asked to make a capital contribution to the project. As we speak, the National Trust for Scotland is in the process of taking over ownership of the national heritage park from the current Burns trustees and is preparing a proposal for lottery funding, which is aimed at meeting the remainder of the expected cost of fully redeveloping the Burns assets at Alloway. Of course, we are also assisting with that.The management and redevelopment of the park by the National Trust for Scotland appears to present the best way of securing the long-term future of the park. In addition to the infrastructure measures, in the past month, I announced that the Executive is to give the Robert Burns World Federation a grant of £20,000 a year for the next five years to help fund its operation. We see the federation as being vital to our work for 2009. We have also awarded £150,000 through the Scottish Arts Council to support Burns initiatives, including Burnsong, which is a unique biannual project that has been created by Dumfries and Galloway Arts Association to inspire a new era of song writing in Scotland, which will culminate in 2009.Our plans to recruit a project director and to create an advisory board with experience of both public and private sectors to work for 2009 are going ahead well. In line with advice that we received from the University of Glasgow, the advisory board will provide direction and guidance during the development of the programme of events for 2009. Allan Burns, a director of Diageo, has been appointed chair of the board.I hope that the committee agrees that the Burns legacy is alive and well and that we are acting now to secure a longer-term future for it.

I invite members to make points or ask questions, after which we will decide what to do with the petitions.

A heritage trail in some parts of the country was established some time ago by, I think, Dumfries and Galloway Council. However, the fact that people who are involved in the Burns heritage and who live in that locality do not know about it tells us that the trail is not as successful as we would like it to be. We will ask the advisory board to work on a heritage trail so that something will be in place by 2009. We want it particularly to consider matters such as joint ticketing so that people can buy one ticket that will give them access at least to the most memorable, impressive or significant parts of the heritage. One problem that we will undoubtedly face is that because the Burns collection is widely scattered throughout the country, we must identify a meaningful trail. That is important; there is no point in saying that there is a trail if people cannot follow it. We will ask the advisory group to work on a trail in its early work. We think that the matter is important and we want a trail to be created.

There are parts of the distributed Burns collection that belong elsewhere—some were created outwith Ayrshire or Dumfries and Galloway and some have gone abroad and are in private or institutional hands. However, John Scott is probably referring to items that were taken from the museum in Ayrshire because of the conditions in which they were stored. One of the ways in which we have helped is through the national collections providing curatorial support and taking into safekeeping for conservation items that were under threat because of the conditions in which they were kept in Ayrshire. The plan is to return them when the new facilities are in place.

I, too, welcome the additional commitment that the minister outlined on behalf of the Executive to ensure that we maintain a focus on the Burns heritage, not just in the run-up to 2009, but beyond. I must mention the considerable and quite astonishing cross-party support that my colleague John Scott demonstrated. That is some feat, minister.The rationalisation and clarification of the ownership issues are also welcome, because that was a recipe for confusion. I note that the Executive is likely to commit capital to the project, so my question is about revenue support. I am clear that a lottery funding application is being made, which we all hope will be successful. If it is not, how will the project be taken forward as intended?

It is fair to say that the various partners in the project are highly committed to it and that a great deal of work has already been done to ensure that it will attract lottery funding. I know that there is much good will among Heritage Lottery Fund members towards the application having a positive outcome. Obviously we cannot prejudge the decision, but we have as favourable a set of circumstances as it is possible to have. The Heritage Lottery Fund well understands the importance of the work that we are trying to do in Ayrshire and is supportive of it. I have every reason to be hopeful that we will get a satisfactory outcome.One of the reasons why the heritage park is in the situation that it is in is that the revenue stream has not been able to keep pace with outgoings. We are mindful of that and are working with the partners to identify how that should be dealt with in the future. It is in everyone's interests for the park to be as self-sufficient as possible and if matters are handled properly, that can be achieved. We will consider how to go about that as part of the formulation of business plans and forward working for the project.

I do not think that we could ever have accommodated in the advisory group everyone who had an interest in Burns, but we had to put together a group that involved everyone who had a responsibility for the heritage so that they could make progress together. The advisory group will include people from VisitScotland, the National Archives of Scotland, South Ayrshire Council, the enterprise companies, the Heritage Lottery Fund and the universities that have an interest in Burns. In addition, I feel that it is important to have a representative of the Robert Burns World Federation to represent the pure Burns interest. I know that the woman who has been chosen will be an active member of the group. That does not mean to say that other people who have ideas or suggestions cannot put them forward. As we run up to 2009, the Burns advisory group will be entrusted with the task of communicating widely with communities, in the same way that the advisory group for the Highland year of culture in 2007 has been doing.

The Burns festival—Burns an' a' that—has been very successful. It has been increasingly impressive over the past three or four years. The funding partners are all committed to taking it forward and it will be an integral part of the 2009 celebrations, as will the humanitarian award, which is part and parcel of the Burns an' a' that festival.The importance to tourism of the forthcoming anniversary cannot be overestimated. Last night, I was speaking about Burns and 2009 to some American tourism agents, who were here on an orientation visit and who were enthusiastic about it. Burns is someone whom they know and understand and with whom they feel affinity. 2009 is an important marker for us, and we will be looking to market it as strongly as we can, both in Scotland and externally. We will ensure that non-departmental public bodies and agencies around Scotland all have input to the event.One of my personal hobby-horses—particularly given the focus on Ayrshire and Dumfries and Galloway—is the idea of some sort of golf competition around the name of Burns in 2009. We want to find ways to encourage everyone who has an interest—or everyone who can be persuaded that they should have an interest—to use the opportunity to put Burns on the map, to encourage people to come to Scotland and to encourage Scots to understand more about their heritage, particularly the literary heritage that Burns has bequeathed us.

I am perhaps not as familiar with the history of Guinness as I am with that of Burns. However, it is fair to say that Allan Burns will not be there representing Diageo Scotland, but will be there because of his experience, his contacts and his ability to chair a group such as the one that we want to set up. I am sure that that other anniversary will not be lost on him or on anyone else.

We have had a series of petitions relating to specific Burns matters, including statues, as well as to the general question of how best to promote Burns. Will the working group that you have set up to ensure that the heritage of Burns is properly appreciated have authority to address concerns that are held by people who have an interest in Burns? I mean, for example, concerns that statues and places of interest will be maintained and positioned as prominently in society as they should be?

The advisory group's aim is largely to organise the events and activities that will take place around 2009. I hope that they will be national, regional and community events and that they will take place not just in Ayrshire and Dumfries and Galloway, but around Scotland. The group does not have a specific remit on the artefacts and structures that commemorate Burns. However, I hope that the fact that we are going to put the spotlight on Burns and his heritage will mean that people might take the responsibilities very seriously. I would not want the committee to think that there is not already a lot of good work going on in areas where there is a Burns heritage. In Mauchline and Alloway, for example, some very good work has been done by people who have an interest in Burns, sometimes in conjunction with national agencies. I have in mind money that has gone to Alloway kirkyard to preserve the family graves there and to carry out conservation work on the old kirk. There is already work going on that has been inspired by local community interests and activities.I would not want the committee to think that nothing had happened until it became clear that we were involved. We hope that we will add to what is happening and, crucially, we will work to safeguard the cottage, the museum, and the national heritage park in Alloway. However, there is no specific remit for other matters.

The committee was pleased with the positive responses that it heard to earlier petitions. We wanted to give you an opportunity to give us more information on what is—judging by the number of petitions that we have received on it—becoming an important consideration for anyone who has an interest in Robert Burns as his 250th anniversary approaches.We have heard some very positive information this morning from the minister. I suggest that the committee provide the information that the minister has given us this morning to all the petitioners who contacted us so that they are aware of exactly what the Executive is doing. We would welcome the minister's comments on that. On behalf of the committee, I thank you for giving us the opportunity to discuss the matter with you and for accepting our invitation to put the Executive's position.

I will be happy to do as you suggest. If the committee receives feedback on our discussions, I would be happy to discuss it with you and to take forward any ideas. One of our aims is to make the information on the work that is going on more widely accessible. We have been trying to do that through the Executive's website until now. However, we are looking for new ways of doing it, so we will be more than happy to assist the committee in getting the message out about the importance of 2009 and the Burns heritage.