National Partnership for Culture recommendations: Scottish Government response

Introduction

The National Partnership for Culture (NPC) was established to provide a cross-sector, interdisciplinary voice in order to advise and influence Scottish Ministers on matters affecting culture in Scotland (more information on the National Partnership for Culture including membership, terms of reference, and the output reports from workshops). Their role is to support delivery of the collective vision, ambitions, aims and actions set out in the Culture Strategy; help to inform and influence policy decisions, and continue the national culture conversation in the light of the impact of Covid-19. The NPC provided recommendations to Ministers in February 2022 (the published report and recommendations from the NPC).

This report sets out our consideration of the recommendations and the next steps on how they can be implemented, building on existing work and good practice.

The NPC recommendations speak to the Scottish Government's commitment to meaningful cross-portfolio working. In developing the response to the recommendations, we have worked across portfolios to ensure that policy synergies are captured appropriately, both in noting planned, or current, workstreams and in the development of next steps.

The NPC presented narrative to support its headline recommendations, which helpfully set the scene for our in-depth policy consideration. Our response takes the NPC's supporting narrative into account, along with its suggestions for delivery.

The NPC and the Scottish Government will shortly undertake a lessons learned exercise, which will help set the direction for the future of the partnership.