Constitution, Europe, External Affairs and Culture Committee Pre-Budget Scrutiny 2025-26

The National Library of Scotland is Scotland's legal deposit library, one of 6 legal deposit libraries across the UK and Ireland. A public reference library with world-class collections, it is also Scotland's largest library and one of the major research libraries in Europe.

We are dedicated to caring for Scotland's printed and recorded heritage. Our collection spans centuries and includes over 30 million items — from books and manuscripts to films, music, and maps. We're here to keep Scotland's stories alive and accessible for everyone.

We are committed to equality, diversity, and inclusion, working hard to ensure that everyone can enjoy and learn from Scotland's rich cultural heritage. Our library is all about opening doors to discovery and enjoyment, and encouraging exploration in a friendly and welcoming setting.

Our collections range from rare historical documents to online journals, covering every subject. We specialise in Scotland's knowledge, history and culture.

In the run-up to the Library’s centenary in 2025, our primary aim is to open the Library to new audiences across Scotland and the world: https://www.nls.uk/about-us/what-we-do/our-strategy/

Mission: To enhance Scotland's international reputation by making a significant contribution to global knowledge and the memory of the world.

Vision: To create opportunities for people to participate in Scotland's rich cultural life as one of the leading national libraries in Europe.

At the heart of what we do are our core values. These principles guide us in providing a library experience that's open to all, inviting visitors to explore, learn, and be inspired.

Open — We commit to openness and transparency in all areas of our work. We aim to make our collections and our related work free, open and reusable wherever possible.
Trusted —We provide accurate and reliable information to support debate and discussion.
Inclusive —We are responsive and inclusive as we build and interpret collections for current and future generations. We will challenge ourselves, our assumptions and our policies in order to create a more inclusive collection and a more diverse audience.
Connected —We work collaboratively to improve our services and extend the benefits they offer.
Inspiring —We believe in the power of the collections to change lives through learning, research, discovery and improved wellbeing. We actively support participation in culture and heritage for everyone.
Responsible — We commit to minimising our environmental impact, and to creating a more sustainable, resilient and healthy environment for future generations.

The Library is answerable to the Scottish Parliament since devolution in 1999. It's a non-departmental public body with direct funding from the Scottish Government. The Library is registered as a Scottish charity (SC011086). The Library is governed by a Board of Trustees appointment by Scottish Government Ministers.

https://www.nls.uk/about-us/who-we-are/

We welcome the announcement of the £100 million increase in funding by 2028/29, with £25 million for 25/26. How the funds are allocated must be clear for all to see and they should be over and above any other funding to support pay awards or inflationary impacts.

We recognise the ambitions in the Culture Strategy Action Plan but note that in order for culture to thrive, the network of interconnected local and national organisations that support its delivery must be adequately funded and core physical and digital infrastructure – including digital – must be invested in and developed.

Safeguarding these networks and organisations – and by extension, people’s jobs – will help the culture sector to grow, and will have positive outcomes for communities and Scotland’s economy.

In order to be of most value in the longer term, the additional funding should be prioritised to support the following recommendations in the Culture Strategy Action Plan:

3 – Explore and develop alternative income streams
4 – collaboration for effectiveness and impact
5 - Advocacy within national and local government to ensure the value of culture is understood and maximised.

It is our view that the Cultural Strategy Action plan does not lay out, in any tangible sense, how the ambitions within the plan are to be achieved.

We note that the plan itself is introduced by the Culture Minister, Christina McKelvie, whose post no longer exists within the Scottish Government. Ms McKelvie was the third of four Ministers to hold the post in less than four years. This turnaround and now removal of this ministerial remit could be interpreted as an indication that Culture is not seen as a priority, or a driver, for supporting other ambitions in the National Performance Framework.

With the extreme pressures on the existing funding that goes to culture in Scotland and the proportionally small overall budget allocated to the sector (which we are aware is among the lowest in Europe), it is difficult to see how the action plan can be funded separately from the organisations in the cultural portfolio. It could be more effective for the cultural sector to work collaboratively towards the goals in the action plan, seeking the necessary clarity from SG on issues which could have a political nature, such as income generation and working across silos in local and national government bodies alongside charities, businesses and festivals.

It is our view that the culture sector has untapped potential in driving inclusive growth in Scotland. If adequate funding and infrastructural measures were put in place now via the budgetary process, the sector – in its broadest sense – would be instrumental in delivering positive outcomes across other portfolio areas such as health and social justice.

There have been discussions around Public Sector Reform and a 'culture cluster' group has been established to identify joint working and opportunities for collaboration, but so far, no tangible progress has been made regarding innovative funding solutions. The focus of these discussions has been around creating efficiencies rather than improvements. There have been some discussions about increasing financial flexibilities which allow for more opportunities to generate income.

As we have not had a multi-year settlement, this question does not apply.

Fair Work practices are embedded across the Library and requirements feature in the procurements we undertake and any grants we award.

It is important to recognise that more generally Fair Work is the right ambition for the sector, but it will come at an additional cost, which must be reflected in funding settlements. Otherwise, it is likely to lead to less stability for the workforce overall. Without the appropriate funds to pay staff at the rates set, organisations will have to employ less staff overall and reduce output, or employ more staff on short-term contracts from external funding, which do not offer the same level of stability.