Speeches by Sullivan.

“I welcome the fantastic news that Edinburgh and south-east Scotland will receive £37.8 million from the new local growth fund, supporting infrastructure, business support and skills development. However, I consistently hear from businesses that they struggle to recruit people with the skill sets needed to grow their op…”

“2. What steps she is taking to provide regional funding.”

“What engagement have you had with the UK Government on the charter review process so far?”

“We have touched a little bit on this, but to what extend do you think that the themes identified in the Government’s paper align with the BBC’s work in Scotland? Where do you see scope for areas that still have to be addressed?”

“What risks or opportunities do you foresee for Scottish audiences and the Scottish creative industry in the Government proposals?”

“If I can just go back to the individuals who are currently enrolled in the “River City” training programme, what is going to happen to them?”

“I understand that the training offering is much broader than just specific programmes.”

“So that will very much draw on the positive elements that have come out of the “River City” training programme and build it into the framework going forward.”

“But the model, you could—”

“Let me just ask about the training programme—I think that is where we are naturally going. One of the recognised successes of “River City” was its training programme, which has been described as “exemplary”. How are we going to ensure that that is replicated, and what is going to happen to the individuals who are curre…”

“I appreciate that point on the broader training that is available, but if you already have a scheme that has been proven to work and has been recognised as “exemplary”, and allows a Scottish talent pipeline to develop, why wouldn’t you look to replicate that?”

“We have discussed incredible success of “The Traitors”, but there has also been a lot of angst with the cancellation of “River City”. At the same time, you have announced major investment in new Scottish dramas: you referenced “Counsels” earlier, and there are “Grams” and “The Young Team” as well. To what extent will t…”

“I appreciate that it may be a bit more nuanced than just numbers of people, but I think that it is quite important to get clarity about some of the numbers, in order to ascertain whether you are approaching the 50% or not. However, I appreciate the point that you made about the training and development that has gone on…”

“Okay. Do you have a pathway or a runway to get to meeting the 50% criterion?”

“Is that something you would be able to provide to the Committee? I think we would be fairly interested in hearing that.”

“Okay, because that is quite important for getting a sense of what proportion it is of the total.”

“It is very positive to hear that there is a breadth of roles now. You mentioned that there are over 70 Scottish staff. What is the total number of staff?”

“I will ignore that comment. This caused great excitement in my household. I cannot think of many programmes that have actually brought myself and my daughter together in recent years, but this was definitely one of them. You are aware of some of the criticisms that there have been around “The Traitors” previously and t…”

“Why do you think there have been low levels of Scottish-based staff working on the production historically? Were the opportunities just not there previously?”

“Q5. Some 1.5 million women in the UK live with endometriosis, which is a painful and life-changing condition. As chair of the all-party parliamentary group on endometriosis, I met Jessica Smith and Endo Warriors West Lothian to discuss their campaign for a national endometriosis registry to capture and audit diagnosis,…”