Robert Burns Heritage Projects

Sandra Osborne (Ayr) (Lab): I very much welcome the opportunity to raise the vital issues of the legacy of Scotland's national bard, Robert Burns, and the urgent need for funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund. I know that they are also close to your heart, Mr. Deputy Speaker, and I look forward to hearing your "Immortal Memory" later in the week. I am sure that you will be very interested in my reply to the "Toast to the Lassies", and I had to be careful not to bring one of those speeches with me this morning. It might have been a wee bit more amusing than what I am about to say, but it would not have addressed the serious issues that, unfortunately, I have to raise.

Mr. Deputy Speaker (Mr. John McWilliam): Order. If the hon. Lady had done that, I might have been responding to the debate, rather than the Minister.

Sandra Osborne : Thank you.

Today, as I speak, Burns clubs all over the world are celebrating the birth of this great poet and song collector. No doubt all kinds of over-the-top sentimentality will be on display, but kailyard parochialism has little or nothing to do with the real Burns, who is a far more substantial figure than that. His place in the Scottish consciousness is unique; he has been described as Caledonia's bard, natural man, a many-sided genius, the heaven-taught ploughman, the noble savage, a man of the resistance, a national hero and even a national myth. His name has become synonymous with Scotland.

Life levels all men, but death reveals the eminent. Burns captured the soul of Scotland, and his name is entitled to the respect of posterity. He may have died a poor man, but he has immeasurably enriched the world. On this day, we do not remember a departed memory, but honour a living, life-enhancing presence. When Scotland forgets Burns, history will forget Scotland. It would be to our eternal shame if we ever allowed that to happen.

Among his faults and virtues, Burns had a common touch, warm humour, vigour, humanity, a universal message and profound common sense. I want to quote some famous words by him, although I hesitate to do so, because when the Deputy Prime Minister visited Burns cottage—we were very pleased to see him—and he was asked to read a poem by Robert Burns, he refrained from doing so because he said that it takes him all his time to master the English language, let alone lowland Scots. I do not know whether the Minister will treat us to a Burns poem later, but in the meantime, as I said, Burns's profound common sense is encapsulated in these famous words:

"O wad some Pow'r the giftie gie us

To see oursels as others see us!

It wad frae mony a blunder free us,

And foolish notion",

and in these:

"The best laid schemes o' mice an' men

Gang aft a-gley."

 
Mr. Deputy Speaker, I am sure that you will agree that those words are of great benefit to every Member of this House, both individually and collectively.

There could not have been a better time to secure this important debate because, as we meet in our convivial gatherings at this time of year to celebrate Burns's life and works and to toast his immortal memory, there are pressing matters that we should consider if we are properly to secure his physical legacy in the west of Scotland, specifically in the place of his birth—Alloway, just outside Ayr. Alloway is in the constituency of my right hon. Friend the Member for Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley (Mr. Foulkes), who is disappointed that he is unable to attend today's debate. Hon. Members may be aware that his wife is ill. My right hon. Friend is a member of the Burns Trust. In my role as Member of Parliament for Ayr, I also declare an interest in the trust as a trustee.

The debate is timely, not only because it is taking place on Burns day but because his legacy has recently seemed to be under threat. I want to provide the House with some background to the issue before seeking some reassurances from the Minister on lottery funding. The problem is a long-term one that should have been sorted out decades ago, not just in the last couple of months, as some who have spied an opportunity to jump on a political bandwagon are making out. Some of those people have not taken one iota of interest in Burns, apart from attending the occasional supper. The local councillor for Alloway, Robin Reid, who has suddenly become vocal in complaining, is, like me, a trustee. However, to my recollection he has not attended any of the regular trustees' meetings since I joined in 1997. Burns would, I am sure, have looked with irony at much of the present hypocritical posturing. No doubt he would have written a poem about it.

I note that my predecessor, Phil Gallie, has acknowledged that efforts have been made during the years to preserve and develop the Burns national heritage park as a tourist attraction. I join him in paying tribute to people such as Douglas Hemming and our lord lieutenant, Major Richard Henderson, as well as to the local councils in Ayrshire. All have strived to preserve and develop the park but they have done so against the odds.

My opinion is that, instead of building the Tam O'Shanter experience, which is really just a café and gift shop, the money should have been invested directly in the historic buildings and artefacts and in preserving the physical heritage of Burns. Only a small proportion of the people who go to the café and visitor centre visit Burns cottage, so although it gains some income it is not succeeding in attracting tourists to Burns, nor is the income anything like enough to meet the needs of such an important national treasure.

However, hindsight is a wonderful thing. My point is that we should have had a properly funded and supported national strategy to preserve the legacy of one of our most important historical figures many years ago.

Angus Robertson (Moray) (SNP): I agree entirely with the hon. Lady and with her sentiments about the importance of the legacy of Burns, not just to Scotland but around the world. She is right to talk about a national strategy, but why, with a Labour-run council, Labour-run Scottish Executive and Labour-run UK Government, do we not have one?

Sandra Osborne : As I shall explain later, successive councils, both Tory and Labour, have tried hard with limited resources to support the legacy of Robert Burns. Also, the Scottish Executive have supported the funding for the last three years. I do not accept that they have not been proactive in the situation, and they are about to be much more proactive. Where I do agree with the hon. Gentleman is that Westminster has failed the legacy of Burns for many decades. As I suggested, it is a long-term problem. It did not just spring up last week. It should not fall to individual local authorities, trusts or Burns organisations to work in isolation to preserve the heritage, but that is the somewhat causal approach that has characterised the situation for far too long.

I am no nationalist, as the House will be aware, but without, I hope, sounding too paranoid, I do not think that anyone in the House could foresee a situation in which Shakespeare's birthplace and places associated with his legacy would be neglected or would fail to be recognised as of national importance. To be even more parochial, if I am honest I think that if Burns had been born in Edinburgh instead of Ayrshire, it would also have been a totally different story.

In many ways, it gives me great pleasure to say that it is with the Scottish Executive that we are seeing not only a quick response to the current problems, but a long-term commitment to evolving a coherent strategy for the future, which has been sorely needed for so long. My task today is to ensure that the Heritage Lottery Fund is recognised as a potential source of funding and that it operates in a way that can proactively protect our heritage, along with Historic Scotland and other Government bodies.

The Burns national heritage park is made up of the cottage where he was born, the museum, the monument and gardens, the manuscripts and memorabilia, the Tam O'Shanter experience, which once exhibited a recreation of that famous poem, Alloway kirkyard and the Brig O'Doon. It is all contained in a beautiful setting in the village of Alloway. It is vital that that setting is preserved.

The heritage park is managed by a joint board on which three partners—South Ayrshire council, the Burns monument trustees, of whom I am one, and Scottish Enterprise Ayrshire—are represented. Based on previous consultancy reports, the original commercial aim was that the heritage park would be financially self-sufficient after its first few years of operation. That never happened.

I think that it would be of benefit if I outlined briefly where we are at the moment and how our problems came about. The Tam O'Shanter experience is owned by the council and for some time it has been its intention to lease it to a commercial operator. In so doing, it was responding to a request from the joint board. It was thought that that could provide an opportunity for capital investment and for an ongoing revenue stream. The council planned to reinvest the income from the lease in the upkeep of the park as part of a service-level agreement. That is not new and has been in the public domain for at least the past couple of years, if not longer.
 
In so doing, the council was treating the trust in the same manner as every other voluntary organisation. The purpose of such agreements, as hon. Members will know, is to determine the level of service delivered in return for financial support from the taxpayer, and to ensure that outcomes can be measured and acceptable standards maintained. That will be familiar to hon. Members as part of the best value regime and is all within the thrust of Government policy to follow the public pound. Councils are measured in terms of how they spend public money and the quality of services that they deliver. Service-level agreements are an extension of that, in that councils are charged with the responsibility of following the public pound to ensure that external organisations give value for public money and are measured as stringently as councils themselves. That is as important for preserving our heritage as it is for providing services to people.

However, that is a tall order for many organisations and the problem is that the trust is a very different entity from most other voluntary organisations. Its constitution is a complicated and aged document, drawn up at a time when it was seen as appropriate to set up bodies that were basically made up of the local gentry—the great and the good, such as the lord lieutenant, the sheriff principal and elected representatives—whether or not they had the time, expertise or interest required. In recent years the trust managed to recruit some more appropriate volunteers, but the constitution meant that the trustees would be held jointly and severally liable for financial problems. That became a major problem when a multi-million pound project was involved, so advice was sought about dissolving the trust and setting up a new management structure.

It is my understanding that at that time the National Trust for Scotland was not interested in taking over, although it was clear that a national body was required. At the same time, there was an increasing problem with preserving precious artefacts. A report produced last April by the national Burns collections project showed that 35 per cent. of the existing Burns collection is stored in the Burns cottage museum in an uncontrolled environment. I am sorry to inform the Chamber that the original manuscript of "Auld Lang Syne" is currently held in Edinburgh for that reason. I am sure that the Chamber will realise not only the financial importance of the document, but its importance as Burns's legacy.

Artefacts have been held in an uncontrolled environment for many years. That cannot be allowed to continue. Little or no support was provided over the years by any national body until the Executive stepped in three years ago with short-term funding. That cannot be allowed to continue either.

I am going into some detail about how we got to where we are now partly because there have been deliberate misrepresentations, particularly about South Ayrshire council, but also because I believe that there are important lessons to be learned. Local bodies cannot in isolation take responsibility for sites and collections of such national significance as the heritage of Robert Burns. I might add that his birthplace is by no means the only important Burns legacy in south-west Scotland. A proper strategy is required for them all.
 
As I have said, work has already been done to establish a new Burns museum at Alloway that would preserve the Burns collection to modern standards and greatly enhance tourist potential. One application has been made for lottery funding, which was rejected, and a second was withdrawn with a view to resubmission when a new management structure was established.

Given the scenario, I would contend that it was perfectly clear to all that that structure was needed if the project was to succeed. It could not possibly have escaped the notice of our national heritage bodies, but they did not see it as their role at either a civil service or quango level to intervene in a proactive manner that could address the problem. I do not suggest that anything other than good professional advice was given about the merits of the designs or the business plans, but only latterly were there discussions about the structure of the management, which appeared to be caused by the council not being prepared to underwrite the costs. That was never a feasible proposition. Councils today are simply not in a position to take on multi-million pound projects in such a way. In any case, as I have tried to make clear, there should be a national input.

The Minister may be about to tell me that it is not the role of the lottery heritage board to intervene and suggest that the project is of national significance and should be run on a national basis. The Heritage Lottery Fund, not local councils, largely funds our national historic assets today and, along with bodies such as Historic Scotland, is charged with the responsibility of preserving our heritage. I suggest that a more proactive approach, with powers if necessary, is required at some level. I should be grateful if the Minister would comment on that.

I pay tribute to the Scottish Minister for Tourism, Culture and Sport, Patricia Ferguson, not only because she was instrumental in organising the campaign that got me elected in 1997, but because she has provided the political will—lacking for so long at a national level—to give Robert Burns the recognition that he deserves. She has backed that up by speedy action. When I met her before Christmas, along with my colleague Cathy Jamieson, the MSP who represents Alloway, Patricia Ferguson immediately informed us of her determination that the homecoming of the Scottish diaspora, planned for the 250th anniversary of Burns's birth in 2009, will centre around the Burns national heritage park in Ayrshire. That has not always been the case; in the past, it would have been far more likely to be centred in Edinburgh. I was delighted to hear it, and I hope that hon. Members who are Scottish but represent seats elsewhere—such as yourself, Mr. Deputy Speaker—will join us in the celebrations.

Plans are already under way and have pointed up the need for a national strategy. The Executive will fund the work needed, but it is clear that a firm central direction is needed. Patricia Ferguson MSP has made £50,000 available in the short term; yesterday I met her, South Ayrshire council and Scottish Enterprise to begin planning the future, which includes the possibility that the whole park will be taken over by the National Trust for Scotland. It is a solution favoured by most, and South Ayrshire council yesterday indicated its willingness to go along with that solution. It is likely to include a submission to the lottery fund for a museum to be ready in plenty of time for 2009.
 
At last we are moving in the right direction to secure the Burns legacy, which is so richly deserved. On Burns day, in celebration of his immortal memory, I ask that we all—not just in Scotland, but in the UK and throughout the world—pay tribute to Scotland's national bard, not just with words but with action.

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