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Constitution, Europe, External Affairs and Culture Committee 18 January 2024

18 Jan 2024 · S6 · Constitution, Europe, External Affairs and Culture Committee

Item of business

Budget Scrutiny 2024-25

Robertson, Angus SNP Edinburgh Central Watch on SPTV

I acknowledge the importance of those funds for Creative Scotland as it goes through the significant funding change to multiyear funding. The Scottish Government is providing public funding to make up for a reduction in national lottery support that was intended to be provided for only three years and has now been extended. Notwithstanding that, I appreciate how important those funds are for Creative Scotland as part of its transitional planning, and to the regularly funded organisations that will form part of the multiyear framework. Those funds are also important for the financial means to support wider parts of the creative and arts sector that will not form part of that multiyear funding approach. Creative Scotland is right to want to ensure that the transition works well and that there is no cliff edge for the organisations, venues and other projects that it supports. That is why I have been persuaded of the importance of the funding, given that the priorities that I have set out from the Scottish Government’s point of view align with those of Creative Scotland, as a way of ensuring that we make that change. The previous time that I gave evidence, I drew attention to the fact that the third sector in particular in Scotland has been crying out for that multiyear approach in order to give financial certainty and to reduce the amount of time that is currently spent applying for funding on an annual basis. Creative Scotland is absolutely at the vanguard of that change, which is why the issue of the £6.6 million from the previous financial year came up. We gave a commitment—I gave a commitment at a meeting of this committee—that we would restore that funding. I am delighted to confirm that we are doing what I undertook we would do and that there will be an additional year’s funding of £6.6 million. It is worth noting that that is significantly more than the national lottery funding shortfall, but notwithstanding that, I accept, agree and value the importance of that funding as part of the transition. To my mind, it falls very much within the phase of sustaining the current arts and culture infrastructure. As we begin to have more finance in the culture and arts sector, which we have secured because of commitments that were made by the First Minister, agreed by the Deputy First Minister and supported by me for quite a long time, we can then look to the medium term in respect of some of the ambitions that Mr Ruskell has outlined. However, there is a footnote to that, which I never hesitate to make and that is quite important: Creative Scotland is—quite rightly—an arm’s-length agency, and, as such, it is an organisation with which we agree a general direction of travel. I have outlined our perspective on that, but it is for Creative Scotland to make decisions about all that when it comes to individual projects. I am pleased, as I know that Creative Scotland is, that there is more money for culture in Scotland this year, which is not the case in other nations in the United Kingdom, and that our financial commitment is significant and will continue to grow cumulatively over the next years.

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Constitution, Europe, External Affairs and Culture Committee 18 January 2024

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