The Stage

Boyle steps down to rewrite Scots arts strategy

Published Friday 30 April 2004 at 09:20

Scottish Arts Council chairman James Boyle is to quit the organisation to head a new ‘culture commission’ launched by the Scottish Executive to produce a radical plan to reshape and redefine the arts north of the border for the next 30 years.

Boyle, who steps down from the SAC chairmanship in May after being re-appointed only three weeks ago, has already begun searching for a small group of commissioners. Last year he described the executive’s funding of the arts as “crackers”. He said he would be frank in his findings.

“This is a tough but exciting challenge. I would not have taken the job on if I hadn’t thought I could state the case for change, for development and investment. I hope the review will be collegiate. I do not expect bodies to sit on their hands and wait for me to come to them,” he said. “The Scottish Executive do not expect a comfortable ride from me. Nobody has ever had that.”

With a wide-ranging remit to look at all branches of the arts including drama, the commission is being asked to formulate an “ambitious cultural policy that will endure for at least a generation”.

Work begins in June, with an interim report to Scottish ministers in October and a final report in June 2005. Although the initiative met with a generally cautious welcome from Scottish arts organisations, there was also dismay in some quarters where the commission was seen as yet another review with no concrete working proposals.

It is expected that a bill enshrining the findings will follow in 2007, although the commission will miss this year’s Scottish Executive three-year spending review and there are concerns the promised legislation could be lost in the run-up to the May 2007 Scottish Parliament Elections.

There is also no specific mention of the urgent plight of cash-stricken Scottish Opera, the new National Theatre of Scotland or any hint of the future role, if any, of the Scottish Arts Council which distributes about £60 million arts funding each year.

While Peter Boyden’s review into English subsidised repertory theatre produced an instant £25 mil- lion injection of govern-ment funds into the sector, there is no commitment on investment in short-term future funding. It is understood, however, that arts organisations have been informally warned to expect increases of as little as 2.5% a year.