The Stage

Arts suffer only minor cuts in Scottish government cost-cutting

Published Friday 18 September 2009 at 17:36 by Thom Dibdin

The Scottish cultural sector has got off lightly in the Scottish Government’s cost-cutting draft budget for 2010/11.

Key cultural objectives such as the transfer to Creative Scotland, and with it the funnelling of money directly to artists, have been maintained.

It has not been all joyous celebration, however. Under the budget heading for “Other Arts” - principally one-off awards to specialist projects - £1.5 million, just over a third, has been transferred to Cultural Collections. The budget for Scotland’s National Performing Companies, expected to be £27.4 million in last year’s plans, is now £26 million. This includes the transfer of £1 million capital funds to the Gaelic sector.

Michael Russell, Minister for Culture, External Affairs and the Constitution, said: “I have reluctantly reduced the scope to introduce new spending on support for innovative cultural initiatives and instead concentrated funds in our priority areas such as Creative Scotland, Gaelic and international relations.

“Crucially, I have been able to sustain the level of funding for establishing Creative Scotland as a Statutory Non Departmental Public Body (NDPB) to support, develop and promote the widest range of art, culture and creativity. It will embrace all the creative industries, to ensure our creative entrepreneurs can thrive while supporting economic recovery.”

Russell also confirmed the £2.5 million contribution to the Creative Scotland Innovation Fund announced in June would remain intact, bringing the total to £5 million over the period from 2009-11.

The general mood among the national companies Scotland is welcoming to the draft budget, which now enters a period of consultation before being placed before Holyrood.

However, non-national companies who rely on local authority funding are more wary of the future, following the announcement that local government has been asked to to take their pro-rata share of spending cuts.

In Aberdeen, the city council has already announced that there will be significant cuts in the next financial year and they are now entering discussions about how those will be made.

Duncan Hendry chief executive of Aberdeen Performing Arts which, with 250 employees and a budget of £9 million is one of Scotland’s largest arts organisation, told The Stage: “There is the strong likelihood that arts organisations’ local authority grants will be reduced even if the arts council money is maintained.”