Shona Robison MSP – deliver on your arts funding pledges now to prevent a cultural catastrophe
Scotland’s cultural landscape is at risk of collapse, due to continued inaction and backtracking from the Scottish Government on key arts funding pledges.
The Government has repeatedly promised to address underinvestment in the arts with pledges to “more than double” funding1 and to deliver “at least £100 million more annually” by 2028-29.2
But the national arts body Creative Scotland revealed that £10.7 million was slashed or frozen from its budget midway through this year3, forcing it to shut down the main public fund for freelance artists.4
Creative Scotland was scheduled to allocate funding to organisations for the next three years by the end of October 2024, but have been forced to delay crucial decisions on the fate of applications from 281 organisations until 2025 due to lack of “budget clarity.” This is the case despite the SNP’s 2021 manifesto pledge to agree a three-year funding plan.5
Meanwhile, as many as 45 of Scotland’s museums and galleries are at risk of closure within 12 months6, and Edinburgh’s festivals are warning that Scotland’s cultural assets are now in a “perilously fragile” state.7
The damage to arts access and opportunities in Scotland is already underway. To prevent catastrophe, the Scottish Government needs to act now.
We urge the Finance Secretary Shona Robison MSP to:
- Urgently provide all the culture funding you promised this year, including to Creative Scotland.
- Urgently clarify and increase the culture funding available for next year, including for Creative Scotland to provide the investment and certainty that organisations need to survive.
- Urgently deliver on the Scottish Government’s pledges to “more than double” investment in culture and the arts, and to “agree 3 year funding settlements for Scottish Government core funded cultural organisations” including Creative Scotland.
Creative Scotland urgently needs more funding to perform its crucial role
“The level of uncertainty regarding the provision of Grant-in-Aid budgets from the Scottish Government is creating critical problems for the ongoing support we can provide to Scotland’s culture sector.” –Creative Scotland
The funding available for organisations remains inadequate and uncertain. Many are on the brink after over a decade of standstill funding, compounded by the impacts of the pandemic, post-Brexit changes and high inflation.8 Almost 300 are waiting to hear back on their applications for investment, but the total demand is more than double Creative Scotland's current budget.
Creative Scotland's final decisions were due in October 2024, but they have been forced to delay decisions until January 2025 due to lack of "budget clarity". They are warning that, unless the Government confirms a higher budget now, “far fewer” organisations will be supported, resulting in “significant job losses” and “a significant reduction in cultural provision and opportunity for the people of Scotland”.9
This damage can and must be stopped
Over the last two years, the Campaign for the Arts has joined with the Scottish cultural sector to warn of irreparable damage to our cultural life and landscape unless the Scottish Government bolsters support for the arts. It’s now or never.
Delivering on their commitment to invest an additional £100 million would require only a tiny fraction of this year’s Scottish Budget. We urge the Finance Secretary to recognise the real and pressing need for this investment, in order to avert a cultural catastrophe and to protect the personal, social, health and economic benefits that the arts and culture bring.
The story so far
Cultural organisations at risk
The 119 Regularly Funded Organisations (RFOs) currently supported by Creative Scotland directly employ 5,000 workers, support 25,500 individual artists and provide millions of opportunities for people across Scotland to engage with the arts and culture.
Enter the name of your Local Authority to find an RFO that could be affected near you.Sign our petition ↓
Scotland 2024
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- First Minister Humza Yousaf’s address to #SNP23 Conference, SNP[↩]
- Culture in an independent Scotland, gov.scot[↩]
- Creative Scotland submission, Constitution, Europe, External Affairs and Culture Committee Pre-Budget Scrutiny 2025-26[↩]
- Open Fund for Individuals: closure of fund, Creative Scotland[↩]
- SNP Manifesto 2021: What we’re doing for culture and creativity, SNP[↩]
- More than 45 of Scotland’s museums and galleries ‘at risk of closure” within 12 months amid funding ‘crisis’, The Scotsman; Our response to the Scottish Parliament’s pre-budget scrutiny for 2025-26, Museums Galleries Scotland[↩]
- Festivals Edinburgh submission, Constitution, Europe, External Affairs and Culture Committee Pre-Budget Scrutiny 2025-26[↩]
- Culture Counts submission, Constitution, Europe, External Affairs and Culture Committee Pre-Budget Scrutiny 2025-26[↩]
- Creative Scotland submission, Constitution, Europe, External Affairs and Culture Committee Pre-Budget Scrutiny 2025-26[↩]