Scottish arts organisations prepare for funding standstill

Arts organisations in Scotland are preparing for a funding standstill next year, despite government plans for a £13m increase in the culture budget.

The Scottish Government’s draft budget for 2017/18 would leave the National Performing Companies budget at £22.9m, identical to the amount promised in the draft budget last year, though £5m less than the final budget for 2016/17.

“In light of the current fiscal environment we absolutely understand the necessity for shrewd budget management,” said Dr Krishna Thiagarajan, Chief Executive of the Royal Scottish National Orchestra (RSNO). “The RSNO exemplifies an organisation optimising its limited resources to achieve great things.”

Breakdown

Although the Culture, Tourism and Major Events budget is to increase from £212.9m to £226.2m – a real-terms increase of £10m on 2016/17 – the ‘Cultural Collections’ budget is to fall slightly from £80.6m in 2016/17 to £77m.

The budget for ‘Creative Scotland and Other Arts’ is to rise from £45.7m to £52.1m, but the detail of how this will affect Creative Scotland had not been released at the time of publication.

Creative Scotland welcomed the draft budget, saying it was pleased that its discretionary Grant in Aid budget for 2017/18 “remains broadly the same as in 2016/17”.

It added: “Our Board will meet next week to respond to this budget announcement and agree our high level budget for 2017/18. Further communications will be issued as appropriate after that.

“As always, we continue to work closely with the Scottish Government to ensure that the arts, screen and creative industries in Scotland are confident, connected and thriving.”

Scotland’s National Performing Companies also accepted the budget. A spokesperson for the National Theatre of Scotland said: “We will consider the impact of standstill on the Company’s operations and look forward to continuing our work with the Scottish Government to ensure the success and growth of the National Theatre of Scotland for all Scotland’s theatre-makers and audiences.”

Both Alex Reedijk, General Director at Scottish Opera, and Christopher Hampson, Chief Executive and Artistic Director at Scottish Ballet, said they were “grateful” for the announcement of standstill funding. “We look forward to continuing to deliver exceptional performances and enriching educational experiences for the benefit of audiences and communities across Scotland and beyond,” Hampson added.

National Culture Strategy

The draft budget also sets out plans to develop a ‘National Culture Strategy’ for Scotland, which will establish a “high-level framework” of agreed aims and objectives with principles of “increased access, equity and pursuit of excellence at its core”.

In addition, the government is to continue investment in projects such as Kelvin Hall in Glasgow and work on the Scottish National Gallery, and to use a newly established ‘Creative Industries Advisory Group’ to advise Ministers on the support required by this sector.

The final budget will be published in early 2017.