SNP looks for private funding for culture

With the Scottish National Party (SNP) moving towards an overall majority in Scotland, the country will be looking to the party to deliver its manifesto pledges for culture and the arts. Two themes run through the proposals: finding new sources of funding for the cultural sector, and internationalism. A new initiative to bring in financial support from Scotland’s diaspora will aim to fund specific projects, including sponsorship of individual artists and equity investment in new work.

Minister for Culture & External Affairs, Fiona Hyslop, said: “We’ll give them various ways of showing support including through contributions to a new Cultural Fund… I also want to see international Cultural Champions who can play a lead role in the promotion of Scottish culture and help us build a network of Scots who are successful and influential in the arts worldwide.” The SNP is also planning a ‘New Music Scotland’ initiative, funded by commercial sponsors, to support existing and emerging commercial musicians. Both the Expo Fund and Made in Scotland scheme will be retained to continue to showcase Scotland’s creative talent to a wider international audience, and plans to have live showings of festival and National Company performances in cinemas around Scotland and internationally are to be expanded. Scotland’s National Companies are seen by Hyslop as “great ambassadors for Scottish culture” with the potential to become more commercial: she says she is “looking to see whether there are disincentives in place at the moment which hinder a more commercial focus for the National Companies and National Collections”. She has pledged to keep the International Touring Fund, but is looking to an ‘all Scotland’ approach to cultural and economic promotion, and wants to see “the increasing co-ordination of National Company tours overseas, alongside other companies, museum and gallery loans and even trade missions…” Continuing free access to national galleries and museums is seen as central to efforts to encourage new audiences. The SNP is looking at ways of developing a national discounted tickets scheme, not just for the National Companies, that will cover a wide range of productions including the Edinburgh Festivals. Hyslop said: “I want to work with the theatres and venues, our broadcasters and newspapers and the wider business community to pull together a suitable package, which, given the budgetary position, would have to be supported by external sponsors and partners”. Support for the arts from non-governmental sources is likely to be crucial for the delivery of the SNP’s manifesto: as the incoming party of Government it will be facing an estimated £800m hole in public finances. The Scotsman has published comment from some of the country’s leading experts warning that politicians have failed to address the reality of public spending cuts in the election campaign. One expert warned that the scale of the cuts ahead could be worse than first feared, with Scotland unable even to afford measures such as the council tax freeze and subsidies to fund the renewable energy revolution.